In an effort to get its name recognized with all the people playing the Wii, Nerf has come out with the Switch Shot, which is the perfect product for those gamers out there hoping to combine Nerf firing power with Wii interactions. Yep" those four players are going to be totally stoked.
For the rest of us, the Switch Shot will be a little bit more than a passing novelty among other passing novelties. As a muzzle-loading, single-shot weapon, the product is great for in-house wars with your friends, as are the majority of Nerf weaponry. The gun comes equipped with three "Whistler" darts, which howl through the air as they are fired, and eventually get lost behind furniture or (inexplicably) down air vents.
The crosspollination with the Wii comes into play as a barrel of the Nerf gun pulls away from the stock and leaves room for a Wii remote to be settled into its place. From there, what you have is a resting tock for the Wii remote and a little red screen that has some functionality with the game Nerf N-Strike, but little-to-no advantage for any other titles.
If you happen to have the Nerf N-Strike game, the red screen can be used to reveal secret codes within the game, that are only visible with the red filter. We reviewed the Nerf gun without that game, so the red view shield didn’t do much for us. However, if you happen to have that title, then this gun probably goes up a little bit in the Value area for you, since you have the game it goes along with.
With other games, pulling the trigger lets you push the fire button on the Wii remote, just like a bunch of other gun accessories on the market.
If we forget about the fact that it is a functioning Nerf gun in one form and just focus on the value of the Switch Shot as a gaming device, we quickly see how it compares to other products in the market, such as the Crossfire by Penguin United.
Rather than having a fully equipped piece of machinery for gaming purposes, we are delivered a peripheral that keeps only one game firmly in focus, leaving ease of use for any other title completely out of the equation. Button placement is restricted to what comes on the Wii remote, and there is no good place to redirect the nunchuck cord so that it’s not simply hanging from the back of the unit.
In fact, I would say that the only winning characteristic of the Switch Shot is the fact that it doubles as a Nerf gun, but if that’s the case, then why not just go out and buy a Nerf gun and leave the gaming aspects for those companies interested in promoting better gameplay options and not flashy gimmicks.
The only caveat to that statement is that if you happen to own the N-force gun, then there is a chance the Switch Shot would be a better choice. At least at just $19.95, you are getting an actual Nerf gun that could have some relevance to your Wii.
The Switch Shot earns an average 3 GiN Gem Rating.