An article at the Washington Post looks at the potential backlash that the Wii Zapper will receive. However, Nintendo's senior vice president of marketing has played down such concerns by commenting that Nintendo doesn't even think the Wii Zapper looks like a gun, all it is a utility that allows for more diverse styles of play. However, all the spin in the world won't stop concerned parents from venting their anger at the device.

Ralphie Parker, patron saint of toy gun owners, with your pure desire and your unyielding mom, how deep would your passion burn for Nintendo's new Wii Zapper?

The toy in question is a new accessory for the Wii game console. It's not a controller but a gunlike cradle designed to hold the Wiimote and Wii Nunchuk, increasing players' accuracy in shooting games. Like the other members of the Wii family, the Zapper is white and elegant, all sleek curves and shiny surfaces. It is futuristic in the way that "Star Wars" is futuristic, a sort of retro-future that will never happen and already has. The name Zapper is a homage to the company's first Zapper, an orange ray gun sold with the original Nintendo in 1985.

This new Zapper, the Wii Zapper, with its snub nose and smooth grip, is the prettiest submachine gun ever sold.

If that's what it is.

"We don't think it even really looks like a gun," George Harrison said. He is Nintendo's senior vice president of marketing, so he offers an alternative concept: "It's a utility that allows for more diverse styles of play."

Certain parents disagree.