Nintendo is filing a bunch of patents for Wii U accessories these days. Last week, it was revealed that the company is working on a Wii U dock, and last year, patent applications for the Wii U zapper were revealed. This time, a new patent suggest there might be a simpler version Wii U Zapper, with a more compact design. The new Wii U Zapper appears to work the same way as the old, which is basically a plastic cradle with the controller attached to the top. Since the Wii U controller is quite a bit bigger and heavier than the regular Wiimote, the new Zapper will probably have some sort of fastening or locking mechanism. The Zapper also appears to feature all of the buttons the old version had, including two trigger buttons, a circle pad, and a start/pause button.
The original Zapper for the Wii was introduced as a tool for shooter games on the Wii, which helped players keep a more steady aim with the Wiimote. The old Wii U Zapper was based on this design — you can find the old Wii U zapper design after the break and compare the two.
