Nintendo wii fanboy has a rundown of their favorite wiimote hacks, from a nicely lit up wiimote, to a wiimote powerglove!

Source Nintendo wii fanboy. ...

Kotaku
wirtes, Rock Band 2's Ion drum kit is scratching our Phil Collins cosplay itch like you wouldn't believe. But, uh, where can you buy it? The thing's not only expensive, it's huge, meaning you're unlikely to find it stacked end-over-end atop a shelf at the local Best Buy. Well, it was confirmed today at the GameStop Expo that the specialist retail giant will be stocking the drums, albeit with a catch: not every store will have them. Instead, certain stores will act as "hubs", where customers can order drums that are then delivered. If it's not too hard, it'll be delivered to the customer's local store. If that's too hard, they'll be delivered straight to your home. That's some blue-ribbon service from a place like GameStop, but then, it had want to be for a $300 peripheral.

Source Kotaku. ...

Engadget writes about the new keyboard and mouse from Dell.
"Dell has a ways to go before it can match, say, Microsoft's peripheral acumen -- or the considerable buzz being generated by Blue Track at the moment. That said, the computer giant looks to have a couple new ones in the pipeline, and that's always a treat for the folks too poor or lazy to replace their pre-bundled keyboard and mouse. The keyboard's short-throw keys will be a love it or hate it affair, but the media keys seem nice enough, while the mouse offers sensitivity-denoting LEDs and some laser tech underneath to match those smooth, predictable contours. No word on a ship date, but look for these to show up in your new Dell boxes before long."

Source Engadget. ...

Fender Precision Bass Guitar Kicks Off a Full Line of New Rock Band Products

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 8, 2008--Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. (AMEX/TSX: MCZ), a leading third-party interactive entertainment accessory provider, announced today that it has begun shipping its Fender(TM) Precision Bass guitar for the Xbox 360(TM), the initial offering under its license with Harmonix and MTV Games to produce and distribute game peripherals and other products for the critically acclaimed Rock Band(TM) game.

"We are excited to be providing an opportunity for the millions of Rock Band fans to enhance their game-playing experience with our Fender Precision Bass guitar," commented Darren Richardson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz. "This is the first in a series of Rock Band products we expect to release this fall, each of which we believe will add to the realism and enjoyment of this immensely popular game."

This premium bass guitar provides gamers with a licensed, authentic Fender Precision Bass guitar to complete their ensemble. Compatible with both Rock Band and the upcoming Rock Band 2 games, the Fender Precision Bass can be used to play both lead and bass guitar portions of a selected track. Incorporating all the features of the standard guitar, including Solo Keys, Whammy, and Overdrive Mode, the Fender Precision Bass comes equipped with innovative features designed to enhance the Rock Band experience.

The unique Split Strum Bar allows gamers to strum and pluck notes faster and with more precision, vital for fast tempo tracks. The genuine Fender Precision Bass does not have a whammy bar. To respect the accuracy of the bass, Mad Catz has engineered whammy compatibility by discreetly incorporating it into the volume knob of the bass, providing gamers with essential functionality when playing both lead or bass guitar portions of the track while preserving the timeless authenticity of the original design.

Source Madcatz. ...

Gizmodo writes about microsofts new laser mouse first shown in july.
"A mouse is a mouse is a mouse most of the time but, Microsoft's Arc Laser mouse actually looks like a mouse worth getting just a little bit excited about.

It popped up on our radar first back in July but now we have some new photos of the mouse in use, along with its tiny USB dongle. The Arc is interesting, not only because of its slick looks but because it can fold away to about half of its size, thanks to a 'strong hinge'. So, you get a full-size mouse to work with on the go, but which is portable enough to stow away. Pity it doesn't stick to your laptop too like the new Logitech V550 Nano."

Source Gizmodo. ...

xbox live addicts
have reviewed the new limited addition Xbox 360 pad, which apparently has an improved D-Pad, and was to conincide with pro evolution soccer 2009.
"Recently a new wireless green controller was announced with an improved D-Pad. It was first shown at the Leipzig Games Convention.

At first glance you may be forgiven for thinking it looks no different to any other Xbox 360 controller, except for the colour, but it all comes down to the mechanism in the D-Pad.

"The new limited-edition green wireless controller offers enhancements to d-Pad functionality, which will add to the experience of playing games where the d-Pad is the primary control mechanism. We're always looking to improve products and we made these changes based on feedback from gamers." Microsoft stated. "
Source Xbox Live Addicts ...

Techradar writes:
Gaming technology often drives innovation across all computing fields. When Nintendo spent 22 billion yen (about €163million) on research and development way back in 2005, the fruits of that research produced the Wii, which has sold 27 million units worldwide. But what technology can we expect in the consoles and PCs of tomorrow? Read on to find out more about 3D goggles that place you inside your game, headphones that replicate a surround-sound environment and even gaming networks that try to predict what you're going to do next...

Controllers of the future

If you want an idea of how PC technology will change over the next 10 years, look closely at innovations concerning game controllers. Why? The first point of contact with a PC is always the controller (keyboard, joystick), and if that experience is exceptional, the memory processing power, multi-threaded computing and high-end software will also work better for the end user.

Think of the mouse: it changed every computing paradigm when Douglas Engelbart invented it in 1970. Even data centres have had to go through a radical transformation in the past 20 years as the mouse has become the dominant method of computer control, so much so that – in the next 20 years – a data centre will become like a remote power plant that mouse-wielding network administrators control from afar.....
Read more

Source Techradar ...

With the recent news of Madcatz announcing that they will be making the controller to this years sequel to the classic Street fighter series, Street Fighter IV, I thought its time to look back at all the official capcom fighting pads and sticks that have come out through the ages, with most quite rare and have become collectors items in their own right....


With the lauch of Street fighter 2 on the Super Ninendo, Capcom decided to create dedicated controllers for it, and were probably the first of the many fighting pads to come out.

The Soldier Pad from Capcom, though quite an odd shape, was designed specifically for fighting games, this particualar one also came out on the 3DO with the release of Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo several years later!

Although not that popular, this was a japan only release (like most of the branded controllers) and currently the last time capcom released a controller they designed themselves!

A few years had passed and with the range of pads and sticks increasing capcom started to licence out its brand names to top pad makers,


with nubytech bringing out a range for the street fighters 15Th anniversary.

But capcom didn't just licence it out for Street Fighter, with capcom vs snk and darkstalkers both having fighting pads made for them. With darkstalkers licenced pad being probably the best fighting pads, the Sega Saturn pad for Playstation 2! This highly limited addition again was only released in japan (as usual and plays just like the saturn original, which of course was home to many 2d fighters).

Finally the Dreamcast had its own licenced pad from Ascii, for the game Capcom vs Snk, with two versions, plus the standard, black, blue and grey, these pads again trying to match the classic saturn pad feel, and where pretty decent pads for fighting games, and had the advantage over the bulky Dreamcast pad.

So what can Madcatz do for Street Fighter IV? Well theres a bigger market for fighting pads then there use to be, with soul calibur sticks and other fighting pads, they need something that a hardcore fighting fan can use for long periods without it failing on them, or causing nasty aches and pains like some pads and sticks do!

Madcatz themselves know this, and are aiming to supprise, "You have never, ever seen accessories like these from Mad Catz. They will BLOW YOU AWAY and certain to make any and every Street Fighter fan very happy indeed. trust me, you'll be impressed..."

We'll see more news in a couple of months! ...

Living room arenas around the world will soon become even more cluttered with toy instruments thanks to Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero: World Tour. Axes for the two respective franchises haven't gotten along on the Wii, and while we're still not sure whether the next generation will cooperate ezGear is hoping to bring some peace (and eliminate some clutter) for current Nintendo rockers with its ezJam Combo Guitar. Inside its baby-blue Strat-esque styling there's port to plug in your Wiimote when playing Guitar Hero III as well as an integrated wireless transmitter for Rock Band. At $70 it's a little more expensive than other third-parties like the Nyko Frontman, but playing lead in two bands instead of one is totally worth it.

Source Engadget ...