While games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero require huge peripherals to play, the AirG for the upcoming Wii title PopStar Guitar fits in your hand. Just slip the Wiimote into the AirG case and you can rock out wirelessly with four fret buttons (sans strum bar). The game will run $US60 but include two AirGs right out of the box. The PS2 version of the game will settle with using existing toy guitars to play. Available this November, it's a simple peripheral, but we have to appreciate the easy storage as we trip over these fancy Rock Band 2 drums. [PopStar Guitar]

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You know the drill. First a rumour spreads across the internet. Then an executive in the company offers up some sort of vague denial of said rumour. Time passes. An announcement is made. Guess what? The rumours were true all along. Obviously, that doesn't happen in every situation, but I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case with the recent rumour that an HD version of the Wii will hit the market in 2011. In a recent interview with Venture Beat, Nintendo of America Pres Reggie Fils-Aime referred to the story as "speculation" and claimed that showing a prototype to the game development community is "not the way they would find out" about a project. While this may be true, rumours tend to stick around in the absence of a flat-out denial. [Venture Beat via Crunchgear]

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Pioneer showed off their new Floating Vision technology at CEATEC this year. It's a system of layers: first, an LCD with built-in computer, then an array of 3D lenses, and finally the "space sensor," or virtual screen, where you can wave your fingers around and watch the 3D animations react accordingly. But the space sensor can also distinguish between and interact with different objects, like the Microsoft Surface: hold your phone under a falling object, say, and it'll appear on your phone's screen with a coupon for that item. Second video after the jump.

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It's tough to imagine the eureka moment when an engineer, equating the Microsoft Surface with a fat person with a penchant for curly fries dipped in ranch, decided to place the Surface on the Wii Balance Board. But the result, coupled with a custom-coded Surface app, creates a tilt screen of epic proportions. Pushing on one edge of the Surface works just like rotating an iPhone. And we can't wait to see the technology manifest to an insane 4-player co-op game of Monkey Ball. [Stimulant via ubergizmo]

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More from the Nintendo Press Conference: the company will let you download games onto SD cards on the Wii, starting Spring 2009. Yes, you'll have to wait another four or five months before you get to unclog the Wii's paltry HD, but at least it's something right? Nintendo president Satoru Iwata also talked about an initiative to get more people using the Internet features of the Wii. The company will release a new Wi-Fi adaptor (possibly with mesh networking capabilities) and offer you 500 free Wii Points if you help a friend get connected. [Kotaku]

Why Akihabara's Refresh Club doesn't have a New York outlet, I don't know, but on the wake of this groundbreaking news, they better open it soon. For $US25 you will be able to play Wii Fit with Japanese girls in French maid dresses. Yes, Wii Fit, that game with the balance board that often requires you to lean forward and backward. Because, you know, as the owner says, exercise is all about your playmates:

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A true "next generation" Nintendo console, tentatively referred to as the Wii HD, will hit the market in 2011, according to the folks at What They Play. The site claimed that Nintendo is currently showing early presentations of Wii 2.0 to the game development community, and that Miyamoto's new device will be based on completely new hardware and will contain HD visuals, digitally distributed content and expanded storage.

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At E3 this year, all the games journalists and hardcore gamers seemed a little bit disappointed by Nintendo's offering. Sure they had the MotionPlus peripheral, but outside of that, the only game of any note was Wii Music.

Well, Nintendo are launching Wii Music next week at the Opera House, and although many of you couldn't care less about waving your Wiimote around like a musical instrument, your mums and dads might. That's why I'll be there, subjecting myself to the rigours of Wiimote jamming, or something similar.

Expect a full report after the event...

Spotted in the OAMI (European trademark registry), this Nintendo-branded pedometer will most probably become an official piece of must-have Nintendo gear soon. Lacking any external screen, there's no indication whether it will sync with the DS or the Wii (like for Wii Fit or something), but we're assuming Nintendo has some decent software integration in mind for the device, since third parties have otherwise struck first in this niche. [OAMI via Kotaku]

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We've seen Wii lightsaber attachments before, but Thrustmaster's version actually looks like something we'd be excited in using. These add-on sticks are powered by three AAAs and have 17 blue or red LEDs for glow-in-the-dark action. Nice, but we're not sure how much more "gameplay" it'll add to The Force Unleashed. Bonus shot for awkward Canadian teens after the jump. [Thrustmaster via Go Nintendo]

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