Back in 2007, I went to E3 for the first time. 2007 happened to be the first year of the much smaller E3 show and it sucked so badly I never went back. E3 is going back to the massive show that gamers loved for so many years for 2009 and new games and products galore should be unveiled at the show.

One of the products debuting at E3 will be the You Rock Guitar. Right now, all we have are a few details, exactly what the guitar looks like won’t be known until E3 kicks off and the product is unveiled. What we do know is that the guitar will work for all major consoles and can connect to a PC as well.

Things are getting really really bad in these economically tough times. The modders seem to be hit the hardest. Need evidence? How about the Tupperware arcade stick? Need more? Check out these Shoebox Fightsticks.

They were created using Xbox 360 controllers, Happ joysticks and 14 buttons…in a pair of shoeboxes for cases. On the up side, Al Bundy has moved from women’s to men’s shoes. Sadly business is slow and this is the result. It beats spending time with the wife.

This is either pure genius, or pure “I’m broke as &%#&, but that ain’t gonna stop me from making an arcade stick.” I can’t decide which. Though I can sympathize. Sometimes you just don’t have a cool case for your mod.

In that situation I usually just wait to do my mod, until I’ve found a good case rather then assault my mom’s fake tupperware. But hey, that’s just me. The controller is compatible with the PS2 as well as picnics everywhere.

This concept for a Playstation controller looks awesome, but how does it benefit you the player? The idea is that you can twist the two sides of your controller around. How that benefits you in any way, I have no idea. I can see being able to pull them apart. That gives you more freedom like the Wii controllers. But twisting it at a bizarre angle?

The thinking is that it’s for certain things in game. Like when you are on a cycle. When you twist the controller, you are twisting the throttle. So, its uses are going to be pretty limited. Which is why I don’t think we will be seeing this one anytime soon.

One of the newer PlayStation 3 gaming accessories from dreamGear of late is an upgraded controller. It is called the Shadow Wireless and it prices around $40.

The dreamGear Shadow Wireless is said to be the first ever PS3 wireless controller featuring uniquely relocated analog sticks for enhanced accuracy and comfort. Regular controllers have these sticks side by side, said dreamGear, causing some in-gaming discomfort. The repositioned sticks are said “to feel more natural to the gamer’s hands.”

Gaming accessories maker ezGear, teaming with a music and gaming technology company out of California, is showing off at the Consumer Electronics Show what it believes is the world’s most advanced video game and music controller. It’s a gaming guitar – the You Rock Guitar – and you’ll have shell out around $150 later this year if you want one.

The You Rock Guitar works with both guitar-based video games as well as music programs like Garage Band on the Mac. It sports a full , multi-touch fret board to accomplish this, including offering raised bars to give the feeling of playing the guitar with strings.

I know I am not the only gamer out there who has a Wii, PS3 and an Xbox 360 with wires and controllers lying around everywhere charging. I have a charger that will charge four Wii controllers at once, and there are several others on the market.

What you don’t see a lot of are multiple controller chargers for the PS3, though there are a few, and the Xbox 360. The Wii charger is unique in that not only will it charge four Wii Remotes at once; it also has a spot for charging four AA rechargeable batteries for the Wii Balance Board.

Two of the top selling video game franchises of 2008 were Guitar Hero and Rock Band. With the huge popularity of the music games, it’s no surprise that an ecosystem of peripherals and accessories are available to add realism and take money from the wallets of gamers.

dreamGEAR has announced its latest guitar controller for the PS3 called the WarBeast. The controller was designed by the developer of real guitars B.C. Rich. The WarBeast has the heavy metal looks gamers want and works with Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and Rock Revolution.

I have talked before about Rock Band and how much fun it is to play with a group of friends. I’m not the only Rock Band fan out there that likes to play the game. Popularity for the game is so high that there is a wealth of aftermarket controllers on the market for the Xbox and the PS3. You don’t see that many for the Wii though.

Mad Catz has announced that it will be changing that. The controller maker has signed an agreement with Nintendo that will allow it to build and market officially licensed Wii Rock Band controllers outside of Asia.

I am a big fan of racing and driving simulation games. Titles like GTR, Need for Speed and more are some of my favorite games. I am all for anything that makes for more realism when playing, especially things like force feedback wheels and racing seats.

Fanatec already offers a force feedback Porsche branded racing wheel and a budget wheel stand for driving sim fans. Fanatec has now announced a new racing cockpit for the truly hard-core racing sim fan. The product is called the Renn Sport Cockpit and is designed especially for force feedback racing wheels.

Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips has built imself an awesome looking Guitar Hero guitar mod that marries a Korg Kaoss pad, working GH controller and a white Gibson double-neck guitar. He’s even using this beast to film an 8-second spot for NBC. Okay, so why did he create it? Because of those damn kids. “there’s a lot of kids out there that think this is actually how you play guitar now — that you just press a series of four or five buttons and and sort of different sort of sequences and it makes every sound that the guitar can make,”

You can check out a video here. The Kaoss pad is used to control a synth tone that can be modulated by the five colored neck buttons. No word on whether he’s using it on tour or not, but it will be playing the three-note NBC chime in a promo spot. Pretty cool.

Over the summer, an unknown company called GoLive2 announced what at first glanced sounded like a cool product called Stix. Stix was basically Wii-like motion controls for the PC. I tested a set of the Stix 200 controllers and found they weren’t that good.

GoLive2 is back with a new MMO racing game designed for the Stix controller titled GoLive2 Racing. Let’s be honest about this, the chances of the game being decent are slim to none when you consider how poorly the Stix controllers themselves functioned.

Fanatec unveiled today a new wheel stand for video game racing wheels. It is called the RennSport Wheel Stand and you’ll find it pricing around $130.

The Fanatec RennSport Wheel Stand offers gamers an adjustable wheel angle, height, and pedal position and works with “all Fanatec racing wheels as well as those from Logitech (G25 and Driving Force wheel series) and Microsoft (Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel).” It is said to be made of “rock-solid steel/aluminum construction.”

Most people would prefer wireless gear to similar wired gear. I can think of a few exceptions to that though, namely PC gaming gear like keyboards and mice. However, when it comes to console gaming wireless is where it’s at.

Take the Nintendo Wii, the Wiimote is wireless so what’s with the wire from the Nunchuk to the Wiimote? I’m not alone in wondering that and Thrustmaster has announced a solution to the problem called the T-Nchuk Wireless Adapter NW.

Rock Band has proven to be one of the most successful games in the music genre. This weekend the Xbox 360 version of Rock Band 2 launched and brought with it new accessories for the game. One of the coolest is a new drum kit from ION.

The ION Drum Rocker for the Xbox 360 is now available. The kit has an all-metal bass pedal and can have up to three cymbal pads attached to it for a more realistic drumming experience. The kit can also support a second bass pedal.