Fans of guitar-based video games such as those on the PlayStation 2 will be happy to note ArtGuitar is bringing some limited edition, musician stylized guitars their way. Artists whose materials will be appearing on these guitars include Ozzy Osbourne and KISS.

The AG RiffMaster Guitar Controller is a full-size Peavy guitar modified to be a video game controller. It offers up, according to ArtGuitar, a glossy finish with a professional feel. These guitars are reportedly limited edition and, besides new images of Ozzy and KISS, already have images of Panterra and Lynyrd Skynyrd in the company’s line up.

Razer, a gaming hardware specialty company, today unveiled two new PC gaming accessories. The Razer Lycosa keyboard and Piranha headset are both priced at around $80 and will be available in November and October respectively.

The Razer Lycosa offers an extremely fast response time to allow for more efficient gameplay. Its keypads are illuminated, non-slip and made of rubber as well as being full programmable. There’s also customizable gaming profiles, a USB port, detachable wrist rest and dedicated media keys.

Belkin is getting some new gaming hardware as it today unveiled the n52te, a hybrid gaming keyboard enhanced by Razer gaming software. The n52te is priced at around $70.

The Belkin n52te is designed to help PC gamers across a variety of gaming genres, be it first person shooter or real-time strategy. It has 15 programmable keys built for quick access, a backlit keypad and scroll wheel, tactile feedback and can be toggled between three keymap states.

After living with gamers clamoring for a year wanting it, Sony has given in and announced that it will start selling a PlayStation 3 controller with rumble feature shortly. Dubbed the Dualshock 3 Wireless Controller by the company, the controller will go on sale in Japan in November and then in America and Europe in the spring of 2008.

Sony had faced competition and a lawsuit from a rival game company, Immersion, over claims of copyright violation in the technology of its PS3 controllers. That lawsuit has been settled in the favor of Immersion and the introduction of the Dualshock 3 is the inevitable result: a PS3 controller with rumble features.

While it may look like a painted-up controller for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 it is in fact made for the Nintendo Wii. This is the Thrustmaster T-Wireless NW controller and it’s designed for play with the older, classic video games that are being ported for play to the Wii generation.

You get about 30 feet of play range out of it and you can customize the keys, mini-sticks and the D-pad for whatever function you desire. There are also two unusual buttons that will help you get better scores with your Miis: a turbo bottom which you only need to press once to get the same action as repeated button mashing; and a slow button which, if you can guess, slows the on-screen action down when reaction time is of the essence.

It looks like Brando might have beat Nintendo out of the gate with their own Wii controller “tommy gun” configuration. This Wii 2 in 1 Light Gun from Brando looks a lot like the Zapper that’s expected to be released by Nintendo in November, which will ship along with a Crossbow training game.

This version from Brando is available now and is listed at $18, $2 under the expected price of the Zapper but with no game. But, unfortunately we’re still going to have to wait a little longer for the Wii games to come out that take advantage of this plastic mold.

Sticking to their plan they announced in July, the Chat Pad accessory for the Xbox 360 game controller is set to start shipping next Tuesday, September 4. The Chat Pad will come packaged as part of a Messenger Kit that will come bundled with a headset for $29.99 from Microsoft. Be sure to remember when ordering that this kit doesn’t include the controller, just the Chat Pad and the headset.

Hot on the heels of the Wii Zapper (for all your laser blasting needs) comes this little invention, the Wii Rifle Gun Prop. Slide in your remote and nunchuk and now you can fire buckshot with the best of ‘em. Fans of “Resident Evil” will see the lovely possibilities here when you need to fight off a zombie horde.

The Rifle Gun is ergonomically balanced and weighted. The grip is designed so that you can hold it with just one hand or dual handed. Perhaps best of all it has a “lock and load” ability so when there’s an “Evil Dead” game for the Wii you’ll be able to use your boomstick just like good ol’ Ash does. At the risk of descending into bad pun territory it sounds like the Rifle Gun is going to be a blast for playing your Wii games. Priced …

Images of what appears to be a new design of Sony’s PlayStation 3 Sixaxis controller appears on Yahoo’s official site for “The Force Unleashed”, LucasArts upcoming next gen game that lets you kick much good guy ass as an apprentice of Darth Vader. The talkback sections on gaming sites exploded with readers commenting on what it could mean; did someone at LucasArts accidentally leak a forthcoming design for the PS3 controller? Further compounding the mystery the image of the strange PS3 controller then vanished from the original site. Did Sony ask LucasArts to remove the design?

It now looks like that the PS3 controller image was in fact a fan-made mock-up of a PS3 controller from a couple of years ago posted on a gaming forum. What may have happened was the web designer for the “Force Unleashed” page grabbed the bogus PS3 …

Force feedback joysticks have been around for over a decade but there hasn’t been a stick made that could simulate the three dimensions of an object until Novint made the Falcon. If you think this unit looks like a robot rather than a joystick you would be right.

The joystick element of the controller is raised above the surface of the resting platform so when you grip it with your hand you’re pushing at it in three dimensions. Sensors detect any movement that your hand makes, updating the data to your machine a thousand times a second and producing instant movement on the screen.

Novint claims that the Falcon can simulate realistic “texture, shape, weight, dimension and dynamics” of objects on your screen, like the weight of a basketball or the recoil of your shotgun in a FPS. To prove it they also will …

Namco Bandai is partnering with game controller maker Hori to offer a bundled package for the release of Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation. The bundle will include the game along with an Ace Combat 6 faceplate for the Xbox 360 and the Ace-Edge Flightstick accessory, which is the first flight simulator accessory made for the Xbox 360.

The Ace-Edge Flightstick controller consists of two pieces; a throttle controller and a separate flight stick. Both will be branded with the Ace Combat 6 design. This will be a limited edition bundle planned for this coming holiday season retailing for $149.99. Ace Combat 6 by itself is planned for release later this year for $59.99.

via Kotaku