We had heard that Nintendo and the American Heart Association would be making an announcement today. Naturally we thought that it was regarding Nintendo’s Vitality Sensor. Turns out that it was about something else entirely. The AHA has announced that it’s giving its stamp of approval to the Wii.

Wii Fit Plus and Wii Sports Resort too. That’s a big first for a video game console and as ABC News points out, the association hasn’t seen fit to put its seal on other “active” things like baseball bats. It had a good reason to do so in this case, however, as the organization says it will be receiving $1.5 million from Nintendo over three years as a result of the partnership.

Word on the street is that PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 could get some price changes later this year. According to the rumor, Sony could be planning an entry-level £200 (or $295) version of the PS3 that offers a smaller hard drive with a single controller.

While the Microsoft side of the rumor says that it might include the upcoming Natal with the Xbox 360, though there is talk of a possible version of it without Project Natal going for less than £100 ($147). And IF the rumor is true, Nintendo is also looking at a price drop in order to compete with the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.

The only thing missing from this controller is Merlin’s voice saying “He who can free Excalibur from this controller shall forever be king and head nerd for all time”. Then if you can pull the sword out, you can play, otherwise too bad.

This is a concept image of the controller for the Wii port of the arcade game Dragon Quest Monsters Battle Road Victory. Yes, it’s crazy. But hey, keep in mind that it’s the offspring of D and D nerds who will be using it. The controller will be made by HORI and will sell for about $138. Gamers will “push down on the sword for your special finishing sword attack.”

When the Nintendo Wii was released, people called it gimmicky with it’s motion controller, but in spite of that, the console has done really well. But the fact that it’s aging and doesn’t have many grown-up games may be shortening it’s life as a console.

According to Nintendo’s fiscal report, the company sold 20.53 million Wii consoles last year, which is a 21 percent drop from the 25.95 million from the previous year. However this is still Nintendo’s third-best year ever. Will sales of the Wii pick up? I’m not seeing it.

As we recently told you, the black version of Nintendo’s Wii gaming console will be hitting the US very soon, and now a picture of a print ad from GameStop has surfaced to confirm it.

It confirms the launch and confirms that the bundle will be priced at $199.99. So there you have it, the Wii is back in black. But are you guys still playing the Wii? Mine has been collecting dust for over a year.

We’ve been waiting for the black Wii to hit our shores for a long time now. Our wait may be almost over. Sources at three different retailers (Target, GameStop and Future Shop) have all named May 9 as the U.S. launch date for a black Nintendo Wii bundle. The Canadian release will arrive on May 23.

The black version is identical to the white one except for the color. The bundle includes the Wii, a Wii remote and Wii Sports, along with a copy of Wii Sports Resort and a Wii MotionPlus upgrade. All for $199.

If you own a Wii and are still playing it, you’ll be happy to know that the Classic Controller Pro is now available in the US. The controller features another row of shoulder buttons and ergonomically friendly grips to help you, well, keep a grip.

It can also be plugged straight into the Wii Remote controller for wireless connectivity with the Wii. This classic blast from the past comes in either black or white. We aren’t sure which games it works with, but we know that it works with over 450 Wii, WiiWare and Virtual Console games.

Netflix instant streaming discs for the Nintendo Wii started arriving in homes today to the delight of many Wii console owners. The service allows Wii owners who subscribe to at least the minimum $9/month plan with Netflix, to watch select streaming movies and television shows direct to their televisions.

Netflix subscribers keep the disc and must have it inserted in the console any time they would like to watch streaming content, while movies sent through mail will continue as they have in the past. Once the disc is inserted and selected from the Wii home menu, an activation code is presented. Users must enter this code on the Netflix website as a one-time activation to enable the streaming service.

We know that you Wii users have been dying to watch some Netflix instant content on your Nintendo console. Good news. The first batch of Netflix Watch Instantly discs for the Nintendo Wii have now been shipped.

If you already ordered one, you can track its status. Some of you will get them as early as tomorrow. You may not be getting HD, but at least you can enjoy the Netflix library of instant movies and TV while using a Wiimote.

Sure the Wii is cool with it’s motion control and Mii characters, but it isn’t exactly easy to carry with you. However, it is for this talented casemodder. Modder OMGPedoBear worked on this project for 3 months and the end result is a portable Wii laptop.

He created it from expanded PVC sheets, and put a 17″ LCD monitor in the lid. Games are loaded by placing the Wii DVD upside-down in the front-loading tray. There are also a couple of extra fans to deal with the heat.

After touring Japan for some time, Nintendo has brought its Wii Classic Controller Pro to the US. This one sports dual shoulder buttons and some DualShock-style grips. The controller will be arriving in April as a bundle with Monster Hunter Tri.

The game is compatible with the Wii Remote + Nunchuck combo and of course the Classic Controller. Separately the controller is available in black or white for $20. The bundled game and controller will retail for $60.

Here’s some good news for Nintendo and Sony. After the video game console market shrunk by a fifth in October, NPD now has a new report that shows that December was the video game industry’s “biggest sales month ever.”

Console sales jumped 4% compared to last December, with the Nintendo Wii in the lead(It is the cheapest console out there, so not really a surprise) with 3.81 million units moved (up from 2.15 million were moved the previous year).

We often find ourselves wondering just what Nintendo is thinking with things like a lack of Wii colors, a lack of HD on the Wii itself, a lack of good games… What’s the deal Nintendo? Now Reggie Fils-Aime of Nintendo of America fame now claims that his customers do not want a feature that has become a standard.

The Xbox 360 and PS3 can stream full HD movies from Netflix at no extra cost and Reggie has stated his belief that “there really is no loss for the Wii consumer” because “the vast majority” of Netflix streaming content isn’t HD anyway. Reggie has also claimed that the 26 million Wii console owners out there have voted with their wallets and will be quite happy to continue with standard def. Say what?

The Wii has more peripherals than you can shake a wiimote at. Well, here’s another concept for the Wii. The WiiThink. Not well thought out. In fact it makes no sense.

The WiiThink is supposed to be an EEG sensor that monitors brain waves. The idea is to get the elderly to think really hard and concentrate so their brains exercise and they hopefully won’t get Alzheimer’s. Sounds like a fun little scam. But there is no evidence that concentrating prevents Alzheimer’s.

The B.O.S.S. controller from Performance Designed Products, is not really a controller, but a shell made to look like an SNES controller. It slides over your Wiimote and turns it into a huge controller fit for giants. We can’t imagine that it’s actually usable due to the size though.

Still for the big handed among you, it’s only $10 and hey, the name is done up in Mario colors, so it can’t be all bad right?