Anyone who spends lots of time playing the Wii can tell you that the batteries in the remote control don’t last that long with heavy use. Replacing all those batteries can be a hassle and Thrustmaster has been offering a line of charging docks for a while now for the Wii.

Thrustmaster has unveiled a couple new charging solutions for the Wii including the T-Charge Stand Contactless+ NW and the T-Charge Quattro+ NW. The contactless solution replaces the stand of the Wii and has spots to charge two remotes with no contacts and you don’t even have to take the silicone sleeves off the controllers.

Modern Warfare 2 players are going to love this badass third-party controller. It looks awesome and even has extra buttons on the back so you don’t have to take your thumb off the sticks. Moving your thumb to reload or jump can be dangerous.

This baby also sports rubber grips and a “soft-touch finish for extended gaming sessions”, so I guess your hand won’t cramp up. Sadly it’s not wireless, but Mad Catz pledges to provide a “robust and latency free connection with the console.”

Here’s an interesting situation involving the PS3s firmware 3.00. After the PS3 firmware 3.0 went live the problems began. One issue that caught our interest is that some controllers apparently get locked out of the console after the update is installed.

After a lot of back and forth on the official PlayStation3 forum, users think that they have nailed the problem. It looks like the problem controllers were knock-offs. Is Sony intentionally blocking the knock-offs on purpose? Or are they just incompatible with firmware 3.0?

At this weekend’s World Hobby Fair, Nintendo had the blue Wiimote and Nunchuk on display, to promote Wii Sports Resort. They also were showing off that Black Wii we told you about earlier this month.

The Nunchuk has always been shiny on top and matte on bottom, but it’s much more noticeable, in a good way, on the black version. Even the fugly Wiimote jacket looks cool in matte black. The Classic Controller Pro looks downright awesome in shiny black plastic. This Wii items make the console look much more serious.

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.

Looks like the Super Famicon controller for the Wii was just the first such retro controller. Codejunkies is offering this NES-type classic gamepad that has the SNES’s four buttons for $20.

What’s next? We predict a new version of the Nintendo Power Glove, maybe a Mini ROB the robot that can hold your Wiimote. Once they redo all the old Nintendo peripherals, how about an Atari joystick for the Wii?

There aren’t many arcade-style joysticks available for the PS3, probably because there aren’t many fighting games on the console. That are worth playing anyway. Despite this, the XCM Dominator is headed our way. No price or availability just yet.

Another addition is this strange XCM Cross Battle Adapter hub. It lets PS3 owners synch up their wired Xbox 360 controllers and play games using them. It will cost you $40. This might be a little more useful since it’s a better controller, but won’t you be plagued by mapping issues? Hell if I know.

Sony’s PS3 SIXAXIS and Dual Shock 3 controllers being wireless, are going to need a charge after awhile. That’s why Sony has their own AC adapter for both controllers, for almost $30, available starting December 18th. With the AC adapter, you’ll get a few USB ports, allowing you to charge up to two controllers at the same time. We don’t know if this is going to show up outside of Japan or not, but we hope so. It’s better then leaving your PS3 powered up all night.

When most people think of gamers, they think of guys. While that is fairly accurate, many girls also enjoy playing video games. One the most popular genres with the ladies are music games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band. The plain and masculine guitar controllers typically available with the games can be a problem for the ladies. Thankfully girly controllers are available in the aftermarket.

PDP has announced that new guitar controllers compatible with both Rock Band and Guitar Hero will be available in mid-October for $69.99 each. The controllers were designed with cooperation from teen rock star’s Aly & AJ. The guitar designed by Aly features a heart and cross bone print in pink and brown.

Microsoft is dropping some limited edition green and red Xbox 360 controllers at the end of September, priced at $64 each. The red one comes with black accents and even comes with a bundled Play & Charge with red battery pack.

If red and green seem like odd color choices, I agree. Red and green says Christmas to me. I guess they would be an ideal pair for playing a Christmas Eve game of Halo with some holly adorning your controllers and a bunch of new games under the tree.

Remember that funky Falcon FPS controller from Novint? Well, the controller is pretty much the same but the company has announced an aesthetic upgrade to the device giving it a more “edgier” black and silver design instead of just the passive looking white model. Novint is also going to be adding a pistol grip controller to use with the Falcon to provide even more realistic FPS game play. Novent CEO Tom Anderson predicts that the less expensive pistol grip accessory alone will help drive sales for actual Falcon controller. The pistol grip accessory is expected to go for $19.99 and the black Falcon will be at $199.99.

Earlier this month during CES 2008 Nyko announced a wireless Nunchuck controller for the Wii. The Nunchuck had the wireless built in and a small adapter attached to the bottom of the Wiimote to connect them, giving you cord-free gaming action for about $30.

Now Nyko has taken into account the fact that many Wii owners already have the Nunchuck controller and really don’t need another. For this Nyko is now launching the Wireless Adapter for the Wii Nunchuck. This adapter runs on two AA’s and connects to the bottom of the Nunchuck remote, wrapping up the cord around it. A wireless adapter connects to the bottom of the Wiimote and lets you now use your existing Nunchuck and rid yourself of the cord in between. You can now completely perfect your arm-flailing windmill style of boxing without the risk of choking yourself or others, but of course there is still the risk of hitting them.

We’ve covered our share of Wiimote accessories. Some, like the Shark Gun are downright strange. But nothing beats this latest bundle from Dragon Electronics, which offers no less than eight deadly ways to accessorize your Wiimote and nunchuck.

It includes a pair of daggers, an axe, a curved sword and a pistol to name a few. There must be some Chuck Norris Ninja game that I’m not aware of. What’s next, a screw together Wiimote rifle that comes in a silver briefcase? I bet they would call it the Oswald or “The Book Depository”. Anyway, if you want 8 dangerous weapons for your Wiimote, you can get this bundle for just under $30.

It’s about time we start seeing some Jedi action on the Wii. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is headed to the Wii next Spring, but in the meantime you can get your Star Wars fix with this new lightsaber attachment. You can get it now from Play.com.

A few features are a power up/down effect for saber glow. It can also be dimmed down. It sports 22 ultra-bright LEDs and an on/off switch. You’ll need 3 AA cells to keep it lit. These are scheduled to ship later this very month. $31 is all it takes to be a very happy Jedi.

To qoute Ben Kenobi, “The light saber is an elegant weapon from a more civilized age.”

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 …