The Rage Wireless Guitar Controller for the Wii is being recalled after a fault left one gamer injured.

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It seems recently that a day doesn't go by without some rhythm game announcing new artists, new albums, or new features for the forthcoming versions of their franchise, and XS Game's PopStar Guitar wants in on some of that hot announcement action. In a press release that claims to be announcing four new blockbuster tracks, five new tracks are listed, which I assume means one of them isn't blockbuster enough. Is it Rihanna's "Shut Up and Drive", "SOS" by the Jonas Brothers, "See You Again" by Hannah Montana, or "Wake Up Call" and "Makes Me Wonder" from Maroon 5?

Whichever of the selections is deemed unworthy of blockbuster status, one thing is perfectly clear: the demographic for this Wii and PS2 game does not include me. Should sell like hotcakes to preteen girls and their creepy admirers though.

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It's here, it's here! It's finally here! Well, it'll shortly be here at least. Mad Catz has announced that the first in their line of third-party Rock Band instrument alternatives is shipping today, and bassists of the world rejoice. The Fender Precision Bass guitar is an extremely sexy piece of fake guitar-shaped plastic, featuring all the standard guitar features, including solo keys, overdrive mode, and a unique whammy feature integrated into the volume control to give the bass an authentic feel. Probably the best feature of the Fender Precision is the split strum bar, which allows for two-finger plucking in classic bass style. The only way they could capture the bass experience any better would be to include someone to (severely edited) the bassist in between sets.

I crave this like I have craved no other plastic musical instrument before, to the point where I'm completely bypassing my own built-in safeguards against buying Mad Catz products and actively considering making the purchase. Scary, I know!

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Electronic Arts. Activision. Konami. XS Games? The relatively tiny publisher is wading into deep waters this October when they ship PopStar Guitar, a guitar playing game for the Wii and PlayStation 2. The game features more than 50 pop songs from artists such as 3 Doors Down, Simple Plan, Blink 182, and many other bands you'd be likely to find on that damn Buzz Cuts CD they keep advertising on television. The game includes single player and co-op mode, allowing one or two players to visit 25 unique venues on their road to making their hands tired.

The difference with PopStar Guitar is the way you control it on the Wii. While the PS2 version is compatible with Rock Band or Guitar Hero controllers, the Wii version ships with something called the AirG, which attaches to your Wii remote to form "an electrifying air guitar". Sounds dangerous. Look, I'm all for competition in the marketplace, but you have to bring something more to the table than a one-shot accessory and more than 50 pop songs " including several masters performed by the original artists". Several?

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While most of this circuit soldering fun is over our heads, for those interested, you can modify your Guitar Hero (or Rock Band, we're assuming) controllers to automatically whammy through entire songs at inhumanly fast theoretical maximums by replacing the whammy output with a 555 timer circuit. Essentially this circuit automatically alternates proper voltage to build up your star power fast.

Also of note, this mod requires no external power (like batteries) and it can be toggled on and off for the times when you don't want to be an evil awful horrible cheater.

HOWTO Hack Your Guitar Hero Whammy Bar [Gogglemarks via MAKE]

I Am 8-Bit and Couch have teamed up to sell these spiffy Space Invader-infested guitar straps, perfect for dangling faux guitars from your neck between sets on Rock Band or Guitar Hero.

The vinyl straps feature a swarm of Space Invaders at either end in either blue or black and sell for $US 33 a pop. Best part? It's wearable art.

"I am 8-bit by Couch" Rock Band/Guitar Hero Strap [Couch]

Stephen Totilo just posted a video that reveals that the Guitar Hero III guitars actually break apart for storage. How cool is that? It's certainly going to save some space in my closet. Kinda like how snuggly the Wii Remote fits in there too, though I'm not sure why they even bother. Why not just use the guitar?