Over in Japan, Nintendo is busy testing new functionality for the Nintendo DS that will allow users to download information of McDonald's food and sales campaigns at any one of twenty-one restaurants located around Tokyo. Now through June 28th, owners of the prevalent portable will be able to log in to WiFi via the restaurants, much like they can do now in the states, and pull up information on menu items, which in a perfect world would then cause them to stand up, look disgusted, and then leave, as long as they aren't too distracted by the game demos also on tap.

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Is Microsoft answering the Wii Fit's Balance Board with some quirky accessories of its own? Qmotions, a subsidiary of a company called Actiga, announced it's partnering with Microsoft on a range of officially-endorsed third-party peripherals that use the Xbox 360's wireless tech.

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Since Guitar Hero III's launch back in October, I have been on a quest for standalone wireless guitar controllers. Having purchased the game by itself thinking I would be satisfied playing while tethered to my Xbox 360, the videos of GH fans jumping off furniture soon swayed me to the wireless cause. My quest hit a snag when I realised the wireless controllers weren't out yet, but Activision promised they would be on the shelves in early 2008, and now they deliver on said promise. March is the month in which retailers will begin receiving shiny new standalone wireless guitar controllers for Guitar Hero III, with the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions running $69, and the Wiimote-embedded Wii version $US 10 cheaper at $US 59. Then shortly after we all run out to snag ours, Activision will no doubt reveal all new guitars for GHIV that will make us feel like idiots for buying these. Woot!

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Corinex has decided it feels bad for all you console users without a wireless network in your home. So, to alleviate the pain and limitations that come with a wired network, Corinex has come out with GameNet, a wireless, two-part networking solution to connect all of your consoles to the Internet. Here's the deal: connect one part to your broadband modem, and plug it into the wall. Then plug the wireless adapter into any console with an Ethernet port. And according to Corinex, with that two-minute process, you now have a connection to the Internet that's better than wireless, at 200Mb/s. If that really does sound like the perfect solution for you, a wire-free (er, reduced) and speedier world can be yours for $US 169.99.

Gamers Get Leg-up on Opponents With Corinex's GameNet[CES Press Office]

Nyko think we do, because they're releasing a wireless nunchuk controller and adaptor for the Wii Remote, which will be publicly unveiled at CES next month. It'll work by plugging a small receiver into the Wii Remote's nunchuk port, and the nunchuk itself will come with its own power button and status light. In terms of design they've just copied, literally, the shape and layout of Nintendo's version, the only changes being clear buttons and the aforementioned power button and light. Stuff like price and a release date will be announced at CES, so you can spend the intervening days asking yourself some tough questions, like why you can't just put up with a little strip of white cord instead of pining after yet another gimmick that'll need its batteries changed every week.

Nyko Reveals Wireless Wii Nunchuck [IGN]

Those of you hunting for official wireless guitar controllers from Activision to supplement their Guitar Hero III experience can stop looking, because they aren't out yet. I was expecting them to be out on shelves with the game itself, but Activision has announced that wireless controllers for all four console versions will be heading to retail outlets in early 2008. This is excellent news for owners of the PS3 and Wii versions of the game, who at this point have to buy additional copies of the full package in order to get an extra wireless guitar, which works on paper - specifically Activision sales papers - but in execution kind of hurts players' tender wallets. Probably for the best that I wasn't able to find one, as I already have four fake guitars cluttering up my living room as it is. What I need is a guitar controller rack to display my instruments of destruction.

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Back in August, Microsoft announced they were having problems with their snazzy "wireless" wheel. Seems in some instances the thing was overheating and "releasing smoke". In other words, one step short of catching fire, engulfing your home and loved ones in flame before exploding in a shower of sharp plastic fragments. It all sounded very bad at the time, but turns out, it was really all OK! According to Microsoft, anyways. They've only been informed of 70 "incidents" involving the wheel's power supply, which with 230,000 of them sold constitutes a "nothing to see here" from MS HQ. I'll go to sleep tonight wondering just what constitutes an "incident".

Microsoft Extinguishes Racing Wheel Fears [Next-Gen]

Remember that dangling dongle "solution" for Guitar Hero III for the PlayStation 3? You may be in for a similar treat with Rock Band, as 1UP reveals that the game's wireless guitars won't actually use the built-in Bluetooth wireless capabilities for that game either, instead opting for a custom 2.4GHz hardware option. Don't worry, Harmonix just says this is for the "first generation" guitar controllers, which may mean you have the option to re-buy wireless Bluetooth controllers at a later date.

This certainly won't sit well with anyone looking for a dangle free PS3. If Rock Band is indeed going with a USB dongle for the "wireless" guitar controller, I sure hope it plans on included a USB hub with the PS3 version as future PlayStation 3 owners who are stuck with only two USB ports in the 40GB model will have a tough time plugging in a full band.

Further details on the Rock Band dongle bungle at 1UP.

PS3's Mysterious Wireless Dongle [1UP]

While up in Cairns for Activision's Activate Asia, I had a chat to Red Octane's Charles Huang, co-creator of Guitar Hero. For what seemed like most of the event, Charles carried around the new wireless guitar that will debut with GHIII. Not only did it make him look cool, it made it hard not to ask him about it.

What caught my interest was the effort Red Octane had to go to get Microsoft on board. GHIII and its wire-free instrument represent the first time Microsoft has given the go-ahead to a third-party to create a controller based on the Xbox 360's wireless protocols.

According to Charles, the Big M had never planned on allowing other companies to produce wireless stuff, so there was nothing in place for Red Octance to work with.

Actually, all the first parties [were on board] - when we said we'd like to make the guitar work wireless with your platform. It was universal, everybody responded yes, that's definitely what we want to do. Between Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony they opened up the doors and for the first time, had to begin to share some of the inner workings of their controllers, their wireless technology, to let us make it work in our guitars.

Charles said it took a lot of engineers to make the controller work, with techies based in Washington, China and even Australia. It probably didn't help that MS invented their own standard.

Microsoft has its own proprietary [wireless] technology ... it's not Bluetooth, it's not Wi-Fi ... I think when they started they had not intended to let anyone other than themselves use this technology.

Hopefully Red Octane didn't do all the work for them. At the very least, Charles believes they were a good test subject.

Yeah, we were kind of the guinea pigs.