Konami announces Pop'n Music for Wii, with no Pop'n Music controller

That's exactly what they must have done and look what happened. They churned out this garbage.

Taiko no Tatsujin Wii? Yes, it did, and did so while keeping all of the visuals that's made Taiko the charming game that it is.

But, of course, it released only in Japan.

Importing a Japanese PS2 isn't THAT expensive, and the home-version controller can still be found here and there on eBay (but that's easily the most expensive part). However... if you want to import JUST for Pop'n, that might be unwise. Look into lots of other games NA never got (AIR, Super Robot Taisen a3, Mushihimesama, etc.).

I managed to get a .jp PS2 in '04 for $350 shipped; picked up Pop'n 9 at the time for $60, and then paid $200 for a custom-built arcade-size controller (the guys who made it don't make them anymore, sadly). Overall a wonderful investment on my part and definitely a personal dream come true... I just have too many other games to play to get truly good at Pop'n, though it get brought out around the beginning of anime con season so I don't embarrass myself too much.

Suikoden fans sympathize with you.

beat me to it.

Or you can just mod your system and play burnt games instead. That saves a whole mess of money. In fact, i know a site that hosts every single Pop n music game ever made for PS2.