Though little is known about the Wii's recently unveiled peripheral, the MotionPlus attachment, other than the fact that it will allow you to throw virtual frisbees to virtual puppies with unparalleled accuracy, Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development director Katsuya Eguchi alluded to a new Wiimote model that would include the MotionPlus technology during an E3 developer roundtable.

In Eguchi's own words, Nintendo is "looking at whether or not it will be an attachment or built in," so a MotionPlus Wiimote is far from confirmed. Still, we certainly hope Nintendo never ceases production of the attachment altogether -- forcing a populous that scrambled to acquire the Wii's elusive controller last year to chase after a new Wiimote SKU could lead to an unforeseen, if not slightly ironic, revolution against the prosperous company.

At the end of last month's issue of Nintendo Power, the editors promised a huge reveal in the magazine's following issue, teasing those anxiously awaiting Wii-exclusive installments in the Earthbound and Kingdom Hearts franchises. However, if the supposed scans of the cover of the upcoming edition of Nintendo Power that have begun to trickle onto the internet are legit, then the publication's big surprise could be coming from an unexpected source -- a new adventure of a recognizable blue rodent, titled Sonic and the Black Knight.

Assuming the scans are real, the twentieth anniversary edition of Nintendo Power will give readers their first look at the title. No other details are given on the supposed cover, though we're sure the sole image of the cerulean speedster brandishing a broadsword is enough to send you into a tizzy. However, let us not forget the disaster that resulted the last time we bestowed a lethal weapon upon a hedgehog.

While not every game may include Trophies for now, at least one major developer tells Joystiq that Sony's answer to Achievements will be "mandated" by Sony for every new PS3 release in 2009.

This isn't entirely unexpected given recently-revised comments by PSN director of operations, Eric Lampel. What's more interesting, however, is that the developer, which is currently working on an early 2009 release, is also hearing that Sony may be enforcing some measure of uniqueness between spoils earned on its console versus the Xbox 360. Commented to developer, "We've heard some things that make it sound like we will have to do some unique to PS3 Trophies...this is all very new to us." While unconfirmed, we can't wait to see to what extent Sony will try to separate its virtual accolades from those on the Xbox 360, or if the idea will simply be enough to make completionists' heads implode.

As E3 gets closer, the speculation about what will be announced at the show gets more and more out there. So now that E3 is actually here, we get this post from IGN's Matt Cassamassina positing that Activision is working on an accelerometer-equipped, tilt-sensitive attachment for the Nintendo DS' Game Boy Advance slot. Nothing too surprising about that news, but the post jumps off from there to suggest Nintendo is also working on a similar tilt-sensing cart for the DS slot. Why would they do such a thing? Because Nintendo is planning to release a new DS without a Game Boy Advance slot, of course.

Yes, IGN buried the lede a bit, suggesting two paragraphs down that "trusted insiders that Nintendo" say a new, slimmed-down DS (a la the Game Boy Micro) could be coming out soon. The new unit would have no GBA slot (thereby explaining the need for tilt-sensitive DS carts) and come in at a cool sub-$100 price, if IGN is to be believed. Of course, IGN still considers everything it writes just a rumor. We'll know soon enough, as anything from Activision or Nintendo would likely be revealed at their press conference tomorrow.

What's this? More rumors about another Halo? The latest Gamespot Rumor Control has a source that claims the next Halo title will be tactical, "a cross between Ghost Recon and Gears of War" and will be announced sometime this year (maybe tomorrow?). According to the source, the "darker, grittier" iteration is more akin to Neil Blomkamp's shorts. Oh yeah, and that Master Chief guy is nowhere to be found.

In terms of gameplay, you can reportedly play as an entire squad (huh?) in the entire campaign, and there will be online co-op. The mention of Ghost Recon is particularly interesting, as a former creative director from G.R.A.W. developer Red Storm joined Bungie in August 2007. Gamespot seems confident with their source, and that would make for quite a big E3 announcement.

Based on their overt teasing, we're willing to bet Bungie is announcing a new game tomorrow. An unverified tip to Joystiq said that whatever game is announced Monday will be out this year. Assuming this isn't Halo Recon Advanced Warfighter or Peter Jackson's Halo project, one potential candidate for such a title with a short development time would be Xbox Live Arcade. A recent countdown rumored to be connected to Bungie (and once counting down to tomorrow) has changed to now end on August 7 just after 7:00 pm PT, although a WHOIS query of the site doesn't add credence to the rumored connection.

Compounding the rumor is Bungie's mysterious fixation with "The Superintendent." Who's the superintendent? We're glad you asked. He's the icon shown above who as far back as May has been popping up on Bungie t-shirts, in their news posts and forums and in the recent Bungie Day gamerpics pack as the unacknowledged eighth gamerpic. So are we barking up the wrong tree? We'll find out for sure tomorrow.

Here we go. Various outlets today began redirecting readers to Motus Games' page, who have been working on Darwin, a Wii remote-like motion controller that doesn't need an infrared sensor bar to work. The device is slated to come out at the end of the year for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Of course, we've known about Darwin ... since February, so why is this coming out now?

As far as we can tell at the moment, the Xbox 360 connection can be summed up like this:

• Darwin shares a similar color pallette with the Xbox 360 pad
  
• There are similarities in the name Darwin and the purported codename for Microsoft's motion controller, Newton
• E3 is days away and everyone is getting antsy

We're not denying the possibility that Darwin is, erm, Newton, but we're not sure what, if any, revelations have come out in the last four months. (Microsoft, if you recall, has a definite deal with Qmotion over active gaming controllers.) So for now, sit back, relax, print out your bingo card and wait for Monday's press conference.

Update: We've placed Motus' video demos after the break.
[Via X3F]

We've been chomping at the bit for any details about the complete setlist for Harmonix's upcoming sequel to last year's well-received rockstar simulator, Rock Band. We've learned of a few new tracks from a slip-up on G4 and a tip from an anonymous playtester, but even these substantial leaks only make up a drop in Rock Band 2's 80-song bucket. Luckily, two sources who claim to know the near-complete list of tunes included in the title recently posted their findings -- though their own sources don't exactly inspire confidence in the accuracy of their supposed setlists.

Though their information evolved entirely from hearsay, there's quite a bit of overlap between the two lists, lending some amount of legitimacy to this rumor. Some of these overlapping tracks include Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer", The Presidents of the United States of America's "Lump", Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer" (Qu'est-ce que c'est?), and a long overdue "Pump It Up" by Elvis Costello. We've got both lists after the jump -- with a couple of weeks between us and E3, we'll be discovering the correctitude of these tracks soon enough.

The latest rumor to come from the pages of EGM lends further credence to one of last month's marketing leaks that Activision has gotten a little gung-ho with their plastic controllers. According to EGM's "skater spy," the next Tony Hawk game will feature a "new fancy plastic peripheral" (we're thinking something like the Wii Balance Board); for reference, the marketing leak called it "a new motion sensing board controller." Additionally, the game will supposedly not be developed by Neversoft, who at the moment have their hands full with Guitar Hero World Tour's peripherals.

We have a hard time imagining Neversoft, who created the Tony Hawk series and has worked on all previous iterations, not having a part in the next version. We've sent our network of spies into action and will let you know what we come up with.

[Via NWF]

Sony America bigwig Patrick Seybold tells GamePro that he's "not sure" where the image of PS2 games available on the PSN came from and "at this point" there are no announcements or plans of PS2 games for download on the PS3.

The user who originally posted the image on N4G said he received the pic from a Sony Europe insider and that the PS2 DLC will be unveiled at E3 in a couple weeks.

Update: New release date confirmed.

Last we heard in March, SOCOM: Confrontation was coming September 16 to PS3. If Gamestop is to be believed, that release date has been pushed back a month to October 14. We wouldn't be surprised if it was true, as our hands-on time with the game recently showed there was still a lot of work to be done. We've put in a call to developer Slant Six for an official response.

[Via PS Forums]

We're very relieved to know that the 20GB Xbox 360 model isn't advanced enough to experience the equivalent of a mid-life crisis. Not only are a string of alleged retailer ads knocking its asking price down to $299 in July, but an Opposable Thumbs source is suggesting that the model will soon be discontinued and replaced by younger, better model packing 60 gigglebytes.

Still, it's a rumor we've heard before (remember this?), one the "usually trustworthy source" indicates will become reality during E3. Fluctuating hard drive capacities, multiple SKUs and retired models: Welcome to the current generation!

Looks like Sony's planning to hog even more of your sweet, sweet download bandwidth via the PlayStation Store, if a rumor posted on the N4G forums is to be believed. According to the post, downloadable PS2 games will be announced at E3 next month and will appear on the store this summer.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty is prominently featured in the "leaked" image; the other games we can make out are Fantavision, Red Faction, Ridge Racer V, Smuggler's Run, SSX, and ... well, we're not quite sure what that last one is. Keen-eyed readers to the comments page! the last one is The Bouncer. Thanks, readers!

The info supposedly originates from a Sony Europe insider, who informed the poster that the roll-out will actually occur in Europe before the rest of the world. (Which is contrary to Sony's usual M.O.) This rumor comes on the heels of an actual official announcement by Sony that it will finally introduce a movie / video download service for PS3 this summer. It seems like this summer will see the PS3 experience evolving quite a bit, especially if this rumor pans out.

According to Ars Technica, Capcom's two-dimensional return to tradition in Mega Man 9 may not be confined to WiiWare, as was originally revealed in the latest issue of Nintendo Power. The report notes that the game is currently listed as an Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network title on Capcom's E3 roster -- if true, Mega Man 9 would be the first downloadable game to jump through the doors of all three services.

Capcom remains quiet on the matter, however, telling us that we'll have to wait until E3 for further news. Given the publisher's continued support of both XBLA and PSN for its downloadable games, the blue bomber will likely stick with a multi-platform approach. We can't imagine how many gamers would be left seeking retrobution otherwise.

Update: Capcom has reaffirmed to Ars that Mega Man 9 is "WiiWare only."