A cheap way to get into multiplayer Guitar Heroics originally appeared on Nintendo Wii Fanboy on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FunCom has rolled out a major content update for Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. Players levels 55-63 will now find Ymir’s Pass open. This new outdoor area features quests that include new storyline elements. The Amphitheater dungeon has been added as well. FunCom is promising the Age of Conan community “one of the most epic and memorable monster encounters ever created for the game.”

“This is an important update that opens up a lot of new gameplay content for players who have already passed the level fifty mark,” says Game Director Craig Morrison. “In the months ahead we will introduce even more new content, and coming up soon are two exciting new high-level dungeons intended for players who have reached the maximum level. At this stage adding more content and keeping people entertained is very important to us!”

There are many other tweaks including a solution to female avatars squinty eye issue. Its not as big a deal as the earlier breast reduction bug, but I’m sure it will be appreciated. Full update notes follow the break.

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Related Articles at Gaming Today:

• Age of Conan Servers and Beta Update
• Age of Conan Character Creation on "Set" Frozen For Time Being
• Age of Conan: Community Q&A #2
• The Age of Conan Comic Now Available Online
• Age of Conan: The Barbarian Class

Attention all TrackMania lovers who also happen to own a DS: you're going to want to pencil in March 17 with a big ol' star on your calendar.

Atlus recently nabbed publishing rights for the North American release of TrackMania DS and confirmed that the game will cost $29.99 when it hits retail next year.

While I have a sort of love/hate relationship with my DS, the track editor (shown above) certainly appeals to my creative side and makes me want to start thinking about pulling out my dusty, mistreated handheld ... or not. It's too early to call.

Attention all TrackMania lovers who also happen to own a DS: you're going to want to pencil in March 17 with a big ol' star on your calendar.

Atlus recently nabbed publishing rights for the North American release of TrackMania DS and confirmed that the game will cost $29.99 when it hits retail next year.

While I have a sort of love/hate relationship with my DS, the track editor (shown above) certainly appeals to my creative side and makes me want to start thinking about pulling out my dusty, mistreated handheld ... or not. It's too early to call.

The recent announcement of this stunning Guitar Hero controller from Logitech got me thinking about the varied shapes and sizes of gaming interfaces over the past 30 years.

Logitech's Wireless Guitar Controller with its wood neck and fingerboard and metal frets will be one of the most expensive gaming peripherals ever released, but will certainly have many guitar heroes salivating and willing to "hammer on" some more damage to their long-suffering credit cards.

Today Screen Play looks at other notable gaming controllers released over the past three decades that have been designed to provide a unique new experience, increase comfort, assist immersion, improve realism, or just to help gamers show off.

I'll also be keen to hear about your favourite gaming controllers, as well as those that you hated because they caused blisters or simply didn't work...

Surely the most extravagant controller ever commercially released, this peripheral devoted to a single obscure Xbox mech game features 40 buttons, two joysticks, three foot pedals and a throttle.

There have been many, many lightguns released over the years, but Namco's G-Con for the original PlayStation is probably the most fondly remembered because of its reasonable accuracy and that it supported great games like Time Crisis, Point Blank and Rescue Shot.

An exact replica of the flight controls on the F-16 fighter aircraft, these full metal controllers might help bring the Thrustmaster name back to where it was in the mid 90s among flight sim enthusiasts. I certainly fondly remember Thrustmaster's early equipment - I had a joystick, throttle and foot pedal set-up to play pioneering online flight sim Air Warrior.

Notable because its analog controller facilitated two of the best games of all time - Super Mario 64 and GoldenEye. Sony's Dual Analog Controller (which later morphed into the DualShock) with its twin analog sticks took the concept even further and enabled simultaneous movement and camera control - a much more elegant solution than the N64 pad's yellow buttons. The N64 pad's unusual design certainly wasn't flawless in other areas, either - if you used the analog stick you couldn't reach the left shoulder button, and if you used the D-pad you couldn't use the trigger underneath the analog stick - but its legacy was enormous.

An exquisite racing wheel for the likes of Gran Turismo and SimBin's PC simulators complete with a leather steering wheel with force feedback, a six-speed gearbox and quality non-slip pedals that include a clutch. Screen Play still has a soft spot for the ColecoVision steering wheel, though.

Released in 1998, this motion-sensing gamepad worked well with Microsoft's Motocross Madness but wasn't terribly comfortable and soon sank without a trace until Peter Moore regularly referred to it when questioned about Microsoft's response to the Wii Remote and Sixaxis. "Been there, done that. Consumers said it was interesting, but there was a collective yawn from the gaming community," he told Screen Play in 2006.

Originally released with the GameCube's Donkey Konga, one of Nintendo's (surprisingly rare) rhythm action games, these bongos were also utilised brilliantly in platformer Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, with players clapping and tapping to control their monkey mate. Sadly, here in Australia Donkey Konga 2 and 3 were never released because of the poor sales of the original, depriving us of the chance to play bongos to Hilary Duff and REM tunes.

Now you're playing with power! But only a select few NES games supported the device and
few players had much success controlling the ones that were compatible.

Designed for use with Resident Evil 4, NubyTech released both PS2 and GameCube versions of this delightfully balmy controller back in 2005. The controller has all the standard buttons plus a motion sensor that makes your character raise and lower his weapon by moving the chainsaw up and down. It also has a ripcord and chainsaw noise to scare your mates, plus a handsome display case for collectors.

While otherwise very similar to the Sega Saturn's analog controller, the Dreamcast's pad was notable because of the Visual Memory System which slotted into one of two slots in the middle of the peripheral. VMUs were not just memory cards, they could play mini-games loaded into them by Dreamcast games and even connect to another unit to exchange data.

Manufactured by Namco, this unusual controller had a central swivel joint and was excellent for racing games like Ridge Racer once players acclimatised to its unusual feel.

To replicate the experience of the delightfully crazy arcade gem, Sega used ultrasonic transmitters to triangulate each maraca's position from a sensor bar. Surprisingly, it worked a lot better than this year's Wii version.

You'll find various snowboard and skateboard controllers at your local Cash Converters, but the Wii Balance Board's extremely sensitive pressure sensors make it far more sophisticated than similar devices that have tanked in the past. Astonishing sales of Wii Fit should ensure the board enjoys wide support well beyond the likes of EA's Skate It and Ubisoft's Shaun White Snowboarding this Christmas.

Beatmania was one of the first popular rhythm action games, but home versions didn't enjoy success in the West because of the size and cost of its dedicated DJ turntable controller. While over a dozen Beatmania games were released on PlayStation in Japan, we only got one.

An important weapon in Sony's arsenal for widening the PS2's audience, this set of four USB buzzer controllers with their irresistible flashing red button are simple enough for anyone to use. In addition to Sony's range of Buzz trivia games which explor topics like music, film, sport and general knowledge, the Buzzers are also utilised in kids games like Jungle Party. Wireless versions are now available, saving us the trouble of spending hours untangling the cords every time we want some trivia fun.

Released for the Dreamcast's Sega Bass Fishing, this controller had a built in motion sensor almost a decade before the Wii Remote. It could also be utilised for other games, leading to the bizarre sight of someone playing Soul Calibur using a fishing rod.

A mechanical system featuring a retractable cable and glove that enables games to track three-dimensional movement. Games included beat-'em-up Black Wind and Real World Golf. Developer In2Games is currently working on a wireless version as an alternative to the Wii Remote for the PS3 and Xbox 360 formats.

So bulky it caused some hands to cramp, few players could get their mitts around the original gargantuan Xbox pad, and it was thankfully soon replaced by the much smaller "Controller S" when Bill's behemoth came to its senses.

For millions of gamers around the world, this ergonomic disaster was the first joystick they ever picked up. And they still have the calluses to prove it.

The NES pad has become something of an icon in the industry, celebrated on t-shirts, belt buckles and all manner of merchandised tat, but the SNES pad was far superior: wonderfully comfortable, responsible and reliable. It also introduced shoulder buttons and the four button layout still seen today in PlayStation and Xbox controllers.

Atari was already in huge financial strife before releasing the Jag, bumbling from one disaster to the next. But what chance did the hapless console have with one of the most ridiculously uncomfortable controllers known to man?

Has any controller had the impact on the gaming industry that the Wii Remote has had? Doubtful. It might not be suited to all types of games, but the novelty and accessibility of this wonderful device has almost single-handedly attracted millions of players to the Wii console.