News concerning the existence of Hori's Fighting Stick for the Nintendo Wii actually cropped up a few weeks ago, but at the time only a placeholder for the product displayed its potential and no official release date had been confirmed. That's all changed now, with the accessory firm reporting that its multi-buttoned arcade controller will hit Japanese stores on the 30th of this very month.

Unfortunately the Fighting Stick is not motion sensitive, so you won't be waving the brick-like device around like a loon to play many of the Wii's library of games. However, it is compatible with any titles that ship with Classic Controller support. This includes pretty much all Virtual Console titles as well as the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl - which surely has nothing to do with Hori releasing its device at this point.

Like the Classic Controller, the gaming accessory doesn't function as a standalone device, so you'll have to plug in a Wii Remote to jumpstart it into action.

GamerSquad has always seen these inventions as purchases for a minority of gamers who know they'll make good use of them. If that's you, importing might be your only option unless an official Western release or a similar device from the likes of Logitech or Nyko is perhaps forthcoming.