Nintendo showcases latest Wii accessories

Nintendo has unveiled a range of new products for the Wii during a media briefing at the E3 Media & Business Summit in Santa Monica. 

The new offerings include two peripherals. The first is tentatively being called the Wii Balance Board and will come packed with Wii Fit, the 'active-play' successor to Wii Sports.

The board can be used for a range of activities, including aerobics, yoga, muscle stretches and games.

The second peripheral is the Wii Zapper, a name also subject to change. This combines the accuracy of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk in a single housing for use in first-person shooters and targeting games.

Players will be able to hear the sounds of battle through the Wii Remote speaker when it is incorporated into the Wii Zapper.

The products will arrive on the shelves later this year, packaged with Nintendo-developed software, and will be used with a host of third-party games, including Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles from Capcom, Ghost Squad from Sega and Medal of Honour from Electronic Arts.

Nintendo also took the wraps off the new Check Mii Out Channel, set to launch later this year.

This free new channel builds on the success if the existing Mii channel which allows users to create fun caricatures of themselves, their friends and celebrities.

The two main components of the free channel include an area where users can post Miis they have created to let others vote on their artistic abilities, and a competition element that lets users test their skills to create the most accurate likeness of individuals or other themes suggested by Nintendo.

"In less than eight months Wii has proved itself the video game system for everyone, and we are not letting up," said Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America.