An article about joystick in the WSJ is not so common but sometimes it happens. It's about the new nintendo game controller which seems quite nice:

Imagine a videogame where you drop a virtual fishing line into a lake. Your hand grips the pole, and you can move to where the fish are biting. When you feel a tug, a jerk on the pole brings in the catch.

This is what it's like playing with Nintendo Co.'s new game controller, which senses a player's actual movement and position in space. The device -- a key piece of the company's highly anticipated next-generation game machine -- represents Nintendo's bid to liberate gaming from the conventional keypad (...) Revolution's shiny, plastic controller is about the size and shape of a candy bar, with a few buttons on top and a trigger-like button on the bottom. During a game, the player holds it in one hand like a remote control, then moves through the game by bending the wrist and sweeping the arm. It is wireless, so no cords get in the way of the gesturing. The controller comes with an extension called the Nunchuck that gives players a small, thumb-controlled joystick to hold in the other hand for use in certain games.

In a demonstration of the controller, some games required pushing buttons for moves such as jumping or shooting, while others, like the fishing game, relied solely on hand and arm movements. In one game, players held the controller as if it were a paper airplane, tilting it this way and that to maneuver an on-screen craft.

The device, which works by communicating with small sensors that sit under or on top of the television, gives gaming a kind of kinetic energy the company hopes will appeal to both seasoned gamers and people who have never played videogames. (...) a sign of the determination of the game maker, based in Kyoto, to distinguish itself from competitors that are readying their own next-generation machines for release over the coming year. (...) Nintendo has yet to introduce new games specifically for Revolution. Mr. Miyamoto says possibilities include games in which players hold two controllers, using one as a sword and one as a shield, or games in which players fly by flapping their arms like a bird.

Engadget gives a picture of this joystick:

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Why do I blog this? this seems to be a really good innovation and I do believe that Nintendo made the good choice of trying to create something new. Now, let's wait for gameplay supported by this. But I am pretty confident that the magical game designers from Japan will do something good out of it! Connected pasta I already mentioned a patent from Nintendo for such devices