The recently wrapped Consumer Electronics Show may be best know for introducing such products as CD players or, this year, the world’s biggest TV set.

But it's also boasted a gaming component since 1975, when Atari launched the home console revolution with Pong and later the Nintendo Entertainment System and Xbox also used CES as their debutante ball. his year was comparatively low-key, but there were still some cool announcements…

Drum Solo
Much of Rock Band’s awesomeness is due to its drum kit. But wait, you say, couldn’t it be even more awesomer? The answer, my friend, is hells yes. Though still just a prototype, Ion Audio showed off a full-meal deal set with bigger, rubberized drums and a full complement of cymbals (see gallery at Engadget en Espagnol). It should be noted that the new additions just replicate the pre-existing colour-scheme, since the game isn’t purpose-built for the extra three pads.Still, for the Rock Band-obsessed, this third-party peripheral can’t take the stage soon enough.

Free Your Wii
Sure, the Wiimote may be wireless from its console, but it’s often still attached to the Nunchuk controller. Well, Nyko is all about promoting freedom and has therefore eliminated that constraint with their wireless nunchuck, which netted CNET's Best of CES: Gaming award. Simply attach a little wireless “dongle” (whatever that means) to your Wiimote, sync it with Nyko’s battery-operated nunchuk and voila. Though it also means no more strangling your little brother, Hitman-style. Sorry.

PSP Phone Home
Sony’s Playstation Portable has been building momentum as of late, which will only be increased by all sorts of new features planned for the handheld device. First up is the addition of Skype compatibility. Though it will only be available the new PSP Slim model, later this month those owners will be able to start making free voice calls.
Further down the line, plans are afoot for a PSP QWERTY keyboard, a camera, a GPS system and, most notably, a 16GB memory card, removing reliance on Sony’s proprietary UMD discs and especially useful after the announcement you can soon transfer Blu-Ray movies to your PSP.

High Rez-olution
Music games may be all the rage now, but Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s Rez was ahead of its time when it launched in 2002. A rail-shooter rooted in trance music, every shot added more sounds to the booming beats. It was popular amongst the raver set, who used it to wind down after sun up (not that I know from personal experience, of course) but it never went mainstream. Now Mizuguchi, who created Lumines and Meteos in the interim, is updating his baby for a hi-def, 5.1 surround sound re-release via Xbox Live. Alas, there are no plans to update the games notorious “trance vibrator.”