By Kemp Powers and Kiyoshi Takenaka

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Nintendo Co Ltd said on Tuesday it plans to launch a music game for its hit Wii game console this year, taking it into the fast-growing software segment pioneered by "Guitar Hero."


Wii sales have topped those of more technically souped up and expensive rival consoles from Microsoft Corp and Sony Corp with its motion controller that can be swung like a bat or a sword, broadening its audience well beyond hard-core video gamers.

"Wii Music" will let players simulate more than 60 different instruments. Activision's "Guitar Hero" turned the music-playing genre into arguably the hottest category for video games.

A more sensitive Wii MotionPlus controller add-on also will debut next spring with a new suite of Wii sports games from the company.

Nintendo widened the uses for the console with its Wii Fit balance board and on Tuesday said it plans to begin selling this year "Wii Speak," a group microphone that works with its Wii game console and can be used for online games.

The company also said it also plans to release a much-hyped game called "Animal Crossing: City Folk" that lets players serve as caretakers of a virtual world that continues to function even when the game isn't being played, for the Wii this year before the start of the holiday shopping season.

This is the first time that the "Animal Crossing" franchise will be available for the Wii. It was already a hit on its past game platform, the GameCube, and its hand-held Nintendo DS.

The DS will also get a version of Take Two's "Grand Theft Auto" this winter, Nintendo said in a presentation at the E3 video game show, the industry's most important annual gathering.

(Reporting by Kemp Powers and Kiyoshi Takenaka; editing by Maureen Bavdek)

© Copyright 2008 Reuters.