Nintendo announced that the new Wii Music software for the Nintendo Wii will start shipping on October 20th. Amazon.com takes pre-orders for Wii Music at $49.99.
Nintendo says that Wii Music brings the experience of performing music to people who think learning an instrument is too difficult.

Players can improvise jams on the fly with more than 60 instruments. You will find rock favorites like the electric guitar; orchestra standards like trumpet, saxophone and clarinet; and even international instruments like steel drums, marimba and sitar. Players simply select their instruments, and then move their Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers as though they were playing the real thing. Wii Music turns players' movements into great music, even if you've never picked up an instrument before.

Budding musicians can play along to the beat of a diverse array of more than 50 songs from a variety of genres including popular, licensed, classical and Nintendo songs. Or players can improvise by adding new beats or creative twists to the songs. The combinations are endless, and it's all for the joy of creating fun new tunes.

Once players have their song the way they like it, they can forward it to friends who are also playing Wii Music via the Wii Message Board. Those friends can then put their own spin on the tune and send it back – or pass it along to their friends.

Nintendo announced Wii Music at the E3 2008 in July. I was deeply troubled by the demonstration. The promo photo above is totally missleading, as I believe Wii Music is only fun for very young kids.
Via the Wii Music site and on Amazon.