Nintendo plans to launch its planned pulse-sensing peripheral for the Wii next year, the company has announced.

The Wii Vitality Sensor was unveiled back in June, but it’s taken until now for the Japanese gaming giant’s President, Satoru Iwata, to confirm that the peripheral will be launched “not too late” during 2010.

Iwata refrained from confirming a specific launch date for the Vitality Sensor because, apparently, Nintendo still needs to do some “last-minute polishing”.

Gamers are still somewhat confused over how the sensor will actually be used with Wii games, the company admitted. And Nintendo hasn't helped by keeping mum about the device's intended use.

However, Iwata stressed that the firm's already testing pulses internally to see where the peripheral sits best. ®