Oh it is this rumor again. It poped up when all the Project Cafe rumors began. I think the rumor was they were going to use a surface on the back side of the controller that would simulate different surfaces. I will look for the link...
There where a few links here is one of them it stems from a Toshiba touch screen technology that allows for surface emulation on the touch screen.
http://www.ripten.com/2011/05/02/project-cafe-wii-2-to-be-call-nintendo-feel-justin6464/
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=27551077&postcount=7659 (The above link is from this neogaf rumor.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXITjLurof0&feature=plcp&context=C4e8f77fVDvjVQa1PpcFN8Xftwc9U45qPG4A-AqHphk_B2vEra16k%3D (Toshiba's new surface feed back. They are the ones that supplied the glasses free tech for the 3DS, it can also be used on the back of the controller as well.)
So it is possible, as for the being expensive well the tech has been around for over a year. It's a nice rumor, but we will not know anything concrete until the end of May/begining of June. (Nintendo's end of year investor meeting/E3)
