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Japanese gaming legend Shigeru Miyamoto has confirmed that Nintendo are indeed working on new hardware. Speaking at the 13th Annual Japan Media Arts Festival, Miyamoto also said that he is working on brand new games that utilise Motion Plus.

He didn't give any specifics but it certainly adds fuel to the rumor fire, with many media outlets reporting that Nintendo are readying an announcement about a new format at next month's GDC event. Could a Wii HD or DS2 be on the way? Obviously they will at some point - Nintendo is quite open about the fact their R&D department start work on new hardware as soon as one is released - it's just a question of when.

News via 4gamer.net

A recent Sony earnings report published in the Wall Street Journal revealed that they still lose money on every PlayStation 3 sold.

According to the report, despite the manufacturing savings made over the past few years, Sony are out of pocket by six cents for every dollar of PS3 hardware sales. This translates, in British terms, to around a £9.50 loss on a £249.99 PS3 Slim. While this is a massive difference to previous years, they are clearly yet to profit from the hardware itself.

Sony are hoping to further cut production costs by 15% before March 2011 rolls around but maybe the latest news that they are still considering charging for the PlayStation Network will, in the future, give them that additional income leading ultimately to a profit on the system.

On the plus side the sales of the PlayStation 3 are up with an estimate of 33.71 million consoles sold across the globe. Compared to the 30 million Xbox 360s that Microsoft say they've shifted, Sony's offering isn't far behind at all, especially considering it released 11 months after the 360.

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NGamer, a UK based Nintendo magazine, posted a few interesting tweets on their Twitter profile this Friday, hinting that Sega's Sonic The Hedgehog may appear in Nintendo's upcoming Super Mario Galaxy 2.

The magazines Twitter account first updated with a message detailing that Sonic will be playable in Super Mario Galaxy 2, claiming that the news came from a trusted source inside Nintendo. A few minutes later the NGamer account updated again claiming that Sonic will feature in his very own 'Green Hill Galaxy' level. As expected following the tweets, the rumour quickly spread, appearing on several sites with gamers speaking out en masse. 

So, could this really happen? Both Nintendo & Sega have as of yet failed to comment on the rumour, but following Sonic's recent successes with Nintendo is the notion of him in Galaxy 2 all that far-fetched? The two Olympic games have both been huge smash hits and Sonic's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl was also well received. However, if Nintendo is ready to let Sonic join their flagship Mario title is yet to be seen, especially considering the blue hedgehog's tarnished reputation.   

I think it's fair to label this one as rumour, and I'm hoping it stays that way! 
Would you like to see Sega's Sonic in Nintendo's next Galaxy game? Either leave your comment of come join the debate on our forum. 

Microsoft are cutting the cord on the servers for original Xbox titles, meaning that Xbox 1 games can no longer be played across Xbox Live. All games, including the still strong Halo 2, will no longer be able to access Xbox Live, whether on the original console or through backwards compatibility on the Xbox 360.

The Xbox 360 implemented Xbox Originals program, which offers original Xbox 1 titles available for direct download off the Marketplace, will still be available. However, for those that have bought these games, any online portions will cease to function once the switch-off is completed on April the 15th.

Perhaps this move is to pave the way for new features such as an extended friends list, which was only restricted on the 360 due to the limitations of the original Xbox and it's Live features.

[Via Engadget]

Microsoft today revealed that Xbox 360 titles Fable II and Halo Wars will both be joining the consoles 'Classic Collection' of games. The 360's Classic Collection is a selection of popular titles all made available at a reduced £19.99 price point and both 2008's Fable II and 09's Halo Wars will now be joining the cut-rate fray. 

The new Classic Collection version of Lionhead Studios Fable II offers gamers more for their money, as the new cheaper version comes with additional content. Both Knothole Island and the See The Future add-ons are now included, both of which were previously available only as downloadable content (DLC). 

Halo Wars, from now defunct developer Ensemble Studios, also includes some additional goodies. Gamers who pick up the new classic version will find a download card which unlocks bonus content, namely the Strategic Options Pack and the Historical Battle Map Pack. 

The Classic Collection versions of both Fable II and Halo Wars are available in stores now. However if you have yet to experience the charm of either titles, don't go rushing to your nearest game store just yet. As despite their attractive new £19.99 price-point the original release copies of the game have been available for a reduced cost for some time. Halo Wars is currently available on Play.com for as little as £14.99, five pounds cheaper than Microsoft's new offering. Fable II offers even more of a saving with Play.com offering it from just £10.

So do you go for the low-priced offering available from various online retailers, or choose Microsoft's new Classic offerings which come with DLC included for free. 

The PlayStation Network has been free since launch but discussions at Sony may soon change this.

November 2009 saw the start of rumours that the PlayStation 3's free online functionality may be coming to an end. This came about due to a bullet point in a Sony investor conference presentation pointing towards a 'New revenue stream from subscription'.

Fortunately the CEO and President of Sony, Kaz Hirai, quickly stepped in and told CVG that they are "studying the possibility of introducing a subscription model, offering premium content and services, in addition to the current free services". This answered the question on most people's lips and quelled the opposition that could of been.

Shortly after, Kotaku caught wind of a survey being sent round by IPOS Online Research, claiming to be on behalf of Sony, detailing potential prices and features of premium subscriptions to the PSN. Further information was then extracted by Engadget on what exactly these features mean by an unnamed source. It's clear this survey might have been only carried out to test the water and capture people's views but it gave an early indication of how Sony may add to their current services.

All was relatively quiet on this front until recently when an interview between IGN and Peter Dille, Vice President of Marketing and Head of the PSN, revealed that 'Kaz (Hirai) recently went on the record as saying that's something we're looking at' when talking about charging for the PSN service. Sadly aside from that there were no definite announcements on the subject although he strangely doesn't reassure that current services will remain free. Maybe we are reading too much into that?

We've fired off an e-mail to Sony for their comments and we'll be sure to share if we get anything back. As always we'd love to hear your opinions on the forum or in the comments section.

SEGA today revealed a new Sonic game that may win back the hearts of fans of the original Mega Drive series. Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is coming. 

'Project Needlemouse' was revealed back in September 2009 by SEGA through a teaser trailer and as a blue blur sped across the screen accompanied by a familiar chime of golden rings, people began to get excited. The declaration that "Speed returns in an all new 2D adventure built from the ground up" further built up the hope of a return to the Sonic games of old.

Last month saw the announcement that Sonic will be the only playable character in the new game, adding yet another step in the right direction. This move also added acknowledgement to the fact that other more-recent Sonic titles have been damaged by additional, and according to the general consensus, pointless cast members. So without further a-do here is the trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 (yes it's episodic) courtesy of GameSpot:

This new high definition title is clearly inspired by the early 90's games, and that's in no way a bad thing. Sonic The Hedgehog 4 is a direct sequel to 1994's Sonic and Knuckles and will include the classic speed sneakers, chargeable spin dash features and more.

So, as long as Sega retain the sense of speed, style and don't overdo it with any gimmicks then this could potentially be the Sonic game that brings everyone's favorite blue hedgehog back into the limelight once again. With a rough launch date of Summer 2010, the Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 can expect to get themselves a taste of downloadable fun.

We'll be keeping a close eye on this but what are your thoughts? Let us know on the forum or in the comments.

A heavy bout of Sony restructuring may lead to the loss of almost 50% of the Studio Liverpool workforce. 

Last week Sony confirmed that they will be looking to cease production on a number of ongoing projects at Studio Liverpool, the team arguably most famous for their WipEout series including WipEout HD and it's Fury expansion on the PlayStation 3.

The change comes as part of a comprehensive restructure and project prioritisation programme although Sony are remaining positive in a statement saying, "Our North West Studio Group has been, and will continue to be, a vital cog in the WWS family, with a history of producing genre defining games such as MotorStorm, WipEout, Formula 1 and WRC."

In the current financial climate it doesn't come as a surprise that redundancies may need to occur but a rumour has now surfaced that close to 50% of the staff at Studio Liverpool may be let go.

This latest figure comes courtesy of an unnamed inside source talking to Develop as well comments made on GI.Biz by a user registered as SCEE Programmer Paul Ripley who wrote "I would estimate about at least 50% of Studio Liverpool has [just] been culled (myself included). Hard to work out exact numbers at the moment."

We've contacted Sony to get the rumour cleared up but they have yet to respond. We'll be sure to keep you updated as soon as they do but hopefully they'll allocate the remaining staff to other teams and not lose the valuable experience they have.

[Via Joystiq]

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In celebration of the forthcoming release of Bioshock 2 2K Games and Scan Computers are offering the public a chance to win a "kick-ass games rig" at an event in London. At the Bioshock area in HMV Gamerbase at London's Trocadero, hopefuls are asked to 'hack' a PC. The prize is a top of the range gaming PC, hand built by Scan Computers. The challenge requires a six digit code to be entered, but challengers may try once a day until the end of the competition. Bioshock 2 arrives February 9th on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC.