Joystiq claim they have a major news scoop on the way! Updated! Maybe not afterall...

Looks like Joystiq have some major news, and word on the street is that it is to do with the Wii.

We just got handed a scoop for some important news with one of the next-generation consoles. We can't talk about any specifics yet, but you have our word that this announcement is something worth waiting for.

Expect all the info tonight here at Joystiq at 12:01 a.m. Eastern

Are we in for a big disappointment? Or, will there be lots of rejoicing? Only time will tell. Stay tuned!

Update: Joystiq have revealed all...

If you are looking for earth shattering news, then Joystiq have not come up with the goods. Irony is, this 'big' news had been posted in various places, including our forums, a few hours before Joystiq revealed all.

IBM announced that their Broadway chip custom-designed for Nintendo's Wii console has been shipping to Nintendo's since July. "We have been shipping well within this quarter (July)," said Ron Martino, director of IBM Technology Collaboration Solutions. "In fact, we have shipped a significant volume in this quarter."

So what does this news mean to gamers who have been waiting patiently for a release date from Nintendo? Well, considering that Nintendo has had their hands on a "significant volume" of one of the major components of their console since July, some might speculate that the Wii could be ready for release sooner than the expected October street date.

When asked to quantify the speed of the Broadway processor, IBM's Martino compared it to the GameCube. "Compared to the Gekko in the GameCube, it's 20 percent more power efficient. It also performs significantly better. The key point is that it is Power Architecture-based and custom-made and optimized for Nintendo," he said (not really answering the question).

With this update and Nintendo confirming the shipment of "6 million systems to retailers around the world between its launch in the fourth quarter of 2006 and the end of its fiscal year on March 31, 2007," we expect Nintendo might finally be ready to talk release schedule during their event in New York City next week.

Well, there you have it. Good news, but can you say 'Megaton'?

Joystiq have issued an apology on their website: Yesterday afternoon, we ran a post that generated an immense (and unexpected) amount of interest and speculation. Instead of defusing the prolonged PR tease that Nintendo has been escalating for the past year, we contributed to it. Instead of doing our readers a service, we added more confusion to the situation. The post was vague and left only room for disappointment which, inevitably, came at 12:01.

The worst part is, we understand that it was our hard-earned credibility that contributed to this excitement cocktail. There are gaming websites that trade in hype, and we've always prided ourselves on avoiding it. If we tell you that something is "major" and "worth waiting for," naturally you would expect it to be. As you've all no doubt noticed by now, news that IBM has begun shipping processors for Nintendo's Wii console, while potentially telling, is hardly the sort of megaton announcement we alluded to or fans were dreaming of. It became increasingly clear as the comments increased and the diggs increased, that we would reap what we had sown. Our credibility and reader trust are all we have, and we are taking measures immediately to ensure that we don't make this mistake again. We're very sorry for the error in judgment.