"We are not misleading you � there is a new game due to be announced."

Speculation has arisen over the past few days that Official Nintendo Magazine would or will be revealing a new game in their next issue.

The speculation started when a teaser in their "next month page" suggested that we could be seeing a past franchise making a return.

"Step back in time as a classic game makes a long overdue return!" were the exact words. This could literally mean a lot of things, so it is no wonder that fans are both excited and cautious.

Events have somewhat taken another turn, as ONM team member Chandra has recently posted on the ONM forums, to let fans know that this is not a hoax, and that something definitely is coming:

Hi.

I'm very aware how much coverage our Next Month page is getting across the globe right now. I have to admit � I thought it was a cool little teaser when we did it � but I didn't anticipate it blowing up quite so much! I've seen everything from Family Guy to Woody Woodpecker fitting perfectly in that star cluster! Very Happy

Anyhoo, I'm here to iron a few things out. This is not an April Fool. I remember once I did an April Fool on CUBE with Gannondorf Photoshopped into Soul Calibur II and people got really upset when they found out it wasn't true so we don't do those kind of things anymore. I think they're just a bit of a laugh but obviously other more sensitive people don't. . .

Also, we do have respect for our readers and we don't set out to purposely mislead people. The whole point of the Next Month image is to be a teaser and to get people guessing. It's just A BIT OF FUN. There are no lies in there. Innevitably the situation might change between the time of the mag going to print and the release of the next issue (it is a good six weeks after all). The game may end up being announced online before we hit the shelves. Ocassionally these things happen and it's completely out of our control. However, the point is that we are not misleading you � there is a new game due to be announced.

In summary then, please take a deep breath and count to ten when you're thinking about this. There are quite a few images that perfectly fit into that star cluster. We've never mentioned any names � it could be anything.

Great news to hear that this isn't a hoax or an April Fool's joke. We'll bring you more information on this as it happens.