In what is one of the worst-kept secrets in gaming, Sega has finally revealed what their long-talked-about “Project Needlemouse” is.  In case the combination of “needle” and “mouse” didn’t give it away, Sega revealed plans for a new Sonic The Hedgehog game, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 to be released on the Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation3.  The catch?  It’s going to be an episodic game (initially), released in bits and pieces via the WiiWare, Xbox Live, and PSN networks.  Episode 1 is expected to be released this summer.

The game is going to skip all the various shovelware Sonic titles that have leaked out in recent years, and is going to be a direct sequel to Sonic The Hedgehog 3.  Thank goodness; maybe we can finally get another good Sonic game!  While I’m not sold on episodic games in general, this one might actually be worth buying, assuming Sony keeps it entertaining and avoids the Pokemon-style trap of Sonic Adventure 2’s Chao-raising minigame.