For the full story scroll down to the 18:30 update

So today is the final day of the Project Needlemouse Countdown, and we're counting down the minutes to the news. What will it be? No one knows, but SEGA are promising something special, so we can't wait!

17:25

We've lost some big characters already from the original list of 11 - Amy and Shade went yesterday, leaving just Sonic, Shadow, Big the Cat, Froggy and a new character called Mr Needlemouse. Who's going out today?

Well we think all but Sonic. Mr. Needlemouse is clearly a decoy, and only Shadow fits in otherwise, and we don't really want him...

17:28

Just heard word from SEGA we're going to have to wait about another half hour as the guy who is posting the news has just got into work (he's in the US). Stay here for the news as it comes in!

17:30

So what are you guys expecting from this new game? We're hoping for a return to classic Sonic - pure speed. Why not let us know below by creating a EuroNintendo account? You won't regret it (read the eMag to find out why)!

17:35

For those of you who don't know much about Project Needlemouse, neither do we really! All we know so far is it's a 2D side scrolling Sonic game with a focus on speed. Also, rumour has it SEGA are reinventing Sonic this year, so this could be something spectacular!

17:40

You can check out the video for Project Needlemouse here and read more about the game here! We also previewed the game in our debut eMagazine, which can be viewed online, for free, here! And remember, we're answering your questions live on this feed, so get involved!

17:48

Yeah, we're just killing time here too now. Should get news in about 10 mins, so stick with us!

17:55

We reckon 5 minutes now, Let's hope this is as good as we hope!

18:06

Still no word from SEGA, although the US team have now taken over the Twitter account, so things are happening!

18:15

We're rolling around to the hour mark with no word from SEGA yet. Not even a press statement. I'm sure it's coming, so don't go anywhere

18:24

Yeah we're still here. Obviously a SEGA half hour is nearer a human hour than previously thought...

18:30

Sonic will be the only playable character in Project Needlemouse!!!

So we waited nearly an hour, and finally, we got the result. Thanks to a huge effort by Sonic fans across the world, SEGA unveiled the final playable character list.

So there it is. As we predicted yesterday, Sonic the Hedgehog will be the one and only playable character in Project Needlemouse, and we can't help but be thrilled at that news. As SEGA themselves put it

"To the thousands of you out there asking for a game where Sonic is the only playable character – rejoice. As of today, your wish has been granted"

SEGA also posted the first piece of concept art for the game as a thank you to all the fans who have supported the game since it's teaser debut last year. And here it is!

For us long-time Sonic fans, this is instantly identifiable as the legendary crab from the original Sonic games, the one and only, Crabmeat!!! It's great to see the old characters coming back, and it's clear this is going to be a very retro project, akin to New Super Mario Bros.

We'll have a lot more on this in the coming weeks and months, but first keep an eye out for a huge Sonic feature which should be online this weekend!