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Sam Fisher just called and wanted me to let you guys know that he had a mobile game first, OK? The Metal Gear 20th Anniversary Party was full of surprises andtreats, the last of which was the big reveal ofMetal Gear Solid Mobile. The game’s story takes place around the events ofMetal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, and surprisingly doesn’t look like total junk. Sony will be making a cell phone that ships with the game pre-installed, but the title will also be available by other means, in order to milk as much money out of fans as possible....

You might have heard rumors this week that SOE is preparing for layoffs. It turns out that some of those rumors are true. Destructoid contacted Sony Online Entertainment for an official statement earlier this morning. We now know that 205 employees from the Denver, Seattle and Tuscon offices will be cut in this elimination, a move that is expected to reduce costs and streamline business. Here’s an official statement: As part of a strategic decision to reduce costs and streamline its global workforce, SOE announced today that it will eliminate 205 positions and close its Denver, Seattle and Tucson studios....

Sony Online Entertainment is holding a weekend tournament at Comic-Con next week. Fans will playDC Universe Onlineto become a legend, working to win prizes and a chance to create a character for the upcoming MMO. Here’s how it’ll go down: Teams of two will go head-to-head in a latter tournament, heroes versus villans. The two finalists will battle in an arena for the title of Next Legend. Your progress will be tracked on the DCO website, Twitter, and Facebook, so don’t mess up....

Sony’s hardware business was limp and sad even right after the launch of the PS3. I was an idiot and paid $600 for my PS3, but no sane person fronted that kind of money for what boiled down to be a fat Blu-ray player that could also play a handful of mediocre games. But even when the good games began to hit, people still sat back, as the price was still too high....

If you’re like me, you’ll agree that removing backwards compatibility from the PS3 for no reason was a dumb, irritating move. Just before the PS3 Slim was announced, a number of people had hoped that BC news was also coming, but nothing happened. Now Sony’s John Koller hasdecided to state, quite emphatically, that it’snevergoing to happen. Yeah? Well f*ck you too, guys! “It’s not coming back, so let me put that on the table,” Koller states....

The age of third party exclusives is coming to an end, with fewer and fewer publishers remaining loyal to a single platform. Sony is well aware of this, and publisher relations VP Rob Dyer believes that exclusive content and advertising, like we saw withBatman: Arkham Asylum, is the new front of the console war. “Exclusives just aren’t as commonplace as they were during the PS2 days,” says Dyer. “What is going to be the driving force is either exclusive ad campaigns, like theMaddencampaign, or exclusive content like we had withBatman....

The Game Developer’s Conferenceannouncedtoday that Sony Computer Entertainment’s Phil Harrison will be delivering the opening keynote on March 7 at this year’s GDC in San Francisco. There are already odds posted at Vegas on whether or not Harrisonwill useBill Gates’ CES keynote address. As reported earlier,Nintendo’s Miyamotowill also be giving industry insiders a look into the mind of a gaming master on March 8. Which presentation would you rather attend? Miyamoto or Harrison?...

Nick and I saw Spelunker in Tokyo two years ago. What took so long? This remake of the 1983 platformer is finally hitting PSN today. This reimagining comes with lovely new 3D graphics, 100 new game levels, and both co-op and competitive multiplayer modes for up to six players. In Japan, where it first launched,Spelunker HDreceived a PlayStation Network Top Sales Award. Fancy. From what I could gather from my time with it, you play as a hilariously weak guy that goes deep into caves, platform style, trying to work past ridiculous obstacles....

The demo for Ubisoft’s long-awaitedSplinter Cell: Convictionhas hit Xbox LIVE Marketplace today. It’ll clocks in at a little over 1 gig, and for many this will be the first time they get their hands on this fresh take on the series. So if you have an Xbox 360 and an Xbox LIVE Gold account, you should be downloading this now. Then let us know — what do you think? Did it live up to expectations, and was the extra development time Ubisoft took with the title put to good use?...

One of those formerly Japan-only, “no fair!” games is actually coming to the US, and its a free MMO from Square Enix to boot! Concerto Gateis a PC MMORPG, but it plays closer to a console RPG, and includes a roving party, random battles, and big-headed characters.OnNet USAwill be the North American publisher for the game. Concerto Gateincludes something called the “terra-generating system,” which constantly changes the topography of the game’s world....

It sounds like a lot of you are still way intoSuper Meat Boyon Xbox LIVE Arcade, but what’s up with the other versions? Team Meat has shot off a bunch of tweets with the answer to that question and more. The WiiWare version needs to be compressed, due to Nintendo’s restrictions for the service, so Wii owners will have to wait for now. It’s not coming out in November, at the very least....

Tara Long, the lucky lady, got to previewBorderlands 2at PAX. While no cameras were allowed behind the walls, she gives the skinny on guns, graphics, characters and more. According to Tara,Borderlands 2keeps all the best of the first game and gets rid of what did not work. Theteaser trailer(which is all in-game footage) that Gearbox released earlier this month looks incredible, even if it is really short. If this is moreBorderlandsbut better, it will be great....

Thanks to Gametrailers user andyelmo, we bring you the above: the arcade trailer for Namco’sTekken 6. Normally this is the point at which I’d gush about how excited I am to get anotherTekken, but wow, that trailer was justSOunderwhelming. Like, if I had half a bucket of whelm before watching that thing, I now have mere droplets of whelm and wolves are approaching quickly from the nearby woods intent on eating me and my bucket of abstract concepts....