SCE Liverpool Studio, the creator of WipeOut, was shuttered on Wednesday while it was working on two PlayStation 4 games.

Compared to Nintendo and even Microsoft, Sony has never managed to solidify an identity as a game maker. As a console maker, it’s become synonymous with hubris (the $600 PS3 launch price), obnoxious proprietary formats (Vita memory cards, UMDs), and technological flash (PS1’s Red Book audio, PS2’s DVD playback). The face of the company that makes games has never moved past this hardware face though, which is a shame. Sony has spent most of the past 20 years funding some of the most creative games out there across the broadest spectrum of subjects. Echochrome and God of War were born under the same banner.

Wednesday was a sad day then, as one of the studios most responsible for fostering Sony’s unsung identity as a publisher closed its doors. SCE Studio Liverpool, the team formerly known as Psygnosis responsible for iconic Sony futuristic racing series WipeOut, was shut down.

MCV reported Sony has moved all resources at Liverpool onto other games in development throughout Sony’s other studios. “As part of SCE Worldwide Studios, we do regular reviews to ensure that the resources we have can create and produce high quality, innovative, and commercially viable projects in an increasingly competitive marketplace. As part of this process, we have reviewed and assessed all current and planned projects for the short and medium term and have decided to make some changes to our European studios. It has been decided that Liverpool Studio should be closed.”

The Liverpool campus won’t close however and Sony will still use it for localization and its XDev, FQA, and CSG-Video operations.

An anonymous source told Eurogamer that Liverpool Studio was knee deep in development on two PlayStation 4 projects when it was shuttered, namely a new WipeOut and a Splinter Cell-style spy game in a brand new franchise.

Liverpool Studio is just the latest of Sony’s internal studios to get the axe in 2012. Zipper Interactive, creator of the SOCOM series, was closed in March just weeks after it shipped its PlayStation Vita shooter Unit 13.

Sony Cambridge (MediEvil), Sony London (EyeToy, Wonderbook), and Evolution Studios (MotorStorm) are what remain of the company’s UK development resources not counting the XDev groups work with independents like Media Molecule (Little Big Planet). Which is to say, Sony’s presence in the UK remains strong. With the exception of Sony London’s PlayStation Eye experiments though, the UK studios are no longer in the business of producing new intellectual property. Sony Cambridge hasn’t created a new IP in 8 years at this point, and multiple new properties in development like Eight Days were cancelled. Liverpool Studio was WipeOut in many ways, but it’s especially tragic that they were closed right when they were branching out.

Nintendo will discuss the Wii U's release in detail at an event in September.Here's what to expect based on past Nintendo console launches.

Nintendo’s been taking its own sweet time letting folks know about the Wii U. Weirdly detailed videos about what each and every button on the Wii U tablet controller does? Nintendo’s got you covered on that front. If you want to know how much the console will cost of even when you can buy one, well, tough. Release date, launch line up, just what controllers and games will come packed in the box: All unknown.

Nintendo announced on Tuesday that it would host an event in New York City on September 13^th. The invitation we received yesterday has a touch of the ol’ Nintendo Hubris in its wording: “Interested in learning more about how the Wii U will change the future of gaming and entertainment?” It promises presentations from Nintendo of America’s unusually popular president Reggis Fils-Aime and hours of play time for those in attendance.

Tantalizing and vague, Nintendo’s favorite teaser tools. The company’s tricksy when it comes to press events. Remember the Nintendo 3DS conference in the middle of E3 2012? Nintendo promised it would reveal a bunch of unannounced games for its handheld and then proceeded to show footage exclusively of games it had already discussed in its main stage press conference. Wily is the word when it comes to Nintendo.

Prognostication—and an ability to recognize patterns—is our specialty though. Here is what you can reasonably expect to appear and be discussed at Nintendo’s September event.

* Release date, price, and bundle details.

No duh. This will be the event when Nintendo finally stops procrastinating and announces when it will put its latest no-a-sure-thing to market. Wii U will likely hit Japan and the US in November, heading to the rest of the world shortly thereafter due to manufacturing hiccups. Expectations are that Wii U will cost $300, and odds are good that Nintendo will put the system out with a game packed in. The Wii’s astronomical success in the US owed much to the Wii Sports pack in, and Nintendo of America knows it. The mystery: Will Nintendo pack in a Wii U Controller Pro? A Wii remote for multiplayer? Unknown.

* A flexible launch line up.

Nintendo will commit itself to 2 or 3 first-party titles for Wii U’s release. These will likely be the divisive NintendoLand and the promising Super Mario Bros. Wii U. Third-party games, particularly ports like Assassin’s Creed 3 and Batman: Arkham City, will also get locked in for day one. Many, many games however will be relegated to the dreaded “launch window.” This means that, best case scenario, games like Pikmin 3 will be out before the end of the fiscal year in March. As the Wii, Nintendo 3DS, and pretty much every Nintendo system ever has proven though, games scheduled for the launch window—from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time all the way to Kid Icarus: Uprising—will come out whenever Nintendo feels like releasing them.

What won’t be announced? Nintendo’s online strategy. There will be no news about a unified account system for the eShop or any specific details about Miiverse. Nintendo will claim the day is about the Wii U’s games and launch details. 

Verizon wireless employees are reportedly forbid from taking vacation from September 21-30. Is that when Apple will launch its new iPhone?

Word on the street is, Apple’s new iPhone will go on sale starting September 21. We’ve heard that date before, but now there is new evidence: Jordan Crook of TechCrunch has reportedly spoken with an anonymous Verizon Wireless employee who says that the company has forbidden employees from taking vacation from Sept. 21 through Sept. 30, essentially corroborating previous rumors that Apple’s sixth-generation iPhone will launch on Sept. 21.

We have reached out to our own sources to verify Verizon’s vacation block for the last week of September, and will update this space as soon as we hear back.

As for the actual unveiling of the next iPhone, that’s widely expected to happen on Sept. 12, according to numerous reports that say Apple has a big event planned for that day.

The new iPhone is expected to look much like the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, but with a taller — but no wider — touchscreen, which will make it about 4 inches in size, when measured diagonally. The resolution is said to be 1136 x 640, which would keep it in Retina territory. According to a variety of leaked components, the headphone jack will be placed at the bottom of the device, as opposed to the top, where it appears on current iPhone iterations. And a new, smaller dock connector will also likely debut on the new iPhone. A larger battery, updated CPU, and 4G LTE connectivity are also expected updates to the next iPhone.

Aside from the sixth-gen iPhone, Apple may also debut the long-rumored iPad Mini, a 7.85-inch version of the current iPad, which has a 9.7-inch display. Updated versions of the iPod touch and iPod nano may also make an appearance at the rumored Sept. 12 Apple event.