Predictions for 2009.

Extralife wrote:Does no one else think DS2 is going to be announced next year? DSi is third release of the current platform, and following the GBA scale that would indicate that totally new hardware is just around the corner.

I think we will get the first info about it and maybe a release date of sometime in 2010. It will be interesting to see what they do as surely they can't release a handheld with more power than the Wii but I can see that being verry achievable with todays tech.

- Nintendo prolong the success of Wii in the public eye by a promotion campaign involving indie music.
- Street Fighter IV is disappointing, both critically and commercially.
- Rare release one 360 game.
- DSi isn't as successful as Nintendo hope: real successor plotted and revealed.
- Nintendo to reveal one big, hardcore game from an existing IP, and one from an entirely new one.
- No Wii price drop.
- PS3 price drop.
- LBP sales remain steady throughout the second half of the year thanks to new advertising.
- PS3 to sell a great deal more than 360.
- Mario has a rest.
- Halo: ODST flops, several core Bungie employees walk.
- Heavy Rain, Alan Wake and MadWorld to disappoint.
- Valve dabble in Wii development.
- Edge give a certain game a 5; GamesTM give the same title a 10; internet explodes.
- Microsoft survive a year of disappointment for the self-styled 'hardcore' by selling family-friendly titles by the bucketload.
- At least three major developers close doors.

I've really enjoyed reading all these!


Wii/DS

- Wii Sports Resort sells reasonably well, sales not as good as Wii Fit/Mario Kart but alot better than Wii Music.
- Expect a badminton/volleyball game in Wii Sports Resort.
- A new SMB game for DS.
- Zelda Wii not released until 2010, won't be shown properly at E3. Possibly shown at Nintendo's Media Summit at the end of the year (But I imagine they'll wish to keep it as an E3 2010 announcement).
- No new Mario platformer on Wii in 2009.
- Conduit is seen critically as average, sells ok numbers for a non-Nintendo hardcore game.
- Madworld performs slightly better in sales than No More Heroes, but still has a hard time selling.
- New Zelda DS game announced, released in 2009. One of Nintendo's bigger games of E3.
- Despite Factor 5's closure, Nintendo keeps them alive to complete Kid Icarus Wii - which also sees release in 2009, Matt Cassimassina is happy.
- Starfox Wii released in 2009.
- Pikmin 3 released in 2009.
- Pikmin DS announced, 2010 release.
- A new Mario Party released on Wii 2009. It is indeed awesome.
- F-Zero not released in 2009.
- No new Pilotwings in 2009 EDIT: Changed my mind, I think we'll see Pilotwings on Wii in 2009
- New game from Retro Studios is announced - darker than most of Wii's output. 2010 release.
- Chinatown Wars sells pretty well, rumours of GTA Wii surface.
- DSi sells pretty well, mainly bought by hardcore crowd. Casual sales are low however as people just stick to their DS lites.
- Nintendo get their act together concerning 1st party WiiWare and DS titles. More released than in 2008. Still few N64 titles released on VC however.
- E3 hopefully won't be as bad as this year.


- Nintendo's 2009 is superior to 2008. But things get really good in 2010 when Zelda Wii and possibly new Mario Wii get released. Zelda Wii gets a 10 from EDGE.
- Recent backlash of Nintendo's laziness (eg. Not much new in Animal Crossing, Wii Music), makes Miyamoto determined to work harder on better games - expect to see some new and original games starting from the end of 2010. Expect to see him working on more hardcore rather than the casual stuff he has been doing lately.



Xbox/PS3:

- Alan Wake gets released, sales are ok - becomes a cult classic.
- Killzone also sells ok, but not to Halo standards - it is critically well acclaimed.
- LBP PSP released, does not sell too well.
- The new COD from Infinity Ward does well critically and sales-wise. Gets UK Christmas no.1 but faces stiff competition from a Wii/DS title.
- The new COD game performs better on Xbox. The game "borrows" some ideas of Killzone, leading it to be the "Killzone of Xbox" (Despite it also being available on PS3).
- Silicon Knights gets in trouble finacially, although may avoid closure.
- Mafia 2 is released and is far superior to GTA. EDGE refuse to give it a 10 and instead award it an 8, choosing to point out the game's flaws in the review.
- Avatar based games announced - basically they're rip-offs of Mario type games: Avatar Kart, Avatar Tennis, Avatar Party style games being created.
- FFXIII sells more on 360 than PS3 in US (Whenever it gets released). Xbox fanboyism becomes unbearable.
- Perfect Dark XBLA released, online enabled.
- Two games released from RARE (In addition to PD XBLA).
- Halo Wars and that other Halo game turn out to be pretty good. Sales aren't even close to Halo 3 though.
- Bioshock 2 is awesome.
- Expect the PS3 to have more new game announcements at E3 than the 360. The majority of 360 announcements would already be known about before the conference.

Good predictions, Dan, but THIS...

Little Drummer Boy wrote:Street Fighter IV is disappointing, both critically and commercially.

...is already way off-beam. Edge has already given it a 9, nearly everyone else is raving about it.

Moneyhat?

Elfin Flummux wrote:Moneyhat?

For everyone who's played the game, including those who've been hammering it in the arcades? Sure. Must be.

Sony announce PSP2 - all games available as download only.
Nintendo unveil VC style service for DSi
Lionhead unveil Black & White 3 - Molyneux promises moon on a stick.
Miyamoto announces retirement - Nintendo fanboys commit mass suicide, later turns out to be an April fools joke
Rumours abound regarding Apples venture into gaming hardware.
Hideo Kojima starts new secret non-MGS game project.

IronTidings wrote:Hideo Kojima starts new secret non-MGS game project.

Which turns out to be a new MGS game

Recent backlash of Nintendo's laziness (eg. Not much new in Animal Crossing, Wii Music), makes Miyamoto determined to work harder on better games - expect to see some new and original games starting from the end of 2010. Expect to see him working on more hardcore rather than the casual stuff he has been doing lately

Simply isn't going to happen, said so himself in Edge last month.

Rik wrote:

Recent backlash of Nintendo's laziness (eg. Not much new in Animal Crossing, Wii Music), makes Miyamoto determined to work harder on better games - expect to see some new and original games starting from the end of 2010. Expect to see him working on more hardcore rather than the casual stuff he has been doing lately

Simply isn't going to happen, said so himself in Edge last month.

No he didn't.

Dante wrote:

IronTidings wrote:Hideo Kojima starts new secret non-MGS game project.

Which turns out to be a new MGS game

Featuring Solid Snake

HoHoHo of Canton wrote:

Rik wrote:

Recent backlash of Nintendo's laziness (eg. Not much new in Animal Crossing, Wii Music), makes Miyamoto determined to work harder on better games - expect to see some new and original games starting from the end of 2010. Expect to see him working on more hardcore rather than the casual stuff he has been doing lately

Simply isn't going to happen, said so himself in Edge last month.

No he didn't.

I think first of all we have to continue to create these types of games that are going to interest people who otherwise aren't going to be interested in games.....one theory is that you take those people and transition them to types of game experiences we have all been enjoying for the last 30 years. While there's certainly some value in trying to do that, the thing I think is more important is that entertainment itself is something you need to continue to surprise people with.....While I'm sure some people will transition over to the types of games we've all played for so long, I'm more excited about what Nintendo and all of the developers can do to continue to surprise this now much larger audience.

He did.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is a critical success, receiving excellent review scores across all publications.

- SEGA realise the PSP is starved of games, and given the thing is effectively a portable dreamcast ports over Skies of Arcadia, Shenmue I+II, Jet Set Radio and Sonic Adventure.
- Rez HD makes a PSN debut
- WipEout 2097 and 3 finally get given a PSN download
- Secret of Mana finally gets a VC release
- A £199 PS3 flies off the shelves. Sony start to claw back some lost gain, at least in europe.
- MGS4 makes its 360 debut
- still no sign of FFXIII
- Nintendo make good. All the 'Wii is dead' nonsense is quickly forgotten beneath Sin and Punishment 2, Madworld, The Conduit and Broken Sword.
- Saturn games start appearing on the download portals. Burning Rangers, Radient Silvergun and the like all debut. ebay collapses due to old games prices being undercut.
- The PSP makes a comeback: PSU, Dissidia, A new ZOE game and a Devil May Cry spinoff spearhead a fresh batch of titles.
- WipEout HD expands with loads more tracks from classic games, to the point I buy a PS3 to play it (and kick your ass online)
- E3 makes a return to form with the big 3 spending £$£ on showcasing 2010 onwards. Within we have proper in-game trailers for God of War III, the next Zelda (a return to Celda) and Perfect Dark 2 (Rare get Doak et al to come back)

Rik wrote:

HoHoHo of Canton wrote:

Rik wrote:

Recent backlash of Nintendo's laziness (eg. Not much new in Animal Crossing, Wii Music), makes Miyamoto determined to work harder on better games - expect to see some new and original games starting from the end of 2010. Expect to see him working on more hardcore rather than the casual stuff he has been doing lately

Simply isn't going to happen, said so himself in Edge last month.

No he didn't.

I think first of all we have to continue to create these types of games that are going to interest people who otherwise aren't going to be interested in games.....one theory is that you take those people and transition them to types of game experiences we have all been enjoying for the last 30 years. While there's certainly some value in trying to do that, the thing I think is more important is that entertainment itself is something you need to continue to surprise people with.....While I'm sure some people will transition over to the types of games we've all played for so long, I'm more excited about what Nintendo and all of the developers can do to continue to surprise this now much larger audience.

He did.

Where does it say he's not going to work harder on better games? Or that he personally is only going to work on casual titles? Or that any of these games aren't going to be new and original?

I was talking about Core titles, he is clearly saying there he is more interested in the path they are already on, the implications of what he says are quite clear he thinks there is more value in new types of games and an even wider audience. If you read the interview he wasn't even asked the question directly so he was never going to specific in saying what he is doing but you only have to read what he says really.

Rik wrote:I was talking about Core titles, he is clearly saying there he is more interested in the path they are already on, the implications of what he says are quite clear he thinks there is more value in new types of games and an even wider audience. If you read the interview he wasn't even asked the question directly so he was never going to specific in saying what he is doing but you only have to read what he says really.

I guess we'll see come the end of 2009. But don't go thinking Miyamoto is only working on expanded-audience titles, and that those titles won't necessarily be any good. At some point, Nintendo is going to make a game that casuals and hardcore alike absolutely rave about.

I wish Yu Suzuki would come back and make a new game in 2009. My gaming life feels empty without him

Wii
Zelda nowhere to be seen in 2009. Compensated for by this:
Super Mario Galaxy All Stars announced for 4th quarter repeating formula of original but innovates enough to deserve an Edge 10
F-Zero GX Wii edition, new Star Fox (Edge 8) and Kid Icarus (Edge 9) all 4th quarter
Wii Sports resort is a massive hit. Dominates charts for entire year and helps boost sales of this:
Wave Race surprise game for Summer, a huge improvement on GC version
Conduit gets mediocre reviews
Pikmin Wii edition is big success the rest bomb
Punchout gets early release and repeats Mario Kart's success by remaining high in charts for rest of year
No new hardware announcements
3rd party releases are underwhelming
Overall though a much better year for quality nintendo releases

DS
Another super mario game announced
A trickle of minor releases but system remains best seller

XBOX 360
Resident Evil 5 causes major controversy over its African setting and overshadows what was otherwise an excellent addition in the series
Follow up to Orange Box released in 4th quarter. It's the best one yet
Rare go 3rd party but maintain exclusive deals with Microsoft. Blast Corps is released on XBox live and DS. No Perfect Dark
System continues to sell better than PS3 but aside from one or two gems a disappointing year for games compared to 2007-8

PS3
Console redesigned in order to bring down manufacturing costs. Sales get a massive boost but by now too far behind XBOX to catch up


Wii gets a price cut to coincide with release of Wii Sports resort. All console sales drop but Wii continues to dominate. Several major games companies go under.

PSP
will be effectively dead by the end... wait, it's already dead.
will receive ports of it's even deader big brother, the PS2

DS
will have an amazing year, with seemingly no titles out.

PS3
will totally dominate the console market.

360
will still be recognized as the best console on the market

Wii
Wii Life announced: Diary/Organizer system with added minigames.