Predictions for 2009.

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

And becomes the biggest selling 'game' of all time. Prompting Rik to blow up Kyoto. Which in turn saves gaming.

Wii fit 2 will lauch 2009, and will be massive! prompting supply shortages.

Santapher wrote:

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

And becomes the biggest selling 'game' of all time. Prompting Rik to blow up Kyoto. Which in turn saves gaming.

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

I don't see how that is possible since a whole host of great titles have already been announced before the year has even begun.

Prototype wrote:PS3
will totally dominate the console market.

Joke?

jiggle all the way wrote:

cooldawn wrote:

jiggle all the way wrote:- PS3 software attach rate has a huge jump due to Trophies being mandatory.

Really?

Yup. It's pretty much why I think the 360 rate is so much higher than anything ever. Those things are addictive.

The PS2 had a higher attach rate, which the 360's gradually making its way up to. It has very little to do with Achievements - it's all about having a large catalogue of good games.

Right, I'm going to join the predictathon, because I've laughed at lots of people's for last year's batch when I didn't make any myself. Let's see how I go:

Sony
- Contrary to the let's-make-the-same-mistake-yet-again predictions of many, I'm going for PS3 to have sales parity with 360 for 2009 in the UK and Europe (I'm only even going that far because of the innate, can't-be-shaken assumption that the brand has to work eventually) and not make any significant cuts in the MS console's lead.
- LBP will have an absolute fuckload of DLC. This starts off being very popular, but by year's end it causes controversy when people add up the amount you need to spend to get all of it.
- Killzone 2 gets a number of 10s from reputable sites and magazines, but one of the biggies controversially scores it a 7. The game becomes the PS3's best seller in short order, but does surprisingly little for hardware sales. Most of the PS3's extra hardware sales until the autumn are from existing 360 owners.
- Sony continues its "value added" strategy until the autumn, when finally it price-cuts properly. Sales leap as a result, but MS counters with a reduction in the 360's arcade model to $150 (and £99).
- MAG is vapourware for now.
- Home is effectively relaunched twice during the year. Reception is slightly more positive from some following the introduction of dedicated zones for specific games, but there is widespread controversy that it quickly becomes seen as an ad-filled cash cow rather than anything positive for the gamer.
- In the latter half of the year, cross-game invites FINALLY get added to PSN and there is much rejoicing, as all of a sudden they're important and vital to the service.
- PSN has 5 or 6 absolute must-have quirky games. Think Flower. By year-end, the service is seen as the perfect amalgam of Wii Ware and Live Arcade.
- Multiformat games are mostly still better on 360, though the PS3 finally wins a single EG face-off and the Internet melts.
- PSP starts to pick up some decent software again because of its decent hardware sales.
- The year's best PS3 game has yet to be announced at the time of this predictathon.
- PS3 starts to pick up in Japan, averaging about 30,000 sales a week (not including the big weeks in the autumn).
- Sony PR to do its usual trick of seeming to get more conciliatory and nice for a couple of months, before going back to the bad old days soon afterwards, with some absolutely hilarious claims made.
- By year-end, PS3 is much loved by gamers. Reluctantly, though, due to the aformentioned PR.
- I have a PS3 before the year is out!

Nintendo
- Wii strikes back, as development lag finally leads to us seeing the fruits of third-parties' labours, following their decision to switch to fullscale Wii development as soon as it became clear the machine was a smash. Many, many third party games released in the second half of the year are ace, and by year-end, forum opinion has been almost completely turned around.
- Wii Ware is an underground triumph, but still hasn't been recognised by the mainstream.
- First party core games are back! New Zelda is premiered at E3 and released in October. It's amazing. The follow-up to Galaxy is shown in video form. New Pikmin arrives. New Metroid hinted at. New Starfox is superb. New F-Zero is revealed. At least one new core IP is shown off at E3 - it's innovative and heavily reliant on MotionPlus.
- Wii Sports Resort is released. It doesn't review particularly well, but opinion "in the wild" is more positive. MotionPlus really works. A few select earlier games (including the original Wii Sports) are retrospectively patched or re-released with the added functionality. The accessory and Resort are bundled with new Wiis as from the autumn, as controllers incorporating the device are released.
- Mad World flops terribly. It has some rabid fans, but is a highly flawed hardcore experience.
- Boom Blox 2 is announced and released. It's ace.
- New Wii colours are revealed.
- Wii Fit 2 is revealed. Other casual games become smashes, including at least one identikit attempt at a Wii Fit-a-like... maybe EA's version.
- Wii continues to smash all-comers in terms of sales.
- DSi finally released in the UK at a ridiculously high price point. DS software in general continues to be overpriced.
- The best Wii game of the year has yet to be announced.


Microsoft
- Sales momentum continues. A brief rally by Sony following their own price cut leads to MS dropping the price of Arcade 360s to $150 and £99, which successfully counters. The HD consoles get continually far higher sales than before, but Wii continues to forge ahead.
- There are at least 2 amazing releases on Xbox Community Games that prove to be the flagships of the service. The developers are signed up by MS.
- Crackdown 2 is revealed.
- Alan Wake is finally released in Holiday 2009. It would have been amazing if released in 2007. Now, though, it's good but not great.
- Halo ODST divides opinion and is, comparatively speaking, a flop.
- Mass Effect 2 is revealed. Targeted for Holiday 2009 release, it slips.
- Bioshock 2 is multiplatform and released. Unfortunately, it's not quite the game it should be, due to a rushed final few months of development.
- GTAIV DLC is surprisingly good. Both episodes are released. The second one is brilliant.
- XBLA continues its flip-flop between amazingness and rubbishness. Another "Summer of Arcade" brings together the best releases of the year in a 6-week marathon of goodness.
- The best 360 game of the year has yet to be announced.
- Possibly related to the last prediction, Bizarre Creations' racer for Activision is multiformat, is released, and is stunning.
- Rare finally gets a bona fide hit with Perfect Dark 2, which is an excellent game. Ironically, the company is dropped by MS.
- Both PGR5 and Forza 3 are shown off by Turn 10. Neither game makes 2009.
- Splinter Cell Conviction comes out and is actually good.
- At least one casual game is absolutely brilliant, but still doesn't sell.
- Assassin's Creed 2 (multiformat) corrects the bad design decisions of the original and is very well received. But the story's still rubbish.
- 360 puts in a respectable performance in Japan, though the PS3 is well ahead and increasing its lead.
- 360 continues to outsell PS3 in the US regularly.
- Still no news on the 360's sequel.
- Or the Wii Remote ripoff.
- Orange Box 2 (it'll have a different name) is released in the autumn with 2 different versions. One contains all of the Half-Life 2 content plus Portal 2. The other (more popular) version just has HL2 Episode 3 plus Portal 2.
- Left 4 Dead DLC is supported very well by Valve and is bloody awesome.

I would be in gaming heaven having Mass Effect 2 and Uncharted 2 in the Holiday period next year. I played through the originals at the same time.