2012 Predictions/2011 point and laugh

tanstaafl wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:
tanstaafl wrote:

-- BioWare will announce (but not release) Dragon Age 3

One of the Doctors already talked about DA3 taking influences from Skyrim. As recently as a week or two ago.

It's no secret that there will be a DA3. All I'm saying is that we'll see the teaser trailers/hype machine startup in 2012 but it won't actually be released until 2013 (like ME3 was in 2011). It's a soft-pitch prediction; we'll hear about it but won't get it.

I'm going to place a bet that DA3 comes out this year and in the November rush. One thing they can take from Skyrim is that RPGs with a lot of depth can be greatly successful, and in November too (also that The Witcher2 showed a good PC audience). Also I can't think of anything from EA that's currently pegged for the big November rush, although no doubt there will be a shooter too for Activision to beat them with COD again.

I hope this doesn't involve the game getting less time than it needs.

MannishBoy wrote:

I think you guys are forgetting that MS is using Windows 8 to push again into the tablet space. While they may continue to offer some iOS interoperability similar to the app just released, if there's any tablet link to Xbox, it's going to be Windows 8.

I thought they had dropped that idea with the sacking of when Allard left and they scrapped development on Courier. I must admit, I stopped listening to that space a long time ago so I really have no idea. I can understand them wanting to shoehorn their own hardware into that space, but why try and re-invent the wheel? You hear so much about how people lose money on the hardware, why even try?

Apple seems happy to release and develop it. People seem happy to buy it. Why not jump onboard? Hell, make it so it can dual boot if you have to.

DanB wrote:

The idea that Apple would cosy up to MS to that degree is just plain insane. But a win8 tablet that seamlessly integrates with the new MS console would be so awesome.

I don't know. Apple still owes them one for that bailout out of $150M non-voting shares Microsoft bought way back when. They do have some investment in the company.

m0nk3yboy wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:

I think you guys are forgetting that MS is using Windows 8 to push again into the tablet space. While they may continue to offer some iOS interoperability similar to the app just released, if there's any tablet link to Xbox, it's going to be Windows 8.

I thought they had dropped that idea with the sacking of when Allard left and they scrapped development on Courier. I must admit, I stopped listening to that space a long time ago so I really have no idea. I can understand them wanting to shoehorn their own hardware into that space, but why try and re-invent the wheel? You hear so much about how people lose money on the hardware, why even try?

Have you seen nothing on Windows 8? It's got a whole tablet Metro interface (similar to the new dashboard as well as Win Phone), and it runs on ARM processors as well as x86.

The reason for scrapping Courier was that it didn't tie in to any other MS pillars like Office. Win 8 will.

Apple seems happy to release and develop it. People seem happy to buy it. Why not jump onboard? Hell, make it so it can dual boot if you have to.

You could say the same about phones, then there was Android and MS is trying with Win Phone.

I don't like single option markets. I like them all competing.

Scratched wrote:
tanstaafl wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:
tanstaafl wrote:

-- BioWare will announce (but not release) Dragon Age 3

One of the Doctors already talked about DA3 taking influences from Skyrim. As recently as a week or two ago.

It's no secret that there will be a DA3. All I'm saying is that we'll see the teaser trailers/hype machine startup in 2012 but it won't actually be released until 2013 (like ME3 was in 2011). It's a soft-pitch prediction; we'll hear about it but won't get it.

I'm going to place a bet that DA3 comes out this year and in the November rush. One thing they can take from Skyrim is that RPGs with a lot of depth can be greatly successful, and in November too (also that The Witcher2 showed a good PC audience). Also I can't think of anything from EA that's currently pegged for the big November rush, although no doubt there will be a shooter too for Activision to beat them with COD again.

I hope this doesn't involve the game getting less time than it needs.

In one of those interviews I saw, there was hint that Bioware was bringing back one of their older franchises. But I can't remember if it was said that it was an old Bioware franchise, or if it was just an old franchise like C&C.

So who knows, there could be a Jade Empire in the works.

Scratched wrote:
tanstaafl wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:
tanstaafl wrote:

-- BioWare will announce (but not release) Dragon Age 3

One of the Doctors already talked about DA3 taking influences from Skyrim. As recently as a week or two ago.

It's no secret that there will be a DA3. All I'm saying is that we'll see the teaser trailers/hype machine startup in 2012 but it won't actually be released until 2013 (like ME3 was in 2011). It's a soft-pitch prediction; we'll hear about it but won't get it.

I'm going to place a bet that DA3 comes out this year and in the November rush. One thing they can take from Skyrim is that RPGs with a lot of depth can be greatly successful, and in November too (also that The Witcher2 showed a good PC audience). Also I can't think of anything from EA that's currently pegged for the big November rush, although no doubt there will be a shooter too for Activision to beat them with COD again.

I hope this doesn't involve the game getting less time than it needs.

Remember that ME3 was originally scheduled to come out in November then got bumped to this spring. BioWare has been busy with ToR and ME3; I doubt they've put that much into DA3 yet.

If it comes out this year it will definitely be rushed.

tanstaafl wrote:

Remember that ME3 was originally scheduled to come out in November then got bumped to this spring. BioWare has been busy with ToR and ME3; I doubt they've put that much into DA3 yet.

If it comes out this year it will definitely be rushed.

Maybe. DA:O took 5-6 years, and was said to be "too big" and took too long to make. DA2 was apparently done in 11 months. I don't think we'll get a big epic like origins again from a company part of EA, but I think there's a reasonable chance it could happen, especially if they don't reinvent the wheel again and just refine what they've got.

shoptroll wrote:

3DS continues to sell great at $170. No further price drops or redesign in 2012. 3DS eShop quality continues to improve. GBA virtual console by end of the year.

+1

shoptroll wrote:

WiiU's launch goes off fairly well in November 2012 around $250. Pikmin 3 leads the launch lineup with New Super Mario Mii arriving in December. Portal 2, Darksiders II, Bioshock: Infinite and Arkham City included in the 3rd party launch offerings. Wii U introduces Gamecube virtual console.

I doubt we'll see Portal 2 or Bioshock Infinite on the WiiU. We will, however, see some kind of Battlefield 3: Director's Cut, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, and a packed-in collection of mini-games set on Wuhu Island courtesy of the Sports Resort team.

shoptroll wrote:

Xenoblade sells out of the first print run. Nintendo goes for a second print-run with a wider distribution in the Summer/Fall. Green lights Last Story for a similar limited distribution release in North America for late 2012/early 2013.

From your keyboard to God's ears, my friend.

Kurrelgyre wrote:

-Call of Duty: Desert Storm will be released

Wouldn't that be a strong rehash of the first Modern Warfare?

monkeyboy wrote:

Xbox 8 and iPad connectivity.

It won't happen. A Windows 8 tablet? Yes. An iPad? Nope.

Keep in mind that the Xbox Live iOS app is adding functionality that has been on Windows Phone 7 since release and lags behind what was added with the latest WP7 update. The Xbox Companion app for WP7 actually lets you connect to and control your console with your phone including controlling movies and music, searching for games and media, and even emulating a d-pad and the face buttons.

Microsoft will undoubtedly continue to expand those kinds of features, but it won't cut into what the WiiU is doing for a couple reasons. First, it's Microsoft, and their implementation will be half-assed at best. I'm a very satisfied WP7 user, but most of the features they announced for that platform haven't been used yet, and despite what I mentioned above, the integration with the 360 is pretty poor. They promised games that could be played on both platforms, real-time connectivity between phone and 360 games, and none of that has happened in a significant way.

Second, and most importantly, the WiiU would have the advantage over any ad hoc tablet/handheld solution from Microsoft and Sony because, as with motion controls, the tablet will be a standard part of every console sold and will be by default integrated into pretty much every game released on the system. Microsoft could do something like that with tablets, but it cannot be a defining feature of the console and won't see widespread adoption.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

I doubt we'll see Portal 2 or Bioshock Infinite on the WiiU. We will, however, see some kind of Battlefield 3: Director's Cut, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, and a packed-in collection of mini-games set on Wuhu Island courtesy of the Sports Resort team.

Gabe's a fan of Nintendo. I think if the opportunity presented itself they'd put Portal 2 on that system pronto. You also have the stuff they did with Novint which could be adapted to the Wii MotionPlus (or the Move for that matter). Of the Valve catalog I think it's the only game that would really click with Nintendo's audience. Although Dota2 would be an interesting choice as well.

I agree BioShock is questionable, although in my mind it's launching in the Fall to coincide with the election season which puts it squarely in the Wii U launch territory. 2K is going to want to put something on the Wii U, so I figure it's either BioShock, Borderlands or Aliens (which might already be confirmed as a launch title?).

Forgot about a pack-in, but Nintendo isn't consistent with pack-ins. The NES, Gameboy, and Wii are the only systems of theirs that I know shipped with a pack-in.

At least one of the tech demos they showed at E3 was from the WarioWare/Rhythm Heaven group so maybe they have an entry in the works for the WiiU or we'll see a pack-in featuring them and the Wii Sports team.

Ultimately, it really depends on which market segment Nintendo wants to entice at launch.

2012: the year we realize that the smartphone/tablet game market is actually a *new* market and doesn't really cannibalize the handheld/console/PC sales in any meaningful way.

3DS and Wii U (in particular) will perform better than expected, beating the DS/Wii sales in the same time frame. The regular suspects will be shocked that middle America is OK with buying a new party game/Mario Kart machine every 5 years or so.

Valve will start attracting more media attention, as will the PC platform in general.

HockeyJohnston wrote:

the year we realize that the smartphone/tablet game market is actually a *new* market and doesn't really cannibalize the handheld/console/PC sales in any meaningful way.

Ditto for social games. I think. But long overdue for both I say.

During the 2012 Summer Sale, Valve debuts a permanent meta-game for Steam based on your game library, achievements, inventory and time spent on the service. Think Pokemon or something like Kongregate's CCG.

I think this is the next iteration of achievements. However I don't think it happens in 2012

shoptroll wrote:
HockeyJohnston wrote:

the year we realize that the smartphone/tablet game market is actually a *new* market and doesn't really cannibalize the handheld/console/PC sales in any meaningful way.

Ditto for social games. I think. But long overdue for both I say.

I think part of the concern is the developer mindshare, as though developers working in one segment would always work in another if social wasn't available. If those markets weren't around (no smartphones, no social networks) it's not as though another Halo would magically appear. I don't think any year is going to be when people fix their world views and expectations.

It seems to me there's plenty to go around for all segments, it's more about funding, and although it's certainly not zero, it's a smaller cost to making a social/mobile game than "mainstream" (isn't it almost by definition "not mainstream" now?) AAA games.

Kamakazi010654 wrote:
During the 2012 Summer Sale, Valve debuts a permanent meta-game for Steam based on your game library, achievements, inventory and time spent on the service. Think Pokemon or something like Kongregate's CCG.

I think this is the next iteration of achievements. However I don't think it happens in 2012

I would rock the crap out of a steam pedometer

I'm bored at work so here's some (ok, many) thoughts:

Like in Japan, Vita launches to a tepid response in the West. Sony doesn't go into crisis mode.

3DS continues to sell great at $170. No further price drops or redesign in 2012. 3DS eShop quality continues to improve. GBA virtual console by end of the year.

WiiU's launch goes off fairly well in November 2012 around $250. Pikmin 3 leads the launch lineup with New Super Mario Mii arriving in December. Portal 2, Darksiders II, Bioshock: Infinite and Arkham City included in the 3rd party launch offerings. Wii U introduces Gamecube virtual console.

New XBox announced at GDC, launching in 2013. PS4 shown at TGS, but no details until 2013. Both systems are running AMD graphics chipsets with ARM or x86 CPUs. One of the new systems comes with an SSD storage option.

Xenoblade sells out of the first print run. Nintendo goes for a second print-run with a wider distribution in the Summer/Fall. Green lights Last Story for a similar limited distribution release in North America for late 2012/early 2013.

Kingdom Hearts III teased by secret ending in KH3D, official announcement at TGS. Final Fantasy XIII-2 reception in the West is lukewarm. Type-0 is a hit. XIV has a middling launch on PS3. VS XIII gets release date and/or is changed to XV at TGS.

Grand Theft Auto V is not released in 2012.

Assassin's Creed III is the last AC game released on the annual schedule. A new locale but fails to introduce significant revisions or enhancements to the formula resulting in lower sales.

Borderlands 2 PS3 features PC cross-play through Steamworks.

Next Duke Nukem game announced following release of Borderlands 2 and Colonial Marines. Demo at PAX Prime.

ME3 is successful but leaves opening for a new game / MMO. Dragon Age III announced by E3.

EA announces a bunch of other games with 2, 3 or 4 in the title, and again fails to properly promote any new IP that is handed to them via EA Partners.

Starcraft II Phoenix is a remake of Starcraft/Brood War in the SCII platform. Released via the SCII marketplace.

Battle.net 2.0 and Auction House complaints have minimal impact on the Diablo III launch.

WoW subscriber numbers start to creep up again in the later half of the year, following the launch of Guild Wars 2.

Blizzard's "Titan" is shown behind closed doors at BlizzCon 2012, but under massive NDA.

SWTOR is a moderate success but not a blockbuster and sees a significant drop off in subscribers after January. Does not go F2P in 2012.

Rift goes F2P by end of 2012.

No Half-Life 3/Episode 3 release in 2012, but shown at GDC or E3. L4D2's Cold Stream DLC is MIA on XBLM. L4D2 released for PS3 with cross-platform play via Steamworks. Steam "Big Picture" UI is MIA.

Steam introduces game rentals under pressure from OnLive and GameFly's absorption of Direct2Drive.

During the 2012 Summer Sale, Valve debuts a permanent meta-game for Steam based on your game library, achievements, inventory and time spent on the service. Think Pokemon or something like Kongregate's CCG.

Steamworks spreads to Wii U.

Bobby Kotick remains Activision CEO. Riccitello is replaced, most likely by Peter Moore. THQ or 2K is absorbed by one of the big 3. Ubisoft has a disappointing year.

Large publishers continue hemorrhaging staff resulting in a more indie and small-team developers. Indie games continue setting higher levels of polish and attention.

A Humble Indie bundle cracks 2.5 million USD in sales. However, Indie Bundle fatigue sets in following the Great Bundle Wars of 2012.

An indie game wins "Game of the Year" at Game Developer's Choice Awards 2012. I'll double down on this and go with Bastion over Minecraft.

PAX 3 location is revealed to either be Europe or midwestern US.

A winter games convention is unveiled thus removing the only justification for the continued existence of Spike TV awards.

Idle Thumbs gets back together.

Kurrelgyre wrote:

-Call of Duty: Desert Storm will be released

Aren't we approaching the 20th anniversary? Seems like we're overdue for this or the Bosnia war (remember that one?) as a shooter setting.

This thread is awesome, so many interesting predictions like:

shoptroll wrote:

Starcraft II Phoenix is a remake of Starcraft/Brood War in the SCII platform. Released a via the SCII marketplace.

That would be so cool. My list will be trolly since there are already so many good real predictions.

- GTA V is mind blowing tech wise and somehow less fun than IV. It sells 15 million copies world wide and helps put gamers to sleep.

- The Last of Us is essentially an 8 hour movie where you press X every 10 minutes. It wins GAME of the year.

- Bungie and Respawn Studio reveal their new IP's at E3. They involve shooting and killing.

- Wada and Nomura are fired from Square Enix. With those guys gone, Final Fantasy 15 is released as a beautiful cell shaded JRPG with a zoomed out camera that invokes the feel of the SNES FF's.

- Bioware continues to chase the mass audience and Mass Effect: Sims is announced. The doctors claim that EA had nothing to do with that decision. It will have a 95 meta critic rating regardless of quality.

- Nintendo announces at E3 that there is no system wide friend system for WiiU. Instead, you generate a 30 digit code, then text your friends that code to play. These codes will be distributed by publisher.

- Capcom releases 4 iterations of Tekken Vs. Capcom...in the same year.

- Sony starts a website where they give away your credit card info. Fans defend this.

- The new graphics cards bring back the AMD Vs. NVidia fanboy war. It culminates in a dance off at PAX.

- Doom 4 is announced at E3. It is a Call of Duty clone.

- Apple releases an official controller peripheral for iOS. The industry has an emotional meltdown.

- Molyneux tells the truth at E3.

- EA changes their sports game policy and extends the development time to 2 years to create a richer, better gaming experience because they respect their consumers.

- Kamiya releases the greatest action game of all time in terms of mechanics and design leaving developers everywhere floored. Gamers talk about the hat the character wears and how it relates the the Freudian idea of sexuality in contrast to Kant's idea of moral philosophy.

- Steam continues to thrive yet Valve refuses to buy new servers and/or hire customer support to make a quality user experience. Dota 2 is released with no additional servers/customer support making Steam essentially unusable for 2 weeks because of the flood of new users. Gabe has an interview where he touts service as being paramount.

IMAGE(http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu231/BNoice/Rage/trollface.jpg)

Easy personal ones first:

- I will make bold claims about reducing the size of my pile. In reality, I will wind up playing New Vegas for a 5th time, Skyrim for a 3rd time, and blow the rest of the time on League of Legends and Dungeon Defenders. My pile will increase in size by another 20%.
- Batman: Arkham City will be among that 20%. It will not get played this year.
- Heart of the Swarm will be among that 20%. I will get through 3 missions, then get distracted by something else. I'll wind up finishing the campaign sometime in 2013.
- Diablo 3 will be among that 20%. It will be what distracts me from Heart of the Swarm.
- My Wii will not get plugged in at all this year, now that You Don't Know Jack has replaced Wii Sports as the go-to party game. Muramasa will go unplayed.

Harder, non-personal ones:

- Wii-U will launch to tepid response from hardcore gamers and the gaming press. It will sell like crazy, and be the hot thing for the holiday season. Reggie Fils-Aime will do/say something absurd in a promo stunt, and he may even have a cameo in a hollywood movie.
- Sony will announce a new revision of the Vita, sporting small component size and power usage. Battery life will be greater, but nothing else meaningful will be added. It will release in 2013.
- Anonymous, or some other hacker group, will compromise another major publisher/developer system. Consumers will once again blame the publisher/developer for not being infallible, and the actual perpetrators of the crime will drop off media radar after a week.
- Mobile gaming will continue to be heralded as the future, but more of the same old touch games we've already seen is what will be released.

BNice wrote:

- Doom 4 is announced at E3. It is a Call of Duty clone.

Doom 4 (or whatever the final title is) was actually announced already a couple of years ago at QuakeCon

Personal:
-My triumphant return to GWJ, sporting a new 'J' that might even go some way to supporting a gaming habit (okay, mainly it'll be supporting Mrs. p's Masters)
-Much of my pile will remain untouched as I continue to pretend I am still a teenager by playing up to date re-dos of my old favourites (CS:GO, Quakelive and Diablo III, I'm looking at you).
-Continue to not upgrade my PC unless a console is announced released and is popular enough, all within 12 months that new games aren't playable on this old thing.
-I will want a PSVita despite everything (launch PSP1000 owner here), but won't get one.

Big gaming picture:
-The continued rise and rise of 'indie' games
-Part and parcel of the above: the blurring of the line between 'indie' and not indie
-Gaming continues to gain traction on Apple devices: Through Steam and those following suit on Mac, and it already seems clear that iOS is the top mobile gaming platform

shoptroll wrote:

Starcraft II Phoenix is a remake of Starcraft/Brood War in the SCII platform. Released via the SCII marketplace.

DO WANT.

hbi2k wrote:

Prediction: Assuming that GOTY tallying works the same way next year as this year, Saints Row 3 will be GWJ's 2011 Game of 2012.

Seems like a very likely thing to happen. I think a lot of people here passed on SR3 due to Skyrim releasing a few days before it. SR3 truly is deserving of anyone's money and time, even at full retail price IMO. It's so good that I played it for 50 hours, even though the story missions could probably be completed in 10 hours.

Prediction: Assuming that GOTY tallying works the same way next year as this year, Saints Row 3 will be GWJ's 2011 Game of 2012.

Prediction: This is the year that Japanese games come back in a big way, critically if not necessarily sales-wise. The strength of the yen vs. the dollar leads to more Japanese devs focusing on their home territory first and foremost, with American ports coming later if at all. The end result will be a wave of creative weirdness not seen since the PS2 era.

Prediction: The WiiU is DOA. The Nintendo faithful will turn out as always, but that niche is ever-shrinking, and meanwhile the casual market is too busy being disappointed in their new Kinects to buy a new machine to be disappointed with.

Prediction: Full console announcement with deets from Microsoft, evasive weirdness and leaks of suspect reliability galore from Sony. No home console release from either company in calendar year 2012.

Prediction: GTA V meets sales expectations and releases to generally good Day One reviews, but the buzz about the game becomes increasingly negative as the weeks wear on. It will be the classic case of strong opening weekend, short tail.

Prediction: This is finally the year for Diablo III. I know that predicting that a game will come out when it's supposed to is not much of a prediction, but this is Blizzard. I think this one plays.

Prediction: The second great fighting game boom is dead. The niche audience that will actually put up with the oversaturation and sequel fatigue will prove too small to support the current release schedule.

And my double-or-nothing from last year: There will be more terrible-ass plot-required vehicle sequences in Mass Effect 3.

shoptroll wrote:

During the 2012 Summer Sale, Valve debuts a permanent meta-game for Steam based on your game library, achievements, inventory and time spent on the service. Think Pokemon or something like Kongregate's CCG.

Tell me that I can battle using Steam Coupons and I'M IN, BABY!

Official Bold Predictions article is up. Guess I'll have to lock this thread up too eventually to prevent stealth edits.

This is a little trollish perhaps but re: iPad/console integration - Adding the sh*ttiest part of iOS gaming (touch-only controls) to real games is not the best idea. Maybe I need a tablet to see the appeal of this idea.

merphle wrote:

Tell me that I can battle using Steam Coupons and I'M IN, BABY!

Actually I was thinking you'd WIN COUPONS AND FREE GAMES as treasures/prizes.

Budo wrote:

There will an incredibly cool new trend in gaming that is so much better than the old trend from last year, which totally sucks now. Can't point a finger at any one thing but I'm pretty sure this one is accurate.

Rocksmith vs RockBand

Certis wrote:

Official Bold Predictions article is up. Guess I'll have to lock this thread up too eventually to prevent stealth edits.

A question Certis, why segregate off the 'official' predictions? I just seems to me that those that do front page posts get their own thread, rather than being part of the community discussion.

Because there are two threads: one for us, one for the fancy people in charge.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
mrtomaytohead wrote:

WiiU - $299 w/ a casual pack-in game will release in North America on Sunday, November 18th, 2012.

That pack-in game will be a mini-game collection set on Wuhu Island. At least one of the games will involve the player with the tablet playing AR spotter for the player with the TV and Wiimote.

Titles within the launch window will include:

First-Party:

  • A new 3D Mario game developed by the Mario Galaxy 1 team. They've been awfully quiet since 2007. My best guess is that the central theme and gimmick is time.
  • Smash Bros. WiiU and Smash Bros. 3DS with some kind of cross-platform gameplay. It will be along the lines of persistent unlocks with a single shared character rather than simultaneous multiplayer.
  • Pikmin 3. It's been three years since this team released a game (New Super Mario Bros. Wii), so they're obviously up to something big.
  • Possibly Big Brain Academy WiiU.
  • A successor to Wii Fit Plus, also set on Wuhu Island. It will feature additional exercises and mini-games in the form of DLC.
  • Also, something from Retro Studios. They had the Donkey Kong franchise most recently, but they were the Metroid kings for a long time. After the lackluster response to Other M, they might have another Metroid up their sleeves, but, if so, it won't be ready at launch.

Third-Party:

  • Darksiders 2
  • Dragon Quest X
  • Ninja Gaiden 3
  • Madden 13 and all the other sports franchises
  • Ghost Recon Future Soldier
  • Some kind of Battlefield 3 director's cut featuring all the DLC and a bonus feature like 32 or 64 player multiplayer
  • A game from Atlus, possibly Trauma Team 2 but most likely a port of whatever their latest 3DS game is
  • Call of Duty 9
  • A metric ton of licensed movie and cartoon tie-ins.

A review of my predictions:

Kinect will continue to grow slowly and will build an impressive library. I would tend to believe that Microsoft is smart enough to want to avoid what has become a significant problem for the Wii; the fact that piles of horrible games are released for it that feature crappy motion controls. There will not be a huge library, but it will be a reasonably good one, and several major developers will find interesting things to do with the technology. The Gunstringer, Child of Eden . . . OK, it wasn't that impressive.

Similarly, there will begin to be a number of impressive XBLA titles using Kinect. People may be unwilling to spend $50 on a game, but $10? XBLA will be the next wave for Kinect. I'm giving myself halfsies on this one; The Gunstringer was supposed to be XBLA but was impressive enough to get a full retail release, plus Fruit Ninja Kinect was pretty well-regarded. OK, maybe I need quarter-sies.

Activision will run Call of Duty into the ground, and then find another franchise to crap on. Bobby Kotick will kill several puppies, just because he can.
Seems to me each iteration is getting less and less well-reviewed as time goes by. Also, puppies flee from Bobby Kotick, or he'll be killing them left and right.

Amazon's game download service will succeed, but not to the extent of Steam. Microsoft and EA will attempt to succeed, but they'll fail. I still can't install Viva Pinata, you stupid @#$!!! Most definitely; Amazon's been making some nice inroads. Microsoft's is still annoying, and Origin sucks. On the other hand, I finally did get Viva Pinata installed.

Someone will track down the people at Sony responsible for all the PS3 decisions, slam them against the wall, and scream, "YOU MORONS! YOU COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY DOMINATED FOR TWO VIDEO GAME CONSOLES, AND YOU APPARENTLY THOUGHT THAT WOULD ALLOW SOME SORT OF MAGIC ABILITY TO SELL THE PS3 WITHOUT ACTUALLY TRYING!" Please tell me somebody has done this. At least three times.

That being said, the Kevin Butler commercials will continue being awesome. Well, duh.

As mobile gaming becomes more accepted, someone will figure out how to not only release but effectively market a control device of some sort. Touch-screen controls work for Angry Birds, but faster games need something more precise. Or not. Then again, if you have a bluetooth-enabled phone (and everybody does), you can use a WiiMote.

The iPhone will finally get on Verizon and get some of its market share back, but Apple won't be able to reclaim its momentum. Android will continue to dominate, and the Windows 7 phone will continue being more or less irrelevant. Ding!

The Wii will have a couple high-profile first-party releases, and yet more shovelware. No new console announced yet, though.
Move along, nothing to see.

Civ V will get an expansion that will fix the AI and turn it from a really good game into a game worthy of following Civ IV. Kind of, sort of. It's not Civ IV, but that's a pretty high bar. I've still enjoyed the heck out of it.