Bold Predictions 2016!

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It's that magical time of year once again! I figure if I keep predicting games I want will be announced eventually they'll be made manifest. So THIS is the year for Red Dead Redemption 2. Catch the fever! There's some interesting wrinkles in 2016 thanks to rumors of Nintendo's next console and the many questions surrounding the fate of VR. Will this finally be the year? It's time to make your predictions!

It's also time to eat some crow. Make sure you revisit 2015's thread and see how you did!

Shawn Andrich

Microsoft
- $50 price drop as they continue to chase marketshare
- Hololens will remain an R&D project with no consumer model in sight. 3K dev kit? Yeesh.

Sony
- No price drop this year
- Morpheous will launch this Fall for $499.

Nintendo NX
- Vague announcement in Spring. Full announcement at E3. Launch in Fall.
- NX will feature a controller that doubles as a mobile touch screen gaming device, blurring the lines between living room and on the go platform. Kind of a REALLY fancy Dreamcast controller. The logical evolution of the Wii-U gamepad.
- System will not be backward compatible and will focus on growing a new library of games suitable for touch screen gaming on the go and big ticket games. There will be regular controller support.

- New Zelda will launch for Wii U and the NX with a few extra features

VR Predictions
- Oculus Rift launches and will remain difficult to buy until the Fall due to stock shortages. It will not hurt VR’s case, people will be excited about VR in general but the door will be wide open for competition.

- The touch controllers will launch in the Fall but few games will support them. They will be bundled with the 2.0 version of the Rift in 2017.

- The HTC Vive VR headset kit will cost $699 with controller set. It will be easier to purchase than the Oculus and Valve will announce/launch a new game with it. It won’t be Half-Life 3.

Star Citizen

- Squadron 42 will launch in the Spring as Episodes and finally bring Star Citizen to a feeling of being an actual game. By the end of the year Star Citizen will be a thing that resembles the original pitch. There will be no real MMO style components.

General Predictions

- Red Dead Redemption 2 THIS IS THE YEAR
- An “indie” game will outsell Madden this year.
- Everquest Next will be cancelled
- Minecraft 2 will be announced. f*ck you, that’s why.
- Total War: Warhammer will suck. Not enough depth to really feel like a Total War Game.
- Mobile games will continue to pander to the easy money, cementing the player gap between “hard-core” gamers and phone gamers.

Chris "C" Cesarano

- The Nintendo NX, at least the home console variant, will not release in 2016 (a common one for the GWJ Nintendo fanbase)

- Final Fantasy XV will be a long game, but the world will actually be rather small. We'll be lucky if it spans an entire continent.

- The Occulus Rift will commercially go the way of the OUYA, with the Playstation VR perhaps being the best chance of the experience going mainstream (might be more of a 2017 prediction)

- Nintendo will announce a new Metroid game for NX, but it will somehow still be a disappointment to fans.

- Capcom continues to piss me off by not localizing Dragon's Dogma Online in the West.

Colleen "momgamer" Hannon

- The Steam console that just came out will be a hit with early adopters & Gabe Newell fanboys but be a quiet build with the rest of the audience. Outside that core, the concept of streaming to another device is still in it's early stages, and that's going to be a confusing sell.

- Someone at Square Enix realized that a numbering system that lets you play the games in order is a good thing, and we get Kingdom Hearts 2.8, to slide in between the already released 2.5 and the upcoming Kingdom Hearts 3. That doesn't mean their development isn't still a little messy, so I predict that both games will slip their dates around and may not actually release in that order.

- There will be even more Star Wars games released, because that's how the juggernaut rolls. But none of them will be a new Star Wars: X-wing or Star Wars: Tie Fighter, so the re-releases out on GoG will have to sustain us.

- Beyond Good and Evil 2 slipped out of last year, but hope springs eternal. After the way other properties have shipped Ubi should have the right manpower available, so I'm going to take a wishful stand and say that it will ship in 2016.

- My squad will wipe and I will lose the world to aliens many, many times playing X-Com 2.

Greg "doubtingthomas396" Decker

1) Warner Brothers will release another open world game with Arkham style combat. The license will be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and it will actually be kind of awesome.

2) Oculus Rift’s system requirements and $600 price point will prove to cool the ardor of many enthusiasts, leading to a price drop in the later half of the year. It won't help.

3) Nintendo will announce that their next console is a handheld system that plugs into a dock that will allow you to play games on your television.

3a) Nintendo’s next console will be digital only, and will not support playing disc-based WiiU games.

3b) Nintendo will continue to link all digital game purchases to hardware serial numbers.

3c) If 3a and 3b are both true, later in the year Nintendo will announce an optical disc drive add-on to allow people to play WiiU games on the new console. It will plug into the dock and the handheld system will become the controller. The WiiU controller will not pair with the NX.

4) Paid mods will return to the news when Bethesda releases the mod kit for Fallout 4. It will only be implemented on consoles, because Bethesda hates console owners and resents having to port their games onto them, as evidenced by how their console ports always work (or, rather, fail to).

5) Everyone will realize that TellTale games has jumped the shark when they announce a Happy Days game in the style of all of their other dialogue-tree adventure games.

Comments

No Elysium? No rabbit? No Demiurge? No Amoebic?

Apart from Star Citizen (which I think will still be a bit of a mess in 2016), I think Shawn's predictions will be pretty close to accurate for the year and almost exactly line up with how I see things playing out.

Capcom continues to piss me off by not localizing Dragon's Dogma Online in the West.

That and Monster Hunter Online, but I think Capcom has long ago let the ship sail on Monster Hunter ever being a thing in the West. I'm also hoping that they announce Dragon's Dogma 2, that game has gone too long without a sequel.

My Predictions:
Nintendo
-Nintendo NX revealed this year. If it's at or before E3, it'll be out by the end of the year, if not the release will be in 2017.
-Nintendo NX will essentially be an upgraded Wii U in which the Gamepad is small enough, and powerful enough to be used as a DS. There will be no successor to the DS line apart from the NX.
-Legend of Zelda is split across generations (Wii U and NX)
-Nintendo games on mobile will make insane amounts of money

Sony
-Morpheus will be out by the end of the year and within 6 months of release it'll be obvious to everyone that Morpheus won the VR fight.
-PS4 redesign to co-incide with the Morpheus launch
-No pricedrop on the PS4
-The Vita will continue to be a zombie
-A majority of the big releases (No Man's Sky, Horizon, Uncharted 4, FFXIV, TLG) will come out and be disappointments due to insanely high expectations and/or Sony pressuring the devs to release so that they don't have another 2015 like drought.

Microsoft
-Another XB1 price drop
-A software update will let the XB1 act like a pseudo-PC the same way the Lumia 950 can
-MS will announce Windows 10 to XB1 game streaming

PC
-We're going to see less developers adopting early access now that the service has matured and the cons are better understood
-SteamOS will continue to go nowhere compared to Windows but will improve the number of games available for Linux and OS X
-4K 144Hz screens will become the new "excuse to upgrade"
-Star Citizen will continue to be kind of a cluster****
-Insanely expensive Oculus setup will make for some great gaming experiences, but the Oculus will remain too expensive to be mainstream, by the end of 2016 we'll see previous Oculus exclusives announcing non-VR versions

I was wondering if this was still happening this year. I assume the writer's pen wanted to wait until after Occulus pricing was announced so no one would look bad by guessing a ridiculous price?

Final Fantasy XV will be a long game, but the world will actually be rather small. We'll be lucky if it spans an entire continent.

I'm ok with this. It's definitely possible to make a game world feel "big" without actually having tens of virtual square miles. Look at classic adventure games.

Here's my predictions:

Spoiler:

JRPGs:

  • JRPGs lead the way to this year being dubbed “The Return of Japan”
  • Persona 1-3 ported to 3DS, NX, Vita or PS4 to celebrate the franchise’s 20th anniversary
  • Atlus starts porting its RPGs to PC
  • Square-Enix unveils a “toys to life” game (I still think this is World of Final Fantasy despite it sounding like a Pokemon game)
  • Final Fantasy XII HD announced
  • Final Fantasy XV gets a PC port within 6 months of the home console release
  • Final Fantasy XVI teased (likely the X/XIII team led by Toriyama)
  • Kingdom Hearts III, Dragon Quest XI, FFVII Remake all get 2017 release date/windows
  • The World Ends With You 2 teased again

Nintendo:

  • NX handheld debuts at GDC and ships before Xmas ‘16, home console is a no show
  • NX will have a divisive control scheme
  • NX will contain some aspect of the Quality of Life project
  • No NX XL at launch, ensuring I will experience early adopter regret within 12-18 months of launch
  • NX price will be in the range of $100-150 for the handheld. Preferably closer to $100.
  • Wii U approaches 20 million units in sales before end of 2016 (still their worst home console but not far from GameCube)
  • NX will finally add GameCube Virtual Console
  • New Pokemon generation for 3DS/NX
  • Splatwoon, Metroid, Pikmin 4, and a new IP for NX’s first year
  • Mother 3 localization for Virtual Console
  • Mobile phone software will be successful but not as much as investors are expecting

Other:

  • Fallout 1 / Fallout 2 Enhanced Editions
  • Planescape Torment Enhanced Edition
  • Bulletstorm Remastered for PS4/One/PC
  • Another MOBA dies on the vine
  • EA attempts Spore 2
  • Saints Row 5 announced
  • The Last Guardian gets a 2017 release window
  • Diablo III expansion #2 is announced
  • New Supergiant Games Project announced
  • VR isn’t the slam-dunk hit people want, but it’s not a flop either
  • Something is clearly rotten in the state of Steam when Valve's laissez-faire attitude and cold indifference finally causes them some significant headaches. I expect this will be some sort of customer service incident that blows up into a PR fiasco, or there's finally some sort of data breach. 2015 demonstrated there's some tensions between Valve and an overly entitled gaming community bubbling under the surface, and I suspect there's a real risk of that boiling over this year.
  • Valve will port CS:Go to Source 2 this year. They still won't release a game with the number 3 in the title.
  • 2016 will be the year of reality splashing a lot of cold water on the face of 2015's hype and excitement. High buy-in for VR is the first in a list of disappointments to come this year.

EDIT: Forgot to add, that I think the Sony VR and HTC Vive price predictions feel right to me. I think Occulus drew a realistic line in the sand with their pricing and I doubt the competition are going to significantly drift from that target. $100 swing in either direction makes sense.

I would like to add that Ubisoft takes Beyond Good & Evil 2 to Kickstarter. Whether it works or not does not matter to me.

As for last year, new comments in bold:

- Despite making a profit into the new year, seeing increased market share, and having some of the most critically acclaimed titles, the gaming press will still continue to tell Nintendo what they need to do if they don't want to become obsolete.

- Countless GameStop employees will become frustrated having to explain what the deal is with the New Nintendo 3DS, finding it harder to explain why some games will only work with that system and not the previous models. Target and Wal-Mart employees will only perpetuate the problem by not knowing what they're talking about.

I haven't paid enough attention to gaming to really say on either count, though I do know there've been doom and gloom articles on WiiU. However, I think it's safe to say that the New Nintendo 3DS XL has not been the confusing mess I imagined it'd be.

- Everyone will talk excitedly about new games announced at E3 2015, and then proceed to complain about how horrible the show has been and why can't it be like it was ten or fifteen years ago when people were watching it online for the first time.

Well, I was right about people being excited. I must have been in a really cynical mood when making these predictions. People overall seemed rather pleased with E3 2015.

- Splatoon will be completely forgotten during the "Shooter of the Year" announcements at year's end

I was wrong about this. This game became an instant love even for gaming press of questionable taste.

- Half-Life 3: Episode 3 will remain vaporware

Easy target.

- The new Assassin's Creed will be just as disappointing as Unity, and interest will wane in the series again... or at least, it would, but Ubisoft will release a next-gen version of Assassin's Creed: Rogue, and everyone will love the series again as they sail ships and collect sea shanties.

I think reception has plateau'd. It's overall found more favor than Unity, but I feel like it's release came and went with a whisper. Everyone was more interested in Fallout 4 instead.

- The Last Guardian will get another trailer, but will not release in 2015.

Oh sh*t! One I was right about!

- Due to its insistence on using gyroscope controls, Star Fox will be scored low across the board and I will be disappointed yet again.

- On the other hand, Legend of Zelda for WiiU will be a Game of the Year contender, and perhaps even winner

That one of these got delayed is one thing, but both? Now that's a bit of a shocker. Perhaps carry these over to 2016?

- Platinum Games and Nintendo will announce The Wonderful 102, and Wonder Blue will be announced as a DLC character for Smash Bros.

Siiiiiiggggghhhhh.....

Oh, and:

Mother 3 localization for Virtual Console

I'd bet you better odds that Wonderful 201 gets announced for NX before Mother 3 gets localized in the states. Wishful thinking for wishful thinking?

Oooo. I could see BG&E 2 hitting Kickstarter. I don't think they'll do it but it certainly feels like a good candidate for the service (and I'm doubtful that happens this year anyways).

ccesarano wrote:

I'd bet you better odds that Wonderful 201 gets announced for NX before Mother 3 gets localized in the states. Wishful thinking for wishful thinking? ;)

TWEWY 2 announcement is wishful thinking for wishful thinking (and Spore 2 is the comedy option). Fangamer said in a Kickstarter update that there might be some Mother related news this year but they couldn't really say much more than that. So I consider this slightly more than wishful thinking even though I expect there's not a strong chance of it happening. I would absolutely love to be surprised by the announcement though!

MeatMan wrote:

No Elysium? No rabbit? No Demiurge? No Amoebic? :(

Conference Callers mostly gave theirs in audio format this year.

This particular prediction I made last year really stings.

- The second half of MGS V: The Phantom Pain will be a remake of the NES Metal Gear, where you play as Solid and infiltrate the base you built up in the first half as Big Boss. This is why David Hayter isn't voicing Big Boss, because he is voicing Solid :O

I didn't chime in this year because I can't honestly say I'm plugged into industry goings on, due to a 2-month scion dominating my waking attention. And then Certis went and asked for only "serious" predictions.

Edit: Apparently that wasn't Certis. Someone got on the serious train, though, and it's in my Dad Contract to ride that train when it rolls through.

Review of 2015:

“God has seen your tears and heard your prayers. Fear not, your favorite genre will not die. Don’t let the consultants bother with it too much.”

It's a broad one, but pulled from Rasputin, which should be worth something. Anyway, I think it was a good year for niche and forgotten genres—even some fairly healthy talk about flight sticks!

The definition of "indie" will continue to be muddled from the top-down, much like the definition of "craft beer." But you can go on drinking Shock Top and Blue Moon if you like them.

Maybe? I feel like we mostly gave up on trying to draw a line other than "AAA" and "everything else."

That said, 2015 will be a great year for "this isn't even a real game" games. The audience and appetite for videogames will continue to broaden and diversify.

Not as much as I'd hope, perhaps, but seeing a lot more recognition that gamers aren't just the stereotype. Not that there aren't still eyeroll-inducing comments on, for example, broadcast TV talk shows.

Some folks will really not be OK with the above. I'll try not to get into internet fights about it, but by August I'll be regularly posting long-winded comments in corners of the internet where I should know not to.

Surprising myself by how accurate I was about the last part of that. I've had to pull myself back from over-engagement on Reddit and Facebook a number of times in the past year.

2015 is the make-or-break moment for the newest generation of consoles. PS4 and XBone's 2015 will be that ugly part of a fight where you just want one of them to land a solid hit so the fight can be over. By the end of the year, this gen's "winner" will be announced as Wii U (by contested decision) or PC (by default).

PC by default.

Bolder & More Beautiful Claims:

You know how our camera angles are pretty much either top-down/isometric, first-person or over-the-shoulder? A new camera angle is going to pop up this year, and it's going to become a Thing going into 2016, opening up at least one new genre of games.

Not so much. VR and 3rd-person car sports don't really cut it. Maybe things like Beginner's Guide could be said to play more with "perspective," but not camera perspective.

The internet in 2014 was obviously broken as a platform for civil discussion, but we're going to figure it out in 2015. This is our year, people.

I think I need a nap or strong coffee before I can respond to this. What kind of bubbly jerk would write something like this?

wordsmythe wrote:

Certis went and asked for only "serious" predictions.

I guess that explains why there aren't any bold predictions. The bold ones were the main reason I pay attention to the annual predictions.

Greg "doubtingthomas396" Decker

5) Everyone will realize that TellTale games has jumped the shark when they announce a Happy Days game in the style of all of their other dialogue-tree adventure games.

I see what you did there. Well done. Well done, indeed!

My predictions? Um...

- No Man's Sky will fail to deliver on many if not most of its promises, ending up a rather underwhelming offering that was vastly overshadowed by its own hype.

- Square-Enix will continue to neglect fans asking for Final Fantasy XII HD or a remaster of the PS2 game

- Final Fantasy VII's first episode will be released by year's end and please just about no one because it is impossible for it to live up to the fantasies of all of us jaded fans after nearly 20 years. The project will be summarily shut down and never be taken up again.

These are negative, I know, but it's in the hope of being proven wrong. I ain't no soothsayer!

I've been sitting on these for almost two weeks:

* Rockstar announces and releases...Bully 2.

* Nintendo debuts the name of the console codenamed NX and somehow it's not something we'll be making fun of. Probably because it won't sound like a portion of the anatomy in English.

* No Man's Sky launches and...it gets kind of dull after the first couple hours.

* Star Citizen's single player component launches and while its mechanics will be praised, the story will leave people scratching their heads as they remember that while Chris Roberts created one of the greatest video games in Wing Commander, he also created one of the worst video game movies in Wing Commander. The MMO might go into beta by the end of the year.

* Rounding out our big space MMOs, Elite Dangerous continues to pile on new feature after new feature, but if flying around in circles buying and selling rares or probing into deep space isn't your thing, then you probably won't be compelled to keep grinding along.

* DC announces not one but two new games: a Justice League game by Rocksteady and a direct sequel to Batman: Arkham Origins by WB Montreal.

* Oculus Rift owners will threaten to break the legs of anyone who drops the ~ $600 goggles while trying them out, especially family members.

* EA and Lucasfilm announce a new Star Wars game headed by Uncharted's Amy Hennig and Assassin's Creed's Jade Raymond. So, expect a lot of climbing, jumping, and missiles to the face.

* XCOM 2 will be so big, GWJ will need three threads to contain it.

* Deus Ex: Mankind Divided will be released...on consoles first. No one's making the Arkham Knight mistake again.

* This year's GOTY will be not listed above, probably because it'll be this year's equivalent of Her Story or Undertale.

* Non-game prediction: We continue to see the trend of fewer and fewer feature films being released to theaters first. If studios don't think it can pull Marvel or Star Wars box office, it goes into either limited release or straight to digital.

Edit: Adding a few more...

* Telltale's Batman game will get the same level of critical praise as Tales from Borderlands, mainly because of how it unlike every other super hero game out there gives as much play time for the secret identity as the hero. Also, someone wises up and commissions Telltale to do a Star Trek game.

* As much as we'd like a revival of the X-wing franchise, the best we'll probably get is a Rogue Squadron-like franchise.

* Uncharted 4 will be an improvement over Uncharted 3. Crafting shivs out of grade school scissors probably won't be in it.

* Mass Effect Andromeda will come out and will have a tall order in trying to live up to the previous trilogy and characters.

* Harebrained Schemes will release so many teases of Battletech that gamers will be cursing that this is 2016, not 2017.

* Probably will see another FMV game or two in the vein of Her Story because of its success.

I didn't do so hot last year, but I'll play the "I was being unserious" card.

Comments in Bold.

- Farming Simulator 2015 will be the EU4 of the GWJ conference call with at least one participant logging over a hundred hours in it.

Fail. I was kind of counting on being asked to do another "year in review" podcast, which would have pushed this one into the "prophecy fulfilled" column.

- Valve will finally release a sequel to a game that's gone far too long without one: Ricochet 2 will be announced at E3.

Mega Fail

- EA, in an attempt to get its groove back after a lackluster 2014, will release five broken games in November. They will then issue a statement on twitter that says simply "Your move, Ubisoft."

Yet another case of me being wrong becoming a win for everyone else.

- Nintendo's new handheld named simply "The New 3DS" will not confuse anybody at all, and there will certainly not be a lot of returns of older systems bought as Christmas gifts by mistake.

I'm calling this a win. Nobody was confused by the new name, if only because nobody bought one.

Heyooh!

- Someone at Sega will realize that people don't want another Sonic game, and will be summarily fired.

Sega is notoriously opaque on such matters, so I'll just take the loss and smile about it.

- Microsoft will continue the strategy of copying everything Sony did last generation in the hopes that it will be so unexpected as to work this time. It will continue to work, and they will gain ground against the PS4, but will not surpass it until 2016.

I'm calling this one an asterisk win. Microsoft continued to use the strategies that worked so well on the PS3, but I'm not clear on whether it bought them anything.

- No Man's Sky will be disappointing but everyone will pretend it isn't.

Another asterisk. No Man's Sky didn't release, but everyone already seems kind of disappointed by it.

Bloodborne will be delayed until 2016, probably because of hackers.

Fail, unless you count when the lizard squad took down PSN.

Destiny 2: The Moon Wizard's Apology (working title) will be announced at least, and probably released.

Does The Taken King count as the moon wizard's apology? I'll pretend it's a win, and nobody is going to stop me.

Minecraft will become free-to-play, but you'll have to use MS bucks to buy blocks.

ok, even I didn't really think this would happen. Still, could you blame me for making the guess?

Here's to a more accurate 2016!

I have not read the thread or listened to the call...

But first, how did I do?

Spoiler:

Pretty terrible, actually...

Past Me wrote:

I am writing this post without looking at any other post in this thread, but after listening to the Conference Call:

Half-Life 3, The Last Guardian, Kingdom Hearts 3, Mirror's Edge 2, Final Fantasy XV, Zelda, Fallout 4, Overwatch, Mario Maker, Star Citizen, Beyond Good and Evil 2, Metroid: Dread, and Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain will NOT release this year. None of them.

WRONG! So I did pretty bad here, most of my easy hitters were right, but everything I thought would slip didn't.

On that same note, Steam Machine, Oculus Rift, and Project Morpheus will not release to consumers this year, but will be much more prominent with large-scale public testing.

RIGHT! I'm saying that is a win.

There will be new, smaller consoles (PS4 and Xbox One) by Black Friday, and both will be sold for $350.Both the PS4 and Xbox One will see new controllers with slight improvements: The PS4 will have a longer battery life and the Xbox One will have a form closer to the 360 controller.

WRONG! You could buy those consoles at that price, but no hardware refresh.

Nintendo will do something drastic this year which will signal the beginning of the end of the WiiU and the Nintendo Home Console. Think the Saturn coming with three games level desperate.

WRONG! Nintendo released a bundle with two games, but nothing like the fire-sale I was expecting.

A prominent female game critic or developer will be physically assaulted for her views on equity in games. This will force the conversation of equity and representation in games to a point that even mainstream games journalism will be forced to acknowledge it, ironically proving that #gamersgate is about ethics in games journalism, but not how they thought it was.

WRONG! And I have never been happier to be wrong.

The PSVita will fade quietly into that good night. There will be few games (none that aren't cross platform), and by 2015 Sony will quietly announce that they have stopped manufacturing them.

RIGHT! RIP Vita.

and finally...

My personal GotY: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which is odd as I have never played a Witcher game.

WRONG! I got turned off early and need to put more time into it.

Now, for the fun...

  • All the consoles get a price-drop, and the WiiU is going to be sold for dirt cheep by Black Friday ($199 USD with at least two pack-ins).
  • We get are first hints of the NX, including a Holiday 2017 release date for the US. The NX is some sort of dockable handheld, and comes with the new Zelda game as a pack in.
  • There is no way Mass Effect: Andromeda is coming out this year. No effing way. Also not coming out: Last Guardian, any game with Final Fantasy in the title, Zelda, Kingdom Hearts 3, No Man's Sky, and any of the usual vapor-ware titles (Half-Life 3, BG&E 2, etc.).
  • There will not be an Assassin's Creed game this year as Ubisoft works on their new Ancient Egypt game.
  • E3 becomes Star Wars, as we get a bunch of games that will be worked into the new EU. (For extra credit, a KotOR style game from BioWare, set in a different era).
  • The VR Headsets will all be cost prohibitive ($499 USD or more) with the caveat that if there is one or more that aren't that pricey then they are generally seen as garbage. This may not kill VR, but it definitely slows adoption to a crawl, with only a select few die-hards getting in early.
  • Destiny will NOT see a meaningful expansion until Destiny II: The Nolan-ing (working title).
  • My Personal GotY: The Amy Henning Star Wars game (working title?).

Alright, here we go.

  • PlaystationVR - Will be priced at $400 for just the HMD, or $500 bundled with the move controllers. There will also be a bundle which includes all of this and a PS4 for $750.
  • HTC Vive - Will cost $750 at launch (with motion controllers etc.)
  • Oculus Rift - Oculus will announce a Facebook like social application for the Oculus Rift by the end of the year
  • VR in General - Will slowly start to pick up steam as headsets start to ship, this won't be the "year of VR" though. Maybe by xmas we will see several price drops or bundles with games but I expect that 2016 will be the year that VR starts to find it's way into the marketplace. It won't be a huge deal until a lot more people have them in 2017 and beyond.
  • No Man's Sky - Will be VR compatible
  • Nintendo NX - Will be announced at E3, some sort of Wii U where the gamepad can play games separate from the console itself.
*Legion* wrote:
*Legion* wrote:
*Legion* wrote:
*Legion* wrote:
*Legion* wrote:

Jacksonville Jaguars, playoffs, 2010. Book it!

Jacksonville Jaguars, playoffs, 2011. Book it!

Jacksonville Jaguars, playoffs, 2012. Book it!

Jacksonville Jaguars, playoffs, 2014. Book it!

Jacksonville Jaguars, playoffs, 2015. Book it!

Jacksonville Jaguars, playoffs, 2016. Book it!

Shadow of Mordor, but with Ninja Turtles? Where do I send my money?

Rat Boy wrote:

* Nintendo debuts the name of the console codenamed NX and somehow it's not something we'll be making fun of. Probably because it won't sound like a portion of the anatomy in English.

New Wii U Plus

They don't show the system or controller and are shocked when people think it's an add on.

BNice wrote:
Rat Boy wrote:

* Nintendo debuts the name of the console codenamed NX and somehow it's not something we'll be making fun of. Probably because it won't sound like a portion of the anatomy in English.

New Wii U Plus

They don't show the system or controller and are shocked when people think it's an add on.

Second verse, same as the first.

Regarding rabbit predicting the new name will be Core, I completely disagree. I thought Nintendo tried (and failed) to reattract "core" gamers with the Wii U, since it's actually an HD console. Because that failed, I think they accept their "non-core" customer base and double down on that market. Before the Wii was released, wasn't there a rumor that its name was Revolution? I could see the new console having that name way before any possibility of it being "Core".

Oh man, I forgot to predict last year. Which means I got nothing wrong. That in mind, from someone who didn't get a single whiff in 2015...

Bold Predictions

-No Man's Sky is wildly successful and places 6th in the community GOTY.

-Despite the high price point, the Rift is the most successful of the various VR flavors.

-A single player Star Wars game in the style of XCOM is announced, but the X-Wing franchise continues to wait impatiently for someone to reboot or remaster it.

-Dark Souls III will divide fans into two political factions: Those that considered it better than DS2 and Bloodborne but worse than the original, and those who find it better than every other Dark Souls title but not quite as good as Bloodborne. The demographics for each faction will roughly correlate with what people played first. If Bloodborne was a player's first "souls" experience, they're more likely to be in the latter faction. If a player has been a From junkie since the heady days of Demon Souls, they're likely to be in the prior. Despite the fact that these factions more or less have the same tastes - and all enjoy Dark Souls III - they will be bitter, bitter rivals.

-Probably borderline crazy prediction, but Eitr outperforms Dark Souls III on the community GOTY list

-Whatever crazy game ends up being "The Rocket League of 2016" will involve sharks. Possibly dinosaurs.

TheHarpoMarxist wrote:

-Whatever crazy game ends up being "The Rocket League of 2016" will involve sharks. Possibly dinosaurs.

Rocket Sharks Water Polo!

-Nintendo announces their new console via Nintendo Direct before E3. It will not be available for purchase in 2016, however. The console will be called the Nintendo Nexus, and will be touted as THE central place for all of your Nintendo gaming -- including backwards-compatibility support for all prior Nintendo consoles (via emulators) built-in to the system. Controllers from older Nintendo systems will be usable on the Nexus (via proprietary cable adapters, if necessary). Furthermore, the system will support VR through an optional add-on headset.

-Microsoft announces at E3 that Xbox One games (disc-based and downloadable titles) will be playable on Windows 10, via an updated Xbox app, free for all Windows 10 PCs. The Xbox app will look & behave similar to the current Xbox One dashboard. By doing this, Microsoft will be able to claim the largest install base on the planet for their "console".

I was about 50% last year, let's see what I can do for 2016

1. No Man's Sky is a flop, primarily because there isn't a well defined game to play in it. Ambition over design doc.

2. VR sticker shock across the board. PS VR will cost more than console and be DOA. Vive will require too much space and be more expensive than Rift. Rift controllers will tack another $125 onto Oculus cost. Adoption will be low, developers will cool development, lack of games will prevent wider sales. Locks in niche status.

3. NX will be talked about, but no release date. Won't come out in 2016.

4. Microsoft will announce next Xbox at E3, late 2017 launch target.

-Microsoft announces at E3 that Xbox One games (disc-based and downloadable titles) will be playable on Windows 10, via an updated Xbox app, free for all Windows 10 PCs. The Xbox app will look & behave similar to the current Xbox One dashboard. By doing this, Microsoft will be able to claim the largest install base on the planet for their "console".

This is going to happen. It just makes sense lol.

PC: In 2016, Camelot Unchained will win "The Longest Newsletter" award by Massively OP. Again. Also, it will not launch. Again.

Crowall will also delay it's launch to 2017 and beyond, making Pathologic 2 (November) my last hope.

I have no idea how I missed this last year, as it's one of my favorite gwj things! Anyhow, prediction time!

The Last Guardian really should've released X yrs ago, as it fails to impress critics and gamers alike. It has good ratings, but nothing too special. (I hope I'm wrong!)
XCOM 2:
-Becomes my GOTY.
-Becomes GWJ's GOTY.
-I manage to clock 1200hrs by year's end.
No Man's Sky fails to impress.
Firewatch releases to great reviews.
Horizon: Zero Dawn is delayed to 2017. (hope I'm wrong!)
FF12 HD Remaster announced!
FF15 does ok numbers, but is overall critically panned and widely considered a descent further into the "wrong" direction. And "they" are right. Also, everyone at GWJ hates it except, surprise, Clocky, who loves it.
FF7 Remake:
-Announcement: it will have elements of Crisis Core, Dirge of Cerberus, or any of their other spin-offs.
-Gold Saucer shown at E3.
-Announcement: it will be 4 total parts.
-Part 1 will not release in 2016.
Makers of Cities:Skylines announce either sequel, or big expansion to release in 2016.
No new God of War.
Kojima's new game gets a title.
Mass Effect Andromeda releases to amazing reviews and does great financially. It's MP will be amazing and expands on ME3's counterpart.
Uncharted 4 releases and everyone loves it, but come year's close, no one remembers it.
Overwatch is quickly forgotten. It won't have the legs TF2 had.
VR... wow, hmmm... I think it won't be the year of VR just yet. Early adopters love it, but price is quite the obstacle. The Sony VR will be $499, but Oculus still "wins" the race.
Nintendo blah, blah, blah, something, something NX at E3.
No new Zelda or Metroid in 2016.

Non-Gaming:
Batman V Superman flops.
Civil War is good.
X-Men:Apocalypse lands somewhere in the 70% at RT.
Deadpool is absolutely loved or hated, no in-betweens, but doesn't make good bank.

EDIT: Added a few more

Let's see here,

-I think Xcom 2 will be a hit and contender for GotY
-by time the 'season pass' expansions are released there will be plans for another expansion

-E3 will show off at least one new game that will release this year similar to Fallout 4 last year.

-Nintendo's NX will be unique and have a successful launch

-More FF7 remake trailers but, part 1 will not release until next year.

-Mass Effect Andromeda will show more footage but, will not release this year.

-Madden will be ported to the PC this year.

-Monster Hunter franchise will get larger in the west and be the most successful yet.

-Dark Souls 3 will introduce something that is a game changer for the series

-MoBAs will die down and the big 3 (Dota,LoL,HotS) will be the only ones

-Overwatch will be more successful on PCs although the console version will still be solid.

Allright, so I'll be commenting my own predictions first, and then making up some new ones in the second part.
This was the first I time I did this, really fun to see how (badly) my predictions fared when the end of the year came around.

1. Bloodborne ends up disappointing hardcore fans, but outsiders end up enjoying it. So the overall reception will still be good. Metacritic of 87. I also think it will sell well, seeing as PS4 owners are starved for a great exclusive, and the game seems more inclusive. It's still an exclsuive though, so I'm guessing it sells 3 million in 2015.

This is a tough one to document in hindsight. My feeling is that my prediction was partly true, Bloodborne seems to have brought a lot of new people to the series and some hardcore fans disliked it due to the lack of variety in weapons, less variety in the world design and the fact that the shield was gone. But I think it ended up pleasing a lot of the hardcores as well, so I'm not giving myself full marks for this one.

2. The Order: 1886 turns out good. Not revolutionary, but there's a lot of appeal in a beautiful, cinematic third person shooter. A lot of people seem to be down on it because of it's concept, but these are games are all about execution. I'm guessing a metacritic in the mid to low 80s.

I missed on the metacritic. But quite a few people liked the game too, but most people thought it too short. Do I get any points for this? I'm guessing no.

3. Mirror's Edge will be good, but won't launch this year. It will still be divisive, and some won't be able to play it well and blame the game for it in reviews (That's what happened in the first one IMO), but the game will be solid. Metacritic between 75 and 80.
I still think this prediction will be correct when the game actually launches. But it didn't launch this year, so no points.

4. I think Rise of the Tomb Raider gets pushed till next year, or ends up disappointing people.
Nah. It didn't get pushed, and the game seems to be extremely well received. Pure miss.

5. I think the PS4 will continue outselling Xbox One world wide. Expect it to be close in North America. (I'm surprised Corey thought the Xbox one would sell better. Was he speaking only of north america? Playstation is a HUGE brand in Europe, probably one of the biggest, and also the biggest in Japan, although that might not mean that much with the current market there)
I kind of regret making this prediction. I think I was a bit goaded by the above mentioned prediction from Cory. I really can't be bothered doing the research on this. My impression is that PS4 overall sold better than the Xbox One, both in North America and the rest of the world. But whatever.

6. Occulus Rift launches this year, is a success, and lots of games will support it. I see Facebook pushing it really hard, maybe even subsidizing the cost, or selling one with ads or something. They wouldn't go into uncharted territory, spending all those millions, and not give it a fair chance.

Disclaimer: The launch will happen in 2015, and it will be successful right away, but how successful it actually ends up being won't be measurable this year. I still expect it to be sold out for the entirety of 2015, and there will be more demand than they can meet.

Again, missed the timing. But I believe it still might come true. And Facebook are subsidizing the cost somewhat, or at least not making any profit on it (according to Palmer Luckey). The ad thing hasn't happened though. Does it count that I still think it's a good idea from a business standpoint? (I don't want it though). Maybe once they have proven to the masses that VR is something you actually want.

7. I think Star Wars: Battlefront turns out good. It's Dice. The original Battlefront games were lesser Battlefield clones anyway. The only thing that could ruin things is if they have to push too hard to get the game out around the launch of the movie. That's the bane of nearly every big, movie licensed game. Metacritic score of 85.
Missed on the metacritic. In my personal opinion Battlefront was a good game, although a bit light on content. People can't seem to agree on this one, but since the launch went off without a hitch and the gameplay is solid and graphics spectacular, I feel like I was quite close on this one.

8. Zelda Wii U will be a disappointing Zelda game. Not bad by normal standards, but disappoint for fans. The open world design will end up leading to open ended, unfocused dungeons and the world itself will be quite empty. Metacritic score of 80.
Again, might come true later.

9. Ubisoft will have a bad year financially. The financial year for 2014 is still going, and I think that even though Watch Dogs was a success, Assassin's Creed sold poorly compared to it's predecessors, and the Crew failed as well. And even after that, I think that next installment in the AC series sells even less, as the consensus on Unity's brokenness has taken time to spread. They have really damaged their reputatation with both AC: Unity, Watch Dogs and The Crew ending up on a lot of people's most disappointing games. They will feel it. (I sure hope so)
Another prediction that's difficult to evaluate. I think I might have been correct though, at least about the delayed sales backlash from Unity affecting Syndicate's sales. My overall feeling is that Ubi had a bad year sales wise, but I guess we won't know for sure until the end of the fiscal year in march.

Allright. That's last year's predictions.

Predictions for 2016:

1. The year will end up being more disappointing to most people than 2015, which was a fantastic year IMO.
2. Rise of the Tomb Raider will be released on PS4 in the end of 2016, I'm guessing november. Because of christmas.
3. The NX will be unveiled at E3. The bold prediction is that they will go back to having a live press conference for this year only.
4. The NX will at it's core be a traditional game console. No funky controllers or anything. Holding out hopes for the handheld/console hybrid, but a more likely scenario is two separate machines with extremely similar architectures, that will receive all the same games. (At least the games made by Nintendo). Kind of like they did with Super Smash. My wishful thinking prediction is that you only have to buy the game once, and you get in on both platforms, kind of like Steam.

I guess that's all I can come up with. I haven't been paying as much attention to the industry at large lately.

As primarily a PS4'er, I won't bother with PC or Xbox predictions.

  • PS VR will release this year as two products. One will be the separate-box device we have seen to upgrade existing PS4's, but the other will be a combined device - a PS4 with the VR hardware component built in. This is around the time they would be considering a slim version anyway, so it makes sense to save costs by putting them into one shell, and sell it for a lower price than buying both separately. The combined price could be darn close to what the Oculus will be going for, not including the giant PC you need to run it.

I can say with confidence that, unless Iwata was lying to his investors, all of you predicting that Nintendo's NX will be some kind of handheld with a dock, or a Wii U where you can take the controller with you, or anything like that are wrong.

My bold prediction is that, regarding NX: I was right. I've been saying it for awhile, and I'm going to keep saying it until we see otherwise.

I can say with absolute confidence that next year's Conference Call look back at the 2016 predictions will include under the 2016 audio excerpts a very faint soundtrack so that the listener can better ascertain whether she is hearing 2017 commentary on the 2016 prediction or whether she is hearing a 2016 prediction. My further prediction...the soundtrack selected shall be the theme from Benny Hill.