It's fun being a psychic. Looking into a crystal ball, viewing the fate of your visitor. It'd be nice to know how your year will end, because I wouldn't have guessed that I created a blog called Never Unplaying. Now that I have it, I can use my predictions here!
Well, it's the end of the year and I usually cap it off with revisiting the predictions I made the previous January. It's been my second year doing this and I gotta tell, it's fun! I encourage all of you to do things like these to make life just that more interesting. I have to admit when something happens to make my prediction come true, I get very excited. Let's just get right to it by showing you what was the predictions I made 11 months ago. Let's just hope nothing happens in the next 2 weeks to make anything else come true/false.
1) Let’s start off with a 2009 release calendar. This stars Resident Evil 5 and Final Fantasy XIII.
2) In terms of sales, it’ll keep the current trend: Wii, 360 then PS3. DS will still outsell all 3 of them though. Seems like there’s little reason to change, but I will say that PS3 will do better than it 2006 and 7 slump.
3) After seeing Bioware Pandemic getting bought out by EA and Activision-Blizzard forming, this trend won’t end. I can see a new merger or buyout this year. Of course this is too vague, since this is actually common, Sega Sammy, Square-Enix and Bandai Namco tells us that. So I’ll say…. Either Tecmo or Ubisoft. I also wonder about Atari too and their struggling…
4) Monolithsoft, maker of Xenosaga, was purchased by Nintendo in 2007 after being a part of Namco. They will finally reveal something about Disaster: Day of Crisis, either info or cancellation.
5) Sony will continue the strong first party lineup (Killzone 2, White Knight and Resistance 2? I got this one in the bag). But I’ll revise what I said last year: Sony will make a strong push on Metal Gear Solid 4 and Grand Theft Auto 4.
6) Call of Duty 5 will be announced if not released this year. It was announced earlier that it’s developed by Treyarch, who made the disappointing Call of Duty 3. Expect more of that trend by them. I’m gonna wait for 6!
7) As we can see, the Virtual Console has trimmed to 2 per week. Expect more of that, especially when WiiWare launches. Another problem is that they’re running out of classics. Yoshi’s Island, Super Mario RPG and Super Mario Kart and the N64 Mario spinoffs are the last big Mario games left and Majora’s Mask is the last Zelda. Expect them to launch this year with addition to more consoles added. I see Game Boy getting added too. Doubt they’d be cheaper than 5 bucks.
8) Xbox Live Arcade will see more big titles. Seeing games like Ikaruga, Trigger Heart and Castlevania is a great sight, and let’s see more! What games though? I see a Dreamcast game….. at least ANOTHER Dreamcast game (Ikaruga and Trigger Heart are DC games)
9) On the heels of Smash Bros’ delay, what other games will see that? I expect GTA4 not hitting this half of the year as well as Mario Kart, Ninja Gaiden 2 and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. These games have a spring 08 date.
10) Wii needs more hardcore games. I hope to see some this year. But how will Nintendo feel about making them anymore? Zelda and Metroid did good, but not as well as hoped in the end (one million ain’t enough on these hit franchises). Capcom will be one to deliver on that, I can see that. Note: This does not count Harvey Birdman, Wii Love Golf and Okami, I’m talking about an unannounced game. Can I see a third Resident Evil game on Wii? Yes.
11) Speaking of which, Mario was done twice, Zelda was done, Metroid was done and Smash is soon. So what’s up Nintendo’s sleeve this year this fall other than Mario Kart? Mario Party 9, Starfox, Animal Crossing and a new Wii-whatever game. Will that be enough to outsell any big game on the other platforms?
12) Speaking of which again, 360 games of 2008? What will beat Halo, Bioshock, Mass Effect, Call of Duty 4, Assassin’s Creed and Orange Box? Too Human will be there with this GTA 4 and Call of Duty 5. Microsoft will announce a title that’ll be their big fall game: Gears of War 2.
13) And Lastly, the DS? New Super Mario Bros 2, Brain Age 3 and at least an announcement of the third Pokemon to complete the Diamond and Pearl series. Like the equivalent to Pokemon Yellow, Crystal and Emerald. I can also see Gold and Silver remade. For Third Parties, Castlevania, Sonic Chronicles and a ton of casual games.
14) Another PS3 exclusive will be lost to the 360 and/or PC. I mean a decent game here, too. But I think the same will go the other way too.
15) After playing Unreal Tourney 3 on PS3, I can say with confidence, the 360 port won’t nearly be as great, but sell the most in the end.
16) I’m a Sonic fan so I’ll personally focus on him here. With Riders 2’s release and Chronicles’ announcement, we ask about what’ll be next. Sega Superstars Tennis will probably be average, while an announcement of the next Sonic game on Wii and Rush 3 on DS will be announced. 360 and PS3? Something.
17) A 2D Metroid game will be announced this year. I hope to see the Metroid Dread name stick though. I won’t name a platform though, Wii, WiiWare or DS, it’s all game.
18) New Castlevania for DS I already said, but I can see one on either 360/PS3 or Wii exclusive.
19) Other than RE4 and Okami, Wii will see another Wiimake of a very popular game. This time, someone other than Capcom.
20) A Wii headset will also be announced. And you really thought Smash’s delay was a bad thing.
21) This year’s E3 will be a lot better than last year’s. In both format being back at LA and press conferences by the console manufacturers. No GamePro Expo this year I bet.
22) Wii had some great games this year. Sadly, it also had A LOT of crap. I mean a lot. I really think that’ll change. I mean there’s gonna be some, but overall, it’ll be better. Ironically even though the PS3 had nothing but 360 ports and Sony games, overall the PS3 had quality titles and a decent overall quality with all of them combined. That’ll also change, but the other way.
23) As my last one, I’ll be brave again. Failed last year, but what the hell. Microsoft has Zune and the PSP doubles as an MP3 player, where’s Nintendo’s answer? Well we’ll see it this year(MacWorld ended, so the words iPod wont pass though my lips, sadly).
Now let's see how accurate I was. I judge them in four ways: True, mostly, kinda and wrong.
1) Let’s start off with a 2009 release calendar. This stars Resident Evil 5 and Final Fantasy XIII.
True I think. RE5 is in March and FFXIII is whenever the heck Square-Enix decides to finish it.
2) In terms of sales, it’ll keep the current trend: Wii, 360 then PS3. DS will still outsell all 3 of them though. Seems like there’s little reason to change, but I will say that PS3 will do better than it 2006 and 7 slump.
Kinda. Wii dominated, even beating DS. 360 did do better than the PS3. PS3 did a bit better in the first half, but worse in the later months.
3) After seeing Bioware Pandemic getting bought out by EA and Activision-Blizzard forming, this trend won’t end. I can see a new merger or buyout this year. Of course this is too vague, since this is actually common, Sega Sammy, Square-Enix and Bandai Namco tells us that. So I’ll say…. Either Tecmo or Ubisoft. I also wonder about Atari too and their struggling…
True. Tecmo said no to a Square-Enix buyout so they can merge with Koei. Square’s after Eidos now… they wanna spend money.
4) Monolithsoft, maker of Xenosaga, was purchased by Nintendo in 2007 after being a part of Namco. They will finally reveal something about Disaster: Day of Crisis, either info or cancellation.
True. Disaster was released in Japan and Europe with lukewarm reception.
5) Sony will continue the strong first party lineup (Killzone 2, White Knight and Resistance 2? I got this one in the bag). But I’ll revise what I said last year: Sony will make a strong push on Metal Gear Solid 4 and Grand Theft Auto 4.
Mostly. They didn’t push GTA as much as I expected, but pushed MGS4 as if it was a Sony game. Their first party lineup was great with Resistance 2 and LittleBig Planet, but neither are hitting 7 digit sales as they wanted. Killzone and White Knight didn’t hit 2008 in America. White Knight is hitting Japan on Christmas Day and expected to do fairly well.
6) Call of Duty 5 will be announced if not released this year. It was announced earlier that it’s developed by Treyarch, who made the disappointing Call of Duty 3. Expect more of that trend by them. I’m gonna wait for 6!
True, Treyarch's World at War hit with good sales and Modern Warfare 2 was recently announced by Infinity Ward.
7) As we can see, the Virtual Console has trimmed to 2 per week. Expect more of that, especially when WiiWare launches. Another problem is that they’re running out of classics. Yoshi’s Island, Super Mario RPG and Super Mario Kart and the N64 Mario spinoffs are the last big Mario games left and Majora’s Mask is the last Zelda. Expect them to launch this year with addition to more consoles added. I see Game Boy getting added too. Doubt they’d be cheaper than 5 bucks.
Mostly. No Game Boy but yes to Master System. Only Mario RPG hit from the titles listed above since WiiWare is doing very well. Games like World of Goo, Mega Man 9 and Strong Bad’s episodic adventures are great. Surprisingly Secret of Mana hit the VC.
8) Xbox Live Arcade will see more big titles. Seeing games like Ikaruga, Trigger Heart and Castlevania is a great sight, and let’s see more! What games though? I see a Dreamcast game….. at least ANOTHER Dreamcast game (Ikaruga and Trigger Heart are DC games)
Kinda. Don’t believe any Dreamcast games were announced. Seeing the XBLA fill with Street Fighter II HD Remix, Castle Crashers and Banjo Kazooie were a nice sight though.
9) On the heels of Smash Bros’ delay, what other games will see that? I expect GTA4 not hitting this half of the year as well as Mario Kart, Ninja Gaiden 2 and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. These games have a spring 08 date.
Wrong. GTA hit Spring the same time as Mario Kart. Gaiden 2 was a few weeks after, but Force was pushed to September.
10) Wii needs more hardcore games. I hope to see some this year. But how will Nintendo feel about making them anymore? Zelda and Metroid did good, but not as well as hoped in the end (Metroid Prime 3's 600,000 or so isn't enough for that franchise). Capcom will be one to deliver on that, I can see that. Note: This does not count Harvey Birdman, Wii Love Golf and Okami, I’m talking about an unannounced game. Can I see a third Resident Evil game on Wii? Yes.
Wrong. Nothing much in the hardcore department hit after Smash Bros hit America. Very disappointing and utterly surprising.
11) Speaking of which, Mario was done twice, Zelda was done, Metroid was done and Smash is soon. So what’s up Nintendo’s sleeve this year this fall other than Mario Kart? Mario Party 9, Starfox, Animal Crossing and a new Wii-whatever game. Will that be enough to outsell any big game on the other platforms?
Kinda... Barely. Mario Kart wasn’t delayed, yet it was one of their top games for the year. Animal Crossing came out, but fans were pretty pissed seeing no changes to the game everyone though to be extremely expansive. Wii Music launched though..... Yea.
12) Speaking of which again, 360 games of 2008? What will beat Halo, Bioshock, Mass Effect, Call of Duty 4, Assassin’s Creed and Orange Box? Too Human will be there with this GTA 4 and Call of Duty 5. Microsoft will announce a title that’ll be their big fall game: Gears of War 2.
Mostly. GTA did not have the legs they thought though; game’s doing pretty poorly a few months after the stellar launch ($30 used now because of the incredible amounts traded in!). Too Human did okay, but it was all Gears 2, Call of Duty: World at War, Fable 2, Fallout 3, Left 4 Dead and a few more.
13) And Lastly, the DS? New Super Mario Bros 2, Brain Age 3 and at least an announcement of the third Pokemon to complete the Diamond and Pearl series. Like the equivalent to Pokemon Yellow, Crystal and Emerald. I can also see Gold and Silver remade. For Third Parties, Castlevania, Sonic Chronicles and a ton of casual games.
Kinda. No Mario 2, Brain Age and Pokemon Gold/Silver remake. Though Pokemon Platinum was announced. Third party games consisted of World Ends With You, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy IV and Tactics A2 from Square-Enix alone. A third Castlevania hit along with two Guitar Heroes, Disgaea remake, and Ninja Gaiden. Sonic Chronicles was shockingly lackluster. Third Parties made the DS this year because Nintendo didn’t touch it this year (pun not intended).
14) Another PS3 exclusive will be lost to the 360 and/or PC. I mean a decent game here, too. But I think the same will go the other way too.
True. Three words: FINAL FANTASY XIII. It’ll hit the 360 on launch for America and Europe. Smaller games went the other way, but nothing mentionable. Eternal Sonata, Bioshock(which was announced in 2007) and Alone in the Dark were three of the ports and none of them did well on PS3.
15) After playing Unreal Tourney 3 on PS3, I can say with confidence, the 360 port won’t nearly be as great, but sell the most in the end.
True. Unreal did well in the summer months on 360. It was good on 360, but it arguably played better with a keyboard/mouse on PS3/PC.
16) I’m a Sonic fan so I’ll personally focus on him here. With Riders 2’s release and Chronicles’ announcement, we ask about what’ll be next. Sega Superstars Tennis will probably be average, while an announcement of the next Sonic game on Wii and Rush 3 on DS will be announced. 360 and PS3? Something.
Mostly. No new DS game announced, though rumors of Chronicles 2 were swirling in September. Unleashed was announced, launched and forgotten. Another Sonic game was announced for Wii: Sonic and the Black Knight. Looks better than Unleashed, but I'm nowhere close to holding my breath for it to be awesome.
17) A 2D Metroid game will be announced this year. I hope to see the Metroid Dread name stick though. I won’t name a platform though, Wii, WiiWare or DS, it’s all game.
Wrong. Nothing Metroid other than the “Play for Wii” remake of Prime 1 and 2.
18) New Castlevania for DS I already said, but I can see one on either 360/PS3 or Wii exclusive.
True. Order of Ecclesia came for DS, Judgment came out for Wii and something was announced for 360/PS3 back at Tokyo Game Show.
19) Other than RE4 and Okami, Wii will see another Wiimake of a very popular game. This time, someone other than Capcom.
True. Amazingly, it was Nintendo that announced it. Pikmin, Mario Power Tennis, DK Jungle Beat, Metroid Prime 1 and 2, and Chibi Robo. The PS2’s Rygar’s and the PS1’s Klonoa hitting Wii soon along with Resident Evil 0 and 1 in Japan only(For now).
20) A Wii headset will also be announced. And you really thought Smash’s delay was a bad thing.
Mostly. Animal Crossing came with WiiSpeak, a mic for the entire room. Works well, but sadly, no Smash and Mario Kart support.
21) This year’s E3 will be a lot better than last year’s. In both format being back at LA and press conferences by the console manufacturers. No GamePro Expo this year I bet.
Wrong. E3 sucked, but NOW it’s going back to normal. E for All came and went also, but that’s its last year.
22) Wii had some great games this year. Sadly, it also had A LOT of crap. I mean a lot. I really think that will change. I mean there’s gonna be some, but overall, it’ll be better. Ironically even though the PS3 had nothing but 360 ports and Sony games, overall the PS3 had quality titles and a decent overall quality with all of them combined. That’ll also change, but the other way.
Wrong. IGN mentioned all their 250+ reviewed Wii games averaged out at a 5.9 score. Terrible. PS3 went down a smidge overall, but it’s probably still the highest in score average.
23) As my last one, I’ll be brave. Failed at it last year, but what the hell. Microsoft has Zune and the PSP doubles as an MP3 player, where’s Nintendo’s answer? Well we’ll see it this year(MacWorld ended, so the words iPod wont pass though my lips, sadly).
True! Give me this one! DSi can play music, though it’s the ACC format. Comes with visualizers and audio tools also! Doesn't mean people will actually care about the system.
One last one though...
I also believe the Patriots will lose the Super Bowl because of the saying “Too good to be true” and lose to the Giants, the Underdog.
True. They did terrible after an undefeated streak...
I thought I did well. 23 predictions: 9 True, 5 Mostly, 4 Kinda and 5 Wrongs. Sure some were easy predictions, but some weren't and I got some right. In January, you will see the 2009 lineup. It'll take me a few weeks to think them up. Think I was too kind or harsh on myself? You can comment if you want under the posts.
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