Prognosticating the Year Ahead

Press the Buttons has an interesting and plausible sounding set of theories for the year ahead. From the article: "Sega will finally create an exceptional 3D Sonic the Hedgehog title when Sonic Team puts the entire extended cast (Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, Blaze, Shadow, and the rest) back in the toy box for a while and focuses on what made the original Sonic games so much fun: blue skies and plenty of speed." Some of them may just be wishful thinking, though.

Comments

Make Sonic about Sonic and it'll be good.

[hal2814]

I haven't been disappointed with the portions of the 3D Sonic that actually involve Sonic. Tails, Knuckles, etc haven't really done much for me in 2D or in 3D. I'd like to see a Sonic game that is actually about Sonic the Hedgehog and doesn't have Knuckles, Tails, Shadow, Team Dark, Team Kissyfur, etc trying to steal the show. This isn't a cartoon. It's a platformer. More characters don't tend to add more depth here. They just tend to muddy the waters.

The GBA, Revolution, Rare

[Phantasmo]

another extension of the GBA line will be announced to sit alongside the SP and Micro models with new games consisting mainly of updated retro adventures and puzzle titles.
I'd be very surprised to see another version of the GBA. The Micro has sold decently and has made a little profit, but I think that Nintendo knows that the SP is about as good as the platform is going to get. It's perfect (especially the new ones with the backlit screens). They'll probably just invest in trying to find ways to make it cheaper.

As for converting non-gamers to the Revolution, all Nintendo has to do is flood the nation's Wal-Marts with nice displays. The controller is just too cool. A fair price and perhaps a bundled game will seal the deal.

I don't see anyone but the most die-hard Banjo-Kazooie fans buying an X-Box 360 just to revisit the platformer. It was really great, but I don't think either BK was as good as Mario 64. They'd probably just wait a few months for Mario Revolution. Halo, KOTOR and the rest are going to sell the consoles. Anyone who wants to play a good platformer would probably just buy a Revolution anyway. It's going to be cheap.

Re:The GBA, Revolution, Rare

[Babbster]

Is the weight really causing the problem with your wrists, or could it be the distribution of the weight, holding the bottom half with little support on the top half? Or perhaps holding the whole thing with one hand while using the stylus? I guess it doesn't matter since either way, an uncomfortable handheld is a bad thing.

In my case, I found the DS a bit uncomfortable at first but have since gotten quite used to it, hardly noticing the increased weight. For me, the only current problem is the increased size (for toting; once I'm playing I'm fine) and I'm hoping against hope that they'll show off a smaller revision at E3.

In the meantime, though, there are bells to be gotten, so huge system or not it'll be in my hands a lot.

GTA? I don't think so.

[Perseid]

I don't see a new GTA at PS3 launch.

First of all, launch titles tend to be quick, easy, short-dev-time games. GTA is clearly none of those. So unless Take Two wants to release a half-assed launch quality GTA game, I don't see this happening.

Also, Take Two said GTA4 was in the works and it would be for the PS2. Granted, this was some time ago, but they haven't said anything to the contrary.

It's possible. But unlikely. At least in my view.

Not farfetched for a reason.

[Inoshiro]

This pundit is just looking at the trends of the past 5 years and mentioning them in terms of the next year.

Sony trying to get people onto the PS3 via shortages? Sure, it's working on the 360, and worked on the PS2, etc.

Microsoft having lots of 360s on the shelf when PS3 comes out? It'd be dumb of them not to, especially when they've said Halo 3 comes out right then.

Nintendo continuing to cater to the new, larger, unwashed of gaming, rather than the hardcore? Business as usual.

What these predictions lack is any kind of foresight over new trends. How hard is it to predict new MegaMan games?! If this person had their finger on the pulse of these companies and could predict brand new, interesting games (like Ribbit King, Katamari Damacy, and Guitar Heroes), that'd be something really worth getting excited over.

Also, Nokia already said the N-Gage was a failure. Why mention it? The PSP is also a pretty spectacular failure, since you get the same games you could play on a nice TV with surround sound, but on a smaller screen with terrible battery life. Maybe the PSP get a game worth buying beyond Lumines, but not even the GTA rehash (one of Sony's big cards) for it is boosting sales.