So, January is already underway, 2012 has officially begun, and tourism to Mayan ruins is spiking exponentially. With all that in mind, and with reflections of our past year behind us, I think it’s time for us to start thinking of the future. There are things that we want to happen, things that must happen, and certainly a lot of things that won’t happen. Thus, it’s time for all of you to indulge me and my completely imbalanced mind as I share with you my predictions for the coming months!

Now, seeing as I am a god among writers, all of my ideas will most certainly come true at some point during the next year. There will be no room for discussion on the topic, and this list will be taken from the site, carved into a giant Xbox 360, which will in turn overheat and break down on the eve of 2013. The following year, my next list will be carved into a Wii U to avoid such catastrophes.

Now that I’m done being sarcastic, take a look at my predictions. Take them as seriously as you want, just remember, this is all in good fun and we’re talking about a future that might not happen. Just enjoy yourself!

Number 9: Bioware announces Sonic Chronicles 2

Just shut up and let me have this.

I’ve made it no secret that I really liked Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. I thought it had a really good plot, a fun battle system, and introduced (in my opinion) the best Sonic character in a long, long time. But for whatever reason, the game wasn’t received as well as it could have been. I can remember a lot of people who bought the game saying to me, “Well, it was good, buuut…”

But me, I accept the game’s flaws, and I really enjoyed it. I want to see a sequel, and this is also fueled by the fact that they ended the game on a freaking cliffhanger, but I digress. So, first prediction for the new year? At some point, Bioware will announce Sonic Chronicles 2, for the Nintendo 3DS.

Hey, I never claimed that my predictions would be accurate, or for that matter, realistic. Deal with it and let me indulge in fantasy a little bit, damn it!

Number 8: Wii will have U this Holiday Season

To be fair, this one is a tad more realistic.

So, the Wii U was officially revealed at last year’s E3. It has a big-ass screen on its controller and the actual console looks like a slightly more rounded Wii. It was playable, and there were a few nice demos there to enjoy, so yay for that. Then it was announced that it was slated for a release some time in 2012.

Of course, knowing Nintendo as a business, we’re not going to get much information on the console until much later in the year, and then it will be announced for a Holiday release, my guess being sometime in November, since they’ve only said it will be released ‘between June and December.’ That’s about a seven month gap, and knowing that the summer months aren’t the hottest (hehe, pun) time for video games, I’m willing to bet that the winter months will be warmed by the soft glow of a new console.

Now we just have to hope that it’ll have a more decent first outing than the 3DS did.

Number 7: Vita goes Viral

Well, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months (and if it’s warm under there, who can blame you?) you know that the follow up to the Playstation Portable is set to launch in America next month. Funny thing is, I haven’t really seen it advertised as voraciously as the PSP was. If I recall, I often felt like the PSP was forcing itself down my throat, but with the Vita, it’s like it’s trying to keep a good distance form me.

Suits me just fine. I’m gonna buy it anyway. But on to the actual prediction: I’m one of those people who bounced between cynical and idealistic. Today, I’m idealistic, so I’ll say that I think Sony learned something from the lukewarm showing of the PSP, and I think that the Vita will actually take advantage of the fact that it is a handheld console, as opposed to its predecessor, which always felt more like a smaller version of a home console to me.

While I’m not expecting the Vita to do too well during it’s launch, I think we’ll see a snowball effect. It’ll get better and better until it’s actually a real competitor for the 3DS, even if its touch screen technology is really only trying to cash in on a fad and the pressure pad will most likely be underutilized, but still, I think that the quality of the games will increase and they’ll be more intuitive to gaming on the go.

Number 6: NIS Announces Makai Wars

This one requires a brief history lesson. Nippon Ichi Software, at one time, had announced a game called Makai Wars, initially for the PSP, but was then moved to the PS3, and then entered development hell, where it has stayed ever since. NIS constantly pokes fun at this fact by including the hidden character of Asagi, who was supposed to be Makai Wars’ main character, in almost every RPG released since. Her constant shtick is that she’s always trying to kill the main characters of the game and take over as the main character because she, quote, “Doesn’t have a game of her own.”

Now let us remember, the game was never officially cancelled, and NIS hasn’t totally abandoned it either. They have applied for a patent on the name of Makai Wars since its fall into dev hell, so there is still hope that the game will see the light of day, and I’d say now is a good time to make it happen. After all, after the awesomely awesome package of awesomeness that was Disgaea 4, they could probably make the game even better than they had planned before.

Hey, if Duke Nukem For(n)ever can get a release after 12 years, then this game should be released too!

Number 5: Final Fantasy XIII-2 is actually… Good

Once again, call me an idealist, but as one of those guys who grew up with the classic Final Fantasy games, and who was initially started off on the fantastic Final Fantasy IX, I just have to keep holding on to that hope that a game in the main Final Fantasy line will capture the magic, the atmosphere, and the fun of the older games in the series.

I’ll stick my neck out and say that I didn’t think Final Fantasy XIII was a terrible game. It just wasn’t that good. I came away from it feeling very indifferent to the whole thing, which in my view is actually worse than if a game is really bad. At least with a terrible game I have something to rant about, but when I play number 13, I have no strong feelings one way or the other, just like the neutral planet.

But again, just like Sony learning a lesson with the reaction to the PSP, I think that the bad feedback with XIII and the numerous problems with XIV, I think that the sequel will benefit from the problems of its past brethren. Yes, I’ve heard Spoony talk about the demo, yes I have kept up with the press surrounding the game, but I remain optimistic. I doubt it will bring the franchise back to its former glory, but I do think that the game will be a step in the right direction, kind of like how sonic took a few steps back into being good. The same will happen, I think, for Final Fantasy.

I look forward to hearing you disagree.

Number 4: Platformer Revival

It’s no secret that the platformer as a genre is now considered a dying art. While most gamers cite platform games as the thing that got them into gaming, barely two percent of all games produced at this time are actually considered to fall within the genre.

Of course, platformers are still around today, mostly intermixed with other genres, and thrown out by the occasional independent developer, but they are nowhere near as prevalent as they used to be. But with all the interest in nostalgia, older games, and just the interest in ‘retro’ ways of thinking, I think that we’ll be seeing more platformers coming out in the few years. And I’m not just talking retro remakes or independent releases for download, I mean full-on, on-the-shelf, brand new games for new IPs.

These games won’t be cross-genres either, I mean straight platforming goodness, getting from one end of the stage to the other, while jumping over pits, hopping on enemies, and dashing past obstacles. Don’t get me wrong, as I said, I know that there are still platformers out there, but it’s nothing like it was back in ye olde times. With all those talk of ‘retro’ nowadays, I think that this is long overdue.

Number 3: Capcom Crumbles

Not something people like to hear, I think, but I’m betting that Capcom’s going to have a very, VERY rough year. Okay, it’s already been pretty rough for them, but I think it’s going to get worse before it gets better.

With odd business decisions, such as the release of Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3 and the cancellation of Megaman Universe and Megaman Legends 3, we’ve seen the start of the fall of a giant. Compounding matters is the oversaturation of sequels in their franchises. There’s no room to breath when pretty much all of your output is rapidly approaching the upper single digits or lower teens when it comes to the amount of games in their series. Then, there seems to be some rifts in their company over their advertising policies in the west, which is further fracturing their company. Add in poor showings in terms of profits and it’s all adding up to big trouble for the gaming giant.

I’m not saying that capcom will cease to exist as we know it. I’d like to think they’re a bit more tenacious than that. But I think everything’s starting to pile up around them and I think their foundations are starting to crumble. I’m thinking they’ll have to do some serious revamping to their business plans. Perhaps shelfing a few of their series for a little while or at least lay off the sequels and spinoffs a little bit. I think taking a risk like they did with Okami and Viewtiful Joe would probably give us something nice to look at, at least. Hell, maybe they could hook back up with Disney and give us something awesome like back when the NES and SNES was king.

Number 2: New Console Speculation

With the upcoming release of the Wii U, we won’t just be getting a flood of new jokes about it’s absolutely silly name. Microsoft and Sony will probably start to at least think about looking into new console development. Will there be a new console announcement before the year is out? I’d think not. Sony and Microsoft can keep riding the wave they have right now with their current consoles, but I know that they’ll at least consider some R&D for new hardware.

Let’s keep in mind that whether you liked or disliked the Wii, it was the big winner for most of this generation, even if it’s gimmickery did wear rather thin near the end of its tenure. Nintendo is hoping that the new screen controller will be used to keep their lead over their competitors without being the most uber-powerful system on the market.

I really doubt we’ll hear an announcement of the new console though. I just think that hints are going to start dropping here and there. We’ll hear things like “Project Pina-Colata” or “Project Marshmallow” or whatever. Hey it’s about as clever as Project Café was. One thing’s for sure, even if they are announcing a new console (or more likely a new expensive peripheral that doesn’t do anything that you could do with a regular controller), we certainly won’t get many details. I’m just expecting a flood of speculation about this over the next year to coincide with details about the new Nintendo Console.

Number 1: Blistered Thumbs gets more Awesome

This isn’t a prediction, it’s a fact, and you know it. Speaks for itself, that is all.

And there are my predictions for the next year. Are they practical? Do they have any amount of truth to them? Well, some do, some don’t. I’m not an analyst for the industry, so I can’t speak as to what will definitely happen in the future, nor would I want to. The future is boring if you know what’s going to happen. I’m just a guy sharing my unbalanced thoughts with all of you. Let me know what your predictions for the coming months are and let’s all hope for another good gaming year!

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Richard Coombs

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