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Predictions for 2007
(December 31st, 2006 - 8:19PM)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. will be delayed until 2008, or cancelled altogether.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R., a post-apocalyptic game about a nuclear fallout from Chernobyl, is scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2007. However, the game's already been plagued by numerous bumped deadlines, so it wouldn't be a surprise if it got bumped again.
Jack Bauer will be shot.
This has been a long time coming. Jack Bauer, lead character from 24, has been fighting terrorism for five seasons and has never taken a bullet, despite numerous gunfights. I think the sixth season will be the end of his streak. I also think he'll shrug it off and go back to fighting the bad guys.
The US will begin pulling out of Iraq, or at the very least put plans in place to do so.
I can't believe that after all that's happened since the US' invasion of Iraq, George W. Bush still thinks maintaining a presence there is a good idea. I think that 2007 will be the year that the US either begins a pullout, or at least puts plans into motion.
The Zune will pick up speed.
Microsoft's Zune was released with little fanfare this year. However, if there's one thing I've learned about Microsoft, it's that they are perfectly capable of invading markets that others would consider impenetrable. I didn't think they'd be able to invade the console market either, but the Xbox 360 is currently leading the next-gen platform wars.
I figure that despite the limited success of the Zune so far, a "Zune 2.0" in 2007 will give them more traction in the market.
The Wii will revive Nintendo's role in the console market.
Let's face it: Nintendo has been floundering in the console wars since the Super Nintendo. While the N64 was okay, the Sony Playstation absolutely destroyed it in the market. Although I can't be sure why, I think the N64 was too "gimmicky." Its trident controller was big and unwieldy, and ultimately awkward. The N64 was still a cartridge-based system, while all the competition had moved on to discs. This meant that games had to fit onto a single cartridge, and could not span multiple discs; this was a big problem for games like Final Fantasy, which eventually wound up moving to the Playstation. And at this point, Nintendo was still battling the reputation of being a "kid's" system, without any mature games.
However, Nintendo has two major advantages which have kept it in the market during this time. One, its always-expanding library of excellent brand games, such as Mario, Zelda, Metroid, and F-Zero. Two, its complete dominance in the portable market; the Game Boy's various incarnations have trounced all competition, even Sony's PSP.
It looks like after years of withdrawing and surviving on the advantages above, Nintendo is ready to get back into the console market. Its message? Forget next-gen graphics. Forget expensive hardware. All you need is a great interface. Enter the Wii.
Nintendo's latest console endeavour has drawn great critical praise, and I think 2007 will show that it's well-deserved. A wealth of great games will be released that take advantage of the Wiimote. However, I think most of those games will be released by Nintendo, and third-party use of the Wiimote won't be as effective. Which leads me to my next prediction.
The Wii will be plagued with trouble from third-party developers.
The Wiimote isn't the first interesting peripheral Nintendo's released over the years. And if the past is any indication, third-party developers may not drink the Kool-Aid. I wouldn't be surprised if third-party developers simply don't take the time to maximize use of the Wiimote.
One thing I've noticed from Wii game reviews is that Wii ports of games are rarely as good as the versions available on other consoles. This is because the Wii doesn't have the graphical capability of the other next-gen systems, so Wii games always look the worst. Also, most ported games are not designed with the Wiimote in mind as the primary controller.
As mentioned earlier, I think the Wii will have a lot of great games, but most of those will be games exclusively available on the Wii, not ports. The ported games will generally be substandard, which will play in favour of other consoles. This will lead to the Wii having a small library of great games, and a lot of ported duds.
Children all across North America will develop a single, over-muscled right arm due to excessive Wii play.
Did you ever see that episode of the Simpsons where Homer obtains a freeweight and develops a single over-muscled arm? I think the same thing's going to happen to excessive Wii players.
The PS3 will fail, which will be the beginning of the end for Blu-Ray.
I think it's pretty much a given that the PS3 is going to trail behind the Xbox 360 and the Wii. At this point, the console only has two things going for it.
One: Final Fantasy is still on board with the Playstation. However, I think that's just a matter of time before Square jumps ship to the Xbox 360. It wouldn't be the first time they've done something like this.
Two: The built-in Blu-Ray player. However, I think that the PS3's failure is going to deliver a heavy blow to Blu-Ray as well. Microsoft's opt-in approach with the 360's add-on HD-DVD drive is a much better idea. Sony has had bad luck in the past in implementing their own standards; I think the Blu-Ray will be one of these.
Kevin Federline will release a new album.
Kevin Federline's debut album, Playing With Fire, scored 15% on Metacritic (which represents "Extreme dislike or disgust"). I don't think that'll deter Kevin from a second attempt, and we can expect it in 2007. I doubt it'll score as low as the first album, but I'm predicting below 40%.
2007 will be a better year for me than 2006.
On a personal note, this has been a shitty year for my family and I. I'm hoping 2007 will be better.
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