2010 Gaming Predictions

I did it for 2008 and 2009 and figured I had to do it for 2010 as well. Below you will see five predictions I have made for the gaming world in 2010.

The fourth year of each generation is usually when you start hearing about the "next gen." This year, with the boom of motion controls, you will see more of a re-branding than any truly new systems. Either way, it should be a pretty good year for gaming, assuming you don't mind a little movement in your games.

1) Gears of War 3 will release in Holiday 2010 but as a prequel to explain Marcus' history

From the first fifteen minutes of the first Gears of War I have thought this to be true. There would be two Gears games in the typical fashion with the third being a prequel to explain what Marcus has done in his past battles.

2) A new Pilot Wings will be released by the end of 2010

Boy oh boy I hope this prediction is right. Ever since playing the airplane demo on the Wii at E3 2006 I have been reminded of this sweet series. My only real hope is that the game has some form of online leaderboards with friends. I think that would really add to this game.

3) Nintendo will release a Virtual Console for the DSi with Gameboy-type games

This is an idea that really should have been acted on at the launch of the DSi but, again, Nintendo is a weird bunch. They innovate in so many ways and are so stubborn in others. I fear this feature is being held for the true successor for the DS but I hope I'm wrong there. This feature needs to be released now, or at least by the end of 2010.

4) This will be the last year for the PS2, ie major retailers will stop supporting it by the end

This little beast has been selling like mad for years but I am thinking that the PS3's success in 2010 will push Sony, and mostly retailers like Best Buy, Walmart, etc., to move away from the PS2 system. This is mainly because customer's will finally start seeing the PS3 as the obvious choice for their gaming buck over the 9-10 year old console.

5) Wii Vitality Sensor will be used in a new Luigi's Mansion Wii game

My fifth prediction is always the most outlandish, it doesn't help my prediction score that's for sure, and this one is no exception. Hate all you want about Luigi's Mansion (or don't if you actually enjoyed it) but someone at Nintendo loved the first game and is currently making the sequel for the Wii. It will use the Wii Vitality Sensor, announced at E3 2009, in some pretty cool ways to alter the environments that Luigi explores. If you like the Vitality Sensor I hope you like Luigi's Mansion because I don't foresee too many "core" games using it this year.

Now let's see if I can do a little better than 2009's predictions. It shouldn't be hard considering I only got one right.