Game Informer's 2010 Predictions--How'd We Do?

Last year, we gazed into our crystal balls/made a few educated guesses about what 2010 would hold for the gaming industry. Some of our predictions were spot on, while others were a bit off the mark. Join us as we examine our biggest hits and misses, and start thinking about what 2011 will bring.

We’re the best!
Kato had a few feelings about the way that the Move and Kinect launches would go down. The timeline changed, but his feelings were certainly prescient. “I have a feeling that Sony’s going to drop the ball when it comes to the launch of their motion controller. Not because the device isn’t technically good enough, but because this thing has marketing disaster written all over it. It’s supposed to be coming out before March, and the *** thing doesn’t even have an official name yet. And if they’ve decided to just roll on with ‘Sony Motion Controller,’ then they need more help than I thought. Quick quiz: What’s Microsoft’s motion controller called? The point is that Microsoft’s entry has been definable and captured the zeitgeist since day one, while Sony has gone the usual nerdy route of talking about its effort in terms of its tech specs first (just like the PS3). Yawn. You want to excite people with your product? Don’t bore them first. Like it or not, I think Sony will be the loser of the motion controller wars, and it will have nothing to do with tech or games, unfortunately. It will be because consumers will see the device as a half-assed peripheral, and I know exactly where they got that idea from.”

Tim basically nailed the prevailing opinion on 3D and motion gaming in his prediction. “I’m having a hard time predicting what the hell is going to happen with Natal and Sony’s motion control. I think gamers are still really gun-shy after the Wii’s revolutionary-turned-casual gaming, and the 360 and PS3’s motion control viability will remain under scrupulous eyes until something groundbreaking happens (like a 1:1 shooter that actually controls well, or the ultimate Star Wars Jedi simulator). I have similar feeling about the advancement of 3D gaming. I don’t feel the hardcore audience feels these ideas are necessarily the next step in the evolution of the consoles, and will be harder to sell on the whole thing. I think gamers would get more excited if Nintendo, Microsoft, or Sony simply announced their next console.”

We’re OK
While the last part of Phil’s E3 prediction was vague enough to be virtually useless, he was right on the first bit. “Nintendo’s surely finally going to show off the next console Zelda game at this year’s E3, and I’m sure they have some new, casual-friendly titles to show off – perhaps new iterations of Wii Fit or Wii Sports.”

Do I get partial credit for some of this stuff? I’m writing this recap up, so I’ll go ahead and do that. “Sony reveals a trailer for Twisted Metal PS3 and a teaser for Infamous 2 that’s essentially a logo with a voiceover. DC Universe Online is played onstage, but Jim Lee refuses to do any pushups. Sony officially gives a name to its motion controller wand, which makes it much easier for editors to write about the device.”

Here are some of Adam’s thoughts on motion controls. Since you can parse prices up depending on number of players and all that jazz, I’ll say he’s only kind of right. “Natal and Sony’s motion tech will both work far better than anybody expects, especially after the imprecise Wii remote that we’re used to. Natal will be much better supported, though, and cheaper for consumers. Sony will have a couple awesome first- and second-party games to showcase their new controller, but Microsoft is going to all but relaunch the 360 with Natal.”

We’re…out of our minds
I don’t know what I was thinking when I said that Kinect would sell for $80—I was obviously feeling optimistic. My guess that Fallout: New Vegas would be shown onstage was another big miss, but really, how was I supposed to know that a pretend tiger named Skittles would take up so much time?

Speaking of Kinect, Matt used his powers of prognostication to determine that Fable III was going to be a Kinect game, and that it would be delayed. Also, this: “Activision announces a new Gun game after the success of Red Dead Redemption, and Sony announces a proper PS3 Syphon Filter game they’ve been working on for a while.” Oops.

Similarly, Tim assumed that Blizzard was biting off more than they could chew. “For some reason seeing Blizzard release a WoW expansion and StarCraft II in the same year feels like a tall tale to me. We’ll see.” Yeah, we saw indeed.

Former editor Nick tempered his prediction with “pretty much,” but he was still “pretty much” 100 percent wrong: “I think Grid 2 is pretty much a given at this point.” Nope.