Play it Forward: Video Games Predictions 2007

Jan 1, 2007

Picture this: it's December 31, 2007. The PS3 and the Wii are lining the shelves at your local electronics retailer, and both have a year of great -- and not so great -- games behind them. So what was the year's story? How did each platform match up? We know. We're the experts. Read on!

PlayStation 3

Expect the PS3 to get off to a slow start. Why would you release your 2007 big hitters when there are only seven people in the country who actually own the machine (and aren't selling it on Ebay)? Things will pick up as the year goes on and more PS3s make it to consumers, though, and by the end of the year we'll hopefully be seeing Microsoft and Sony go head-to-head . Why, "hopefully?" Because in the process we'll see some great games from both sides.

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2

Mass Effect

But there's little sign of the availability issue resolving soon. Unlike the Wii, which had a near-simultaneous worldwide launch, Sony still has to come up with enough machines to launch the system in Europe and Australasia in March. That's going to keep US supplies low for the foreseeable future, unless Sony can figure out how to get its hands on a whole lot of blue laser diodes in the next month or two.

Wii

How about the Wii? With such an innovative and new control system, expect a decidedly mixed quality software catalog, as publishers feel out exactly how much extra work they need to do to make their cross-platform moneyspinners work on Nintendo's unique platform. In other words, we'll see a clear dividing line between games that "get" the Wii and games that just don't - and publishers that can't understand the difference will increasingly favor the other platforms.

All this, of course, will only be a concern if you can actually find one. Nobody's fool enough to start throwing about predictions concerning when the Wii will become readily available, but it's going to be a while. Although potential Wii purchasers won't have to contend with holiday shopping crowds, the buzz surrounding the system just seems to be increasing. At some stores, lines have been longer on weekends that followed the Wii's launch! In other words, good luck.

PC

In contrast, over on the PC, things couldn't be looking better: retailers are crammed with brand new whizz-bang gaming PCs and are more than happy to sell them for enormous amounts of money. And if the hardware requirements of the upcoming wave of Windows Vista games are anything to go by, you'll be needing one by the end of the year.

Never mind. Next year's PC software selection is looking fantastic, with a number of well-loved franchises making overdue returns. Plus there's World of Warcraft and its seven million players: look for the game's Burning Crusade expansion to smash PC sales records in January, and eclipse every other MMORPG released for the rest of the year. Er, again. Blizzard's not going anywhere, either: expect the wraps to be finally pulled off Diablo 3 at some point in 2007.

Handhelds

As for the handhelds expect this to be yet another banner year for the DS. Short of a major change of direction from Sony -- which probably has bigger things on its corporate mind at the moment -- the PSP isn't about to drag itself out of its rut. Maybe the connectivity features with the PS3 will amount to something, but short of some seriously compelling PSP releases, expect the DS to continue to go from strength to strength.

World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade

Supreme Commander

Law Wars

Although we've hopefully heard the last from anti-games windbag lawyer Jack Thompson, expect the linked issues of the effects of violence in games and the performance of the ESRB rating authority to come under increased public scrutiny. At the very least, the release of Grand Theft Auto IV in October will reopen some old wounds, and the tendency of lawmakers to pass laws that pander to a reactionary public shouldn't be underestimated. If 2007 is anything like 2006, however, these efforts will benefit nobody but the lawyers involved in the inevitable court cases.

Games to Watch

World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade
Seven million subscribers can't be wrong. World of Warcraft's unstoppable growth is set to get a boost in just a couple of weeks, as its first expansion is released. Burning Crusade adds a whole new continent, raises the level cap to 70, includes two new character races, a new profession, flying mounts, and lots more. Clear your diaries, already.

Bioshock
Developed by Ken Levine, famous for System Shock 2 and Thief, thriller-shooter Bioshock features a groundbreaking AI "ecology" -- a system where computer-controlled creatures can cooperate or fight to achieve their individual goals -- and a tense storyline set in a 1940s underwater city.

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2
After Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter proved one of the most popular multiplayer 360 games of the year, expectations are high for its sequel. This time, it's coming to the PS3 as well, and bringing a new dynamic weather system and new squad selection options along for the ride.

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars

Age of Conan

Mass Effect
Bioware's role-playing game credentials are beyond dispute, so we're expecting great things from Mass Effect. Like Bioware's previous critically acclaimed RPG Knights of the Old Republic, it has a sci-fi theme, but also features new, more action-oriented combat, and an overhauled, fluid conversation system.

Halo 3
Due out in late 2007, we're expecting Halo 3 to set the Xbox 360 on fire all over again. Some lucky folks won't have to wait that long to play it, though -- in the spring, a public beta test of the game will let a select few take the game's multiplayer for an online spin.

Assassin's Creed
From the team behind Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Assassin's Creed will be tearing up the PS3 and 360 in early 2007. Creed's plot is still under wraps, but early info reveals tantalizing hints of a complex time travel tale set amid the Third Crusade in 12th century Jerusalem. Complex combat and an innovative crowd system -- where you can hide even when surrounded by people -- make this one to watch.

Supreme Commander
RTS maestro Chris Taylor is back, with this spiritual successor to genre classic Total Annihilation. Featuring huge battlefields measuring thousands of square kilometers, its interface provides players plenty of opportunity to concentrate on the battle's "big picture" as they combine sci-fi-themed air, land and sea forces to spectacular effect.

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
Preparing to make a huge impact on the online multiplayer shooter scene in 2007, Quake Wars is the follow-up to the spectacular Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. This one's set in the future world of the Quake games, obviously, and features oodles of vehicles, weapons, character classes and top graphics thanks to its tweaked Doom 3 engine.

Crysis
Looking for the cutting edge in gaming visuals? Throw out your consoles. Crysis exploits Microsoft's new DirectX 10 technology and new Vista operating system to produce visuals more realistic than anything else we've seen. Sure, you'll need a new computer to play it, but with graphics like this it might actually be worth the price.

Super Mario Galaxy

Age of Conan
Based on the 1930s novels, and not the Arnie cheesefest, this creative MMORPG should give all of us a welcome break from World of Warcraft. Uniquely, it plays as both a single and massively multiplayer game, as you can create and level up a character offline before entering the online world. It's also coming to the Xbox 360, although that version might not make 2007.

Super Mario Galaxy
The world's most famous plumber blasts off into space in this Wii platformer, which wowed the crowds at its debut in 2006. The interplanetary action is wild and unique, and there's even a hint that it might support cooperative multiplayer. Of course, it doesn't hurt that it's one of the most visually impressive Wii games around.

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