To boldly know...
2015 is here! It being the start of the year, I'm going to whip out my crystal ball (I don't actually own a crystal ball - no actual human beings do), stare at it for a bit, and make some predictions for the coming year. PlayStation dominated sales in 2014, but Xbox One started its revival in the final few months of the year, eating into Sony's considerable head-start. So, it's an interesting 12-months ahead for the PS4.
1. We'll see an official PS4 price-drop
Everyone loves a price-drop prediction, so here's one for you. By the end of the year, probably around September, Sony will cut the cost of a PS4 to 300 / $329. Officially. I reckon they'll throw in three months of PS+ with that too, and maybe even a month's subscription to PlayStation Now. Maybe a free KitKat too - dunno, I'm not a marketing guy. Don't think we'll see a price cut for peripherals, though, so expect to pay full whack for controllers, cameras, and all the other official gubbins.
2. Sony will reboot one of its PS One era classics
I'm putting it out there right now, based on precisely zero rumours or insider-knowledge. Sony will reboot a classic, PS One era game in 2015, probably as a fancy PSN title. What will that be? It's anyone's guess, but I'm hoping for something like Parappa, WipEout, or Syphon Filter. I demand the opportunity to taser baddos to firey-death in glorious HD!
4. GT7 will get announced, and it'll be about cars and that
While DriveClub was hailed as Sony's great, car-shaped hope for PS4... it just isn't that good. Delays, server issues, and underwhelming offline options have flattened the series' tyres and shoved a potato into its exhaust pipe. No, people who love cars demand a new Gran Turismo game, with a bevy of vehicles recreated in even more tedious detail than ever before. And I reckon Sony will give it to them.
5. David Cage will show his latest project and it will 'challenge expectations'
It's easy to make fun of Quantic Dream's head honcho. His lofty ideas challenge the norms of game development, and often exceed the technical limits of hardware. Both Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls released with an accompanying whiff of disappointment, as they fell below player expectations to varying extents (that's my polite way of saying that I quite enjoyed Heavy Rain, but thought Beyond was ass).
6. We'll get a teaser trailer for The Last Of Us movie
We know a Last Of Us movie is in the works, and while it won't appear in cinemas for a while, there's every chance we'll see a teaser trailer for it by the end of the year. Unless it follows the path of most video game movies, and just gets stuck in development hell. In which case, um, we won't.
7. We'll get improved voice commands, and in-app voice support
Rejoice, all six of you who actually own and use the PlayStation Camera. Sony has got your back, you brand-ambassador you, and it's planning plenty of exciting features aimed directly at your living room space. I reckon we'll get some new voice commands that let you navigate PS4's functions more easily (so, you'll be able to close applications, check messages, and capture screens etc using your mouth-speakings).
8. We won't hear a peep about Vita or Project Morpheus
Sony and the PS Vita used to hang out all the time. They'd go for a beer, have a laugh, and play Scrabble together at weekends. Sony didn't care that no-one else seemed to like Vita - they were buds. Sony could look past Vita's chronic masturbation and personal hygiene problems. But lately, Sony hasn't been returning Vita's calls. Vita keeps borrowing money and CDs from Sony, and never returns them, and - quite frankly - Sony has had enough of Vita's bullshit.
9. Sony will demo a game in true 4K
Given Sony's staunch defence of 4K resolution at the recent CES trade show in Las Vegas, it seems likely that we'll see a PS4 game designed to run in ultra-HD by the end of the year. While you can currently fit the total number of 4K TV owners inside the glove-box of a Mini Cooper, it's likely that the tech will become more widespread in 2015. And because Sony want to sell TVs, it'll lean on its PS4 division to show off the benefits of 4K.
10. The Last Guardian will... oh what's the point?
Personally, I think The Last Guardian is dead. That bird-eagle thing? It's floating face-down in the muddy pond of development hell. It's starting to get all bloated, and local kids are trying to poke it with a stick. The boy? He had to take a job in the stock-room at Argos because he wants to buy a second-hand Citreon Saxo to impress girls. Plus, his mum wants him to move out of the house, and be more like his sister who is doing really well at that local Estate Agents firm now.
Hit the road, Knack, and dontcha come back...
If Sony announces a sequel to Knack in 2015, it's a sure sign of the impending apocalypse. In this event, you should stock up on canned food and bottled water, make a bunker out of old Seinfeld DVD box-sets, and fashion yourself a makeshift shiv out of that shiny smartphone you can't stop staring at. You'll need it when Hell's minions spew forth into your living room. But that's unlikely to happen, so don't worry too much. Have a biscuit or something. Oh, and leave a comment below, telling me exactly what biscuit you decided to eat.
