it's a little-known fact that the halls of GameSpot are
filled with seers, soothsayers, and mystics of the highest order. They
also play a lot of video games, so we got our team to use their
all-seeing powers to look into the future and predict the biggest
upcoming news stories for the games industry in the next 12 months. The
below list of 10 possible future headlines are a mix of reasoned
conjecture, thoughtful analysis, and flat-out speculation, so read on to
see some of our editors' completely accurate, almost certain to happen
predictions for 2014.
- Justin Haywald
I admit that I was completely taken in by the Fallout 4 hoax earlier this year.
But the reason so many like me were duped is that it's so easy to
believe. The hoaxster was trying to get Bethesda to reveal its plans
early, but merely dispelling a rumor doesn't mean there isn't some truth
behind it. It has been almost four years since Fallout: New Vegas, the
last game in the franchise, and we've heard convincing rumors that the next game is going to be set in Boston. We
probably won't get a new Fallout this year, but there's a very good
chance that we'll have solid details on what's going to happen in the
nuclear wasteland by E3 2014. Does this screen from Sonic All-Stars Racing point to a Shenmue 3 future?
Shenmue III will be unveiled - Peter Brown
It has been 12 years since the release of Shenmue II,
and after years of crossing our fingers for another chapter in the life
of arcade and forklift aficionado Ryo Hazuki, all signs point to a
Shenmue III announcement in 2014. Shenmue visionary and legendary Sega
developer Yu Suzuki will be giving a Shenmue postmortem at the Game
Developers Conference in March, and Sega recently teased fans with
screenshots from the mobile version of Sega All-Stars Racing, featuring
Ryo driving vehicles with the license plate "SHEN3." If Sega doesn't
make an announcement in the near future, it deserves a pat on the back
for orchestrating one of the most convincing prank campaigns in recent
memory.
AMD will exit/spin off its consumer CPU division - Mark Walton
A
September quarterly profit of $48 million and a small bump in share
price (largely thanks to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4) might make 2013
not seem so bad for AMD. But this was also the year the chipmaker
reported quarterly losses upward of $146 million, and sold off its
Austin-based HQ just to raise some cash. And with the PC market on the
decline, its share of 15.8 percent is rapidly becoming less valuable.
It's just hard to see where AMD fits into the market. Intel outpaces it
in the performance and low-power markets, while ARM has a stranglehold
over everything mobile. Its upcoming low-power chip Mullins might have
resulted in some impressively thin PCs at this year's CES, but if its
previous low-power chips Kabani and Temash are anything to go by, take
up from device manufacturers will be minimal at best.
With
AMD's workforce already slashed, and its fabrication facilities sold
off, there's not much room for more cost cutting. Indeed, 2014 may be
the year that AMD exits the consumer CPU market entirely (or spins it
off as a separate entity) and instead focuses on specialty chip designs
like those in the PS4 and Xbox One, and its more successful graphics
chips. Less competition is never a good thing for consumers,
particularly those on the hunt for a bargain. But if AMD is to survive,
cutting its losses and focusing on its more profitable businesses may be
its best chance at survival.
VR support will be announced for the PS4/Xbox One - Mark Walton
There
has been buzz around the Oculus Rift since it raised a cool $2.4
million via Kickstarter back in 2012. While consumers haven't been able
to get their hands on one so far, it's likely to hit retail at some
point this year. With backing from the likes of industry luminaries Gabe
Newell and John Carmack, plus updates like the X/Y positional tracking
unveiled in the Crystal Cove version at this year's CES, there's every
indication that the Rift is finally going to make VR an enticing
proposition. When it does, expect the console makers to take notice.
Currently,
the Oculus Rift supports only PCs and mobile devices, but if there's
enough demand for such a product (and when people get to try this thing
out, I think there will be), Sony and Microsoft will jump on board.
Indeed, Sony already makes its own range of VR headsets aimed at
re-creating the theater experience at home, the latest of which was
unveiled at CES too; it's just one step away from the company making a
headset specifically for the PlayStation 4.
There's less
indication that Microsoft is working on its own VR headset, but the
company isn't one to ignore a consumer trend when it sees one, Kinect
being the prime example. Whether that means developing its own headset
or simply introducing Oculus Rift compatibility remains to be seen. But
by the end of the year, I wouldn't be surprised to see Sony and
Microsoft extolling the virtues of VR just as much as the Oculus folks
are. Trevor wants to know when the PC version will be confirmed.
Grand Theft Auto V comes to PC...and PlayStation 4/Xbox One - Justin Haywald
GTAV is going to come to the PC this year. More than 650,000 gamers petitioned Rockstar last year
to bring its open-world blockbuster to the PC, and chipmaker Intel
said, "I don't think it'll be console-exclusive very long. But that's
what happens when you have a brand-new launch with two companies that
have lots of money trying to make sure they have content." The rumors
are pointing to an early 2014 release, but one thing no one has been
talking about is bringing the game over to next-gen. Since Xbox One and
PS4 development resembles PC development more closely than the previous
generations, it's not too far-fetched to think the game could also get a
graphically updated port for Microsoft's and Sony's consoles. GTAV is
already one of the most successful entertainment properties of all time,
with sales that broke seven Guinness world records. So not being released to as many properties as possible would just seem to be leaving money on the table.
