justinj212 Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Raking in over $21B last year, a lineup of blockbuster games and steady console installation rates fueled record sales for the video game industry despite economic recession. However, an underwhelming software lineup and other factors will ensure this success is not repeated in 2009. Discuss. ps- if you like this thread please see the links in my sig to check out the UMD Gamer Symphony Orchestra and my weekly VGM radio program 8-Bit Radio! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bahamut Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Can't say I know how the economy will affect the industry since it defied trends last year, but I know 2009 is great for OCR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadofsky Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Well, the year has just started, we can't really say how it'll turn out for the time being. But I will agree, that we may not see a whole lot of BIG titles at the start, or through midway. Granted, we've got Chronicles of Riddick, Ghostbusters, The Conduit, Punch Out, Street Fighter IV, Halo 3: ODST, and others coming out this year... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malaki-LEGEND.sys Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Well I think we're gonna have to wait until around mid-year to really see what's on the horizon, as we're still in the early year slump. We'll be getting out of it around mid to late February starting with high profile stuff like Street Fighter IV, Resident Evil 5, and Star Ocean: The last Hope. In terms of console installation rate, I imagine that the Wii and the DS are still going to produce strong numbers, and didn't Reggie state that "they didn't need to bring out the DSi stateside just yet" due to the DS selling like hotcakes? I think there's potential to see more PSPs being bought up with a few releases like Resistance: Retribution, Loco Roco 2, Patapon 2, and the flurry of Square-Enix stuff like Dissidia, Star Ocean Second Evolution, and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep(if that is in fact coming our way this year). I think Sony is going to have to keep tooling their idea of what kind of games/gamers the PSP is going to be catering to in order to put up some kind of fight against the DS though. They could start by adding more functionality with the PSP right out of the box as opposed to limiting the good stuff to those tech-savy enough to mod 'em. The PS3... Well, I hate to sound like a buzz kill, but the way I'm seeing it, I'll have to echo what several news outlets have said and say that it's a sinking ship without a price cut here and there this year. As a tech device it's great, but as far as gaming goes I'd rather get my fix elsewhere. It still stands as one of the best Bluray players out there, but with inexpensive players coming out now, that point now seems irrelevant. I probably agree with the idea that this year won't be AS big as last, and it's funny how after listening to an episode of Retronauts a few weeks ago that it seems that most years ending in 8 have been big in gaming, but I don't think we'll be seeing THAT big of a loss in momentum, unless all the mothers and children in this nation decide to outgrow gaming altogether, which is another point that Nintendo has already understood and Microsoft is trying to get: Do not underestimate the spending power of mothers with children. I personally believe that this is one thing that has put Nintendo on the gravy train with the Wii thus far. Family friendly and casual gaming. They might be black-listed words to us, but to the big 3 those 2 words mean big bucks. Anyway as I said before, it's probably too early to tell, but I'm excited about this year in gaming to be sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Wolf Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Last year didn't strike me as a particularly huge year for games, honestly, but that may well be because I was just too busy to play any. Still, the only really major releases I can think of off the top of my head are LittleBigPlanet, Fallout 3, and Gears 2. Throw in Bioshock for PS3 if you like, but that was a 2007 rlease originally. Hard to say what we'll see this year though. Usually the big announcements happen in roughly May, and the big releases start in the Summer, with the killer apps releasing even later in November. I hope it's a good year, I'll have time to play games again come May! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anosou Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Can't say I know how the economy will affect the industry since it defied trends last year, but I know 2009 is great for OCR QFE. You'll all see. Also, I believe 2009 will see less "gamble" releases such as niche titles, j-games overseas and pretty much anything in europe. Which is a shame ofc. At the same time I think Blizzard might take it all home with D3 or SC2 while Square Enix new focus on "the rest of the world" is due for some rabid fanboying.. Personally, I'm holding my breath for 505 Games, an oddball italian publishing company, to release some wicked strange titles in Europe, stuff that US gamers haven't even seen Favorites from 505 in the past years include: Taito's 2D vertical shmup "Homura", Onechanbara on PS2, Armored Core (the last PS2 titles and 4), Graffiti Kingdom, Michigan: Report from Hell, psikyo shmups and the Sengoku Blade conversions. I'm also psyched that a company like Rising Star Games (part of Marvellous Interactive) have gained a good reputation and apparently great sales when they started releasing stuff in Europe. Together with obvious stuff like a bunch of flat DS games that will sell well they released Flower, Sun and Rain by Grasshopper, R-Type Tactics, No More Heroes and soon Muramasa: The Demon Blade. Publishers such as this is something fresh in europe and hoepfully they won't get affected as much by the economy because their niche and budget titles are cheap or very attractive for consumers which makes them a good choice instead of the AAA titles. At least that's what I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Damned Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 I suspect, much like AS said, that we will see more and more of the "guaranteed sellers", like Madden. Companies, fearing horrible losses on everything, will try to maximize profits by sticking to the same old same old. We will see less interesting, newer, fresher games. I wonder if this will affect the smaller titles on Live and Wiiware, though. It's cheaper to develop for those, and most of the games on there are done by smaller, less known companies. I think the bigger studios will suffer the most. They have more staff, so that means more overhead. We already see EA and Sega have laid people off, and this may continue for some time. In a way, this may result in higher quality games, as they weed out the bottom percentage and keep only the "best". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zombie Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 However, an underwhelming software lineup and other factors will ensure this success is not repeated in 2009 Seriously? I'm exited for tons of games this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strike911 Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 There are a lot of fantastic games coming out on all platforms this year. I'm going to keep my guess that the Wii will continue to dominate everything, with the Xbox360 taking up second. I'm expecting more of the same from the Xbox360 this year. With the Wii... Nintendo needs to announce more hardcore games. Unfortunately, mere announcements will probably mean no new hardcore games until 2010 for the Wii. I wouldn't be surprised for some kind of big franchise announcement... something like Zelda. This is the make or break year for Sony's PS3 imo. They have a lot of high quality titles coming out this year, and if they're unable to capitalize on them in 2009 I don't know what kind of state the PS3 will be in by 2010. God of War III, Killzone 2, Heavy Rain, Uncharted 2, Gran Turismo 5. I'm personally expecting some kind of announcement from Team Ico this year, as they've been working on something for the last two years. I'm very interested in Killzone 2. It seems like a storm started at E3 2005 with that pre-rendered concept trailer, and now almost 4 years later the game is about to be released almost achieving what they were going for in that pre-rendered video. I don't think one single game can turn around any one system, much less the PS3, but the game has been getting a fantastic response from those playing preview builds, and visually, from the preview vids I've watched, I personally feel the game is the best looking console game I've ever seen. I honestly feel that if Killzone 2 completely bombs then the PS3 will follow shortly after. The game is the flagship title that has defined the PS3 ever since 2005. The game must succeed in '09 for Sony. Sony's at a critical point, and they have a lot of AAA games coming out that I'm actually interested in, but at this point for Sony, each set back is a GIANT set back. I'm very satisfied with my PS3, and having owned all the current-gen systems, it's certainly the most robust and quality consoles I've owned; that said, Sony has a lot of work to do. So in 2009, I'm predicting that the PS3 will either be completely trounced, or, while not surpassing the number of 360's, be completely vindicated as a console with a wealth of quality titles. EITHER OR. I don't think there is any gray area this year for Sony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulinEther Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 I can already tell you 2009 will be shittier than 2008, because I've got a fever. A prophetic fever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Damned Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 I can already tell you 2009 will be shittier than 2008, because I've got a fever. A prophetic fever. ... Prophet of Mephesto sneezed on you when he was sick? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulinEther Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 ...Prophet of Mephesto sneezed on you when he was sick? Now that's just disgusting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anosou Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 btw if treasure releases Sin & Punishment 2 and their unnamed X360 gsme 2009 will officially kick all other year's asses. Other games I look forward to include: Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2 Battle Fantasia (PAL release) Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad Muramasa: The Demon Blade Away: Shuffle Dungeon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulinEther Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 If 2009 sees the release of Final Fantasy 27, in which you gather a party of Middle Eastern journalists, traversing desert lands and vast oceans (with flying camel-bos), overcoming obstacles like the UN, Geneva Convention, Mexican illegal immigrants (who want your moneyz, ese), and the Secret Service, to reach the land of Texas and confront a former tyrant and unconvicted war criminal with a barrage of Nike, Vans, Lugz, John Lobb, and Prada.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anosou Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 If 2009 sees the release of Final Fantasy 27, in which you gather a party of Middle Eastern journalists, traversing desert lands and vast oceans (with flying camel-bos), overcoming obstacles like the UN, Geneva Convention, Mexican illegal immigrants (who want your moneyz, ese), and the Secret Service, to reach the land of Texas and confront a former tyrant and unconvicted war criminal with a barrage of Nike, Vans, Lugz, John Lobb, and Prada.... The difference is that the games I mentioned are 1. real games, 2. planned for 2009, 3. not lame RPG's featuring various stereotypes by race (seriously, low blow ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 ...Prophet of Mephesto sneezed on you when he was sick? lies. prophecy obviously did it. i'm looking forward to 2009 for dissidia, riddick, witcher's 360 port/version, and a chance to play a buttload of psp games that i've missed since release. ff13 is pretty exciting, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anosou Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 i'm looking forward to 2009 for dissidia, riddick, witcher's 360 port/version, and a chance to play a buttload of psp games that i've missed since release. ff13 is pretty exciting, too. Dissidia is looking cool! FFXIII will most definitely be a 2010 release since they need to make the X360 version before release and they won't start that before the Japanese PS3 version is done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJMetal Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I'm hopeful for '09 only for this reason: I won't be NEARLY as let down as I was this year. Of all the games that were released this year, I only really Advanced Wars: DoR, the new Castlevania, and Gears II. And I only like Gears II because I haven't played it online yet. Seriously. It's probably just me, but I was really let down last year. Here's hoping! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulinEther Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 The difference is that the games I mentioned are 1. real games, 2. planned for 2009, 3. not lame RPG's featuring various stereotypes by race (seriously, low blow ) I am Middle Eastern... and this game will not be lame. It will feature fine tossing skills and practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anosou Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I am Middle Eastern... and this game will not be lame. It will feature fine tossing skills and practice. I am Swedish, many here are from USA. What's your point? also, fine tossing skills DOES sound interesting.. be sure to PM me at release. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulinEther Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I am Swedish, many here are from USA. What's your point? also, fine tossing skills DOES sound interesting.. be sure to PM me at release. I am from the USA as well. And yes, I will PM you, no doubt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justinj212 Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share Posted January 26, 2009 Seriously? I'm exited for tons of games this year. Just trying to make a statement people could support or refute. Not saying that's necessarily my opinion. Sheesh.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerrax Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 So far the only games I'm looking forward to in 2009 are Ghostbusters and the Pittsburgh expansion of Fallout 3. 2008 and 2007 were both so damn good, it'll be hard for 2009 to top them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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