By This Time Next Year: The Final Edition

As you may have guessed by the title, I'll be ending the blog officially. After this post and The Golden Duck Awards it shall be over (It'll be online, just not updated... Not much of a change, really). More details will be included in a final blog post which will be written towards the end of the month.


Welcome to the fourth and final edition of "By This Time Next Year", in which I will revisit my predictions made way back on December 4th, 2009. Without any further delay, let's jump right in.

"...Pikmin 3 will have been formally announced" = WRONG

Oh how painful it is to label this prediction inaccurate. Sadly, for yet another year, E3 has come and gone without any word regarding a new Pikmin game. Again. Come on, Miyamoto, let's get going!

"...Half-Life 2: Episode 3 will have gone another year without any sort of official announcement" = Correct!

Unlike the previous prediction, this one is correct. Just like the previous, though, the outcome is pretty crummy. A whole year and pretty much nothing. Way back in March Gabe Newell mentioned that future Half-Life games will turn back to "genuinely scaring the player" once more, but beyond that, nothing. Well, at least we're getting Portal 2...

"...a long-standing, long-since-forgotten Nintendo franchise will make its triumphant return" = Correct!

I had a feeling this would come true, but I didn't expect it would come true twice! At E3 2010 Nintendo announced both Kid Icarus: Uprising and Donkey Kong Country Returns, two classic franchises that have been absent for far too long. Even better, Donkey Kong Country Returns is out already, and it's getting amazing reviews. Let's hope Kid Icarus gets the same reception!

"...Project Natal will have been delayed until 2011" = WRONG

Now known as Kinect, the peripheral did indeed launch as scheduled, striking a blow to my score. I'm kind of surprised, really. I honestly didn't think it'd be ready so soon (And according to a few reviewers, it isn't).

"...people will still be erroneously calling the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 'next-generation'" = Correct!

Oh how painfully true this one is. ATTENTION CITIZENS: If a console is already available, it's NOT "next-generation", okay? If it's available, it is CURRENT. Say it with me: C-U-R-R-E-N-T. Damn it, people.

"...Mario Party 9 will have been released" = WRONG

Nintendo actually surprised me here... sort of. A party game was released by Nintendo, but under the name "Wii Party". SO CLOSE. Oh well.

"...Zelda Wii will have been confirmed for a Summer 2011 release" = Correct! ...ish

Yes. Yes. Yes. And more yes. At E3 2010 Nintendo pulled back the curtains on the long-awaited, built-exclusively-for-Wii The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. The only problem? There's no specific release date yet. Just "TBA 2011". Could it be Summer? Possibly, but it can't be said for sure. I'm going to call this one 50/50 correct/wrong; Correct in that it was announced, but wrong in that there's no specified release date.

"...yet another same-as-before Call of Duty game will have been released, and people will still be yet to tire of it" = Correct!

...

...

Hmm? What? Oh, yeah. Uh huh. Sorry, the subject of this one is just so mind-numbing. It happened. Moving along.

"...a brand-new Nintendo IP will have been announced" = WRONG

Not much to say here, really, since it was wrong. Nothing happened, nothing to write about.

"...SEGA will once again bring shame to the Sonic brand" = WRONG (Wait, what?)

Oh boy, another Sonic game. What sort of crapfest is it this ti-Wait... Sonic Colors is GOOD? ...I... WHAT? GOOD? Oh, well, I'm sure Sonic 4 was terri- Oh. Apparently that was alright. Huh. Um... Aha! Sonic: Free Riders was terrible, wasn't it? It was? HA! I WI- What? It doesn't count? FIDDLESTICKS.

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Well, that's that. Now for my prediction accuracy... 50%? Well, that could've gone better. Ooh, what's this? In the comments section of last year's post...


Who does this guy think he is, huh? STEALING MY THUNDER? Well, let's have a look at these predictions of his.

"A new form of DS, be it an upgrade or a successor, will either be shown or released" = Correct!

Well, he's got me there. As he predicted, the 3DS was revealed at E3 2010 this year, and it's pretty darn awesome, too. YOU WIN THIS ROUND, RAWFUL

"At least 2 Mario games will be released" = Correct!

Why that little... Ahem. Yes, he's right. Technically four Mario games have been released since then, but I won't be counting one of them (Super Mario Galaxy 2), as it was already announced when he wrote this. I don't appreciate cheating, boyo! (If you were wondering, the three released games are Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem!, Super Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary Edition and Mario Sports Mix, the latter two only available in Japan at the moment.)

So that makes his prediction accuracy... 100%? Well, I guess you guys know who you'll be going to for your predictions now that this blog is closing.

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