Killswitchmad's 2013 predictions

So as 2012 draws to a close and I'm sitting here nursing a throbbing head and a can of Fosters I think it's high time for a bit of fun predicting next years events in gaming. Lets hopefully have a look back at this in 12 months and see how right (or wrong) I am.....

First up lets get the depressing stuff out of the way....2013 is likely to see gaming dip into further recession the once "Recession proof" gaming industry was hit hard in 2012 with various developers and publishers closing their doors, the likes of Eurocom, 38 studios, GSC Gameworld, Radical and SCE Liverpool all falling foul of the recession and many others ending 2012 with a bumpy road ahead.

2013 is going to see further closures and I think the biggest of those will be that of THQ, Struggling for quite some time now THQ has had 2 sets of lay-offs, a huge number of project cancellations and a large scale back on financial predictions. Darksiders II was a critical success but failed to sell the huge (and frankly unrealistic) numbers THQ predicted. 2013 will be make or break for the publisher having already filled for bankruptcy this month the last few games to head out of it's doors will be key to any future plans.

For 2013 THQ have...


Metro: Last Light (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows)
Company of Heroes 2 (Windows)
South Park: The Stick of Truth (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Windows))
WWE '14 (Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 3, PS Vita, Wii U,3DS)

It's unlikely that all of these will see release, Metro and South Park are my bets to see on shelves, CoH 2 I reckon will be canned due to being PC only and WWE '14 will be to late in the year to make a difference.

However THQ does have one ace up it's sleeve. It owns the rights to two franchises that it could sell and raise a large amount of cash. Saints Row and Red Faction, Saints Row has just become more and more popular with each outing and now represents THQ's flagship franchise there's no doubt that it would sell and at a decent price too, Red Faction is more of a gamble having suffered from poor sales in recent years it's likely that THQ will offload the franchise at some point.

Time will tell how this plays out but my money is on THQ being defunct by the end of the year....


Right on to some happier predictions!

What games can we expect to see announced in the next 12 months?


I would say it's likely that 343 will begin leaking some Halo 5 info a little later in the year.

The next installment of the Mass Effect franchise is likely to be hinted at.

Thief 4 will finally break from the shadows along with possible first details of a new Deus Ex.

The next numbered installment of Final Fantasy will be announced for next gen systems. (And probably won't arrive for another 10 years....)

New installments for both Forza (Main series) and Gran Turismo will be announced for next gen systems.

The premier for Battlefield 4 will happen, most likely at E3.

New CoD (duhhhh)

And also alot of others along with a plethora of announcements for next gen systems.


Next gen will finally arrive!

The talk has been going on for a number of years now that next gen systems are due to be announced, both Sony and M$ said they could eeek out the life cycles to between 10-12 years but it's clear they can't both PS Move and Kinect tried to bridge the gap but it hasn't worked as planned and the likely-hood is that both companies have been frantically beavering away on new systems since day one of this generation.

2013 must be the year and E3 will be the place. however I have a theory on why these systems haven't been announced sooner. This is the first generation of consoles that have given us a persistent presence across all games, Our Gamertag/PSN ID's have become so engrained in our daily gaming lives that losing them now would be a ridiculous concept not to mention the hundreds even thousands of pounds we've spent on downloadable games and content. Both companies have got to find a way of pushing the envelope forward while allowing full backwards compatibility of profiles, DLC, downloaded games etc. It's a tough challenge and one that warrants serious work as it will have a huge impact on sales, If pulled off it means that any hardcore gamer is already sold on the machine to choose. The next gen will be the first where allegiances don't change a huge amount.


Mobile gaming will become BIG business!

2013 is the year that mobiles and tablets will become full fledged consoles and it'll all happen at E3 and CES, It's no secret that gaming has already become big on mobile devices but with the likes of R* and Square releasing full console games onto mobiles it's only a matter of time before this becomes commonplace so much so that the majority of console peripheral manufacturers are already working on proper controllers for both mobiles and tablets. I'd say it's also pretty safe to assume that the next generation of mobile devices will be bringing some serious specs to the board easily matching and in some cases I expect outdoing the PSVita.

Wii-U and Ouya will flop...

The Wii-U is a big bet by Ninty but I personally think it's a step too far, Sales are already lagging behind those of the original Wii and frankly the gamepad is far less "family friendly" and a much more confusing prospect for consumers, I'm betting by the end of the year Ninty will be scrambling to get a new handheld out of the door as a replacement.

Ouya on the other hand will flop for a different reason, It's got no marketing. Personally I like the look and idea of it. For those thst don't know it's basically a tiny box + controller that you hook up to you TV as usual however this little beast runs Android allowing you full access to the Google Play store + a full host of games designed for the console itself. It'll also make your TV a smart TV for the small cost of $99. But as I said a lack of marketing is going to kill this off quick.....

Right that's all I've got for now so lets check back in 12 months time

that was a great read mate well done

I think Its going to be an interesting year in gaming with Sony and Microsoft carefully planning there next move to bring us a new console. Gamers will come to a cross roads and have to decide which is going to be there main console but the likely hood is that if your an Xbox lover you will stick to Xbox and Playstation lovers will stick to Playstation. Both companies however will do there best to get gamers to make the switch over.

I don't think the WiiU is going to take off really and will just end up gathering dust in peoples living rooms. The price of it is crazy for a console aimed at familys and young children.

I think the big concern for me this year is the survival of clans. 99% of clans nowadays are all to much Call of Duty orientated but it seems that as the CoD series is getting worse and worse more clans are folding. The good old clans from a couple of years ago have all folded and the WGL seems to be full of squeeky kids all looking for glory and not interested in the fun factor of the game no more.

I also think the WGL will collapse it the next year as well, far to many arguments on there and all the good admins have left and basically just replaced them with anyone who wants it.

Its great to see a community like FWG that is the complete opposite to the above and there is plenty of members playing a variety of different games. Everyone knows the score that we play for fun and if we win then great if we don't we don't. If more clans took our approach gaming leagues such as the WGL would be a better place to be.

NightHaze FWG wrote:Its great to see a community like FWG that is the complete opposite to the above and there is plenty of members playing a variety of different games. Everyone knows the score that we play for fun and if we win then great if we don't we don't. If more clans took our approach gaming leagues such as the WGL would be a better place to be.

The games of 2013 I'm REALLY looking forward to is firstly Devil may Cry, will be fun to see this new "Dante" and after many years of improvement to see how the fighting/juggling system will work, hopefully it doesn't stray too much from what made DmC Devil may cry.

Star Wars 1313 looks like its going to make me kill for this game, the first trailer looked so good, never been a big fan of Star Wars games but this one just seems like everything a gamer can love.

I'm really hoping to see some more news on Final Fantasy Versus XIII after what seems like 5 years of hype it about damn time they set a realese date for this game, apparently what they wanted to do with the game couldn't be done on current consoles so hopefully with the next gen coming so will this game.

Aliens Colonial Marines was hyped up back when I was in school about 4 years ago so it's great to finally see it getting realesed hopefully it won't be a huge let down, gameplay trailers do look fun, everyone loves shooting the shit out of big ugly aliens.

Metal Gear Rising Revengeance I know it doesn't follow how MGS games should be played but I love my hack n slash games and this one looks like its going to be piles of fun.

I think 2013 is going to be a great year for gaming for me personally instead of it being just a year of playing old ps2 games and Fifa/CoD some games have really caught my eye. Can't wait to get my hands on them.

NightHaze FWG wrote:I also think the WGL will collapse it the next year as well, far to many arguments on there and all the good admins have left and basically just replaced them with anyone who wants it.

I dont think it will collapse however I dont think we will still be playing there by the end of the year, Its become full of idiots, poorly run IMO and I dont enjoy playing there, it used to be a laugh but when your playing in the bottom division and teams still mute you then you have to question it, I doubt I will play cod after this season, the wheels have fallen off of Bf there and Fifa has become a joke.

Nice write up Tom.

I'm looking forward to what the next gen will hold. At this stage I am undecided which way I will go, whether Xbox, Playstation or switch to PC. Only time will tell with what is on offer and what the price points are going to be. It will be very interesting to see how they handle gamer profiles, chievos/trophies and backwards compatibility though.

this could turn the gaming market on its head - http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/142896-valve-confirms-steam-box-coming-in-2013-says-it-will-compete-with-next-gen-consoles

will be interesting to see how they pull it off - beauty of PC gaming is the ability to upgrade hardware

Dong, you beat me to it The Steam box could be a real alternative now that Valve are getting games to work on Linux. I can't wait to see how it shapes up but I feel confident with Valve at the helm and it will have to have some pretty trick kit built into it if they want it to be a portal to the steam platform and all that is available on it.

I am looking forward to seeing how the next gen shape up but I am unsure of which way I go. Ideally it will be with the next Xbox but I refuse to pay over the odds for a machine that is going to force Kinect on me whether I want it or not. I dont use my PS3 for gaming now so it is unlikely a Playstation will be high on my list either.

2013 should be a great gaming year - GTA5 and Bioshock Inifinite really excite me and the little I tried of Colonial Marines suggest that with a bit of polish it could be a lot of fun online with the prospect of 4 player co-op very tantalising.

I hope THQ pull through their slump as they knock out some good games and while they may not have titles with the appeal of Fifa & COD they do offer some decent variety and fun.

With regards to predictions, what are the chances that Halo 5 will be a launch title.....

N1NJA FWG wrote:With regards to predictions, what are the chances that Halo 5 will be a launch title.....

It's possible but I wouldn't put money on it, The original has been the only Halo game to launch with a system since then both M$ and Bungie were always pretty concrete in saying that each game will "Be ready when it's ready". However with the likes of Mass Effect, Elder Scrolls etc now multiplatform M$ are certainly going to need to find a killer exclusive for launch and Halo does fit the bill....

i could already tell you what the next mass effect will be about. the ending off 3 sort of says that its finished but they could geta forth out if they really wanted too

I am holding out for the next gen as i have heard it will be for next christmas and as i am still holding onto the original arcade i deserve a new one.

I am also looking forward to GTA5 and also Battlefield 4

I think alot of the publishers etc are struggling due to the trade in market and the fact hardly anyone buys brand new anymore and now the shops are struggling and closing or merging due to some many other shops getting in on the trade in market and of course online shopping.
im not sure what will happen with the next gen and the download straight to console and what that may do to the street stores but time will tell.

Great write up Tom, you really are Class.

For 2013 is about the following:

1 - GTA 5 - Give me the Gamenow, not later To Fucking Day - Can't wait for GTA 5, as it will have all the voilence I require in a game.

2 - Gears of War: Judgement - I need to maon about something and Gears will give me a good early start in the Year to moan, bitch and whine.

3 - Star Wars 1313 - I can't type as I am a Star Wars Fanboy - Show me the Game, Give me the Game.

4 - FIFA 14 - EA will off course knock on my Door and allow me to put them right on all the little adjustments required on Career Mode and all the Adjustments the rest of the Game Needs, sorry forgot the Rest of the Game is broken : P

The only Games that might get my cash are Aliens Colonial Marines, Battlefield 4 and perhaps Call of Gayness 37, other than that just 3 games this year.

So we're halfway through the year now so I think it's time to take a look at where were are....

First up I said THQ would close it's doors - Seems I was spot on with this one though I was way off the mark when it came to the games as THQ had a much more successful auction than I was expecting.

Next up I spoke about games to expect...

343 have now hinted at the next Halo dropping in early 2014 with that trailer at E3

Still No word on a new Mass Effect...

Thief certainly did break from the shadows even before E3 and it's looking stunning, Also details of the next Deus Ex have started appearing although this outing (titled The Fall) is for iOS and Android only...

Final Fantasy XV was announced although it's just a rename of a game that was already in development...

Both Forza 5 and Gran Turismo 6 have both been announced although it's only Forza that us currently heading to next Gen with Polyphony opting to keep GT6 on PS3 at this time...

BF4 was premiered although it was done so ahead of E3

And finally Cod (unsurprisingly) reared it's ugly mug again...

Next Gen certainly did arrive as predicted however my hopes of backwards compatibility have been completely dashed...

Oddly mobile gaming hasn't taken as bigger step as I was expecting yet, instead it seems the big attraction has been to use them as companions for next Gen titles.... 

And finally the Wii-U and Ouya... 

The Wii-U has certainly begun to flop as I expected with numbers WAY behind thise if the Wii

And Ouya, well it got delayed so I'm still predicting a flop there...