2008 got off to a solid start for Wii and DS owners, but was ultimately slightly disappointing, particularly for core gamers. 2009 is perhaps looking a little better, with a number of titles aimed at non-casual players already lined up for release, and potentially a few big hits due later in the year. It seems that third-party publishers - much as Nintendo has been recently - are playing their cards close to their chests for the time being, but I’m confident we’ll see some top class third-party games on Wii in particular during 2009.

Here are the rest of my predictions. Please feel free to venture your own suggestions in the comments thread.

• Nintendo releases new Starfox and F-Zero games. The latter is widely acclaimed but sells poorly. The former performs better but garners mixed reviews.
• Nintendo releases new colours of Wii…in Japan only.
• Wii Sports Resort sells pretty well, but a few mainstream features on ‘the hidden cost of Wii’ (including a Watchdog feature) start a flood of negative press, and the game doesn’t come anywhere near the sales of Wii Fit. At least one game is released which requires MotionPlus, to much controversy (and low sales).
• 360 Slim is announced, and releases just in time for Christmas. Nintendo counters with a price drop, and sales of the two are neck-and-neck during the festive season.
• The GameCube Wiimakes all flop badly. Nintendo abandons the idea after the third or fourth release in Europe.
• Wii gets a number of decent third-party titles, particularly in the second half of 2009, but only a few sell well. EA’s more casual-focused titles (Sim Animals, EA Sports Active) are among the successes. MadWorld garners mixed reviews, with its few raves countered by disappointment at its relatively shallow, simplistic gameplay. Controversy stirred up by tabloids around its release helps it to solid but unspectacular sales. The same applies to GTA: Chinatown Wars on DS.
• DSi is released late in Europe - around September-October time. It takes a while for sales to take off, though it performs well around Christmas.
• Valve announces it is developing a Wii game. It isn’t just a port of Portal, but something else entirely.

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This entry was posted on Friday, January 2nd, 2009 at 4:02 pm by Chris Schilling
(possibly faulty) predictions, Big in 2009, DS, Wii.