Looking Ahead to 2008
Predictions and SpeculationOn the spectrum of truth, there's a stark difference between confirmed release and a rumored release, and somewhere to the right (or above, I suppose) of rumored lies plausible. These days, platform exclusivity is a rare breed, and with publishers owning most of the successful IP, you can bet your collection of Halo action figures that a hit game will eventually find its way to the PC - even when the developers insists otherwise (Mark Rein, I'm pointing my finger at you). While there are some true recent stinkers in the form of botched console-to-PC ports (Transformers: The Game and Clive Barker's Jericho come to mind), there are some gems as well (Gears of War, actually - thanks, Epic, and sorry about the finger pointing). So as publishers make efforts to squeeze every last drop of profit out of each release, what games are most likely to make the jump to the PC in 2008? Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto IV will hit the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 in 2008, and the game's release can't come soon enough for parent company Take-Two Interactive, which is having a hard time keeping its head above water. The Grand Theft Auto series is one of the top-selling franchises of all time, with over 65 million games sold on consoles, handhelds and the PC. While PC versions of Rockstar Games' premiere franchise have generally followed their console counterparts by a year or more, there's a chance that a PC version of Grand Theft Auto will see a 2008 release. A slim chance, mind you, as this development cycle has been a rough one for the Rockstar North team, but a chance nonetheless. If anything, Take-Two Interactive will be pushing for a PC release as soon as possible to pad the bottom line.
If success on a console is a predictor of a future PC port, then Bioware's Mass Effect is a candidate for a Games for Windows-labeled release of the stellar RPG. It's hard to imagine a game published by Microsoft Game Studios not getting a PC version in 2008. With over a million copies sold on the Xbox 360, and little chance of the game seeing the light of day on the Playstation 3, Microsoft is surely looking to earn a few more dollars on the hot property. Besides, it's a Bioware RPG, and it's unlikely that the creators of some of the best RPGs ever released on the PC (Baldur's Gate I and II, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic) wouldn't push for a PC version.
Here's one from the "Need more information!" department: just in time to make the deadline for this article is a statement made by a Blizzard Entertainment employee in response to a job posting on the World of Warcraft forums: "No, it is an unannounced Next-Gen MMO. And that doesn't mean an expansion for World of Warcraft either." So, there you have it. A new Blizzard-developed MMO. Digging a little deeper, we find reference in a July 2007 interview to a Team 3, an internal designation for a development group working on a secret project. So, again, what is it? According to Frank Pearce, senior vice president of product development at Blizzard, "Team 3 is working on something really awesome. I can’t give you any hints, but it’s totally awesome." The phrase "totally awesome" can only be used in two contexts: first, when discussing breakdance routines in 1985; and second, when referencing a super-secret game development project for a Diablo MMORPG. Speculation on my part, of course, but it may be more than wishful thinking. Word is that Blizzard was knee-deep in development on Diablo 3 until the release of Titan Quest, at which point the project was re-evaluated, restructured and reborn into a Diablo MMO. I reiterate that none of this has been confirmed by Blizzard, but I remain at the ready to drop everything and commit my life to the next Diablo, MMO or otherwise. And what about those games that have been listed as "Release date: TBA" for years? Any chance that we'll see any of the highly anticipated late-to-the-party wallflowers in 2008? Will Wright's Spore - the from-cell-to-universe simulation - will likely see the light of day. Publisher Electronic Arts pushed the potential release date to their 2009 fiscal year, which begins in April. So unless your name is Robin Williams (a friend of Wright's and a fan of Spore), you'll have to wait until Spring has sprung to play around in tide pools and nudge your own species through evolution.
An MMO that was the target of a recent cancellation rumor, Marvel Universe Online, may make the scene in 2008. Or, it may not. Publisher Microsoft Game Studios has been mum on the rumor, which lit gaming message boards on fire in mid-November as amateur sleuths made efforts to determine the fate of Microsoft's first-party titles (as per the rumor). Lending some credence to the cancellation rumor, developer Cryptic Studios (the developers behind the City of Heroes/City of Villains MMOs) recently shut down their forums and pulled down their company blog, in order to give future products their "undivided attention." Comic book licenses are doing very well in video game land these days, so the popularity of a Marvel MMO is unquestionable. Whether or not such a game takes shape in 2008 is anyone's guess, though you can bet Microsoft isn't going to waste such a potentially lucrative license. In the same "Maybe, maybe not" category as a Marvel MMO is an MMO based on the Firefly television series. Despite a short run on broadcast television (only 11 of 14 completed episodes were aired in the series' original run) and though Joss Whedon's brainchild is no longer on the air, the show has gathered a cult following on the Internet, where cries for a new network to pick up the show fell on deaf ears. A spin-off film saw moderate success (mostly on DVD), and the Firefly license is apparently valuable enough for Fox Broadcasting Company to license the rights to the property for an MMO. Currently under development at Multiverse, a creator of casual online virtual worlds, the Firefly MMO has had no press since its initial announcement in the fall of 2006. Since fans have shown a willingness to snatch up anything remotely related to the Firefly universe, a Firefly MMO seems likely - though whether we'll see such a game in 2008 is questionable. It wouldn't be a "What's Coming Next Year" article without mention of Duke Nukem Forever. While the game has become an industry joke, all signs point to a 2008 release. Then again, developer 3D Realms have been singing the same story for since the Pentium II was en vogue. A short teaser trailer proves that, at the very least, Duke's character model and a few enemies been rendered and animated, but the rest of the game remains a mystery. After such a storied and messy development, there's nothing left to say about the game that hasn't already said, and it's probably best to just leave it at that.
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