[Video Games] What are you looking forward to in 2006?

2005 is coming to a close, and it has been quite a year. The PSP and DS are battling it out in the handheld world, which has led to a number of great handheld titles (Nintendogs, Mario Kart, Castlevania: DS, GTA, Lumines, Ridge Racer, etc.). A number of great games have come out on the three major consoles, such as Resident Evil 4, God of War, and Shadow of the Colossus. Just recently, Microsoft kicked off the next-generation of gaming with the launch of the Xbox 360. While Sony and Nintendo haven’t released their consoles yet, we’ve seen a lot of PS3/Revolution stuff as well, including the remote, Nintendo’s WiFi online service, Nintendo’s plans for backwards compatibility on the Revolution, the E3 videos for the PS3, and the visual goodness that was the Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer.

So, what does the 2006 year have in store for us? Well, here’s a some of the things I’m looking forward to...

PS3/Revolution launches
That’s a no brainer. The two pieces of hardware that will be the most interesting to learn about next-year. For the PS3, we still don’t know a price tag, firm launch plans, the online plan is still largely a mystery, and whether or not that controller feels a lot better than it looks. Oh yeah, and I guess whether or not games on the PS3 will actually look as good as the E3 videos. For the Revolution, we’re in a similar yet different situation. As with the PS3, a large amount of info is still unknown about the Revolution, including the exact name itself. How will games play with the new control style? Will the games have enough “Wow” to seems like next-gen? A lot of questions regarding these two consoles, and since both consoles are currently scheduled to be released next year, all of them should be answered pretty “soon.” (possibly really soon for the PS3)

Big Xbox 360 titles
While the Xbox 360 launch was solid, personally, there was no game that really stood out in my mind as really great (partly due to no game even being in my favorite genre). It looks like that will not last much longer with the titles slated for a 2006 release. Besides Oblivion and Gears of War, which I’ve praised numerous times, I’m also looking forward to Ninety-Nine Nights, Splinter Cell 4, Fight-Night Round 3, and the Mistwalker RPG’s (at least one of which should be 2006), and a number of other titles, some of which may not even be officially announced. For reference, here’s links to some media on Fight Night and Blue Dragon/Lost Odyssey:
http://www.1up.com/do/download?cId=3143278
http://www.xboxyde.com/news_2411_en.html (Blue Dragon realtime clip, a must see IMO)
http://www.xboxyde.com/news_2410_en.html

Oh, and I guess one of the studios at Microsoft could come up with a certain game that might come out in 2006.

Price Cuts
With 2 new pieces of hardware coming out next year, not to mention the recently released Xbox 360, current-gen systems will go down a little more in price next year. The PS2 has stayed at $150 for quite a while, and it should definitely go down to $129 and possibly $99 next year. More of sales thing to me, but I’m curious to see how much the thing sells at lower prices. Of course, the PSP HAS to have some sort of price cut next year. At the very least, Sony needs to offer some sort of barebones package with just the PSP for like ~$180 or so. Along with that, I’m sure the Pro Duo memory sticks will continue to drop in prices. While the PSP has sold decently, there’s no way it can continue to compete with the DS at almost twice the price. I’m not so sure if Nintendo will use up another price cut on the DS so soon, but I guess they may continue with their great bundles. So if you’re looking to get a new current-gen console or a handheld next year, you might see some nice deals compared to this year. I guess you might also find the Xbox 360 for $300 or $400 next year as well.

The big two from Square-Enix: Final Fantasy XII and Kingdom Hearts II
My favorite video game developer will be releasing games from two of its most popular franchises, which are also two of my favorite franchises as well. I don’t really have to say much about FFXII since it has been talked about for years…and I do mean YEARS. I’m just glad that I’ll finally be able to play a Final Fantasy game pretty soon.

On the other end though is Kingdom Hearts II. This is a franchise that I went from absolutely not wanting to see happen to one that I eagerly await playing more of. My excitement level for the game has hit an all-time high recently with the recent release in Japan and two clips from the game:
http://1up.com/do/download?cId=2017814 (“Intro” and “Intro 2,” must-see clips)

And on a related note…

More Final Fantasy 7!!!
FF7: Crisis Core and FF7: Dirge of Cerberus are the latest additions to the compilation of Final Fantasy 7, and both are scheduled for release in 2006. Very little has been shown for Crisis Core, so it will be interesting to see what SE has planned for its 1st PSP title (outside of FF7:AC). Dirge of Cerberus is a game that I don’t have high hopes for, but some recent clips of the game look decent:
http://www.gametrailers.com/gamepage.php?id=2296

And then there’s the rumors about maybe one more unannounced title in this series that will end the compilations of FF7. Wonder what it could be?

Awesome FPS: Black
This is a game from Criterion, who makes the Burnout games. As with the BO series, Black is a gorgeous game that will be keeping the current-gen consoles alive, even though next-gen has already started. Here’s a link for some videos that demonstrate what Black is about for those who don't know:
http://www.gametrailers.com/gamepage.php?id=2130

Re-releases of MGS3 and DMC3
Two great games from 2004 are getting re-released early next year with some added features and bonuses. Metal Gear Solid 3 Subsistence offers a new 3D camera to show off the beautiful graphics in MGS3, and has also added an online mode that looks pretty fun. IIRC, there will be 3 discs of content, one of which offers the option to basically watch the story unfold before you instead of actually having to play the game. For those anticipating MGS4 (like me), this might be nice feature to check out in order to refresh your memory on the MGS3 story line. Here’s some clips from the game as well as an interview with Kojima:
http://www.1up.com/do/download?cId=3140399

Unfortunately, I know much less about DMC3: Special Edition since I’ve yet to get into the series, and therefore, care less about the series than I do MGS or some other franchise. For more info on this one, check out this thread over at GAF:
http://www.ga-forum.com/showthread.php?t=63291&highlight=Devil+Cry

More PS2 RPGs!!!
Yeah, KH2 and FFXII will be getting most of my attention next year, but there are also some other RPGs scheduled for release next year that are looking very solid. Some of the games I’m looking forward to include Rogue Galaxy (Level 5, who did the Dark Cloud series and DQ8 I believe), Grandia 3 (Square-Enix), Valkyrie Profile Silmeria (Square-Enix), and Shadow Hearts 3 (personal favorite).

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The last big title left for the Gamecube, and one of the last big titles for current-gen consoles period. This game is just looking phenomenal, and like FFXII, the delay to 2006 was a bit depressing at the time. But that year is almost upon us, meaning Zelda is closer to release.

Oldschool remakes/ports for the PSP
Playing oldschool games on the PSP can be done with more than just emulation. Now that there is a handheld that can handle the games, several publishers are re-releasing popular titles from the PS1 era on the PSP, including Breath of Fire 3, Suikoden I and II, Valkyrie Profile Lenneth (basically Valkyrie Profile PS1), and a number of other titles (some of which may be officially announced later). Given some of these titles, I’d love to see a PSP version of Xenogears as well, although that’s probably hoping for too much.

Freaky-weird game: Rule of Rose
I first saw this game at TGS last year, but I forgot about it in all the other news. However, about a month ago, Sony released a new trailer for the game and it did leave an impression on me. It was mostly just CGI, which means that I didn't learn anything about the gameplay, but the trailer itself was so...freaky and weird that I can't forget the game. I just want to see more of the game to understand what the heck is going on. Here's the trailer I was talking about:
http://anon.sce.speedera.net/anon.sce/ror/ruleofrose1-1200k.wmv

Old Man Snake
The MGS4 media from TGS is supposedly the last media we will get until E3 next year. Given what Kojima Productions were able to do in such a short period of time on early hardware, I can’t even imagine what they’ll show at E3. And that might not even be the best part regarding MGS4 in 2006. IIRC, there may be a chance that MGS4 could actually be on store shelves by the end of 2006. Could be quite a year for MGS fans.

A good video game movie?
Yeah, I made a thread about this before, but I just have such high hopes for the Silent Hill movie. Nothing new since that thread, but I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing a good movie based on a video game early next year.


And there’s tons of other stuff to look forward to (didn't even mention Okami), especially for systems/games I’m not too familiar with. 2006 looks to be quite an exciting year.

edit: Oh yeah I forgot...doesn't the Gizmondo 2 (or whatever it is called...the widescreen model) come out next year? That should be interesting.

 

As Rokkit said, the FF series has been far from a PS exclusive recently. I'm sure they'll have no problems releasing FF games on the Revolution (FF:CC 2???), the GBA/DS, and even the Xbox 360/PC (FFXI). Now if you're asking if Final Fantasy 13 will be a PS3-exclusive, I'm inclined to say yes. While SE seems to have no problem with putting out FF games that aren't part of the main series on other consoles (outside of the older games), I think they'll continue to keep the main franchise as a Playstation exclusive. Perhaps if the Xbox 360 somehow picks up steam in Japan, they may consider releasing the games on both consoles, but until then, I think the PS3 is the only console with the power and userbase needed to support the main FF games for the time being. Things could change though.

 

Now that you mention it, that reminds me of another thing that I hope I can look forward to next year. I'm not sure how hard it will be, but I hope Sony does the same thing with BC (some AA added and upgraded resolutions). I'm curious to see how some of the better looking PS2 games (GT4,MGS3, GOW, SOTC, etc.) look with these minor enhancements. Heck, in the case of games like FF12, I may never actually play those games on the PS2 depending on exactly when the PS3/game comes out.