Edge 100 prophecies.

Miyamoto Cover. MMMM

Been rereading old back issues of Edge magazine, purely for fun but mainly to see just when they turned into boring their readership senseless.   Issue 100 is on our current reading list and along with a rare look into the heart of Nintendo (plus a special Miyamoto cover above) they give a list of predictions on what gaming would be like as presented in Edge 200.  I could with some poking about drag out EDGE 200 and see if they covered them, but seeing as this is almost ten years to the month (this is August 2001 issue though you can't really tell from that image above) that this came out.  Now totally unedited we'll give you a run down on some of the predicitons.

First up, everyones favourite, way out predicitons.

In  eight years all UK game magazines will have folded.  Filling the void will be German publications featuring games and women's tits.  Eventually they will discover that boys already have a game to play with pictures of tits.  The company will eventually drop the games section and just feature tits.  OldmanMurray.

The convergence of different entertainment sectors will have taken a huge leap.   Edge will be reviewing films, which we will develop and which people will play and also star in.  No more crappy mice and joypads - the user interface will be the user him/herself.  How do I know all this? Because we are already doing most of it in Actor.  Mevlut  Dinc Vivid Image.

Broadband Internet in more than ten homes finally might be a reality, and maybe somebody has figured out a way to make money with it.  Microsoft will have the Y-Box, Sony the PS9 and Nintendo, well, the Virtual Boy Color.  The biggest revelation of the year will be that Yamauchi san secretly was the owner of Square all along to rake in the profit from both Nintendo and Sony at the same time.   And, of course, he won't have retired.  Julian Eggebrecht Factor 5.

The high end game system will disappear.  Only cheap toy-like systems for children will survive.  The TV set and the PC will merge into a new device on which people will play.  In this machines menu, you will find TV programmes as well as download services and lots of other stuff, including games.  Hisao Oguchi. Hitmaker.

Near Photorealistic- quality graphics.  Persistent worlds with millions of players dipping in and playing from myriad devices.  Large improvements in behavioural modelling and AI perhaps leading to the exciting possibility of automated dynamic storytelling.  Demis Hassabis, Elixir Studios.

2009 - a world where the division between fantasy and reality is difficult to distinguish.  Immerse yourself in the best interactive gameplay, wherever you are whatever you are doing.  In fact just like Gameboy Advance and Nintendo Gamecube today - only even better! David Gosen Nintendo Europe.

Round 2, Half wrong predictions.

I think the big breakthrough will be virtual reality.  Instead of using a keyboard, game players will be in amongst the action in a virtual world, via headsets or other technology.  Peter Snow (He of the funny graphs)

In 2009 gamers all over the world will finally be able to play the 'arcade perfect' versions of the arcade titles they knew back at the start of the millenium.  The Playstation3 will be a broadband gateway to numerous worldwide gaming experiences.  The line between gaming, movies and real life.  The latest game from Square requires the player to to complete some real life 'geocaching' quests in order to progress in the game, Nintendo finally unveil the portable home holography unit they have kept hidden in development for 20 years.  Gaming finally gets recognised as a positive experience.  The first Olympics of gaming will be held in Japan at a new Namco park.  Gamers the world over prepare for excellence.
Alex ward Criterion.

It's naive of me, I know, but I would hope that by then certain publishers will have learned their lesson: that gamers won't buy crap games, no matter how many sequels you pump out.  To wit: a turd is still a turd, even if you keep doing more turds on top of it.  Step forward Army Men, Tomb Raider, et al - you big, stinky, mess-ups.  The ever excellent Mr Biffo.

This is of course what really happened in 2009.

MONKEY BREAK. 

Scarily accurate predicitons.

In eight years' time I shall be retired, but while there will be more online retailling, I believe that there will still be a mix of on-demand and traditional.  Why? Because human nature requires the the interface between consumers and sellers.  This scenario depends of the videogame proprietors adopting business models that combine e-distribution with traditional retail.  Roger Bennett ELSPA.

The keyword should be 'network' at this time.  However, this will not mean only that fact that software will feature online play.  It will also allow players to access downloadable features and buy games online.
Yukifumo Makino Wave Master

Videogames will be divided into two streams.  Both will feature network connectivity.  One group will be games with very high graphical level, requiring  a long development time.  The second will consist of games which will be based on their content, or concept.  Masato Maegawa Treasure (Boss)

Over the next eight years I imagine we'll be seeing a futher concentration of talent and studios, leading to an overall improvement in the quality of games available.  Unfortunately, I also think you'll see a decline in the number of original and idiosyncratic titles available: as the buying public becomes more and more 'safe' so developers and publishers will stick to pursuing only guaranteed licences and genres, avoiding higher risk titles.
Julian Widdows Rage software.