Gaming hell has frozen over in 2012, why?

[Belgian_Waffles]

Fast forward to the year 2012, an event has changed gaming whether it's that year specifically or forever the medium has been damaged or bettered in some way, basically predict a happening in 2012 that would piss off or completely take gamers by surprise. When you're posting give us two ratings as well.

Probability: 1 being within the realm of possibility and 10 being hell has frozen over (hence the title.)
Impact: 1 being people take notice 10 a means shitstorm is inbound.

I'll start off with a few examples.

Bioware has announced that Dragon Age 3 will be released mid to late 2012, the streamlining shall continue as well as Gaider and his writing team continuing to retcon/handwave your decisions that conflict with theirs. A.K.A. if your Warden was dead, he was just pretending. If you didn't impregnate Morrigan she molested you in your sleep.

Probability: 2
Impact: 5 (not a huge shocker in foresight but the community will be up in arms to say the least.)

Continuing with the Bioware train, Mass Effect 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic have released in 2012 both have received Dragon Age 2 like responses from the fans, many predict doom for the company.
Probability: 5
Impact: Bioware begins to lose shares, they become a company that is shunned by it's older fanbase and is remembered fondly

NOTE: I don't hate Bioware, these scenarios are just the most prevalent in my mind. Share your stories.

 

[scnj]

Half-Life 2: Episode 3 is released. It's actually terrible, and doesn't have any crowbar.

 

[PUR3_GAM3R33]

Sony,Microsoft,and Nintendo merging to create Sintensoft and the CEO/President of it is Bobby Kotick.

Probability:0-0.5 (1) No way on God's Green Earth is it ever going to happen.
Impactver 9000! (10) I predict ****stroms of inconceivable proportions.

 

[ZeroMachine]

The world ends. Therefore, so do video games.

Probability: 0.00000000000001
Impact: 10. We're all dead, ************.

 

[FFHAuthor]

Half-Life 2: Episode 3 is released. It's actually terrible, and doesn't have any crowbar.

Blasphemy! I call Blasphemy!

lol

In the vein of impossible:

Dice and Infinty Ward co-develop the next game in the series, 'Call of Duty: Modern Battlefield 4'. The combined fanbase alternates between screaming with joy and rage.

 

[Trogdor1138]

Australian politicians decide to take a break from their pile of cocaine and work together to introduce an R rating.

That won't happen though.

 

[Littlee300]

Sony CEO kills himself with a Samurai sword after getting hacked for the 3rd time.
Probably 0.000000000000001
Impact 7

( I know the Sony CEO is white but Ignorance is bliss)

 

[NeoDeath90]

Duke Nukem Forever is finally released and it becomes the highest grossing game of all time.

 

[NeoDeath90]

Duke Nukem Forever is finally released and it becomes the highest grossing game of all time.

Or

Final Fantasy 25 is released. The thing that has me thinking hell would freeze over in this scenario is that there'd still be final fantasy games out there.

Also, my bad on the double post. Please delete the first one?

 

[Judgement101]

Minecraft's extreme popularity over shadows every other game and runs every dev out of business.

Probability: Well, knowing how much 95% of the people on this website drool over minecraft crap I'd say .9% (Still rather high if you consider the numbers)

Impact: 10, ALL WE WILL HAVE IS MINECRAFT! IT WILL SUCK!

 

[Belgian_Waffles]

Minecraft's extreme popularity over shadows every other game and runs every dev out of business.

Probability: Well, knowing how much 95% of the people on this website drool over minecraft crap I'd say .9% (Still rather high if you consider the numbers)

Impact: 10, ALL WE WILL HAVE IS MINECRAFT! IT WILL SUCK!

I agree, ironically I'm still bitter over Bioware's defeat at dev of the year.

 

[Nimcha]

People will keep whining about BioWare.

Probability: 10.

 

[Belgariontheking1]

Nothing totally interesting or game changing will happen
Probability- 7.3241
Impact- meh.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Zynga corners the casual games market online, then begins making them more and more interactive and expansive, and leeches off the MMO market, until Eve online, Runescape, The newly released Old Republic, Guild Wars, and finally World of Warcraft lose members until they fail and go bust. Blizzard, Bioware and the other MMO related developers go bust.
Probability: 3
Impact: 10 The loss of some great developers, and transformation of a hardcore gamer market to casual, combined with the casualisation of consoles (Motion controooool) shrink the hardcore market until it's no longer viable to release AAA hardcore games, or indeed any hardcore game at all. Half Life episode 3 becomes a "bejewelled" ripoff released by Zynga in 2015, where you use your crowbar to hit a 2d wall of combine and headcrabs.
Call of Duty becomes an "Angry birds" style game, where you fire missiles in an arc, at oncoming tanks and men (in 2d)
Total War becomes a tower defence game.
No further consoles are realeased after 2015. Microsoft and Sony shut down their games department, Nintendo go back to making cards.

 

[FalloutJack]

Duke Nukem Forever is finally released and it becomes the highest grossing game of all time.

I like this, but I feel we need something more over-the-top, like...

2012: The Movie: The Game comes out on all major systems. Nobody buys it.

 

[Idsertian]

20/01/12
Bungie suddenly announce the near completion of a surprise reconstruction of the first Halo in the Reach engine, complete with all species, weapons, vehicles and armour abilities, sending the series out with the bang it deserves, rather than the whimper that was Reach.

Probability: 1
Impact: 10. Bungie fans go apeshit, with a 50/50 split towards it being the most awesome thing Bungie has ever done and those that think it's the worst idea since time began.


06/02/12
Bioware decide to scrap the unpromising sounding project of ME 3, and instead turn it into an 8-bit, 2D, side-scrolling platformer. To be ironic, in a retro way.

Probability: 0
Impact: 10. ME fans the world over cry (myself included).


13/04/12
Epic Games go bust.

Probability: -1 (are we allowed to do that? I dunno, did it anyway)
Impact: 7. Fans mourn the loss of an otherwise decent game company and the industry suffers badly.


17/05/12
Valve release Ep 3 (finally).

Probability: 5
Impact: 9000+ (10) Gaming world goes beserk, with constant Steam outages for weeks after release and even a few total server meltdowns due to demand. Gabe's inbox can't cope with the volume of love and hate mail and simply dies.


21/06/12
Both Gears of War and Mass Effect movies are released within weeks of each other.

Probability: 2
Impact: 10. Fans of both games rush to cinemas. There are stampedes of people dressed in costumes that are part Commander Shepard and part Marcus Fenix. Many die as a result. Films declared utter failures, movie industry wisely decides to not attempt game tie-in movies ever again.


02/07/12
EA unveil new gaming AI technology produced by Bioware and DICE, that promises better, more realistic responses ingame.

Probability: 1
Impact: 8. New tech works, but industry is slow to pick it up, due to EA charging outrageous licensing fees.


19/10/12
Already working on the next gen of AI software, EA sells the first gen tech to the highest bidder.

Probability: 10
Impact: 0


12/12/12
Using the EA AI tech, the Chinese military has mass produced an android army, but failed to factor in the determination to win that's programmed into it. Android army proceeds to wipe out all "players", AKA the human race. End of the world.

Probability: 0
Impact: 10. We be dead.


Errr, yeah. Kinda went further with that than intended.

 

[Kilgengoor]

Sony and Microsoft sign a contract according to which every publisher will pay a standard fee to both of them at the same time (that is, no increased cost for multiconsole games, and no benefit from exclusivities), basing their sale tactics on service offered and consoles/hardware. Xbox joins Sony in Steam-console integration, acting as a bridge for a possible inter-console multiplayer merging.

Probability: 2. The PSN-Steam merging is a step, predated by Microsoft's Shadowrun. Exclusivities are still a huge source of income for major console makers, but the ever increasing integration of social networks and miscellaneous services to console networks will hopefully make the head honchos realize people want to play together, not only people who have their same console.

Impact: 3. Yeah, maybe every gamer and developer in the planet will be losing their shit about this, and everyone will write kilometric essays about how this is one of the gaming industry's greatest achievements, but anyone else will perceive it as logical. Because really, there's a huge market out there just waiting to be exploited.

Console makers will still be forced to be competitive, mind you, by offering better and more confortable systems, but everyone will be able to play with anyone regardless of their console of choice. Pretty much like ATI / nVidia are more or less (and I said MORE OR LESS) irrelevant when choosing to play on a computer. I'm not making this longer, just try and jump over my tremendous inherent logic gaps.

EDIT: Just in case you are thinking about it, keyboard + mouse / mouse + nunchuck thingy become a standard in every player's house and there is no difference between playing with any of the three platforms (PC - Xbox - PS3)

EDIT 2: I just realized I inadvertently did not include Nintendo. Did it unconsciously, guess it's because the big N is clearly aiming for a very different kind of player base and local multiplayer. Of course it can join my utopia.

 

[Lilani]

Half-Life 2: Episode 3 is released. It's actually terrible, and doesn't have any crowbar.

Also, the voice of Gordon Freeman will be provided by Will Ferrell.

 

[Mr Twist]

Half-Life 2: Episode 3 is released. It's actually terrible, and doesn't have any crowbar.

Also, the voice of Morgan Freeman will be provided by Will Ferrell.

Morgan =)

Predicition =

Nintendo reinvent mario for the hardcore market. Mario is killed within minutes of the opening in a leather clad fightseen against bowser, the player plays as a sexed up princess peach out for revenge.

Probability - 1

Impact - 4