Heya folks, and welcome to the blog I intended to push out a week ago. I know, you were all super concerned, but never fear, dearest of readers, your "once in a blue moon" fix of Sparkiness has arrived.

2014 didn't exactly inspire a lot of award touchy-feeliness in me, so let's jump straight in to my absurd demands for the new year. Is it still new? I don't know, I can't catch that new year scent anymore. Oh well. Let's call it the New-ish Year Predictions and Demands, shall we? We shall.

GET ON BOARD THE 2015 HYPE TRAIN! I already made up a list of my most anticipated games of 2015. You can check that out. I haven't done any work in explaining why I'm hopeful for any of the games there, as anyone reading this is probably intimately familiar with most of the games on the list.

What I'm Predicting for 2015

The New Exclusives War Is Further Stoked

This would have seeed odd a couple of years ago, but with Killer Instinct, Tomb Raider, Street Fighter V (!), and all the usual timed DLC nonsense building a head of steam in this last year, it's now a reality.

What will be announced? This one really seems like it could go either to Sony or Microsoft, though Nintendo's exemplary showing at E3 this year leaves me perhaps most curious for their exclusives. The smart move for Nintendo at this point is to continue bolstering the first party exclusives as well as content for the New 3DS, which I anticipate will see the most hype this year as they quietly wind down the Wii U.

Nintendo

For Nintendo's side, I'm predicting we'll see a new Fire Emblem get announced, along with new RPGs from Level-5 and Square for the 3DS. It's probable we'll see Bravely Default's sequel get a stateside announcement (has that happened yet?) as well.

I'm guessing we'll also see a bigger influx of developers looking to put content on the 3DS. I think Bravely Default kind of took everybody by surprise, and I'm hoping it influences what developers do on the platform. I'm not really familiar enough with who develops for the 3DS to hazard a guess, but I'm thinking Capcom will probably put out some kind of thing and we'll see Konami slowly crawl back towards the light. Maybe. Hopefully.

Microsoft

For Microsoft, I have to wonder what isn't nailed down out there that they can pick up. It would certainly be a coup for either Sony or Microsoft to lock up Bethesda's next big announcement (see below), but I'm guessing for Microsoft the big money winner will be Blizzard's action-RPG thing Overwatch. With the (from all accounts) successful relaunch of Final Fantasy XIV on the PC and PS4, it makes sense for Microsoft to try to corner a big hitter in the MMO/F2P market, and I think this is the most logical choice. That said, Blizzard's a smart company, and they've always been PC-centric, so this is seriously questionable and not at all grounded in anything even approaching reality.

I'm also going to bet that we see a big Minecraft announcement by the end of the year, even if it's just a teaser. What this will be, I'm not sure. Obviously, we'll continue to see more Xbox exclusive skins, but what about new blocks and designs? Could we see a massive update given Microsoft's staff and cash? Sure. This is pretty much a no-brainer, but who knows what the announcement will end up being?

I'm also guessing Rare ends up coming back in 2015 in a big way, though what that will be is also questionable. I think the safest bet is probably a new kid-friendly IP, with some new mascot-types. We haven't seen a really big platformer from Microsoft in a while, so why not?

Sony

As for Sony, they're definitely the company I'm most curious about, since I put down some cash on their system. I'm guessing they'll continue to play it relatively safe as far as exclusives are concerned. We'll likely see a new platformer - but I'm guessing this time around, it'll be the MIA Jak and Daxter's turn to shine. We've gotta be hitting the saturation point on Ratchet and Clank games, right?

I'm guessing we'll continue to see less and less of the Vita, but it will continue to receive ports of good indie games. If I'm guessing correctly, the PS Now service will start to see PS2 and PS1 games by the year's end, but the Vita will slowly start to see services dropped by year's end leading into its announced demise in 2016.

I'm guessing Sony will also come out with a vague announcement about a reboot of Gran Turismo of sorts. I know the games still put up monster numbers, and the PS4 could seriously use a quality racer. This is the obvious go-to choice. What this game will be exactly is questionable - will it be a gargantuan sim racer in line with what we've seen in the past? Will they update it to reflect the obvious draws of Forza? I hope we see more assists and a rewind, as well as more cosmetic options (please, introduce a paint system similar to Forza. Please!).

Otherwise, I think Sony just needs to stay the course this year. Continue pushing big draw games like Uncharted, put out new IPs like The Order (even if it doesn't wind up being something good, it's something new, and a helluva showcase for the system if nothing else). Keep cranking out the indies, keep updating services like PS+ and PS Now, and add the TV feature. It should be a solid, if mostly predictable, year for Sony.

The Others

As for third parties, the only big question in my mind right now is if Bethesda will finally announce a new Fallout. I was hopeful 2014 would be the year, but I'm almost certain 2015 will see it get announced. I'm perfectly fine with them taking all the time they need to develop a massive, genre-pushing title. If it has to be 2016 or beyond, so be it. I'm also guessing we'll see them go F2P by year's end on Elder Scrolls Online, which will continue to dodder along until it's inevitably yanked in 2017 or so.

I'm really hoping Firaxis comes out of nowhere and announces XCOM - In Yo House or whatever the subtitle ends up being. We could use a good strategy title on the consoles.

I'm going to take a wild stab and say my dark horse developer super secret project will be whatever the Wasteland 2 folks are coming up with next.

What I'm Hoping For (And Most Likely Won't Happen)

-A new Gazillionaire-type game based loosely off Pirates, announced by Firaxis. I don't think I actually want a new Pirates! (but that'd be sort of cool), but a new IP based on a space trader seems right up Firaxis's alley, and I desperately want to see them do something entirely new but still in their wheelhouse.

-A rest for Jagged Alliance. Let it go, fellow fans, and just play JA2. Obviously, no one can get this one right for whatever stupid reason, so let's just let this series ride off into the sunset with a tear in our eyes.

-A Sony-developed Minecraft competitor. Probably in the works, probably won't be announced for a couple of years yet. We are getting that cool Russian-centred game, but I'm talking about a full-on world builder.

-A not-shitty knockoff of Elder Scrolls. Oh, Two Worlds, you looked vaguely interesting, but you sucked balls. Let's see someone come up with a frenzied, soulful competitor to Elder Scrolls, even if it has budget graphics and sounds.

-Ubisoft to take a fuckin' break now and again.

-A new Sony-developed shooter.

-Borderlands 3. Let's face it, this is probably a 2016 announcement.

-A new Suikoden. Haha. Joke's on me. I think this is the tenth anniversary of this being on my yearly wishlist. Sigh.

Everything should end with a Police Squad clip, right? Hit me up with your own predictions, guesses, and wild wishes for 2015. Or feel free to shout at me about mine. Either way, hope you enjoyed reading. Later!