Buzzwords to know in 2015
2014 was a great year for gaming, even if it lacked the seismic shifts that come with epic hardware launches. With new gear limited to the likes of PlayStation TV and the PlayStation Vita Slim, the bigger stories saw Sony's PS4 and Microsoft's Xbox One finally hitting their stride, the Nintendo 3DS reclaiming portable glory, amiibo opening another avenue of Nintendo dominance, and the holiday season presenting an unprecedented stream of AAA hits. As far as games and the platforms we play them on go, 2014 was thrilling, if a bit predicable.
2015, however, promises to add a few wild cards into the mix. Whether it be a new wave of VR headsets, Valve making a bigger push for PC gaming, or the newly-released New Nintendo 3DS, you can count on plenty of new ways to game throughout the year. Here's what you need to know, what you can expect, and what we predict will happen throughout the rest of this critical year for consoles, portables, PC, VR and more!
Big buzzwords in 2015
Head-mounted displays - Google Glass may have been shelved by the search engine giant, but the progress of virtual reality headsets remains unimpeded, particularly when it comes to the gaming world. Facebook's incubation and bottomless budget will do wonders for Oculus Rift when it returns to the public eye after nearly a year since the acquisition (as its progress has been under wraps for months), but Microsoft and Sony could encourage greater adoption rates on consoles. PlayStation's Project Morpheus has the potential to release late this year with Sony's many studios at the ready to make killer apps and games. Microsoft's HoloLens may have to wait for Windows 10 to take shape, but given how Microsoft is set to harmonize its computing and gaming ventures, Xbox One integration likely won't take long to solidify after the headset launches.
Radio-Frequency Identification - Nintendo did big business (and frustrated figurine-seeking collectors) this holiday season with the launch of its amiibo, which uses RFID to connect to the Wii U GamePad. They'll only get hotter with new figurine lines and Wii U games to interact with, but the big shift in 2015 will happen when the New Nintendo 3DS provides new platform to push the RFID-enabled toys. Meanwhile, Activision's innovators look to follow up the mix-and-match twist Swap Force brought to Skylanders while Disney Infinity can capitalize on Star Wars by adding the sci-fi franchise to Disney Infinity.
Subscription-based gaming - PlayStation Now may have launched to less-than-stellar reviews, but Sony and Gaikai definitely have larger plans in mind for the service and the concept of subscribing to an a la carte games collection. Nintendo's Virtual Console remains frustratingly sparse, but the recent conclusion of the big N's other digital ventures (Club Nintendo and the Digital Deluxe program) might signal the company's willingness to rethink its streaming strategy.
Remasters - Microsoft and Sony's consoles may celebrate their second birthday this year, but there's still plenty of games from previous generations that publishers are likely to put out with improved visual effects and every bit of DLC in one package. 2015's slate already includes Saint's Row, Borderlands, Devil May Cry, Dead or Alive, and Dark Souls 2, and you can rest assured a few more stragglers from the last few years will make the jump, too.
PCs, consoles, VR and predictions
What's up with PCs, consoles and VR?
The console war's biggest battle? Timed exclusives – While you can expect Microsoft and Sony's biggest guns to finally fire in 2015 with Halo 5 and Uncharted 4 due before the end of the year, the real battle will be fought with third-party franchises funded by (and exclusive to) the console giants. The Xbox One will be the only non-PC platform to find the next Tomb Raider, while Sony has sewn up the biggest fighting franchise on the planet with Street Fighter 5. Might E3 2015 bring further megaton exclusives?
Valve's biggest move into the living room yet – Despite dominating the PC gaming marketplace with Steam's ever-expanding storefront, Valve knows there's untapped potential underneath every TV. Much like how Apple TV and Roku boxes brought digital streaming to the living room, Valve is promising to flesh out the three-pronged attack of Steam Machines (pre-built-yet-moddable PCs), SteamOS (an operating system optimized for gaming) and the Steam Controller.
The best part is that the wait for Steam's next move mightn't be very long, as the mega-publisher revealed that Steam Machines will have a big presence at GDC 2015 in March. Whether that means we'll be hearing more about its operating system and new controller too is still up in the air.
Everyone wins with portables ... except Sony – Nintendo is refreshing its 3DS hardware line with the New Nintendo 3DS. While you can expect the publisher to play it safe and make most games compatible with the original, you can bet some titles will be better with the built-in analog nub and increased processing power. When it comes to the iPad, you'll still see plenty of tap-friendly hits, but don't expect controller support to break out any further (even with iPhone controllers becoming iPad compatible via forwarding). As for the Vita, don't look for much beyond Japanese RPGs and cross-platform indie games that also hit the PlayStation 4.
What's coming next?
With 4K becoming more commonplace on PC and higher-definition televisions becoming increasingly affordable to the mass market, we predict games will follow suit this year. As they always are, PC gamers (who already game beyond 1080p) will see the fruits of trend first as new hardware makes the high resolution possible without sacrificing frame rate. Firmware updates will allow the PS4 and Xbox One to adapt to 4K gaming, but expect serious concessions with chuggier games and decreased multitasking once you cross the 1080p threshold.
While the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will remain the front-runners in the hardware race, 2015 does bring the possibility of a few new platforms having E3 teases. While Nintendo will make another concerted push to popularize the Wii U, it wouldn't be surprising to see what the company has in store for its next home platform. To that end, even with the New Nintendo 3DS, the four-year-old portable platform could be due for a successor; potentially one that plays nice with a new console. Don't expect these to release this year, but Nintendo has never been shy about telling new hardware details long before showing.
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