5 - Riding on the Wave

I don't play PC games, but this Switchblade laptop from Razer is awesome.

Nintendo World 2011 (day one)

BlazBlue on 3DS! Fantasies have come true.

• Nintendo launches DS and Wii with "everyone" attitude
• Nintendo launches 3DS with "core audience" attitude

Perhaps Nintendo will pull out the "everyone" scheme again in a new 3DS marketing campaign when Wii2 launches. "Buy Wii2 bundled with 3DS and Brain Age for one lower price!" How big will the gap be between 3DS and Wii2? 2 years again, for a 2013 launch? What shortsights will crop up on Wii2 because of the staggered launches? Staggered console/handheld launch is probably a great model, but it also hinders potential interaction between the systems. The Dual Screen line is the new Game Boy line, and I wouldn't be surprised if the 4DS is still basically a DS phat. I will put forth the prediction that 4DS brings us multi-touch bottom screen, perhaps even both screens.

• 3DS 2011 - Rehashes and safe bet games
• 3DS 2012 - Unique games and new IPs begin to crop up

I look forward to seeing what innovative ideas are bred from the advent of the 3D screen. But how innovative? I bet independent developers could barely handle DS budget. Perhaps we'll only see them on 3DSWare, now. Speaking of which, let's hope Nintendo keeps their promise of improving their -Ware service.

“I am convinced that in future we must change the price of games – they’re too expensive for the audience.” 

-Namco Bandai Partners VP Olivier Comte

"Looking at the industry as a whole, I feel like it's getting harder than ever to find something really new out there. Original properties are far less common than once upon a time, and I think this era we're in with strong franchises going on for ages and ages has lasted too long."

-Masahiro Sakurai

A bit more after the break

"The general trend of the industry has made it hard for games that first-time gamers can enjoy to get released. Right now, the only way the industry can expand is basically out of the fad factor -- 'This game's hot right now; let's play this'. If you haven't played a game series, then you can't fully enjoy the sequels, and that trend makes games less accessible than other forms of entertainment. It'd be nice if we could do something about that to give games more common accessibility."

- Sakurai

"The big-name major titles sold well enough, but I wish I could say the same for the mid-tier and low-budget stuff. There are some new properties coming that I'm looking forward to, but I don't think anyone's expecting them to become instant hits any longer. That's a bad thing, really, the fact there's zero chance of success with new titles. We need more successes along those lines, more people thinking 'If that publisher can hit it big with this sort of thing, then I bet we can do it, too!'"

- Toshihiro Nagoshi  

http://www.1up.com/news/japan-game-industry-hoping-2011 

A bit of hope from Reggie Fils-Aime, talking about Kinect:

"We give credit to Microsoft and what they've done. Anything that's good for our industry is good for all of us."