2015
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The Think Tank: Massively's MMO industry predictions for 2015
It's that time of year for looking ahead and trying to predict just what will happen in the MMO industry in the year ahead of us. Will we play it safe this year or predict all sorts of wild and crazy things that everyone can quote and laugh about next December? Magic 8 ball says yes. Go big or go home when it comes to predictions! Join the Massively staffers for this next-to-last Think Tank of the year and share your own predictions in the comments.
First Evil Within DLC 'The Assignment' due in early 2015
The Evil Within's first piece of downloadable content will launch early next year, Bethesda announced. Named "The Assignment," the add-on is one of two pieces of content that follows Juli Kidman, the partner of Detective Castellanos, the game's main protagonist. The DLC will be available individually at an as-yet-unannounced price, and as part of the survival horror game's $20 three-pack season pass. The Assignment's follow-up is The Consequence, which sticks by Kidman's side before the third DLC, The Keeper, arrives. The Evil Within launched in October and was met with mixed reviews, including our own that noted the game "requires so much repetition that it can't possibly maintain any sense of tension or unease, and its story is told so aimlessly that you'll likely forget the plot between scenes." The game recently received a 1 GB update to fix various bugs and improve its performance. [Image: Bethesda]
The Daily Grind: What game do you intend to play more in 2015?
I can't quite believe it's December. Pretty soon it'll be Christmas, then New Year's, and then we'll see if 2015 is an unintentional comedy for the MMO industry just like 2014! I kinda doubt that it will be, simply because there aren't as many new/big games on the way. In any case, there are a few pre-existing titles that I neglected this year, and I fully intend to return to them in 2015. What about you, Massively readers? What MMO do you intend to play more of in 2015? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
HP calls time, will shut down webOS support on January 15th, 2015
Still hauling that Palm Pre around without a care in the world? Sorry to say but there's a nasty surprise coming your way just after the holidays. HP has quietly announced that it'll pull the plug on the catalog and cloud services that support webOS devices from January 15th of next year. That doesn't mean that your hardware will shut down, but living with the gear is going to get considerably harder. Firstly, you won't be able to purchase, download and restore apps, and you won't be able to restore your phone from a backup either. Setting up a new device has also gone the way of all things, and if you lose your password, you won't be getting it back. This is probably the excuse you need to buy a new phone, but don't worry, because as long as we remember webOS in our hearts, it'll never truly die, okay?
Total War tussles with Attila in 2015
Attila the Hun is the grimacing face and unrelenting antagonist in the next Total War game, coming from Creative Assembly in 2015. In Total War: Attila, you manage a huge Eastern Roman empire, stretched to breaking point across a vast terrain in Europe and a thin dispersal of military troops. With Atilla and the Hunnic empire threatening to invade, you must strengthen your entrenchment and command your armies to push back his influence – often coming in the form of fiery sieges.
Verizon isn't getting WiFi calling until next year, either
AT&T isn't the only carrier not getting WiFi calling until 2015 -- a certain red-branded network's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus won't, either. Speaking at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Media, Communications and Entertainment Conference, Verizon's CFO Fran Shammo said that his company has some back-end work to finish up before the feature goes live. This is something he predicts should happen around halfway through next year. What's more, he said that WiFi calling was never a top priority, either, as spotted by FierceWireless.
Batman: Arkham Knight delayed into 2015
This year's lineup of blockbuster games is on the wane, with Batman: Arkham Knight making a high-profile exit into 2015. The Arkham series, which has mainly been a product of Rocksteady Studios and the matching realization that Batman games don't have to be robot-punching slogs through Gotham's sewers, is set to conclude with Arkham Knight. Though constructing a huge, mega-gritty Gotham fit for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One is taking longer than expected, publisher Warner Bros. Interactive is still bringing out its big guns for E3 – said guns being attached to the euphemistic Batmobile, seen above. This is a straight-up tank, Batman. Do you want Commissioner Gordon to give his speech about escalation again? [Images: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment]
Co-star in Tales of Tales' first-person exploration, Sunset
The Path developer Tale of Tales' next adventure is called Sunset, and it's due to launch in 2015 on PC, Mac and Linux. Described as a first-person exploration game, Sunset is set in a "fictional tropical republic suffering under an oppressive regime" in the early 1970s. In it, players control the housekeeper of a secluded, former philanthropist, and awaken "a new love for his country and his people" in the troubled occupant. The housekeeper investigates the man's belongings and learns of his role in the civil war, strengthening or weakening their relationship along the way. Tale of Tales founders Auriea Harvey and Michael Samyn liken Sunset to "a shooter game where you are not the hero but one of the people in the background." While deemed the second largest project by Tale of Tales, the game is being developed by Harvey and Samyn, sound designer Kris Force, is penned by an anonymous author and will receive music from Journey composer Austin Wintory. "The game contains both empathy and apathy. But also a feeling of being caught up in a struggle bigger than your day to day life," the founders added in the announcement. [Image: Tale of Tales]
Ratchet & Clank movie announced, coming to cinemas 2015
Insomniac Games announced a Ratchet & Clank animated film today, and it's coming to cinemas in 2015. The movie has Insomniac partner up with digital media studio Blockade Entertainment and computer animation company Rainmaker Entertainment, who recently produced 3D CGI flick Escape from Planet Earth.A Rainmaker press release from February 2013 indicates their next film, a collaboration with Blockade, entered pre-production in January; production was then scheduled to begin on March 4. Rainmaker notes completion "remains on schedule for third quarter 2014.""One of the biggest questions we've gotten in the last few years is 'When are you going to make a Ratchet & Clank movie?" Insomniac Community Lead James Stevenson wrote on the PlayStation Blog. "The truth is, we've wanted to do a movie for a long time! Ratchet & Clank's action, humor and galaxy-spanning adventures have really been the basis for a fantastic game series, and we think it'd translate perfectly to the big screen."Stevenson also revealed Ratchet & Clank writer T.J. Fixman is scripting the film, while Insomniac also has a "hands-on role" with production and animation.
Rumor: Whore of the Orient action adventure aiming for 2015
KMM Interactive, the studio that picked up Brendan McNamara and the remnants of L.A. Noire's Team Bondi, posted openings that suggest the group's next game, Whore of the Orient, is scheduled to be complete in 2015.Spotted by Superannuation, job openings describe the game as a "narrative action adventure" that is "similar in style to LA Noire," and uses the same MotionScan tech that gave Cole his grisly demeanor.The job descriptions set a target for full production from early 2013 to mid 2015. Whore of the Orient is a next-gen console and PC game published by Warner Bros. Interactive, and McNamara first pitched it as "one of the great untold stories of the twentieth century."According to a website that went live for a spell in August, the game is set in 1936 Shanghai, China, and stars the International Police Force, a western group "hopelessly trying to keep the lid on and keep the peace." The website taglined the game as, "Whore of the Orient. Paris of the East."L.A. Noire spent seven years in development, so just two for a game "similar in style" and using the same technology, from much of the same team, seems ambitious. But hey, that's what energy drinks are for.
Sony and Panasonic to announce OLED HDTV partnership next week?
With Samsung and LG (still) poised to introduce their OLED HDTVs later this year, rumors that Sony and Panasonic will join forces are heating up. Japan's Nikkei is following up its initial report last month with word from the usual unnamed sources that the two are "close" to a deal and could announce a partnership as soon as next week. Both have been busy developing technology for the screens, and according to the report Panasonic may be planning to start mass production in 2015. If this deal happens we'll see if it works out better for Sony than its ill-fated S-LCD tie-up with Samsung, as well as what it could mean for that sweet Crystal LED prototype we saw at CES this year.
IDC: Android tablets will overtake iPad by 2015, despite everything
They're not center-stage right now, but Android tablets are still predicted to overtake the iPad within the next three years, according to IDC. The forecasters noted that Apple's worldwide share of the tablet market is shrinking with each new lower-priced Android competitor. Even as iPad sales continued to grow in 2011, surging 50 percent between Q3 and Q4, its market share fell during the same period, from 61.5 to 54.7 percent. That gives the iOS slate a weaker lead going into 2012 than suggested by earlier figures. Of course, the iPad remains an individual starlet in front of a troupe of Google dancers, so Apple's position as the upper-most vendor isn't under threat. In fact, IDC predicts it will remain the market leader in terms of revenue beyond 2016, which ought to put some fire in Amazon's belly.
AT&T, DirecTV sign deal extension, guarantee bundle services through 2015
AT&T renewed its corporate vows with DirecTV yesterday, signing a three-year contract extension to bring its suite of co-branded satellite TV, broadband and voice services through March 2015. The bundle will be offered across the 22 states where AT&T currently offers residential broadband and voice services -- and, according to a company spokeswoman, where the carrier's U-verse video service is not yet available. Speaking to Broadcasting & Cable, the rep went on to say that the renewed deal shouldn't be interpreted as an indicator of how rapidly the U-verse rollout is progressing, and that its service may eventually be offered alongside DirecTV's operations -- which, as we found out this week, aren't doing too bad at all. More details can be gleaned from the PR, after the break.
Visualized: a zettabyte
Remember the good old days when a gigabyte was considered a lot of space? Improvements in hard disk technology have allowed the humble magnetic drive to reach the dizzying heights of multiple terabytes of storage, but Cisco foresees a future that's a few orders of magnitude more impressive. Pinpointing 2015 as the commencement of what it calls the zettabyte era, the company has put together a handy infographic to show us just how much data can be fit into one: you can alternatively think of it as the equivalent of 250 billion DVDs, 36 million years of HD video, or the volume of the Great Wall of China if you allow an 11oz cup of coffee to represent a gigabyte of data. So "zetta" must be Greek for one hell of a lot, but what Cisco expects is that we'll be pushing that much information around the web each year by 2015. Any bets on how many exabytes of it will be to stream videos of cats diving into cardboard boxes?
Obama says federal fleet to run on alternative fuels starting in 2015
Chances are the Secret Service won't be ditching its signature black SUVs for these things anytime soon, but if all goes according to President Obama's new energy plan, even the Commander in Chief's armed guards will be rolling more eco-friendly in the next three years. In a speech given at Georgetown University Wednesday, the President said he expects all government agencies "to purchase 100 percent alternative fuel, hybrid, or electric vehicles by 2015." Now, that doesn't mean they'll have to get rid of pre-existing gas guzzlers, but any new purchases made after the cutoff date will be expected to comply -- the government's current fleet consists of 660,000 vehicles, 400,000 of which run on gasoline. Among other things, the President also called for increased infrastructure for the production of biofuels made from things like wood chips and switchgrass. So no, Cadillac One probably won't be replaced by a rechargeable egg car, but if Uncle Sam's taking suggestions, we'd be happy to make a recommendation -- Wheego Whip LiFe One does have a nice ring to it. Doesn't it?
IDC fails to learn from previous mistakes, issues 2015 smartphone predictions
The stat guardians at IDC are among the most reliable sources for keeping track of the latest developments in the smartphone market, but we've got to say their forecasts haven't always benefited from the same accuracy. It's with this disclaimer that we present you the world of 2015 as seen through the IDC prism. In just four years' time, says the data, Windows Phone 7 (or whatever version it reaches by then) will have ascended to occupy a fifth of the market and second spot overall behind Android, whose leading position is expected to stabilize somewhere around the 45 percent mark. Apple and RIM are projected to hold steady with shares close to where they are today. It has to be humbling for the IDC, which predicted Symbian would continue to dominate all the way into 2013, to now have to foretell of its almost complete extinction (a mere 0.2 percent) and total irrelevance in the smartphone market. Alas, while the new prediction sounds very reasonable today, four years of unknown unknowns is a mighty long time to try and forecast through, and we have a feeling we'll be looking back and chuckling at this within a few short months -- probably (hopefully!) in the midst of a massive webOS revival.
Toyota unveils its Global Vision, pledges 10 new electrified cars by 2015
Toyota's getting serious with this plural Prius stuff. If you still don't buy that Prii is the correct term you'd better hurry up and get over it, as the company just announced its "Toyota Global Vision," including a plan to launch 10 more hybrid vehicles by 2015. Surely that counts the new models unveiled in Detroit, the taller Prius V and the funkier Prius C, but it remains to be seen exactly what else the company will use to build up those numbers. Toyota also says that more fuel cell and fully electric cars are coming, along with numerous "genuinely exciting models," so maybe if we're really good over the next four years one of those Prii will actually be fun to drive.
Major tech manufacturers to drop VGA by 2015, Apple wonders what took 'em so long
A syndicate of consumer electronics titans including AMD, Dell, Intel, Lenovo, Samsung and LG announced this week that its products will collectively drop support for VGA by 2015. Saying sayonara to the 20+ year-old analog technology is pretty self explanatory to us in this day and age, but the council of doom apparently felt compelled to cite DisplayPort's and HDMI's benefits of increased energy efficiency, smaller size and support for higher-resolutions as proof the move wasn't personal -- just business. AMD plans to lead the charge by starting the VGA removal process in 2013 and even intends to go the extra mile by stripping DVI-I and low voltage differential signaling technology (LVDS) support too. We definitely side with AMD's desire to focus on cutting edge standards like Displayport 1.2 and HDMI 1.4a sooner, but if plenty of lead time and "going green" excuses help everyone else involved in the sentencing sleep better at night, then so be it.
Nokia reveals 2015 vision while struggling with 2009 realities (video)
When Nokia talks about the future it's generally a good idea to pay attention. After all, even with diminishing market share, a split Maemo and Symbian smartphone strategy, and less than stellar financials, the company remains the world's leading supplier of handsets with a proven ability to innovate. So take notice when Nokia's head of corporate strategy, Heikki Norta, describes what life will be like in 2015 in a video littered with high-tech devices driven by finger-based UIs. Of course, five years is generally only enough time for the nascent technologies we see today to mature enough for mass market acceptance -- in other words, readers of Engadget won't find anything mind-blowing in a presentation laced with liberal doses of augmented reality, pervasive connectivity, dual-display clamshells, and as always: micro projectors and laser keyboards. Beyond hardware and software, Nokia sees itself at the heart of a global network aggregating data from hundreds of millions of intelligent devices for an unprecedented level of knowledge sharing that enables services such as highly localized traffic reports and weather trends. Fun stuff and certainly worth a few minutes to ponder on your own. Still, it's difficult to get too excited by the vision from a company that was not only totally caught off guard by consumer trends at the margin-rich (read: money making) end of its devices portfolio, but also so slow to respond in any meaningful way. [Via Slashgear]
Singapore to have nationwide WiFi by year's end
From the sound of things it would seem the island nation of Singapore will soon be the latest country to get the 802.11 treatment, having all of its near 700 square kilometers blanketed in WiFi. That would make Singapore the third nation that we know of to completely covered, joining Mauritius and Macedonia, with Estonia not far behind. A government report, "Intelligent Nation 2015," already notes that Singapore currently averages one WiFi hotspot for every square kilometer, so combined with upcoming WiMax technology, Singapore is aiming to be one ginormous hotspot by the end of the year. That's a pretty ambitious project, mind you, even for a country as well off as Singapore. Of course, this report also states (no joke), that they'll have 4G cell phones, "Fibre to the Home," the "Semantic World Wide Web," and "Embedded and Wearable Computers" by 2015, which by our estimation would make them among the most advanced civilzations around. If they do manage any of those, we may just have to open up an Engadget Singapore bureau pretty soon since that FIOS certainly ain't getting hooked up in our cribs any time soon.[Via CNET]
