The other five
Duke Nukem Forever will arrive... then leave again
DNF is now vapourware of legendary status, to the point that there's a generation of people learning about it through folklore.
But 3D Realms recently released a little teaser, to show that the game is still in development and may see the light of day at some point in time.
I'd like to say that 2008 will be the year DNF goes gold, but I think perhaps something a little different might go down.
Remember when somebody nicked Half-Life 2 code from Valve and put it on the net? That set back HL2's development a good while, didn't it? Have you guessed what my DNF prediction is yet?
I really hope this doesn't happen, but it's one more set-back to add to the list for the game that's had more set-backs than I've had hot dinners.
jPhone
Apple's iPhone was a huge hit in the US, with massive queues outside stores. And even after Steve Jobs screwed over the early adopters by slashing the price two months after its launch, the Americans were still mad for it.
Here in the UK the response was a little more... sedate. But there are still some loons with more money than sense who don't seem to care about tactile feedback.
So this year, Apple's answer to God (that's Steve Jobs, for those of you who aren't particularly iReligious) will decree that a new iPhone shall be released. I daresay the 'i' thing is getting old, so my guess is the 'jPhone' will start a whole new line of 'j' branded wares, augmenting the link between Apple and 'j'esus.
Of course, it'll still be a horrible device, just less horrible than its predecessor, to the point where all existing iPhone users will feel obliged to upgrade, within the first two months of its launch, paying $200 more than those willing to wait just a few more weeks.
Sigh.
GPUs will simulate life
2008 will see graphics cards become so powerful that they can recreate the visuals of the world in which we live almost indistinguishably.
To paraphrase a hero of mine - Mr. Philip J. Fry - the GPUs of '08 will be higher resolution than real life.
And with 12.5 surround - or whatever happens to be the in thing this year - along with use of multi-cores and PPUs for physics, RPG players really won't know the difference between questing in the forests of Ackhnarrh and popping to the shops.
Mac OS haX0rz
I can't do a predictions list without bashing Apple... twice.
Apple Macs have had the upper hand over PCs with respect to security for years now, but only because Mac users haven't been worth going after.
Some analysts and security experts are concerned about Apple's attitude towards OS X's security, likening its attitude to that of Microsoft's some years ago.
With a growing user base, a Blaster-like disaster is almost inevitable. If it's going to happen, it'll happen before Apple has a chance to get its act together. So 2008 will be the year - if any.
SETI finds ETI
And finally, my tenth prediction. A wildcard, if you will.
While most HEXUS readers seem to prefer Folding these days, there are still people participating in SETI@Home, searching the skies for little green men.
My calculations suggest that there's... oh... about sod all chance of us discovering aliens this year, but it'd be hilarious if the SETI group was lead up the garden path by some particularly convincing false positives.
Stay tuned
So, over the next year, as these ten things all definitely happen, HEXUS will be referring you back to this article, likely via a link carrying the title 'told you so'.
Have a good New Year, and do let us know what you think will happen in '08, in the HEXUS.community.
