Though we’ve established that 2008 was just another year for the gaming industry; growth, innovation and controversy all mixed together to fan the flames of the fandom. It is, however, a year we’ll look back with fondness on later, and we can only now begin to wonder what is going to be coming down the pipes. New, exciting games? Announcements for the next generation of hardware? Games running DirectX11? Let’s break it down to each platform and a out-of-the-blue guess about some announcements that may happen in the coming year.

Nintendo DS
Most Anticipated Game: Scribblenauts
Although you may have not heard of developer 5TH Cell, for DS owners it should be something you make yourself aware of. Creators of Drawn to Life and Lock’s Quest, they are an indie developer with a passion for the Nintendo DS platform and design their games to be specifically for that purpose. Scribblenauts is a fairly standard, if not child-like in appearance, action/puzzle game for the platform with a great mechanic that allows you to write out any object you want to appear on screen and it will do so. Perhaps you need a bear, write “bear”, or a shark…you get the picture. It sounds interesting, and what little I’ve seen so far has gotten me ready to dust the DS off come release date.

2009 Big Announcement: I don’t see much in the way of big announcements for the DS. The DSi will come out in North America, and I imagine we’ll have a new New Super Mario Bros. before the year’s end that has some functionality with the camera.

Wii
Most Anticipated Game: The Conduit
It is very difficult for me not to be a big fan of The Conduit and its developers, High Voltage. They’ve put out an FPS for the Wii, designed specifically for the system to take advantage of the motion controls. It’s not mini-game based, it’s genuinely based on the wants and feedback of what would be considered “hardcore” gamers. It will have online, it will have a solid framerate, and will have good graphics to boot. Perhaps it isn’t a particularly intriguing concept in terms of the game itself, but the platform desperately needs this to succeed if any third parties will try and follow its footsteps.

2009 Big Announcement: Based on the fact that the Wii will start to remain on shelves come late Spring of this year, even in the wake of Wii Sports Resort, Nintendo will finally announce new SKUs. With colour! You’ll see at least one other colour come out in Japan by the end of the year, and probably an announcement for North America. New controllers to match, of course.

WiiWare
Most Anticipated Game: Something, please! Anything!
When WiiWare was first announced, I was very excited. Online delivery services would be perfect for small games like a 2D Mario Bros. or something of the like. So far, very little has come out of it, with very little in the air for the new year. Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People has been a bright spot, but not much else. We’d like something.

2009 Big Announcement: With the DSi in the wings, and the DSi store waiting, too, we’ll see some cool cross-platform DLC something. Something first party that we won’t like see emulated by any third parties for a long, long time.

PlayStation Portable
Most Anticipated Title: Patapon 2
It wasn’t hard to come up with my most highly anticipated title for the system. There wasn’t much to choose from, really. Patapon was a big surprise and a lot of fun for a great price, and the second one looks to be that plus online play and more of a good thing. It’s a must have for PSP owners for 2009, and I can say that pretty confidently without having even laid my hands on it yet.

2009 Big Announcement: Sony pushes online games. PlayStation Store will become a primary platform for driving content into the PSP by first parties and then slowly third parties. It will be less expensive, and a big success not unlike how the App Store works for the iPhone. Also, Video Store gets rolled out to some notably needy territories.

PlayStation 3
Most Anticipated Game: White Knight Chronicles
So what if it has met with lukewarm reviews from Famitsu in Japan. So what if it has basically arrived out of no where, with little hype or press coverage dolled out so far. I want it, you want it, it’s going to be great. Yes, our blinders are on for this game, but it’s hard not to get excited over an exclusive JRPG from Level 5 with the level of polish that was shown in what little teasers made their way around. That and online play? Yes, sign me up. Please be good.

2009 Big Announcement: Price drop. Yeah, going to happen. No Final Fantasy and no Gran Turismo means no console seller yet. Sony won’t overtake Microsoft, it will make everyone nervous, but they will still keep it in the black and the new Jak game will be announced early, released late 2009.

PSN
Most Anticipated Title: Nobi Nobi Boy
This title comes with a close second of Fat Princess which I’m sure we’ll talk about another time. From the creator of Katamari Damacy comes a seemingly pointless game about eating and pooping. Yes. You get bigger or smaller as you do it, too. There’s no real goal that we’ve seen so far, just that, and yet I want it. I want it a lot. All players worldwide will have their sizes tallied to feed a global total to unlock more content. If that’s not a cool idea for an online game, I don’t know what is. It’s going to be value priced, quirky, and likely a lot of fun. Can’t wait.

2009 Big Announcement: PixelJunk series 2 will likely see the light of day in mid 2009. Expect Home to be a major part of the online strategy, as well. Oh, and we’ll likely see Canadian PlayStation Store prices go up.

Xbox 360
Most Anticipated Game: Alan Wake
Whenever the word Vapourware comes up I have to keep my fingers gently pressed in my ears just in case someone tries to mention the word Alan. I have refused to lump it in the same category as The Phantom and Duke Nukem Forever for many years. After all, Max Payne was a lifetime in waiting, and their next title looks to have as much detail and work put into it, if not more. Alan Wake looks like a gripping, beautiful, psychological thriller that WILL be released next year or my hope will completely fade. Expect it to line up against Quantic Dream’s Heavy Rain and to be a completely mind blowing experience.

2009 Big Announcement: Zune connectivity. Don’t anticipate a Zune phone, but you may start to see Microsoft push their little mp3 darling into the spotlight this year with some cool connectivity with their first party games. Lips already lets you wirelessly sync with the device, and that’s just an easy start.

Xbox Live Arcade
Most Anticipated Game: The Maw
After garnering some good buzz in the press earlier this year and taking home the prize at the PAX 2008 independent game awards, The Maw looks like a fun and well put together game for the XBLA that isn’t just a port or retro-remake in HD. It’s exactly what the platform needs to offset the sense that all its good for is prettying up old games. Braid did it this year, look for The Maw for the same next year, though perhaps not as sophisticated.

2009 Big Announcement: If there are any announcements for Xbox Live coming along it’ll likely have to do with XNA. Don’t expect lowering the fees, because while they are selling systems they’ll continue to sell services. There may be more “Premium” content coming down the lines, and expect some new features for Avatars to hit. More free movement, more expression, trying to make it match personality as much as clothing.

PC
Most Anticipated Game: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin
I’m cheating a little bit in this category, since the game is cross-platform, but to me F.E.A.R. was a PC experience and I’m likely to get the same feeling from the new one, regardless of how I play it. It looks darker, more polished and much more diverse than the original. With a stronger narrative, perhaps it will silence a lot of critics that derived the original, though I still consider it one of my favourites. Close second is Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War II as a platform exclusive that seeks to soothe the RTS jitters you may get waiting for StarCraft II. It should be a good year for PC gaming, regardless.

2009 Big Announcement: Portal 2 and Half-Life 3. I know we’ve hardly heard anything regarding Episode 3 yet, but don’t be too sure that the guys at Valve aren’t already at work on the next iteration of the series. Blizzard will drop a few solid release dates, as well, and I expect Champions Online will announce the first cross-platform MMORPG. Exciting!