Hiya!

How was your 2017? I’m guessing like me, it was a mixture of ups and downs. Thankfully, it felt like an almost 50/50 split between the ups and the downs, making 2017 a breakeven year for me. But whatever 2017 was for you, it’s over and done with. It’s now 2018 and we have no idea what’s to come. We can’t really say what the future will bring for any certainty but it sure can be fun to pretend that we can, right? So, as this is a brand new year, here are some of my predictions for 2018!

Just a caveat: these predictions are just stuff that I came up with. I don’t have any insider information or anything like that. These are just some of the things I feel will happen this 2018. But if they do come true: Spoiler warning?

Captain America will hang up his shield after Avengers: Infinity War… because he’ll be dead

Let’s start out with the most radical prediction I’m going to make on this list. Everyone’s super excited about the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War. It’s hard not to because… have you seen how awesome the trailer is?

But I wonder how many people will be excited about the film if they thought good ol’ Steve Rogers will perish in the movie? I think a lot of people will think I’m crazy for even suggesting it because he’s one of the original characters that started the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe to begin with! But I do have my reasons for thinking this. For one, he’s already died in the comics and he just so happened to die after the events of the Civil War event. Second, Chris Evans, the man who plays Steve Rogers/Captain America in the films, has already stated that he’ll stop after Infinity War.

Okay, so he’s probably going to retire the red, white and blue suit. But why do I think he’s going to die? I dunno. I just have a feeling that he will. Seeing Captain America perish at the hands of Thanos will definitely up the stakes for the next Avengers film (which they’re filming at the same time as the current Avengers film ala Lord of the Rings). Bucky/Winter Soldier will take up the mantle after Steve Roger’s death. But don’t worry! They’ll probably resurrect Steve Rogers during the second Avengers films by using the Dragon Balls Infinity Stones but he’ll decline taking up the suit afterwards. So… happy ending!

The PlayStation 4 will go on a diet and slim down even more

Sony has always tried to do things with the PlayStation console with varying degrees of success. They added force feedback and analog sticks to their controllers with spectacular results. They tried to implement motion controls with the PlayStation Move with ho-hum results. Sony has always tried to keep the PlayStation console fresh with different gimmicks but the gimmick that’s really worked out for them was slimming down their current console. They kind of did this with the new, sleeker looking model but they just trimmed out an inch or two.

I’m betting Sony will announce this year, probably during E3, that they’ve gone full The Biggest Loser on the PS4 and really trimmed the “fat” out of the system with some engineering trickery. Not only that, I also foresee the PS4 Pro system to get the slim down treatment as well. I’m not entirely sure how they’ll do this. Maybe Sony’ll do what they usually do and nix the Blu-Ray slot and make it a top loader. Either way, I don’t think I’ll be too eager to get a “slim” version anyway until my current PS4 finally bites the dust… which I hope won’t be this year!

BioWare will make you forget about Mass Effect: Andromeda with a new Dragon Age game

This prediction is mostly because I just finished playing Dragon Age: Inquisition last year. Actually, I just finished the game a few days ago… but that’s still last year, right? Anyway, I got the game because it was less than $10 on the PS Store so I decided to take the plunge and I was incredibly enamored by the grandness and scope of the world of Dragon Age. And since I got the Game of the Year edition that came with all the DLC packed in, I really wanted to see what happened to the Inquisition I formed in the next game.

I did a little research and it actually looks like we’re due for BioWare to give us a new entry to the Dragon Age series. I’m guessing they’ve been keeping it mum for the past couple of years so we could focus on last year’s Mass Effect: Andromeda (which isn’t a bad game but just not an excellent game) and to not steal the thunder away from their upcoming new multiplayer shooter, Anthem. But with Mass Effect: Andromeda already out (once again, not a terrible game) and with Anthem slated for the last part of 2018, this will free up BioWare and EA to give us a trailer for a new Dragon Age game.

Toonami will go eSports with Dragon Ball FighterZ

It was a flagship year for fighting games in 2017 in terms of mainstream attention. It was the second year in a row where the Street Fighter V finals for EVO was broadcasted on live TV via ESPN but it was the first time that a non-sports channel showed a live fighting game tournament! Yes, last year, Disney decided it was totally cool to show Nintendo characters beat each other on their channel as they showed EVO’s Super Smash Bros. finals in 2017!

So, who’s the next channel who’s going to go eSports this time? I predict Toonami will soon join the fray but just for a particular game. But it’s a game that anime lovers will enjoy watching: Dragon Ball FighterZ!

Dragon Ball FighterZ is probably going to be the biggest fighting game to come out this year as it’s super stylish and looks just like the hit anime. I think it would actually benefit Toonami to broadcast the Dragon Ball FighterZ finals from EVO this year as this game is going to be extremely hype (and possibly broken and patched to hell by the time EVO rolls around). Like I said, this is going to be big and Dragon Ball fans would certainly get an eyeful from the game! I even think it would blow up ratings much like the way Buu blew up the Earth way back then!

A year of disappointment in movies

Oh, there will be a ton of great movies this year. I fully expect Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp and Black Panther will almost certainly blow my mind because, come on! Look at Marvel’s track record! I also have high hopes for films like Pacific Rim: Uprising because how can a sequel to one of the most underrated movies be bad? However, there are going to be a large number of box-office bombs and surprising critical failures this year for one reason or another. And this year seems like it’s going to be a long list.

Some of these movies I actually want to be good but I can’t help but feel there’s just going to be something wrong with them. Take the upcoming Ready Player One. It looks like it’s going to be a spectacular film, filled with hundreds of movie and video game characters, items and references. It’s even being directed by Steven Spielberg! How can it possibly be a bad movie?

Well, this is Hollywood we’re talking about and the guys on top do have a knack of getting involved and messing things up! Ready Player One isn’t the only film I’m concerned about sucking. There’s also Alita: Battle Angel, A Wrinkle in Time, Tomb Raider, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Venom and even Deadpool 2! Yes, I think there’s a possibility that Deadpool 2 will disappoint me! I’m definitely hoping my prediction is wrong and that all of 2018’s big blockbusters will be good but I know there are going to be some major disappointments this year.

Byee!

What are your predictions for 2018? Let me know in the comments section below!