Last year I posted a blog on my hopes for 2009. How did it go?

1. I get my 360 before the end of January!

:) And I did it! Love it. Great system.

2. That we'll see the very first Wii price cut or bundle-improvement by Christmas '09.

:) And we have. A mere $50 but that's still an improvement. Ahead of schedule, even.

3. That we'll see the PS3 drop by at least $50 on the low and top end plus get a bundle improvement OR we see a $100 price drop. Hoping for an improved bundle with a $100 price drop seems a bit greedy

:) I got my wish. I'm very pleased with Sony on this matter - not only was there a price drop, there was an elimination of "high end/low end" SKU's and the PS3 has a single, unified model now with the Slim. This is superb news not only for potential PS3 buyers but also anyone interested in Microsoft. The more competitive pressure the better.

4. That we'll see price drops on 360 storage (memory cards and harddrives), a $20-50 price drop on the various SKU's or improved bundles. Seeing the current Pro become the new Core, the current Elite become the new Pro, and the Elite getting a bigger harddrive, WiFi adapter, etc., would be even better. Keep the prices the same in that case.

:| Well, a bit mixed here. $100 drop on the Elite, but they killed the wrong SKU! I wanted the Core/Arcade to go away, not the Pro! Regardless, they've still got a reasonably good lineup, and my (new-found) appreciation for the madness behind the Arcade softens the blow a bit. I personally think both the PS3 and 360 (particularly the Arcade which sold quite well) were factors in the Wii's sales drop and price drop.

Obviously, the hopes for bundling, storage and accessories is a bust.

5. Street Fighter IV will have PC/360 and PC/PS3 online play.

:( Bust. Which is a pity.

6. City of Heroes will get a new, boxed expansion, plus the Mac version adding 50-100% to the playerbase.

:) Don't know about the Mac version improving player numbers, but a boxed expansion has been announced, teased, and should hopefully be out in 2nd Quarter 2010.

7. Guild Wars 2 comes out and kicks major butt. Well, actually, this will be a given...

:| Well, maybe next year. But I like everything I hear about it (no surprise - marketing departments doing their work).

8. Microsoft finally gives Live! Silver online play, but adds even more features to Live! Gold. However, I do not want to see anything more taken from Live! Silver - all perks should be just that - perks.

:( Bust here on Live Silver getting online play. Gold is picking up a lot of nice extras, though.

9. Microsoft finally loosens up and starts embracing User Generated Content the way that Live was originally envisioned but they backed off from.

:( Bust here.

10. NCSoft finally gets a PS3 game out for us to play!

:( Big bust here. Sorry for all you PS3 owners - I was really looking forward to this one.

11. That the console version of The Witcher blows the doors off of Final Fantasy XIII. Because, honestly, the status quo needs to be shaken up.

:( Looks like the Witcher for consoles is being skipped. Damn pity. But I really do want to see a Western-****RPG smack Final Fantasy around.

12. That Japanese RPG companies will try and make something along the lines of The Witcher, Knights of the Old Republic, Oblivion or Fallout 3. Because, honestly, the status quo needs to be shaken up.

:( Haven't paid enough attention as of late. I don't think its happening, though. Everyone's content with their own thing, pretty much.