On behalf of Armchair Arcade, I'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone out there the happiest of new years. While nothing actually changes when we cross over from December 31st to January 1st on our rather arbitrary calendars, it still provides a good opportunity to reflect on the past 365 days and what may come in the next 365. As always, we welcome your own reflections, resolutions, and thoughts in the comments.
On a personal level, of course, I continue to be thankful for my family, which remains my primary focus. I'm not really one for resolutions, but I still plan to keep fighting the good fight for continued personal improvement on all levels. Since this is Armchair Arcade, however, I can say that as it relates to videogame, computer, gadget, and technology stuff, 2011 was a very good year, and 2012 promises to be even better. From my end, for 2012, Christina and I will have our next book, My Xbox, available everywhere as early as next month. Matt and I will have our classic 2009 book, Vintage Games, go into its second printing. Matt and I also expect our documentary, Gameplay: The Story of the Videogame Revolution, affectionately dubbed, "Gameplay Forever," to finally reach completion in 2012. Matt and I are also negotiating a new book deal that should make both college professors and students, and videogame history buffs, very happy. Christina and I should also start another console book some time mid-year if things continue to progress as they are. A good portion of the Armchair Arcade team is also finishing up an exciting new ebook project this month that we think will really strike a chord with the ever growing ereader crowd (me, among them, of course). Of course, that's all just the stuff we're anticipating, and the list will likely grow.
To the wider industry, we're all anticipating the release of the PlayStation Vita outside of Japan and how that will ultimately fare, the Nintendo Wii U some time mid-year, the release of the iPad 3 (and possible downgrade of the iPad 2 as a budget tablet) and iPhone 5 (and yes, maybe even the mythical Apple television), continued advancements in Android tablets and phones, the release of Windows 8 and some associated tablets, and all kinds of other exciting new releases, developments and announcements, both known and as yet unknown. Of course, it's not all expected to go well in 2012, with some of us expecting the start of a RIM death and/or takeover watch and a whole lot more companies getting their hurt on due to continued struggles of the worldwide economy and general business missteps. I'll of course continue to make my predictions right here on Armchair Arcade on an ongoing basis (my track record in 2011 was quite good, actually), but I'd certainly love to hear your thoughts as well for the record, so sound off below... Happy New Year!