A Look Back at Geek News Predictions for 2019

As the year rapidly comes to a close it is time to continue with one of our favorite annual traditions. Last year I made a number of predictions for 2019. Most of them weren’t too outlandish, but was I right? Only one way to find out!

 

Details of Soulja Boy’s Legal Troubles with Nintendo Will Leak:

I predicted that details of Soulja Boy’s legal woes with Nintendo would leak in some fashion. This prediction was far off the mark, as people stopped talking about Soulja Boy after January. The most information we got was that his website, souljagame.com redirected to Nintendo.com. Even after that, he tried to sell cheap Chinese knockoffs of the PSVita and the Xbox One. Eventually all of his URLs were removed, but everyone is tight-lipped about the details. As for the rapper himself, he did go to jail for 240 days. That affair was completely unrelated to his business of selling imitation consoles.

The PlayStation 5 Will Be Announced:

In this prediction I said the PlayStation 5 would be announced and went further by saying it would release in late 2020 or early 2021. I absolutely nailed this prediction. The PS5 is set to launch during the holiday 2020 season, which probably means sometime in November. The actual reveal of the PS5 was low key, as specs were announced in October. As we close out 2019 and the decade, Sony only revealed details about the new DualShock 5 and the launch game, Godfall. Curiously, official pictures and a price still have not been announced as of this writing. (The picture above is a mockup.) Still no word on if Sony will be returning to E3, but signs are pointing to Sony giving fans more details about the PS5 at CES 2020.

 

The Last of Us 2 Will Have a 2020 Release Date and Will Be Split-Gen:

I boldly predicted that not only will The Last of Us Part II not release in 2019, but it would be released in 2020 and be split-gen. The only thing that’s been split here is my prediction. I got the part about this highly-anticipated sequel being released in 2020 correct, but it won’t be appearing on the PS5. In September’s State of Play, The Last of Us Part II was given a February 2020 release date before being delayed until May 29, 2020.  Given that the PS5 is promising some form of backwards capability, early console adopters may be able to enjoy this game on a next gen console, just not as an actual next-gen game.

 

Some ISPs Will Continue to Behave Badly:

I gave the ominous prediction that with the end of Net Neutrality ISPs would ramp up paid prioritization, continue with data caps and throttling, and gut low-income aid programs. This prediction is somewhat wrong, but that doesn’t mean ISPs were good actors. While data caps and throttling certainly continued in 2019, they didn’t get any worse. This year consumers did see occasionally steep price hikes. A report also revealed telecom giants pressed the FCC to remove data on speed tests that didn’t favor the ISPs. They’ve also been fighting against a bill that would ban service throttling for fire fighters in emergencies after what happened in the California wildfires.

 

Samsung Will Make the Foldable Phone Mainstream:

I predicted 2019 would be the year Samsung brought its foldable smartphone to market. Additionally, technophiles would love it, but the public would be largely confused. I made another successful prediction. Samsung DID bring its Galaxy Fold smartphone to market, but it had quite a year. Before it was set to launch, review units were sent out and the reviewers experienced a variety of issues with their phones. Some people peeled off a protective film over the screen causing the phone to malfunction. Others noticed dirt and debris somehow got under the screen causing bumps and bulges. The foldable phone clearly wasn’t ready for primetime and its launch was delayed in April to fix design flaws. It released in September to mostly positive reviews. However, the phone is still fragile. The Galaxy Fold also came with a whopping $2000 price tag that keeps it in niche/technophile territory. If that wasn’t enough, Huawei launched its own folding smartphone the Mate X in China. Not to be outdone, Motorola is bringing it in 2020 with the Razr. Folding smartphones may be expensive, but they’re here to stay.

 

Make sure to come back tomorrow as I make some predictions for 2020.