Say What? Despite using the tagline, "Finish the Fight," Bungie's seminal first-person shooter will definitely return for a fourth (and not final) installment at some point in the near future.

Why Would They Do That? This is really nothing more than simple economics. Let's do the math here: Take the fact that Halo 3 brought in $170 million in its first day and add it to the recent news that the sales of the Xbox 360 have more than doubled in the past month and you have a very big incentive for Microsoft to continue to keep Master Chief on the payroll. It doesn't matter that Bungie is sick and tired of making science fiction-based first-person shooters, there's no way Microsoft is going to let a hot property like Halo fall off the radar. You can already see Microsoft starting to milk the franchise by announcing Halo Wars and the series of Peter Jackson Halo episodes (whatever they are). Bungie may not be involved with Halo anymore, but there's no way the Halo name will be left out to collect dust for too long.

The most likely scenario is that Bungie will start working on their next big franchise (it better be Pimps at Sea) and Microsoft will hand over the Halo duties to some smaller company. This isn't unprecedented in the games industry, Ready At Dawn has made a career out of continuing already established franchises (see: Daxter and Gods of War: Chains of Olympus). Given that Microsoft already has the blueprints for the Halo franchise, it seems hard for any company to come in and ruin an already good thing. Gamers who have beaten Halo 3 on the highest difficulty level already know that the game is left with something of a sequel ending; it may wrap up all of the loose ends connected to the "trilogy," but there's enough room in that ending to continue the franchise when Microsoft needs to make another few hundred million dollars without even trying. At the end of the day it all comes down to the money, and it's hard for Microsoft (or any company for that matter) to simply leave their biggest money maker behind.

How Probable Is It? 85% - It won't happen this year (or next), but there will definitely be a Halo 4 by 2012.

Say What? To date nobody has been able to use the Sixaxis motion support in a way that elevates the gameplay. In fact, one could argue that the opposite has happened. If nobody can figure out how to properly use this gimmick it stands to reason that most companies will just ignore the feature all together.

Why Would They Do That? A year after the release of the PlayStation 3 I think it's safe to say that Sony's "innovative" new control, the Sixaxis, is an undisputed failure. To date there are only a few games that support the motion sensing control and most of those either use it in an insignificant way or are lousy examples of the technology. The best (and most recent) example of this problem came with the release of Lair, Factor 5's disappointing air combat game with atrocious control problems. It's games like Lair that make some gamers wonder if the idea of tilt support is even necessary. At its best the Sixaxis tilt functionality is nothing more than a gimmick, but most gamers won't even be that polite about Sony's supposed next-gen technology.

So far the general consensus has been very negative for the Sixaxis, which makes me wonder if the third party companies will start to pick up on the hostility directed at the tilt support. If nobody is able to use the Sixaxis in a unique and intriguing way soon it would make sense for most of the third parties to stop using the tilt support all together. This is especially true now that most third party games are going multiplatform; if there was no need for tilt support in the Xbox 360 version when why bother programming it into the PlayStation 3 port? This is especially true if market research shows that gamers prefer to play the game the old fashioned way, using the analog sticks and face buttons. Of course, chances are Sony won't stop supporting the Sixaxis' unique functions, but if they are the only company still rallying behind the tilt then I don't see much of a future for this bizarre gimmick.

How Probable Is It? 50% - I doubt Sony will completely abandon the motion aspect of the control, but within the next year or two we're going to start seeing fewer and fewer third parties do anything with this gimmick.

Say What? After years of delays, redesigns, rumors of cancellations and engine swaps, Duke Nukem Forever will finally be released. But now that it's been a decade the question remains: Will anybody actually care?

Why Would They Do That? Look, I'm not stupid, I know that Duke Nukem Forever has been in development for a decade and most people have written the project off completely. The truth is that it would have been better for 3D Realms to say they cancelled the game years ago and started fresh, but every few months we see a new picture and hear some rumblings from the development team. As far as anybody can tell the long-delayed game is still in development ... though at this point it seems more likely that it's just one guy working on the game in his spare time. But you know what, I don't care what anybody else says, the game is going to eventually come out. It may not be the game the developers originally intended to make, but I have no doubt that the game will eventually be released in one form or another.

Even though the game has been in development longer than just about any other game, there are still some good reasons for 3D Realms to finish Duke Nukem Forever. For one thing enough time has passed that the company could get away with playing on people's nostalgia for the franchise. It's also worth mentioning that the game has become an industry legend, at this point a lot of people would likely buy the game based entirely on their curiosity about the finished product. And there's certain precedence set by 3D Realms, last year they managed to complete another one of their long-delayed titles, Prey. There's no way that Duke Nukem Forever can live up to gamers expectations, but it would be wise to release the game and close that chapter once and for all. It may not happen this year, but there's going to come a time when Duke Nukem Forever actually does ship to retail (and you'll probably be tempted to buy it).

How Probable Is It? 25% - At some point a game named Duke Nukem Forever will come out, but I doubt it will be very good and will probably be the last game in the long stagnate Duke Nukem franchise.

Say What? The government has tried several times already to pass video game legislation, but every time they get close the courts strike it down as being unconstitutional. Unfortunately it's only a matter of time before some politician accidentally stumbles onto a Constitutional anti-game law.

Why Would They Do That? I don't think I need to tell you this, but the U.S. government has it out for the video game industry. While you would think that they have more than enough on their plates as it is(reestablishing Habeas Corpus, finding a way out of Iraq, getting health care for every American citizen, etc.), there are still a few cranky old men (and women) who want to do something about Doom and Night Trap. So far nothing that they've done has worked; to date every single anti-game law has been struck down by the courts as being unconstitutional. But I wouldn't get too complacent, because with so many different politicians trying their hand at legislating video game violence it's only a matter of time before one of them gets lucky.

The government may not have won the battle against Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt yet, but that doesn't mean they aren't going to continue to try. You need only look at our country's history to see that politicians can strong arm an entire industry, just ask the comic book historians what they think of government oversight. The problem is that most of these politicians come from a background in law, so it stands to reason that eventually one of our elected officials will stumble upon the right wording. All it will take is one law that can't be struck down by the courts, and that day may be coming sooner than you think. The general consensus is that eventually the politicians will be made up of people who grew up with games, but there are a lot of years before that happens and between now and then you better believe that the Leland Yee's of the world will continue to do what they do best ... ignore the important issues.

How Probable Is It? 50% - I would like to believe that our government isn't smart enough to figure out how to pass the law without taking away our Constitutional freedoms, but even the blind squirrel stumbles on a nut every so often.

Say What? It may not be the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but at some point in the near future Nintendo and Sega are going to team up to have their two biggest mascot characters (Mario and Sonic) fight it out in this adorably violent 2D fighting game series.

Why Would They Do That? It's no secret that gamers around the world want to see Mario and Sonic battle it out, people have been hinting at this possible teaming ever since Sega decided to drop the Dreamcast and become a dedicated third party company. At this point it's no longer strange to see a Sonic the Hedgehog title released on a Nintendo console, so there's renewed hope that Sega's blue Erinaceinae will be a secret character in Big N's upcoming Super Smash Bros. game for the Wii. The good news is that this desire to see Sonic fight Mario is not out of the realm of possibility; after all, Nintendo has already stated that they have "big" characters yet to announce for Smash Bros. Brawl. What kind of "big" characters could they still have left to announce? Most of Nintendo's main cast of characters have already been announced (including D-list characters like the Pokemon handler), so it stands to reason that the only characters left to talk about are the blue hedgehog variety.

And this pairing would make complete sense, Nintendo and Sega are already working together to develop a Mario/Sonic Olympics game set for release a full year before any athlete even thinks about going to the world games. And Nintendo has already made it clear that they are willing to put third party characters in their Smash Bros. titles, just check out the recent video of Solid Snake fighting Donkey Kong to see an example of this in action. Sonic certainly makes more sense than Solid Snake, and since Mario and Sonic are already teaming up for a winter game it only makes sense for them to fight it out in this 2D brawler. At this point I'm a bit surprised Sonic hasn't been announced already, but it wouldn't surprise me to see the Smash Bros. DOJO announce Sonic a few weeks before the December release date.

How Probable Is It? 95% - If it doesn't happen in Brawl then it will definitely happen in the fourth installment ... whatever that is.