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And I don’t just mean because you’re going to lose your hair and put on a few pounds – here’s why gaming is set to get a lot worse.

Sony Can’t Afford To Take Big Risks
Sony spent billions making the cell chip for the PS3 and sunk further billions into selling the console at a loss. Sony can’t afford to do that again after four years of heavy losses. The company also no longer employs anyone like Ken Kutaragi, who used his position and power to create an amazing device seemingly without taking profits into consideration. That’s why rumors suggest the PS4 will basically be a PC, and not even a very impressive one.
It’s Going To Be Hard To Be A Used Gamer
Some rumors say that the PS4/NeXtBox won’t play used games, but that’s generally seen as being rather unlikely. What is far more probable is that Sony will do what they did with the Vita – Online Passes on pretty much every game, no trophies on used discs. Expect further hurdles as well, as it’s only a matter of time before companies try and implement singleplayer passes, or used game time limits.
The Death of Singleplayer
This is something that we’ve seen more and more this gen. Other than truly massive single player experiences like The Elder Scrolls and GTA, mainstream games are becoming increasingly multiplayer focused – after all, more people buy map packs than singleplayer DLC. Multiplayer also means that people don’t trade in their game or buy a competitors, they just sit around throwing knives until the next COD game.
Free-to-Play Might Be The Future
For developers, F2P is awesome. They can come out with a casual game, market it as free, and then entice people to pay to make the game actually any good. Which sucks if you play games for enjoyment, and not to make Zynga one of the biggest publishers in existence. Ngmoco’s Ben Cousins believes that the future will see games with the breadth of Skyrim available for free – except that you’ll probably have to pay a lot more than $60 to make the game as enjoyable as Skyrim.
Subscriptions Are Too Lucrative
You can bet that Sony has been eying the near-billion dollars of profit that Microsoft makes from Xbox Live with considerable envy. Sure, they now have PlayStation Plus, but gamers don’t need to subscribe to play online, and PS+ has to really work for its money. Don’t be too surprised if the PS4 has a more constrained and aggressive subscription policy.
Developing Next-Gen Games Will Be Even More Expensive
In 1982, Namco spent approximately $100,000 (now around $237,000) on Pac-Man. PS1 games cost around a million dollars, PS2 5-7 million and PS3 15-30 million for the average title. Logic dictates that next-gen dev costs will be even higher – after all, better detail, more complicated AI, more realistic engines all require more developers and longer dev cycles. More expensive games means that there will be less titles, possibly higher prices, and far less risk taking (innovation).
The Apple Has Landed
Apple may or may not ever get into the console space, but it doesn’t really matter, because they are already in the games space, making ridiculous profit off of the iOS platform. Most indies now develop on iOS or Android, and an increasing number of big studios like Crytek are exploring the space. Consoles are no longer the most important sector in the industry, and innovation and change is likely to happen at a far faster pace on mobile games, with the PSN and XBL taking a back seat.
What Is Wrong With People?
Call of Duty keeps selling at astronomical rates each year, despite very little change. Hell, Black Ops II has triple the preorders of BLOPS, even though no one really knows anything about the game. Look forward to more COD, and more COD-like annual titles that change little each year.
West Is Sadly Best
20 years ago, all the best games used to be from the land of the rising sun, but now the Japanese games industry has – as a whole – failed to keep up with this gen. Sure, there are a few awesome titles, but the country has mostly been unable to understand how the market has changed. Graphics and gameplay also haven’t evolved as fast as in the West. With the next generation, this gap will likely get worse.
Facebook My Tweet And Share It With Your Circle
Publishers love to advertise their games, but they hate to pay for the advertising. So they came up with a genius idea – you market their games for them! Expect far more Facebook and Twitter ‘integration’ in future games: finished a level, shot someone in the nads or bought some DLC? Games will offer you the opportunity to share it on Facebook, something that doesn’t seem like that big a deal. But then take a look at iOS games, which are beginning to adopt a policy of locking out features unless you spam your friends. Yaay.
It’s Watching You
Sure, Sony might have pioneered the EyeToy, but Microsoft mainstreamed the motion controlled camera with Kinect. As you’d expect, Sony wants a piece of that lucrative market, and is probably creating their own 3D camera. Which leads to this:

One major missing element from the original Senran Kagura was 3D support. For one of its first 3DS titles, Marvelous left out the stereoscopic 3D for most areas of the game, most notably the primary action gameplay.
Senran Kagura Burst, a sequel that was announced today in Famitsu, fixes the issue, somewhat. Marvelous AQL has added additional 3D support to the game, but not for the action part. You'll now be able to view the locker room, where you dress your busty female ninjas up, in 3D. This was apparently a major request from players of the original.
For a look at what was 3D and what was 2D in the original Senran Kagura, see this story.
Burst makes one other major change from the original Senran Kagura. Instead of Asuka, Ikaruga, Katsuragi, Yagyu and Hibari, the playable cast of the original, the sequel gives you control of their rivals. The rival girls will be joined by their teacher Suzune, who with her 97cm bust size and low cut dress helps to explain the origins of the Burst name.

Senran Kagura Burst is currently 81% complete and will be released on August 30, priced ¥5,980. As a bonus item, Marvelous AQL will include in a visual book, drama CD and soundtrack CD. The cover girl of the book will be selected by fan voting at the game's official site.
Famitsu also briefly mentions that plans are currently in place for a Senran Kagura anime conversion.

The last piece of news gamers heard about the Atelier series was that Atelier Meruru: The Apprentice of Arland was getting localized in English and would be out on May 22. Meanwhile, publisher Gust recently announced a new Atelier game in the works: Atelier Ayesha for the PS3.

According to Dengeki PlayStation (via Andriasang), Atelier Ayesha pits players in the shoes of Ayesha Artool who is on a quest to find her missing sister Nio. As gamers progress through the story, she starts recording memories in her journal via the memory connection system. Here, players can piece together recorded clues and sightings to advance the plot, possibly in different story branches.

The game's turn-based battle system is tweaked from past entries; the further an enemy is away from a player, the more attack points a player has to spend to strike them. The character designer of the game is Hidari, known for doing character design for the anime adaptation of Fractale and Natsu-iro Kiseki.
The game is slated to be out on June 28 in Japan. There is currently no word on a North American and European release as of yet. For more information on the previous entry of the series, check out GameSpot's coverage on Atelier Meruru.

New details about Record of Agarest War: Marriage are slipping out after the game was revealed by a retail listing. The big surprise is former Summon Night staff are developing the upcoming PSP game. A scenario writer from the Summon Night series is writing Record of Agarest War: Marriage’s story and other Summon Night staff are on the team too. Compile Heart also hired a new artist named Blade as the character designer instead of Agarest artist Hirano Katsuyuki.

Since the Record of Agarest War games are strategy RPGs and the Summon Night team are experienced with the genre you probably think this is a SRPG. I did, but Record of Agarest War: Marriage uses a command battle system. The game is designed so it’s easy to play and one of the main systems is the heroines become more powerful when they lose their clothes.

The game’s focus is what happens after you get married. Record of Agarest War: Marriage starts after you exchange vows and follows the player on their honeymoon. Compile Heart also designed a communication system where you can gaze at your (digital) wife while talking to her.

Record of Agarest War: Marriage is slated for release in July.

Gundam UC is now out. Time for the next PS3 Gundam game to be announed!
This one's a bit different, though. Famitsu has first details this week on Gundam Battle Operation, an online Gundam game that will be released to the PS3 in late June. The game is free to download. Basic play is also free.
Developed by B.B. Studio, which also worked on 2nd Super Robot Taisen Z and Masou Kishin II, Battle Operation is a six versus six action battle game. In addition to taking on the battle field in your mobile suit, you'll also have to run around as a pilot at times.
Famitsu does not have details on how Namco Bandai will be making money off the title, but one can speculate we'll get lots of paid items. The game's concept is apparently "a deep game that can be played at length without payment."
Namco Bandai will hold a closed beta test for the game. Interested parties will be able to put their name down for one of the 10,000 slots between March 29 and March 31. Expect details on the beta test once the game is formally announced later this week.