You don't need to be a high paid analyst to make predictions these days. It seems like everybody has something to say about the future of this industry; most of the time it's so off the wall crazy that they might as well credit the predictions to Quartermann, but sometimes people have a way of being right. Not content to let the forum kids have all the fun, Defunct Games has decided to take a look at nine things that we feel are bound to happen eventually.

Over the next two pages you'll find a list of the things we feel are the most likely things to go down, including predictions about the future of Halo, Sony's Sixaxis control, PETA, Grand Theft Auto IV, anti-game legislation, and much, much more. And if that wasn't enough, we do our best to show you where we're coming from and give you a percentage of how likely these predictions are to happen. So go through and read these nine predictions and then remember to come back a year from now and see just how many have actually come true. So, without further ado, I say that it's It's Only A Matter of Time ...

Say What? For months everybody has been calling the Halo 3: Legendary Edition helmet a "cat helmet." Now that gamers have their $130 box set we're bound to start seeing some rather disturbing YouTube videos pop up. If this starts to happen then it's only a matter of time before the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals steps in and calls for a ban on Halo 3.

Why Would They Do That? Earlier this year Microsoft shocked the world by announcing that Halo 3 would be released in three separate versions, one that retailed for $60, one for $70 and one for a whopping $130. The two cheap SKUs feature the game and boring documentary videos, but the massive Legendary Edition comes with three discs, a picture from the game, and the same kind of helmet worn by Master Chief himself. Unfortunately this helmet is not big enough for a human head, so resourceful gamers will have to find another living thing to attach it to. So far it seems like the majority of Halo fans seem to think it will be a good fit on a cat, much to the dismay of their fine furry friends. As gamers who bought the $130 Legendary Edition start to beat the game and look for something else to do we'll start to see a lot more YouTube clips of first-person shooter nuts torturing their cats by putting this heavy helmet on their heads.

But not if PETA (the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has anything to say about it. Considering that this is the group that protests KFC, throws paint on fur coats and is in an uproar over the CBS show, Kid Nation, it would make sense for PETA to not take kindly to people posting clips of cat torture porn. I'm sure they'll argue that the heavy helmet can seriously injure a cat's neck, or that the cramped space is enough to suffocate that poor kitty. And while those are legitimate concerns, PETA will no doubt go way over the line by suggesting that we boycott Halo 3. Think this is an unrealistic scenario? Perhaps you should go ahead and Google PETA's history, this is exactly the kind of thing this group is known for rallying against. Expect to hear all kinds of negative things about Halo 3 once these clips start popping up on YouTube. Unfortunately it won't just be from PETA, all of the major news channels will make sure and report on this pressing issue playing it off as if its Halo 3 that is bad for the cats (not their immature owners). Perhaps I'm just paranoid, but this is the kind of controversy I can see coming out of the most successful game of 2007.

How Probable Is It? 35% - The good news is that PETA hasn't started rallying against Halo yet, but that may be because they are slow (and there aren't a lot of disturbing vides on YouTube yet). I would like to believe that PETA knows better than to rally against Halo, but nothing that organization does surprises me.

Say What? At some point in the near future the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will realize that terrorists could use a handheld video game system to mask an explosive device. At this time the TSA (along with the government and news media) will freak out and condemn handheld video game systems.

Why Would They Do That? Unless you've been living under a rock recently, you should already know that the TSA is doing everything it can to make our lives miserable when it comes to boarding airplanes. There are a lot of rules that make sense in this post-9/11 world; it's easy to understand why you can't bring knives or box cutters as a carry-on anymore, the concept of curb-side check-in feels somewhat dangerous, and it's hard to complain too much about the increase in scrutiny when you are about to board your plane. But at the same time the TSA has managed to take otherwise benign concerns and turn them into a matter of life or death. Today's air passengers are expected to take off their shoes because one man (the unimaginatively named "shoe bomber") decided that's where he was going to hide an explosive. And then there's the issue of liquid products, even though nobody has ever tried to assemble a bomb using liquids smuggled on a plane, the TSA is here to scare the bejesus out of us and make sure we don't have too much toothpaste in our carry-on.

Recently the TSA announced that they were going to be paying special attention to remote-controlled cars that are brought on board by kids and adults who need to get a real hobby. I suppose in theory this practice makes sense, it wouldn't be too hard to strap some kind of explosive device to an R/C car and drive it down the aisle. If they are going to go as far as remote-controlled cars then it stands to reason that they will eventually start going after electronic devices, specifically handheld game systems. The airlines already check individual laptops to make sure they aren't part of Dell's exploding variety, so what's going to stop them from checking out my Nintendo DS or PSP? Heck, the original Game Boy and Atari Lynx are large enough to fit a dirty bomb and still have room left over. It's only a matter of time before your favorite game system is getting special treatment (or banned outright).

How Probable Is It? 75% - I wouldn't be surprised to see this happen in the next twelve months.

Say What? At one time Grand Theft Auto IV was scheduled to be released this month, but several weeks ago Rockstar Games announced that they would be delaying the game until spring of next year. But a spring/summer release of GTA IV seems unlikely, and one has to wonder if they'll decide to just go ahead and release this super sequel in October of 2008.

Why Would They Do That? When Rockstar Games announced that they would be pushing back the hotly anticipated Grand Theft Auto sequel you could practically hear the disappointment from the millions of gamers looking forward to driving through a next-gen Liberty City. Thankfully most gamers stopped being disappointed the moment they realized that they had dozens of other big name games to buy this holiday season (Halo 3, Call of Duty 4, Smash Bros. Brawl, Rock Band, Super Mario Galaxy, etc.). It was also comforting to know that Grand Theft Auto would be hitting in the spring, a time when there's generally a drought of quality games.

But I wouldn't be so sure about that spring 2008 release date. The truth is that Rockstar never actually said that the game would be released in the spring; instead they said it would be in their second fiscal quarter, which could mean that the game would come out as late as June. The problem is that if you're going to release a game in June you might as well wait a couple of months and position the game in that coveted holiday season. What's a few months difference when you can have the hottest game for Christmas? What's more, every other modern Grand Theft Auto game has been released in October, so why stop now? One has to believe that the Q2 release date was announced to please worried investors, the kind of people that are worried they don't have any other big games for 2007. But that won't be the case come spring of next year; Rockstar will be riding the potential success of Midnight Club: Los Angeles and Bully for the Xbox 360 and Wii. By the time April or May rolls around it seems likely the investors will be willing to wait a few more months to capitalize on the most popular game buying season of the year. There's a reason all of the other GTA games have been released in October, and I don't see them bucking that trend any time soon.

How Probable Is It? 90% - I would love to believe Rockstar when they say GTA IV will hit in spring of next year, but it seems a lot more likely that this blockbuster title will end up getting delayed until October 2008.

Say What? As of right now the upcoming Metal Gear Solid games are exclusive to the PlayStation 3, but that doesn't mean the Xbox 360 won't see them in the near future. If I was a betting man I would put money on the fact that we'll see a Metal Gear Solid game on the Xbox 360 by the end of the year.

Why Would They Do That? Because it costs a lot of money to make Metal Gear Solid 4, that's why. For the past two years Konami has insisted that Metal Gear Solid 4 would stay a PlayStation 3 exclusive, but then again, Hideo Kojima insisted that Metal Gear Solid 3 would be his last Metal Gear game, so I don't know what to believe. The truth is that most of the PlayStation 3 exclusives have been ported to the Xbox 360, including Devil May Cry 4, Virtua Fighter V, Mercenaries 2, and Assassin's Creed. In fact, at this point Metal Gear Solid 4 is the one and only third party PlayStation 3 game still claiming to be exclusive to Sony's next generation console. Given the amount of money it cost to make Metal Gear Solid 4 (and the fact that there are millions more Xbox 360s in homes at the moment) it stands to reason that Konami will eventually port it to Microsoft's system in order to recoup their investment.

But maybe Konami is being completely honest and Metal Gear Solid 4 will stay loyal to Sony. That doesn't mean that Microsoft won't see Solid Snake in one form or another. Several months ago Konami announced that they were hard at work on another Metal Gear Solid game, a multiplayer title called Metal Gear Solid Online. Despite the fact that this online game was using assets from Metal Gear Solid 4, the game itself will actually be sold separately. Given the Xbox 360's strong online interface, it would behoove Konami to port Metal Gear Solid Online over to Microsoft's console. This would certainly be the logical thing to do, not only would it get the Xbox fanboys off their backs, but at the same time Konami would be able to keep their word about keeping MGS4 an exclusive.

How Probable Is It? 60% - It may only be Metal Gear Solid Online, but the Xbox 360 will definitely see one of Kojima's upcoming games.