The Podcast Beyond crew gave their 2012 predictions last week, so I figured I'd chime in with my own.

Microsoft

• No mention of a next generation Xbox
• Xbox 360 price drop announced at E3
• Crackdown 3 announced

Sony

• PS Vita gets a price drop
• Infamous for PS Vita is announced, but not developed by Sucker Punch
• No mention of Bioshock Vita

Nintendo

• Wii U launches in October/November for $300
• Metroid game announced at E3. Features connectivity between 3DS and Wii U
• 2D Mario game at launch, but no Zelda.

Third Party

• Dishonored is delayed to 2013
• GTA V is not released in 2012
• Fallout 4 is announced
• Respawn's new game is announced

EDIT: I found my 2011 predictions blog, and I think I did a pretty good job. Here were my predictions

1. Half Life 2: Episode 3 information.

2. PSP2 officially announced

3. New Nintendo console announced

Contrary to popular belief, XCOM isn't in limbo. There seems to be a lot of history about the game that people, Greg Miller included, have ignored. For example, it wasn't completely absent from E3 2011. A pretty awesome 22 minute demo was released. It's long, but it provides a lot of context for the story and the gameplay mechanics, so I urge you to watch it. If you just want to skip straight to the gameplay/combat, that begins roughly 8 minutes into the video.

Also, the recent delay to 2013 shouldn't come as that much of a shock. The game was, at some point, supposed to come out this March. But it was delayed to fiscal 2013 over two months ago. So the recent delay to calendar 2013 isn't all that surprising, especially considering the recent announcement of XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

I'm not saying that you should fall in love with XCOM. I'm not saying it'll definitely be a good game. I'm just trying to expose a pretty impressive demo that most seem to have overlooked. There are other games that people are more excited about that have less to show than a 22 minute demo.

Just to be clear, I'm not looking for a gaming PC. I'm looking for just a general purpose laptop to replace my shitty current one, and I don't know where to start looking. It doesn't have to be super powerful, but it needs to accommodate my needs for a few years. It also needs to be better than what I currently have (HP Envy 15) in the ways I list below. Also, it doesn't have to be out yet, since it'll be a few months until I actually buy one. I just want to start doing research. My budget is roughly $1000, with a little leeway. That's not to say that I wouldn't gladly spend less, though.

Expensive piece of shit

These are roughly in order of priority.

1. Small. My HP is big, clunky and heavy. I'm looking for a 13" that's thin and light. It doesn't have to be Ultrabook thin (although it can be), but I travel a lot, so it should be comfortably portable.

2. Reliable. My HP has had problems basically since I bought it, particularly with the cooling fan. I'd like something that can last me a while without constant need of repairs.

3. Good battery life. My HP's battery life is awful. It came with a battery add-on which somewhat remedies the problem, but makes it even bigger and heavier. I'd like something that has a good battery life to begin with.

4. Volume. For whatever reason, the maximum volume on my HP isn't very loud. This is a problem when I'm on flights, since it's not loud enough to be able to watch movies.

5. USB ports. My HP has two USB ports. I'd like to have three, since one is constantly in use for my mouse.

Thanks for the help!

EDIT: I don't want a Mac! Seriously, enough with the Mac suggestions.

Welcome to the forty-eighth installment of Weekly WAYP or "What are you playing?" As usual, I included a song at the end of this blog. Please let me know in the comments if you listen to/like the songs I post. Also, feel free to tell me about any interesting media you've enjoyed over the past week, whether it's games, music, movies, books, comics, or anything else.

So what are you playing (or doing)? As usual, I'll go first.

I've just been playing a bunch of Assassin's Creed Revelations. I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

I watched Batman Year One, which was great.

Here's your song. It's "Born For This" by Paramore.

This blog isn't just about why Portal 2 is good. It's about why Portal 2 is important. There are certain elements that should be examined and imitated by other developers, since very few other games currently do them as well as Portal 2 does.

Humor

Portal 2 is a funny game. In fact, it's one of the funniest games I've played. That's an accomplishment. Humor is so reliant on timing, so it's tough to create humor in a medium in which timing is out of the creator's control. And yet, Portal 2 pulls it off phenomenally, and I think other developers could learn from it.

Cross-Platform Play

Portal 2 allowed you to play its co-op mode across PC and PS3. That's pretty rare in games. Obviously, most games don't lend themselves to any sort of cross-platform play that works, but Valve has shown that it can work quite well in a cooperative mode. Again, it's the kind of thing that would at least be interesting for other developers to attempt.

A Good Sequel

There are generally three types of sequels.

1) The iterative more-of-the-same type sequels that people generally complain about (Call of Duty: Black Ops, Fallout New Vegas)

2) The complete redesign which often turns out great, but is really a sequel in name only (Grand Theft Auto 3, Fallout 3)

3) The sequel that fixes a flawed predecessor (Assassin's Creed 2, Mass Effect 2)

Portal 2 is none of these. It certainly isn't iterative, as it adds a ton of new gameplay features and includes co-op. It's not a total redesign, since it very much feels and plays like a Portal game should. And lastly, it doesn't have the benefit of having a flawed predecessor, since Portal was a pretty excellent game already.  That's pretty impressive, if you think about it. Portal didn't leave a whole lot of room for improvement, and yet Portal 2 added a ton of stuff while still maintaining what we love about Portal.