Source: This Future of the Week comes from the DS port of the SNES classic, Chrono Trigger

Premise: Chrono Trigger takes place, Wikipedia describes, “in an original world similar to Earth.” In the interest of full disclosure, I should reveal that I capitalized the “e” in Earth just before copying and pasting that text. For the purposes of this analysis, I will regard the game’s setting as a place synonymous with Earth. In the year 2300 A.D., civilization has been almost totally destroyed by a horrible creature called Lavos, who revealed himself and wrecked everything in 1999.

Utopia or Dystopia: Non-random combat encounters are an incredible thing, but then again, that’s the only thing that isn’t awful about this future. Dystopia.

Prescience: I appreciate works that depict 1999 because I lived through it, and luckily, a lot of them do. I’m glad to say that no horrible alien parasite named Lavos appeared out of the Earth in 1999, and so far, we haven’t run out of food, either.

Source: This Future of the Week comes from the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney trilogy of point-and-click adventure games, usually for the DS.

Premise: In the year 2016, a place that seems an awful lot like Japan but is actually Los Angeles will be populated by a couple dozen people: a few lawyers, two judges, an idiot named Butz, a crazy old lady, a detective, some mystics, and a bunch of criminals. Whenever possible, these people will involve themselves directly or indirectly in a murder. When a person is accused of a crime, his or her lawyer must prove not only reasonable doubt, but the guilt of another person, all in about three days.

Utopia or Dystopia: In 2016, the dead will be summoned, bodies and minds, by the living, essentially creating immortality. Utopia.

Prescience: Seven years is simply not long enough to create an ancient religion, especially not one capable of summoning the dead. Additionally, I have serious doubts about such a radical streamlining of the justice system, barring the rise of totalitarianism.

Source: This Future of the Week is presented by Starship Troopers 3, sequel to the hysterical Starship Troopers, and dull Starship Troopers 2.

Premise: In an unspecified but distant future, the United Citizen Federation wages a difficult war against the “Bugs,” even resorting to bunkering down in trenches to defend against the seemingly endless swarms. Protesters of the war are presented harshly by the media and their executions celebrated. Jolene Blalock is still hot.

Utopia or Dystopia: Surely, the sheer cheesiness of this future would bring about utopian glee.

Prescience: Well, governments are pretty good at controlling media, using religion to control their populations, and fighting endless, useless wars. Provided humanity eventually finds some giant bugs to kill, this future will be realized.

Source: This Future of the Week comes to us from Stanley Kubrick’s famous film, 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Premise: In what I’m assuming is the year 2001, humanity is faced with the rise, and the danger associated with, the sentient and malfunctioning machine. Genuinely futuristic looking space stations will be populated by people who look like they’re straight out of the ’60s. Film intermissions will be included in their DVD versions.

Utopia or Dystopia: The chairs of 2001 are the most exquisite chairs ever envisioned. Utopia.

Prescience: In the year 2001, computers were not sentient. They did not talk to me, they did not judge my artwork, and they didn’t even try to kill me.

Source: This Future of the Week is from Speed Racer, the 2008 film. At least, I’m pretty sure the movie takes place in the future, because modern racing has yet to properly mix drifting with tracks built like roller coasters.

Premise: At an unspecified point in time, Britons will rule the world with the iron fist of business tycoonery, and Americans will be a middle class struggling against their evil British overlords with the help of Australian mechanics. Christina Ricci will date a man way too young for her. Additionally, everything will look like a Skittles commercial.

Utopia or Dystopia: In the future, all scene transitions will occur with a character walking across the screen. This is a dystopia.

Prescience: The time period is not specified, but it doesn’t matter, this film is reality. Its anti-capitalist message is the voice of a generation.

Source: This Future of the Week greets us from the glorious realm of Geometry Wars: Galaxies for Nintendo Wii. Galaxies is a profound homage to the classic gameplay of Smash TV, and to the aesthetic of the ancient arcade.

Premise: Unfortunately, Geometry Wars: Galaxies has no story, so I’m really going to have to guess on a lot of this. You’re a dude in a little triangle ship, and you’ve got a fairly handy automated drone that assists you and gets better with practice. Together, you blast the horde of evil swarming all around you. I’m assuming this game takes place in the future, because it takes place in space, and the only kind of space game that could be set in the present day would have to be along the lines of an ISS docking sim.

Utopia or Dystopia: If moving my body were as intuitive as the controls for this game, I would give life 5 skulls out of 5. This is a utopia.

Prescience: Again, the game has no story, and so I have no idea when it is set. Judging by the poor tactics of the enemies you’re fighting, presumably alien or alien made, this game can’t possibly be a strong predictor of the future, as the aliens will surely crush us.

Source: This Future of the Week comes from one of the Super Nintendo’s great shmups, R-Type III: The Third Lightning. This game is a classic example of the shmup genre, you are in command of a small ship navigating large levels swarming with enemies, and it is exceedingly difficult.

Premise: This game presumably takes place in the 22nd century, as that is the time period of it’s predecessor, R-Type. The so-called “evil Bydo Empire” apparently needs to be struck, and in your ship, you must blast off to do so.

Utopia or Dystopia: This is difficult to say, because playing the game in its original SNES form would have meant continuous death, memorization, and restarting. However, playing this game on Wii Virtual Console meant I could play it, make a little progress, exit the game, and have my progress saved. Ultimately, even that was wildly difficult, and so I’m going to have to say that such hardships render this future a dystopia.

Prescience: Humanity could always create horrible biological weapons in the 26th century and have those creations escaping to 400 years in the past where they try to destroy their own creators, but it just doesn’t seem very plausible.

Source: This Future of the Week comes from a little Gamecube game that I really enjoyed, called Extreme-G III. This game wraps up our trilogy of super-fast-futuristic-racing games, which also included WipeOut 64 and F-Zero GX.

Premise: In the 23rd century, people race in motor cycles easily capable of breaking the sound barrier, and fire weapons at one another while doing so. Sometimes, these weapons will require you to hold down the B button for a really long time, and if you play with me, you will probably break the B button of my controller.

Utopia or Dystopia: The back of the case for this game states that it includes “12 international racers, including the smokin’ hot all-female team.” Well, I’m sold. We all know that in the future, women will not only be the equals of men, but also manage to get there while hindered by incredibly tight leather clothing. This is a utopia.

Prescience: You know, I just don’t think we’re going to be suspending concrete roads upside down in order to create massive vertical loops any time soon.

Source: The Future of the Week comes to us from the Gamecube hyper-classic, F-Zero GX. Like last week’s WipeOut 64, this game is of the super-fast-futuristic-racing genre.

Premise: In the 26th century, various terrifying racers will compete in a league full of danger for the sake of entertaining wealthy space merchants. Racers will pilot F-Zero machines, which are capable of moving across the ground without contact thanks to “G-Diffuser” anti-gravity technology.

Utopia or Dystopia: Danger is a constant in F-Zero; when they aren’t racing, some competitors are known to be bounty hunters, and all act ferociously and without mercy. Additionally, competitors must train constantly in order to succeed by repeatedly attempting the same races, often dying in the process, only to be reborn and forced to try again. F-Zero GX is a dystopia.

Prescience: The obnoxious television programming represented in the game, in which interviewers ask sports personalities the most unoriginal and bland things possible, is already here.

Source: This Future of the Week comes from the N64 game WipeOut 64, of the super-fast-futuristic-racing genre.

Premise: In the year 2098, racing will have evolved beyond its current appeal to rednecks, and will instead be catered towards lovers of techno and ultra-violence. In 2098, anti-gravity will be a readily available technology, as will weapons that exist only as 2-dimensional lights before being picked up.

Utopia or Dystopia: The aesthetics of the future presented in this game are enough for me to call it a utopia. I am truly excited for the coming of metallic, hard angled architecture combined with rockin’ techno and random glowing lights.

Prescience: Considering the current existence of racing in our society as utterly unappealing for spectators, I have my doubts as to the accuracy of this game. Additionally, I noted only small crowds in the game for the races, something I wish the current sport of racing suffered from.

Source: This Future of the Week is brought to us by Metal Warriors. This is a mech game for the Super Nintendo in which the player, controlling a little man inside a giant robot, must battle against other little men controlling giant robots.

Premise: In the year 2102 an evil army called the “Dark Axis Forces,” who you know is evil with a name like that, is plotting to enslave Earth. Well, something needs to be done, and as the back of the box says “you’ve got a three ton laser-sword-wielding, energy-cannon-firing, jet-propelled suit of robotic armor at your disposal.” The choice is clear: it’s time for battle.

Utopia or Dystopia: Let’s be honest, life in 2009 is pretty damned dull, intergalactic war and giant mechs sound like just what the modern era needs. Did I mention that the mechs have plasma swords? This is a utopia.

Prescience: Unfortunately, 2102 is still almost 100 years away and that’s just too far away to know how accurate this game will ultimately be. This is another one of those times where I have to say, it just doesn’t seem likely because nothing this awesome ever happens.

Source: The future of the week comes to us from Retro Studios, who, following the great reception of their game Metroid Prime in 2002, felt that gamers would actually enjoy their sequel, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes in the year 2004.

Premise: In the year 2004, gamers will have evolved beyond the need to understand what they are viewing on their televisions. In the murky depths of Metroid Prime 2’s textures will lurk the means of enjoying a video game.

Utopia or Dystopia: Dystopia, because I like splotchy purple, but I would hate for it to be the only colour.

Prescience: Near its release, Retro’s prediction looked strong; critics found minor faults with the game but still gave it great scores. As players began to explore the game and the fanboy-goggles that had led critics astray waned in influence, the true horror of the game was revealed.

Source: The Future of the Week comes from a game which overreached more than any other on the N64, the first person shooter Perfect Dark.

Premise: In the year 2023, defense contractors will conspire with aliens and try to clone an American president. Special grenades called N-Bombs will create black spheres of a material which cause the space-time continuum to sputter and lose frames, slapping people will have a similar effect. Laptops will become so advanced that some will have sentient AI and be able to fly, while others will be able to transform into guns which in turn can transform into turrets.

Utopia or Dystopia: Dystopia. As exciting as the many shiny surfaces and neat guns would be, I just don’t think I could take the constant frame rate issues.

Prescience: Like so many futures, this one loses points for aliens. Maybe aliens will show up by 2023, but I doubt they will have much interest in what human defense contractors have to offer. The President of the United States is black even before the predicted date, but he lacks a goatee, and does not pronounce “assume” as “ash-ume.”

Source: The Future of the Week comes from the 1990 Atari ST and Amiga game AWESOME. I’ve never actually played the game, and so I will be basing this analysis purely on the box art, seen above.

Premise: At some unknown date in the future, space will be traversed in ships so AWESOME looking that they will have caught up with the most AWESOME artistic renderings.

Utopia or Dystopia: As incredible as I imagine this future would be, I have to call this one a dystopia. The image reminds me of the kind of ships I used to draw as a kid, but I could never make them look so AWESOME, and I became discouraged. In this future, I imagine many more children would aspire to such drawings, and feel a similar displeasure.

Prescience: Currently, the realm of space travel is underwhelming. People haven’t even gone to Mars, let alone set out on lonely interstellar voyages in decrepit looking battlecruisers. Current space-faring vehicles are small, and covered in boring heat shield panels instead of a thick, grimy layer of AWESOME.

Source: The Future of the Week comes from vintage business simulation/strategy game Aerobiz Supersonic for the SNES.

Premise: In the years 2000-2020, supersonic air travel will emerge and then quickly fade, Russia will join the EU, an oil crisis will cripple airlines, countries will ask the airlines for money in order to find fossil fuel alternatives, and I will become incredibly wealthy setting up short airline routes between the cities of Japan.

Utopia or Dystopia: The future portrayed has turned out to be the exact opposite of reality, making Aerobiz Supersonic a utopia.

Prescience: Supersonic travel never “took off.” Every day, Russia tries to hoist the Iron Curtain back up. Oil prices plummet along with the world economy. Governments bail out industries, never the reverse. The only thing I’m the CEO of is a money-losing website. Aerobiz Supersonic got it all wrong.

Source: The Future of the Week comes from the mediocre ’90s sci-fi disaster film Independence Day. The film was released July 2, 1996 and depicts the events of July 2nd through 4th 1996, therefore counting as a prediction of the future.

Premise: July 2, 1996 dawns, and strange alien craft appear over Earth’s major cities. Once the aliens have settled into position, they launch a simultaneous world-wide attack, devastating much of the human population of Earth. A number of stragglers in the United States manage to stay alive and come together to save the world. Will Smith punches an alien in the face, Jeff Goldblum defeats the aliens using a computer virus he creates on his Mac, and Bill Pullman inspires the planet with a speech based on American flag-waving.

Utopia or Dystopia: Brent Spiner’s description to the President of the United States of his excitement over the many discoveries he’s been able to make with regards to the aliens due to their invasion of Earth mirrors my own excitement over the possibility of Earth being destroyed. This is a utopia.

Prescience: Having personally lived through 1996, I can assure you that these events did not occur. In the event of any actual alien invasion, Will Smith will be powerless to resist.

Source: This future of the week comes from the classic sci-fi horror film Alien.

Premise: In the year 2122, incredible technologies will be available. People will be put into stasis for long interstellar voyages on ships filled with a wondrous amount of flashing lights, and androids will be nearly indistinguishable from humans. All of this will be accomplished with computers approximately as powerful as they were in 1979. Also, there will be horrible aliens.

Utopia or Dystopia: This has got to be a dystopia. Dealing with the vast distances of space so that rescue is impossible would be rough, especially with the looming threat of murderous, face-hugging, chest-ripping, acid-bleeding aliens.

Prescience: We’ve still got over 100 years to go, so it’s hard to say how close we are to this future. Faster than light travel still seems pretty implausible even that far out, but we already have computers much better than those of 1979. In 100 years we could also easily have Bilbo-looking androids.

Source: This Future of the Week comes from the SNES version of Super Baseball 2020. It’s one of only a few good sports games ever made.

Premise: In the year 2020, the rules of baseball will have changed. Smaller home run and foul ball zones will be introduced, as well as gravity-altering “stop” and “jump” zones. Robots will play along side armored humans (both men and women). No one will need steroids as infusions of pure cash will be able to juice them up.

Utopia or Dystopia: Baseball made exciting? Hot cleavage-showing female baseball players? Easily utopia.

Prescience: Not even close. There is no way that in just 12 years we will even have robots capable of playing baseball as well as humans, let alone a single massive baseball stadium in which an infinitely large crowd watches on. Then again, anime-inspired robots will soon roam the Earth.

Source: The inaugural Future of the Week is brought to us by Super Smash TV, the SNES port of the arcade game Smash TV.

Premise: In 1999, the world’s most violent game show will allow us to compete for prizes like toasters and VCRs by gunning down waves of people equipped with little more than baseball bats.

Utopia or Dystopia: Utopia, for sure. Just imagine winning all of that big money and those big prizes, I would love it.

Prescience: Obviously, this didn’t come true by the predicted date of 1999, but it could still happen. The ratings are there, Survivor and its reality TV ilk have been dominating television since the dawn of the 21st century. Paris Hilton’s My New BFF shows us that people are willing to do anything to win prizes even less alluring than a new VCR. All that’s needed is for TV to adapt to the more violent nature of man.