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The new year rings in a whole new set of trends and topics covered in this month’s prediction-themed issue of PLAYED. This month, we make some predictions and offer insight into what to watch for as the year moves on. 2010 is already prime for some big releases, all hoping to dethrone Modern Warfare 2 as the biggest game of all time. With past success stories in mind, we look into what titles could capture mainstream attention and how they plan on doing it. Also, we explore why this year could, indeed, be the Year of Mobile (again), as well as how gaming consoles will change from just another box under the television to full-service, multimedia devices that control your living room. Finally, we cover the shifting of game design towards mass collaboration, with teams uniting online to bring new and interesting experiences to gamers everywhere.

The state of modern technology can be summed up by the TV in my hotel room. It was a 50″ flatscreen LCD, mounted beautifully into a wooden console, but displaying a blocky, stretched standard definition signal. Despite the investment made into purchasing these top-tier TVs, the hotel wasn’t using them to their full, high-definition potential. At CES, one could walk through miles of glistening technology, showcasing 3D images, immersive soundscapes, and internet-enabled everything, but to what purpose? Are consumers so over HDTV that they need a third-dimension? Is the world ready for an internet-enabled alarm clock? If the SD broadcast of ESPN greeting me every morning was any indication, the answer might be no.

Not to say that consumers are outright rejecting technological advancement, they’re just not seeing the benefits of such things in their everyday lives. That said, the marketing implications below are less about the gear and more about how marketers could utilize this tech to engage consumers in whole new ways. Through devices like eReaders, services like online storefronts, and the convergence of digital services into the living room, marketers are going to have a lot of opportunity to do groundbreaking work and, perhaps, change consumer perception about these technological breakthroughs. Then, maybe, I can get an HD signal in my hotel room for CES 2011.

I bet you never thought watching a woman cry at the end of a movie could be so hilarious or insightful? What about watching 70+ minutes of why Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was a horrible movie?After you spend and hour plus of your life on those two, head over to Quizpedia to test your deductive skills on some random Wikipedia entries. And then, if you feel you are wasting too much time on social media sites (don’t we all?) check out our last article for some ideas on how to cute back or, perhaps, give it up entirely.

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[when you don't have supermodel help]

Anybody can create a Facebook page, and now every brand is.  Whether it’s for a , a , a , , or even , it’s the new standard for appearing to be hip to social media.  Now that , brands must work harder for their fans.  Below are 5 tips that can help a brand’s Facebook page.

In Issue 50, we look at an incredible Lego + Matrix creation as well as the continuing popularity of the 1933 Henry Beck London Tube map design. On page two we delve a bit deeper into our collective psych by examining what we can learn about our culture from Google’s search box suggestions. Finally, we look at a few examples of the way digital culture celebrates the collection and presentation of disparate objects in manners their creators never intended.

Click above to read the entire issue.