Vladimir Cole at Joystiq predicts today that the coming ubiquity of wireless broadband access thanks to citywide Wi-Fi and WiMax deployments will bring with it a huge upsurge in the number of online Gamers. "Game developers that had been ignoring online functionality will rush to add it," he writes. "Those that have been doing it for years will be sitting pretty in the leadership position."

And, of course: "World of Warcraft will break 20 million subscribers."

Still, Cole admits there are some likely downsides as well -- think about all the work (and family) hours that will be lost to gaming addiction. And viruses will proliferate, he suggests, along with "sexual predators who will use the new networks in sophisticated ways."

Worst of all, of course, will be the enormous increase in competition: "Gamers who have heretofore been big fish in small ponds will learn what true competition is like," Cole writes. "Tens of millions of new gamers will be competing for the same leaderboard spots currently vied for by mere hundreds of thousands of gamers."