After a year hiatus, and an arguably failed attempt at hosting a fully virtual conference, CES is finally returning to Las Vegas for a 6 day, in-person celebration of all things tech this January. We’re as pumped as ever to dive into this one-a-year extravagant orgy of capitalism and gadgetry at the world epicenter of filth and hedonism. Ah, how we’ve missed you CES.

The first slate of exhibitors have been announced for CES 2022. Here’s the ones we’re most excited to see.

1 – Google

A staple over the past few CESs, Google rarely makes groundbreaking announcements at CES (they like to hold their own news conferences to keep the spotlight squarely on themselves). They do however have a sizeable presence at the show featuring multiple interactive exhibits, with generous prizes handed out to conference goers. Here’s hoping that we can score some gadgets at one of Google’s giant gumball prize machines.

2 – LG

Now that LG has unceremoniously exited the phone business, they are free to focus on their core competencies. LG is known for unveiling extravagant concepts like 2020’s rollable TV panel, so we’re excited to see what wacky, unobtainable pieces of tech they decide to unleash upon the world next.

3 – Waymo

Formerly part of Google, and now spun-off to it’s own division under the Alphabet umbrella, Waymo was one of the OG self driving car companies. While the utopian future of fully autonomous driving hasn’t arrived as early as we’ve been promised, Waymo has been slowly chipping away at the problem for over a decade; we’re eager to see what they will be showing off at CES. Will they release their own custom vehicle, or partner with existing car manufactures? We’ll find out in January.

4 – Intel

After lagging behind AMD, and failing for several years to get their post 14nm tech off the ground, Intel is finally back on track it seems. With and aggressive new roadmap for their fabrication technology and a new venture into third-party manufacturing, competing with the likes of TSMC, Intel is finally worth paying attention to once again. Here’s hoping that they show off something more exciting than their laughable real sense technology.

5 – AMD

If we’re excited about Intel, you know we’re gonna get pumped up for AMD. Everyone loves an underdog, and AMD has been nailing it from their absurd 64 core Threadrippers, to their nearly-as-good-as-Nvidia-but-cheaper GPUs. We’ll be tuned in to see if AMD can keep up the momentum and keep much needed pressure and competition on Intel and Nvidia. As the main APU supplier of both the Xbox Series X/S, and the PS5, AMD is in a position to keep a steady revenue stream for years to come. Let’s hope they don’t rest on their laurels, and that they continue to chip away and Intel and Nvidia’s market share.

6 – Facebook

Ok, ok, just hear me out. I can hear all of you screaming at your screen, “Facebook is evil, Facebook is harbingering the downfall of civilization as we know it”. Sure, I agree. But you know what else Facebook does? They make neat tech like the Oculus Quest 2. Even if we never plan on owning an Oculus, or buying the new Ray-Ban designed smart-glasses, due to their onerous requirement to create a Facebook profile and submit to a lifetime of tracking and ad-targeting, we at least want to take a look at whatever Facebook is cooking up to see if it’s cool. That’s ok right? Please tell us that’s ok.

7 – Impossible

We last checked out Impossible at CES a few years back when they partnered with White Castle to release slider burger with a pork like meat substitute. What did it taste like? A mediocre pork patty in a bun that only a stoner would enjoy. In other words, they accomplished exactly what they set out to.

After becoming a household name and conquering the world of vegan meat from the likes of Burger King to high-end restaurants, what newfangled, meat-adjacent products will Impossible announce next, and will they be tasty and affordable enough to make us swear off animal flesh forever? We’ll let our mouths decide.

8 – Sierra Space

I honestly hadn’t heard of Sierra Space until I saw their logo on the CES webpage. As someone intrigued by all things outer space, I decided to check out their website. Their flagship project appears to be a multi-mission “space utility vehicle” akin to the space shuttle. Is Sierra Space yet another vaporware startup clutching to the hopes of succeeding in the highly competitive space economy? Will I be amazed, or massively disappointed by whatever they decide to show at CES? Either way, I’m ready to check it out.