The game industry’s set to bounce back thanks to the latest technology from Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, according to Wedbush Morgan analysts Michael Pachter and Edward Woo.
While that statement may seem obvious to all but the most highly paid analyst, it hasn’t stopped the Wedbush Morgan duo from voicing their opinion.
Speaking to Gamasutra, the pair said that 2010’s new hardware introductions “have great potential to reinvigorate the video game market,” if manufacturers can surmount major pricing hurdles.
The pair seemed most impressed by Nintendo’s 3DS, saying that it was “truly impressive” and a device that “appears to be the ‘must have’ consumer electronics product over the next few years.”
Pachter and Woo predict the 3DS will run high, around the region of $250, though they are still confident that Nintendo will sell “many millions of them in the first full year of production.”
Microsoft’s Kinect and the PlayStation Move may struggle a bit more than the 3DS if the Wedbush duo are to be believed, with the pair saying that Microsoft in particular is “struggling with a pricing strategy.”
“We are not yet convinced that the hardcore Xbox 360 user, who typically ‘controls’ decisions about his/her console, will find the game lineup for Kinect sufficiently compelling to purchase the device at a price point over $100, and think that pricing at the higher point would severely limit sales,” said the analysts.
As far as Move was concerned: “Some games can be played with the PlayStation Eye camera and a Move controller, some with the Eye and two Move controllers, and some with the Eye, a Move controller and a Navigation controller. In order to be safe, consumers wishing to participate in the Move experience will have to purchase the Eye ($29.99), two Move controllers ($49.99 each) and the Navigation controller ($29.99), plus a game.
“If purchased as part of a bundle, the all-in cost to play with Move will approach $180, which we think is beyond the reach of the typical household. We think that Sony’s Move is truly impressive, but remain concerned that initial sales could disappoint.”
When it came to software at E3 both Patcher and Woo thought it “was perhaps the most impressive in years.”
The pair seemed to think that MTV’s Dance Central would be the Kinect’s “killer app,” while Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops will be this year’s top overall seller.
Move, which is dated for this September, is the first of the three devices to launch, and will be followed by Kinect this November.
Nintendo’s 3DS is not yet been priced or dated.
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