Gadgets and Video Games

Now that the gaming public at large has had a chance to discuss Apple’s iPad , it’s for the analysts to weigh in. Speaking with IndustryGamers , prior to the iPad announcement, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter intimated that he didn’t expect the tablet set the gaming world on fire. “It’s going to have limited appeal to gamers, although some people will buy it obviously,” said Pachter. He elaborated that the device could affect Nintendo’s DS, though

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Analysts: Gamers won’t care about iPad

We know, we know — you’ve been sitting around all day worried sick about GameStop . Ever since the recent announcement of a cut profit forecast and the resultant drop in share prices , we’ve been in exactly the same boat. Good thing then that the company has announced plans to repurchase $300 million in stock from investors as part of its 2010 ” Capital Allocation Strategy ,” with intentions to increase earnings per share by 10 percent

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GameStop reveals 2010 capital allocation program

Following yesterday’s lowered profit forecast announcement from GameStop, the company’s stock took a 15 percent dive as of last night. According to GamesInudstry.biz , stocks opened yesterday “sharply down” due to the release of lowered profit expectations, but rose again before ending the day at $20.46. We might not know what the future holds for GameStop, but Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter returned from the future for just long enough to say he believes “industry sales will rebound in 2010 and that GameStop is well-positioned to gain share [over] the first half of the year.” It certainly doesn’t hurt the retailer that 2010 is chock full of delayed 2009 releases , we imagine

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GameStop shares drop 15% following holiday sales info release

THQ’s stock jumped up a solid 13 percent yesterday over whispers that the publisher is in a takeover company’s line of sight. Optimism has recently surrounded the once fumbling publisher , as it pulled off a couple retail successes and has put on a good show with some surprisingly frank talk about its future . However, as much as investors believe a buyout is in the works, Reuters spoke with an analyst who isn’t so sure. MKM Partners analyst Eric Handler says rumors of a THQ buyout crop up almost every quarter. He believes THQ still has too many licensed games and is just starting to build a solid foundation of owned intellectual property

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THQ takeover talk causes stock bump

Best Buy surprised the gaming public last week with the revelation that it was testing a new pricing program that would see the retailer selling new games at used prices. Specifically, the test store in Utah will match the used game prices of both GameStop and Game Crazy . According to Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, the program isn’t likely to last very long. “I don’t think it will do well,” Pachter tells Game Politics , adding that price matching forces Best Buy to “either cuts their profit per game in half, or wipes it out altogether.” He expresses the opinion that Best Buy can’t afford to chop $10 off the price of a $60 game, saying that such a practice won’t be effective “in the long run.” Furthermore, even if the program does take off, Pachter believes GameStop will simply lower its used game prices “to the point where Best Buy can’t match without losing money.” He has a point, but, from the consumer perspective, it’s hard to see a downside

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Pachter says Best Buy’s new games at used prices program will fail

SEC documents reveal that ZeniMax obtained $105 million in debt financing for its acquisition of id Software . PaidContent dug up the documents, but is currently working on what entity actually slid the cash ZeniMax’s way. We’re not that well versed in our mergers and acquisitions jargon, so we asked Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter for a bit of an explanation. Just what is “debt financing”?

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ZeniMax received at least $105 million in financing for id Software

Among the many fascinating (and not so fascinating) takeaways from Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter’s recent and massive industry report are revelations about the current console adoption rate. As much as the Wii has seemingly penetrated previously untapped demographics (see grandma’s now defunct bridge club) and ostensibly raised console adoption rates to new highs, the current generation is practically dead even with the last one when comparing the two generation’s first four calendar years on the market. That is, from 2005 (when Xbox 360 launched in late November) through 2008, the current generation of consoles (Wii, PS3 and 360) combined for approximately 78 million unit sales, according to Wedbush Morgan estimates. Comparatively, from 2000 (the year PS2 launched) through 2003, the previous generation (GameCube, PS2 and Xbox) combined for 78-79 million unit sales. However, in this pivotal fifth year, Wedbush Morgan predicts the current adoption rate will begin to pull ahead of the previous rate.

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Current console adoption rate only now passing last cycle’s, Pachter reports

Normally when Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter whips out his crystal ball and starts getting the vapors, he doesn’t have time to turn on his minirecorder and take down the futurespeak channeled through his body. Luckily for us (and you!), he not only recorded it this time, but also wrote it down in the form of the 2009 Interactive Industry Report! We delved through the beast of a document this afternoon and found an interesting segment regarding the Nintendo Wii relying on “slower adoption rates of current generation technology” (read as: high-def displays) to help boost sales. Pachter writes on page nine of the report, “The global recession served to benefit Nintendo at its competitors’ expense,” referencing Microsoft and Sony as having slower console sales this generation due to HDTV functionality built into the systems. He argues that consumers who might purchase the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 are more likely to buy the Wii not only because of the lower price point, but because of the subsequent HDTV purchase price. “Expect most consumers to defer purchasing a PS3 or an Xbox 360 until they have purchased an HD monitor,” Pachter explains.

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Pachter: Nintendo is benefiting from global recession side effects

Although Wedbush Morgan analyst, Michael Pachter, predicts PS2 will become somewhat irrelevant in 2009 , he doesn’t discount the combined strength of the PlayStation brand. He remains optimistic for the entire PlayStation family as he expects “software sales for Sony consoles to account for 31% of all game software sold worldwide.” Pachter indicated in Wedbush’s annual Interactive Industry Report that, while the numbers have been dwindling for PS2, overall worldwide software sales for PS3 titles have more than doubled within the last year. In 2008, 62.4 million units of PS3 software titles have been sold — a huge step up from the 29.6 million units sold in 2007.

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Pachter: PlayStation software sales will account for 31% of all games sold worldwide in 2009

No, it’s okay. You can read that again. According to a report released by Wedbush Morgan’s Michael Pachter , the company was given a demo of streaming game service OnLive this past March. Pachter states that latency between the user and OnLive’s servers is supposed to be no more than 80 milliseconds, while the games he demoed were running at 25 milliseconds. While Pachter isn’t certain if OnLive will “dominate any time soon” he believes that the micro console’s video conferencing feature “will likely attract widespread demand.” (Wait, it plays Crysis like a gaming PC and it’s video conferencing that will sell this thing?) Pachter states that OnLive should appeal to families that have yet to buy into the current generation of consoles, especially if the service is priced right

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Pachter: Crysis via OnLive like ‘playing on a fully-optimized gaming PC’