Pachter: Wii U arriving two years too late, could be a success or a failure, name is dumb
Here’s some commentary from everyone’s favorite game analyst, Wedbush Securities’ Michael Pachter…
“We were once again impressed by this year’s E3, and the show continues to get better and better. The hardware displayed was impressive, and each of the console manufacturers showed many core games for their respective systems. The most impactful ‘reveal’ at the show was the Wii U, which, in our opinion, is arriving two years too late. Depending on pricing, the system will be either a phenomenal success or a phenomenal failure, as competitive bundles for Xbox 360 with Kinect and PS3 with Move are likely to be priced below $300 by the time the Wii U launches.”
“We expect the 3DS to sell well at holiday, due to a phenomenal lineup of content, but think that the PS Vita will capture some share early next year. Solid sales of each device should bode well for GameStop, which will likely receive preferential allocations. Sony also continued to try to integrate its other consumer electronics products into its E3 presentation by announcing a 3DTV PlayStation-branded bundle priced at $499, which we expect to sell exceedingly well.”
“In all, we think that the new hardware introductions have some potential to reinvigorate the video game market, and think that the core games scheduled for release later this year and early next are sufficient to allow the industry to again begin to grow. We expect investors to remain on the sidelines until they see tangible evidence of industry growth, but we are confident that this will occur over the next several months.”
And what does Pachter think of the Wii U name? When discussing the PlayStation Vita name, Pachter said that it’s “the second-dumbest name for a device after Wii U”.