Wed, May 12, 2010 | 21:01 BST
Pachter: Sony Move is basically Wii HD
Industry analyst Michael Pachter has weighed in on which of the big three console manufacturers will be the belle of the ball at E3 next month.
His opinion? Well, that depends on how well Nintendo’s 3DS is received.
Speaking with Eurogamer in a really great interview, Pachter also said point blank that Sony’s Move is Wii HD, plain and simple.
“Nintendo is on the verge of – certainly not dropping into third place or anything – losing its dominance, because I really truly believe that Sony Move is the Wii HD,” he said.
“I really believe it. That’s been my quote: I told everyone a Wii HD was coming this year, it just happens to say PS3 on the box. It is the Wii HD.
“That’s a very easy upsell for Sony to say, ‘If you have a Wii and you really want to play high-def games on your new big high-def TV, we’ve got ‘em.’
“Sony is a winner and Nintendo is a loser on the console side, because the Wii Vitality Sensor isn’t going to excite anybody. But the 3DS will. If you look at Nintendo’s line-up, everything we care about is either out or known by now”.
That being said, Pachter also said not to count Microsoft out with Natal, even though he believes that the peripheral will be marketed more to the less tech savvy.
“People are going to like Microsoft more than we expect,” he said. “Microsoft isn’t concerned about the gaming community with Natal, they’re concerned about the gaming community’s mothers and girlfriends.
“I really do think the gaming press has completely missed the mark on this one, that Natal is not intended for you to get up there and pretend you’re holding a rifle and playing Call of Duty. It’s intended for your mum to use the frickin’ 360 to download a movie or watch Netflix and to make it less intimidating.
“The cool thing about Natal is the voice command. “Xbox on.” I mean, that’s cool. People will really like it when they see it and they begin to appreciate what it is”.
Going back to the 3DS, Pachter said that unless Nintendo prices the new handheld properly, it will be killing the just released DSi XL – plus, the company needs to keep a closer watch on Apple.
“If the 3DS is anything like those little 3D point-and-click cameras, because that screen technology is pretty cool and I’m sure it is that, it will really get people excited,” he said.
“Question is: what does it cost? If they get $189 for a DSi XL, do they think they’re going to get $300 for a 3DS? I don’t know. Maybe they will, but that’s a tough purchase for me.
“The 3DS is coming along at a really good time for them. I don’t think it’s good for the DSi XL. If they launch the thing [the 3DS] prior to holiday, I can’t imagine why anybody would buy a DSi XL this holiday.
“Longer term, Nintendo does really start to look bad as Apple really starts to push the iPod Touch as a gaming device, and that’s happening this holiday.
“Again, the gaming press hasn’t figured it out. The gaming press doesn’t really understand the 12-year-old customer, nor do you guys care. Who plays DS games? Them, not us.
“Nintendo’s got problems this year but the 3DS will make them look great at E3.
“This is more a hardware show than in the past”.
The full interview can be read through here.
It’s honestly a good read, but we already said that once.
29 comments
#1
DarkDevil
12/05/10, 9:12 pm
Wii HD?
I cant see Mario, Zelda, Samus etc. on the PS3 !
Pachter is the fail in person -.-
^^
#2
CenoBit
12/05/10, 9:55 pm
And a PS3/WiiHD (with Sony’s back catalogue) would be a bad thing because…??
#3
JimFear666
12/05/10, 9:56 pm
Oh you’re talking about the game that you’re doing the same thing on it since 20years? No need for that on ps3.
#4
Erthazus
12/05/10, 10:03 pm
People go to Eurogamer and read that interview.
Michael Pachter cracks me out. What a douche.
#5
CenoBit
12/05/10, 10:05 pm
Come on now don’t say thaaat!
I mean in Wii you can have Mario racing in kart games, playing in party games, fighting with…Pokemon and even play the same game you played on your SNES.
Plus there has been a tremendous evolution in the series. Now…there are stars and planets. Exciting!!!! lol
#6
Tallon 4
12/05/10, 10:05 pm
The empire strikes back: PSwiiHD
#7
MushroomStamp
12/05/10, 10:09 pm
Want zelda in 3d get 3D Dot
#8
Boris Fett
12/05/10, 10:18 pm
Well it basically is Wii HD… but that’s not exactly a bad thing, now is it? I’m certainly not going to complain about seeing some of the Wii’s best third party titles (yes, such things do exist) appearing on the PS3 in high definition.
Red Steel 2 on the PS3 with HD graphics and Dolby Surround Sound? Uummm… YES PLEASE!
#9
CenoBit
12/05/10, 10:24 pm
I don’t care for Red Steel (either one of them).
Especially the second one was a snoozefest. Repetitive, boring, with cheap cell-shaded graphics and even worse dialogues. And the katana fights were not even half as good as they had us believing they would be.
#10
Bulk Slash
12/05/10, 10:44 pm
Pachter will say anything to avoid admitting his prediction of an HD Wii was wrong…
#11
Erthazus
12/05/10, 10:46 pm
@10 +1
#12
MegaGeek1
13/05/10, 1:36 am
Pachter kills me. Why do people listen to this guy? Anyone with enough interest in the VG industry to register on this website could make similar and probably more accurate predictions.
This just in;
Sony will wow fans with a Resistance 3 trailer at E3 and Microsoft will sell butt loads of Halo Reach copies. Also, EA is loosing their hardcore gamer fan base by implementing a 10 “pass” fee.
Now give me his salary!
#13
Yoshi
13/05/10, 1:40 am
@12 he doesnt get payed for making predictions about Wii HD etc etc he just does that for fun. It’s Videogame sites fault for posting it lol
#14
MegaGeek1
13/05/10, 1:47 am
@13 lol true, So what does he do? I thought his whole shtick was being one of the first video game industry analysts.
#15
daytripper
13/05/10, 1:56 am
“Apple will release a console in 2013 that will provide a service similar to Steam and possibly blow it away”
#16
ysleiro
13/05/10, 6:47 am
@14 He is an industry analyst. But his main clients are investors. You know the 40+ year old dudes that don’t know the industry and need what we call “the obvious” spelled out to them.
Basically his comments are not meant for video gaming sites since most of us here know most of the crap he spews.
#17
Filofax
13/05/10, 11:11 am
@8 Lets hope its a lot more responsive than the Wii, and that they do a lot more with games than just shake shake shake.
#18
justiceblob
13/05/10, 11:35 am
@15 You laugh now…. but look at Apple’s track record in breaking into new industries. They keep managing to somehow make deals with people that experienced players in those fields couldnt make themselves.
#19
daytripper
13/05/10, 11:44 am
@18 i wasnt laughing, i was predicting the future.
#20
justiceblob
13/05/10, 11:48 am
@19 Sorry… I missunderstood.I agree with yoyu
I’m no Apple Fanboy, but no way am I going to laugh at them trying something new. Its like their name is a spell that controls consumers’ minds…
#21
daytripper
13/05/10, 11:59 am
no apology required my good man
#22
justiceblob
13/05/10, 12:28 pm
@21 I would have a rant about how you assumed that I am a man, but we are on good terms, so I wont.
#23
daytripper
13/05/10, 12:33 pm
ok babez x
#24
pleasant_cabbage
13/05/10, 12:49 pm
/doesn’t want to know what a justiceblob actually is
/guessbokes
#25
justiceblob
13/05/10, 1:25 pm
No, I am a man, I was just pointing out the blantanty sexsism that surrounds this industry.
EDIT Analyse that Pachter
#26
OlderGamer
13/05/10, 1:46 pm
Hello Captian Obvious.
But, if Nintendo was HD and Online focused Move would be a harder sell. As it is a lot of folks are looking forward to it BECAUSE it is HD/Online.
Personialy I think most Waggle games are over rated. I love the back libary of VC/Wii games. But because we don’t actualy play many motion controled Wii games, I am not all that interested in motion controled PS3(or xb360) games. Most of them just aren’t fun, and are often frustrating because of bad control response and control schemes.
I will take a wait and see approach to move/natal.
No need for that for Patcher, he is an idiot.
#27
OlderGamer
13/05/10, 1:49 pm
If cloud based gaming takes off, I fully expect Apple to release a cloud based game console. i-Game, wait for it.
#28
daytripper
13/05/10, 2:05 pm
blatant sexsism when you have a link to your profile on your name
#29
Erthazus
13/05/10, 2:14 pm
@27 Never heard of Pip Pin? Because they had console that FAILED miserably.