Pachter: PSPgo is priced too high, might affect sales of PSP-3000

See, you're not the only one who thinks that the PSPgo is too expensive. You might also want to wait a bit if you were planning on getting the digital handheld, because according to Webush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter, if Sony does not cut the price, sales of the PSP 3000 sales are likely to be down year-over-year.

"The Go is just priced to high for the perceived value. It may play movies and music but most think iPod Nano ($149) or Touch ($199) for that," the analyst said speaking to VG247. "I don't see it boosting overall sales and without a price cut, the 3000 sales are likely to be down year-over-year," Pachter continued.

"I think Go will sell 400,000 units in the US, 400,000 in Europe and 200,000 in Japan through March. Most of those units will be incremental 'replacement' as people trade up, and they may dampen PSP-3000 demand by half that much. The 3000 is selling at last year's price in a worst economy with new competition from a sub-$200 Wii. I think overall PSP sales will be pretty similar to last year's maybe down a small amount," he concluded.

The PSPgo was released on October 1st, and according to Sony, is not doing bad, in fact it's doing good. But Pachter calls it as he sees it, and say what you want about the man, he actually knows what he's saying, sometimes.

In a recent poll we held where approximately 552 of you voted, 223 (40%) said no to the Go, 92 (14%) said yes, 49 (8%) said it wasn't their cup of tea, and 22 (3%) of you said you loved your DSi. These numbers are tough to behold Sony; you might need to cut the price of the thing after all.

10/23/09 Ernice Gilbert

Pachter: iPod touch is the most dangerous thing that ever happened to publishers

Pachter sometimes says things that many in this industry may disagree with, but this time, at least some of his opinions are right on point.

The Webush Morgan Securities analyst believes when you put major franchises on Apple products it cheapens their value. He also believes the youngsters coming up who play games on the iPod touch and iPhone are less likely to make the move from said devices to the major gaming systems like the prior generation, who were brought up on arcade and handhelds.

"I think the publishers are completely lame on this, I think they have it wrong," Pachter told Bonus Round. "EA's chasing it because they think it's an opportunity, I think the iPod touch is the most dangerous thing that ever happened to the publishers, ever, and they don't get it for two reasons."

"One, if you put Madden on the iPod touch for $10, you just cheapen the value of Madden. Whether it's the same experience or not, and it's not, why would I ever spend $60 for Madden if I can get it for $10 on my iPod touch?"

Pachter was then asked whether the iPod touch version of a game is appealing to the same audience as home console versions, he continued:

"It's going to be a different audience, it's going to be young kids because iPod touch is $199 this Christmas, it'll be $149 next, $129. When it's $99 every little nine year kid is going to have one of those instead of a DS or PSP, and if you train kids this is the game that you want to play...... How about Tetris? Why would you pay $20 for Tetris when you could get it for $6.99 or $3.99 on an iPod touch?

"It's a serious threat to pricing. And once people start to look at this as a substitute for DS for the smaller kids, for 12 and unders, then you're going to train a whole generation of 12 and unders that this is a perfectly acceptable gaming experience at a low price point. I think that we all started playing arcade games because we're a little bit older, but all the 20 year old kids playing games now started playing on the GBA and you work your way up. I think Apple intends to capture that audience and keep them, it's dangerous, and I'm not a big fan of it from a publisher's perspective."

What say you on Pachter's opinion? I think he has some valid points, but he's off on many. EA has brought many of its major titles to the iPod touch and iPhone, including Madden, Fifa, and Need For Speed.

10/15/09 Ernice Gilbert