The Nintendo 3DS could see higher game prices than its predecessor, reckons industry analyst Michael Pachter.
According to the Wedbush man, the new handheld is "revolutionary" enough to justify larger price tags - and it'll still sell with them.
"We view the 3DS as a revolutionary device, and expect its launch to spur hardware and software sales," Pachter said today.
"Due to the unique 3DS experience previewed by Nintendo at E3 this year, we believe Nintendo will be able to sell millions of units even at a price of upwards of $250."
"From a software perspective, we believe Nintendo will be able to increase DS software prices, from a blended average of around $25 today to over $29 next year."
Speaking to CVG last month, the analyst predicted that Nintendo would quickly sell ten million 3DS consoles at "any price below $300," suggesting that it's certainly not under pressure to put an attractive RRP on the device.
"The 3DS was SO much better than I ever imagined, it has to be the hit of the [E3] show," Pachter said. "I think that they can sell out the first 10 million at any price below $300, and think that the experience is well worth a price that high."
Comments
28 comments so far...
WHERESMYMONKEY on 26 Jul '10 said:
i'm looking forward to the day i read the headline. 'Patcher retires'
Seriously does he actually know anything based in reality about the industry. The wii was pretty damn revolutionary when it was first launched and its games are the lowest priced of the three home consoles.
gothchild on 26 Jul '10 said:
God I'm getting sick of this bs.
Pachter isn't an idiot, he sometimes makes valid points, but he needs to get this clear.
Nintendo of today keeps things cheap.
They have done for the last decade, I don't think they're going to charge a lot for the 3DS just because they can. If anything, they want another huge userbase so more developers are drawn to the system.
If this was an Apple or Sony product, I may agree with him, but it's not, it's Nintendo and we all know they're going to keep things nice and affordable like they've been doing for a while now.
buffers32 on 26 Jul '10 said:
Pachter to make another guess about industry tomorrow - Buffers32.
yerbluesjohn on 26 Jul '10 said:
CVG, will you please just STOP with these stories about Pachter. It's not news. It's some fella making the same predictions any of us could make. You only print them to p**s us all off. Give it a rest eh?
SoulChimera on 26 Jul '10 said:
Yeah, just stick a Patcher section on the left hand side with all the other links and be done with it.
DAEDALUS79 on 26 Jul '10 said:
Keep things nice and affordable? Sorry but nintendo games are some of the worst offenders for games remaining expensive. Look at any first party ninty game (mario, zelda, metroid), the prices NEVER drop, certainly dont do so in any pattern to normal games.
ensabahnur on 26 Jul '10 said:
I reckon CVG should just set up a dedicated Patcher site, with links from the main page, then we won't have to read his "i guess" articles every f**kin day.
ensabahnur on 26 Jul '10 said:
True, many of us remember paying £55 for Super Metriod, Donkey Kong Country and various N64 games. Plus they're still selling the Wii at near enough the launch price.
azz72 on 26 Jul '10 said:
Please stop talking
Beetle Bum on 26 Jul '10 said:
MARIO 64 ON FIRST REALEASE 99 FRKIKKIN POUNDS!!!!!!!!!!! WTF!!!!!!!
tmulford on 26 Jul '10 said:
DS games are cheap, particularly 3rd party releases, because of the amount of shovelware on the system. If Nintendo don't force at least some quality control then 3DS game prices will do the same.
monty_79 on 26 Jul '10 said:
Can't understand this hate for Patcher.
He makes a valuble point in that it is highly likly that games will go up for the 3ds in comparison to the DS. What's the problem? He has a valid point, and knows more about this industry then most of you lot on here ever will.
gothchild on 26 Jul '10 said:
Valid point, prices of Nintendo games don't often fall very much over time, but if you're talking about launching consoles and the starting prices of games, what I've said applies. Nintendo loves to come out with a smile on their face and drop a price markedly lower than the competition.
yerbluesjohn on 26 Jul '10 said:
You obviously don't follow his predictions too closely. They've been wildly inaccurate, or just plain daft, on many occasions. His Wii HD prediction from a while back showed just how little he understands the industry. Lately he's gotten a bit better, but his predictions still don't deserve a CVG news story every flippin' day
DeusXM on 26 Jul '10 said:
So what? Nintendo's strategy for stopping pirates rests entirely on a sternly worded memo saying you can't dress as Jack Sparrow at the annual staff fancy dress do. With a sad face drawn on the memo.
wwinterj on 26 Jul '10 said:
I have yet to see anything Patcher says that I couldn't say myself. I don't work for any game company nor do I pretend I know the state of any game company or it's business moves yet this guy does. He is just the same as the average Joe. I would say gamer but I have a feeling this guy has never played a game in his life. I disagree with your statement.
gothchild on 26 Jul '10 said:
Was just about to mention his belief in the Wii HD prediction.
That was just silly, it clearly was not going to happen. I don't claim to be an industry expert or ahem.. analyst, but I've seen how Nintendo have been playing their cards for a few years now. Patcher just doesn't seem to understand Nintendo. That Wii HD guess was just silly this early, and he's trying to argue for a launch of a system that's completely incongruous with Nintendo's plan these days.
lordirongut on 26 Jul '10 said:
Patcher is a douche.
rivariad on 26 Jul '10 said:
this is gettin boring cvg.
JuiKuen on 26 Jul '10 said:
Where the fu*k were you doing your shopping? The most an N64 game cost was Turok at £70 and that was no more than what Sega charged for the Mega Drive version of Virtua Racing
reddevilcraig on 27 Jul '10 said:
i dont get why everyone bashes patcher so much. all he does is make predictions to his company and investers he doesn't go arount telling lazy internet sites to talk about it. he gets paid good money to talk about the industry to investers full stop. so really you should hate on the likes of cvg who use him as an excuse to start debates on lazy days it's not his fault. also so what if he gets things wrong it doesn't affect you and again it's not like he proclaims to know everything. if you could do his job you would so stop the bashing it's really pathetic.
gothchild on 27 Jul '10 said:
Sorry mate, but you're plain wrong. He's got his own personal section of GTTV to make predictions to the gaming audience and often appears on the panel to say this stuff, and the audience for GTTV is our kind of crowd.
Personally, I actually quite like the guy from what I've seen, he's just a bit useless with the Nintendo predictions. Imo.
reddevilcraig on 27 Jul '10 said:
ok fair enough mate didn't know that but still just because he has a section on one site why do others report on everything he says. to me it's just lazy reporting shouldn't news be actual news. i just don't get why certain people hate on someone who obviously has a passion for games. when you see the disgraceful attitude from the morons like the star why bash people who care about games. why not turnthat hate on people like the cretin who decided to make up a blatent lie to cash in on a murder then insult millions in britain who play games.
Insidious on 27 Jul '10 said:
Woah, damn, reading the headline had me worried till I saw Pachter's name
.
To red and monty; the thing about him that gets on our nerves is that he's, well, a bit useless. He has been made a pseudo-star of the industry for making these 'predictions' that almost without exception fall into one of two categories; ridiculously daft, or so blindingly obvious it's not worth even saying. I am not alone when I say I cannot recall anything Pachter has ever said that made me wiser to the goings-on of the industry, nor a prediction come true that wasn't slap-in-the-face obvious to anyone without the downs.
To monty especially, that line about him knowing more about the industry than any of us; well that's just the thing. If he could demonstrate that, we here would respect him. I am not suggesting that he doesn't have a greater knowledge of the industry than half of us; I AM saying that nothing he has ever 'predicted' or said in his show demonstrates any evidence of knowledge above the level of a casual observer.
His position is one of an expert, and should be filled by someone who can be justifiably labelled with that title. In our estimation, Pachter cannot.
reddevilcraig on 27 Jul '10 said:
yeh but why not blame these sites for him being so well known. lol i get what you mean about some of his predictions but still cvg and such are not forced to show everything he says. they do it to get a reaction.
reddevilcraig on 27 Jul '10 said:
yeh but why not blame these sites for him being so well known. lol i get what you mean about some of his predictions but still cvg and such are not forced to show everything he says. they do it to get a reaction.
Beetle Bum on 27 Jul '10 said:
MARIO 64 ON FIRST REALEASE 99 FRKIKKIN POUNDS!!!!!!!!!!! WTF!!!!!!!
Where the fu*k were you doing your shopping? The most an N64 game cost was Turok at £70 and that was no more than what Sega charged for the Mega Drive version of Virtua Racing
GAME AND HMV!!!!
jonathanwho on 19 Aug '10 said:
Even though if i wanted a 3ds i still wouldn't get one because the 3d looks cr*p to me when it's activated it looks cr*p to me im gonna get the dsi xl even though the 3ds can play normal games you flaming watch the prices soar upwards just for the special 3ds well i aint paying up to 250 or 300 maybe 180 for it