Pachter Talks Nintendo 3DS and System Sellers

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, recently spoke to Industry Gamers about Nintendo's surprising announcement of their new handheld system. Not only that, but Pachter also believes that Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid Other M won't be system sellers and the Wii platform lacks catalyst games.

Firstly, speaking about the Nintendo's surprising announcement yesterday, Pachter didn't have much to say about it, although he did mention that he doesn't really know what Nintendo means by 3D effects without glasses.

It doesn't precisely say it has a 3D display, or that the content is 3D, so it's really premature to speculate about the prospects for success.

He then went on to talk about the actual announcement itself and what his reactions were to to it, believing that Nintendo has made a mistake announcing the system just before the release of the upcoming Nintendo DSi XL.

I found it incredibly surprising that Nintendo would announce the successor to the DS the week prior to the launch of the DSi XL. They have essentially said to consumers "we have a new model of the DS coming out this week, and oh, by the way, it will be obsolete within a year." I can't remember seeing a company do something like this since Osborne Computer did so in 1982 (and declared bankruptcy the next year, when sales plummeted).

Pachter then moved onto the subject of catalyst games on the Wii platform and believes it lacks them. According to Pachter, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid Other M won't be system sellers and the hardcore Wii owners already own the system.

I still think that the Wii as a hardware SKU lacks catalysts. I can't imagine Super Mario Galaxy 2 or Metroid Other M as system-sellers, any more than I would expect Halo Reach or SOCOM to be. The hardcore Wii audience already has a Wii console, so these game launches aren't likely to be catalysts.

So as far as I can see, unless Nintendo decides to cut price, there is not much of a catalyst coming. I don't see the Wii Vitality Sensor driving sales, but I suppose I could be wrong. I often am...