Pachter: Natal more than $50 after all, DSi XL won't sell
by Richard Mitchell 
on Feb 25th 2010 7:54PM
In a stunning show that game industry analysts indeed
are fallible human beings, Wedbush Morgan's
Michael Pachter has changed his mind on Natal's supposed price. The prolific analyst prognosticated last year that price would be the primary factor in moving Natal hardware, leading him to predict that it would
launch for less than $50. However, he now tells IndustryGamers that it will likely cost more, noting, "consumers will come to believe that the product and software has a lot of value." Furthermore, Pachter says that the higher that Microsoft and Sony price their motion controls, the less likely a consumer is to buy the competing product. In other words, if you spend $100 on
Natal, you probably won't be too keen to plunk down another $100 for
Sony's motion controller (and vice versa).
Pachter also tackles the
DSi XL. He has some choice words for the beefy handheld, pointing out the $60 difference between the DS Lite and DSi XL models. "I'm not sure that bigger screens provide the value that Nintendo thinks," says Pachter, adding his belief that the entire DS line is due for a price cut. He concludes the device won't succeed at launch "since it costs only $10 less than a Wii."
Other topics discussed include
Richard Garriott's foray into social media, the marketing of
Dante's Inferno and the specter of third party success on the Wii -- "most third party Wii games just plain suck," says Pachter.
