Last week's rumor that Microsoft is planning to license the 360 hardware out for use in other electronics has yet to be officially confirmed or debunked, but a key industry analyst reckons such a plan just doesn't make sense. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Wedbush Morgan's Michael Patcher says that it would ultimately prove "too expensive" to licensees to make for good business.

Patcher does feel that a move like this might benefit Microsoft "as a way to penetrate more difficult markets like Japan," but that he doesn't see it being beneficial in other territories. The licensing of 360 tech would cause electronics makers to incur additional cost per device, which "would place the hybrid device at a disadvantage" in terms of retail pricing, he explains.

While we thought sales of Steven Spielberg's Boom Blox was less than stellar (in all fairness, it did sell about twice that of Zack and Wiki in its first month), Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitello said the game has met internal expectations. Speaking at a William Blair Investor Conference today, he said "It's continued to sell well. It did break into the top 10 for the Wii, and the advertising is doing exactly what [our] team expected to: drive sales."

MTV Multiplayer spoke with a few analysts who were decidedly less impressed with the sales so far. Pacific Crest Securities, who initially predicted 250,000 in unit sales, said, "It appears that success on the Wii will remain difficult to achieve." Michael Pachter, who wasn't too hopeful in the first place, wondered if it was a marketing problem on EA's part.

Joystiq's official in-house analysts all agree that the game would have sold a minimum 3 bajillion more copies had it kept head tracking. Maybe it's going multi-platform, after all. Riccitello also said the game could sell several hundred thousands, and given Zack and Wiki's continued sales, he may have a point.

Analyst Michael Pachter is sticking to his prediction that Grand Theft Auto IV provided more of a bump to the PS3 than 360 in April, predicting 290,000 in sales for Sony vs. 275,000 for Microsoft's box. It's worth noting though that Pachter also predicted PS3 would top 360 in March, days before the NPD reported an Xbox 360 win.

Now, does any of this mean that either of those systems (or the sales of those systems combined) beat the Wii? No, of course not, don't be ridiculous. Pachter predicts that 600,000 Wiis flew off of shelves in April, likely aided by the release of Mario Kart Wii and the unslakable waggle thirst the general populace seems to have discovered.

Mr. Michael Pachter – everyone's favorite clairvoyant video game analyst – has a knack for making headlines. Whether it's "Pachter snubs pal Lohan in Viper Club debacle" or "EA could delay GTA IV's April 29 release" we tend to take notice. On the latest episode of Bonus Round, Pachter told host Geoff Keighley, "I think if EA takes over Take-Two, they have an economic incentive to delay [Grand Theft Auto IV]." What economic incentive might that be? Why, to hold the release until the far more lucrative fourth quarter. As for why Take-Two isn't simply doing that itself, the Pach explains, "Take-Two, financially, has to get that game out ... they need the money. They need to get it out."

That's all well and good but, you see, it's just that we've had April 29th circled on our Strauss Zelnick pinup calendar (in permanent marker no less) for over two months and, since Peter Moore really dropped the ball, we also went ahead and got that date tattooed on our far less impressive biceps. So, to recap, if EA manages to merge their giant family with Take-Two's impressive roster, your plans for May are shot and we're going to have a funny tattoo story to tell the grandkids.

Video game analyst to the stars, Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter, wonders why EA decided not to provide any guidance (forecast) for its upcoming 2009 fiscal year, which starts in April. He claims that EA is making a mistake by deferring the guidance until May, thinking investors have become tired of watching EA's stock hover around the $45 mark for the last four years. He goes on to say that shareholders want assurances of EA getting back to form, much like it was in fiscal year 2004 -- before it got stuck in a stock rut.

Pachter's expectation for a guidance from EA stems from the belief that relatively new EA CEO John Riccitiello was planning on giving more visibility to investors. In addition, he cites EA's continued flirtation with a $60 stock price, which frequently falls back to $45. Pachter should get his guidance wish at EA's first-ever analyst day scheduled for Feb. 12, where the company intends to discuss future growth. Pachter maintains a "strong buy" rating for EA stock, but considering Activision Blizzard is now in the same ring as EA, it seems reasonable for EA to give an idea of future financial expectations.

Wedbush Morgan analyst and financial guru Michael Pachter believes that 2008 is going to start strong by using 2007's already vigorous sales momentum. Pachter postulates that the NPD numbers for December will break records and that the "first several months" of '08 having a strong release schedule should continue "double-digit sales growth."

Pachter expects to see US publisher stocks continue appreciating as the year gets started and we're guessing he also meant to mention Atari as the big exception in that statement. Gamers could probably keep the industry flying high just trying to get through '07's year-end glut of titles at this point.

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter is all but certain the Mass Effect trilogy is going multiplatform. In the latest episode of GameTrailers' Bonus Round (start about three-fourths of the way into the video), Pachter notes that, given the financial expectations Electronic Arts has with its recently-acquired developer, Mass Effect 2 "has to, has to" come to the PlayStation 3 in addition to the Xbox 360.

More interesting is what Pachter says after his ME2 assertion. "I wouldn't be shocked if Mass Effect One came to the PS3," he said. We aren't sure the exact details of EA's acquisition, but we do know the original Mass Effect was published by Microsoft Games Studio, leading us to assume it was a safely exclusive title. Could EA port and publish the game on Sony's console? We doubt Microsoft would be willing to let that platinum-selling title go without a fight.