Wii HD Could Crush PS3 Comeback, Says Pachter

Though Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter has predicted that Sony will push ahead of Microsoft in five years' time, that's not going to happen, he thinks, if Nintendo puts out an HD-enabled version of the Wii.

Games industry Nostradamus Michael Pachter has some more fortune telling to do. Last time we checked in with Pachter he was predicting that the PS3 would steal second place in the console race from Microsoft by 2015, but now he's adding a disclaimer to that crystal ball vision. If Nintendo puts out an HD-capable upgrade to the Wii, he says, it could undermine the PS3's chances for a comeback.

"In our view, if Nintendo can offer such a device by year-end 2010, it will be in a position to seriously damage Sony's chances of a comeback this cycle," he said. So sure is Pachter of this that he's even coined his own word for this magical money printing box: the Wii Plus HD. "We would expect publishers to support such a move, given that the cost of porting an Xbox 360 game to the new Wii Plus HD format would likely be lower than the cost of building a ground up Wii game (we estimate under $5 million)."

With its cost-effectiveness and established popularity, the Wii Plus HD would be such an attractive proposition for consumers and publishers that it could figure not just as a huge success, but the absolute end-all-be-all of consoles.

"Should Nintendo be able to convince publishers like EA and Take-Two that the Wii Plus should be supported by the entire EA Sports catalog and by the next installment of Grand Theft Auto, it should be in a position to successfully convince consumers that the Wii Plus is the last console they will ever need to purchase," Pachter said.

You heard it here first, folks. The last console you will ever need to purchase. Agree, or disagree?

[Via Destructoid]