Pachter: Industry to Break Sales Records This Holiday

Securities analyst Michael Pachter expects that the games industry “will crush all records” this holiday season.

In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Wedbush Morgan Securities game analyst Michael Pachter confidently predicted that this holiday would be the strongest season yet for game hardware and software sales. “The industry will crush all records. Hardware should be up 15 per cent over last year, and software around the same.”

Despite efforts by Sony and Microsoft to introduce new console units and price cuts, Pachter believes that the Nintendo DS and Wii will lead hardware sales and Electronic Arts will lead the publishers in software. As for which individual title will top the sales charts this holiday? “Depending on when we start counting, Guitar Hero has a chance to be number one. If we start back in September, Halo 3 has a shot.”