Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter has sat down to discuss a number of industry topics, including Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, Tony Hawk: RIDE and more. Check out brief snippets below, and hit up the link for the full blurbs.
On Chinatown Wars sales - I don't think that Chinatown Wars failed because of poor marketing. I think that an M-rated game will have difficulty selling on the DS, since the majority of DS owners are under 17 and can't buy it.
On Tony Hawk: RIDE sales and series future - It's a little early to kill off the Tony Hawk franchise. First of all, we have only one month of sales data, and although the numbers were weak, I think that consumers were somewhat shocked by the price. ...I think that Activision should consider going back to a controller-based game, since they have made several great ones under the Tony Hawk brand. If they are fixated on creating a peripheral bundle, they have to price more reasonably, and make sure that the game and peripheral work well enough to satisfy the gaming press.
On Call of Duty annual releases - I think that there is real risk in annual franchises, as it is typically hard to keep consumers interested with a new version every year. It is very difficult to keep things "fresh" with annual installments.
