Fighting Words: Pachter Says PSP2 Will Be “Dead On Arrival”

Michael Pachter is at it again folks. The Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst thinks the handheld market is facing its toughest years. He thinks Nintendo missed a huge opportunity when it did not release the 3DS for the holidays, and as for the PSP2, it’ll be “dead on arrival”.

That’s the utterance of the man who now hosts his own show on Game Trailers TV dubbed Pach-Attack, and it was there he let loosed such fiery language:

“We’re way approaching saturation on the handheld market,” said Pachter.

“We’re starting to see DS hardware sales crack, I think the big woody of the iPod Touch is cutting into the handheld market, I think the PSP is dead on arrival and I think the PSP2 is going to be dead on arrival.

It looks to me like young kids are just as happy playing with an iPod Touch or a Nano. The Touch is cool, it plays games, plays music, they’re going to put a camera in it and you’re going to get all kinds of cool stuff.”

Pachter then took to the 3DS, claiming it’ll have a huge sales momentum initially, but after that it’ll fade to black, thanks to the advent of Apple’s devices.

“The 3DS will prolong the handheld market for the game manufacturers, but ultimately, I think handhelds are in trouble. I really think as the iPod Touch gets more and more powerful, you’re going to see a lot of free games over there.

What’s the difference if you play Tetris on an iPod Touch or on a DS? Well, you pay a buck on the iPod Touch, you pay $20 on the DS. Parents prefer $1 or free software, I think the iPod Touch is going to sell really, really well. So, after the 3DS has had its little rush I think the handhelds will continue to decline.”

The 3DS goes on sale in March of next year in the U.S. and Europe, with Japan seeing a February 2011 release. As for Sony’s PSP2, it’ll most likely come available next Christmas.

Thanks, VG247.