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Analyst downgrades Blizzard stock in anticipation of SWTOR launch
Zomg, the sky is falling in Azeroth! OK, not really, but World of Warcraft is heading for troubled waters if you believe an analyst at Lazard Capital Markets. According to a report at Gamespot, Atul Bagga downgraded Activision-Blizzard's stock from "buy" to "neutral" due to the results of a recent online survey that pointed to restlessness among a certain subset of WoW players. Whether the perceived wanderlust has to do with the game's age (it turns seven this month) or the deafening hype bandwagon that is gathering steam due to next month's Star Wars: The Old Republic debut, the numbers indicated a possible loss of between 900,000 and 1.6 million WoW players following TOR's launch.
Analyst: Angry Birds sets record for most downloads on PSN [update]
At this point, we're finding that these furious fowl may just be perpetually pissed off. What do they have to be so angry about? Angry Birds is doing very well on PSN, according to Lazard Capital Markets' Colin Sebastian (via Develop) -- he says it's set a record for downloads on the platform. Developer Rovio reported over 100 million downloads for the title as of last month, which includes free versions and, of course, the PSN port. As it stands, we haven't received any platform-specific figure, but we do know the game has been charting for months now. Update: We were contacted by a Sony spokesperson, who told us the Lazard Capital Markets report featured inaccurate information. "Angry Birds was the top paid downloaded PSN game in January 2011 and February 2011," we were told, not the most downloaded game of all time as the initial report claimed.
Analyst predicts new Zelda game in 2009
Here's a little-known fact: If industry analysts go too long without foretelling something – anything – they break out in a nasty case of hives. That may be why Lazard Capital Markets' Colin Sebastian has come forward with his latest prediction, namely that Nintendo will release a new Zelda game for the Wii sometime in 2009.While anticipating "potentially fewer hit titles" across the board next year, the soothsayer notes to Gamespot that his prophecy for a follow-up to Twilight Princess, as well as a new "Princess Peach adventure," is little more than guesswork at this point. Traditionally, Nintendo has released just a single principle Zelda title per console cycle, though given that the last game started life on the GameCube gives Sebastian's prediction a bit more weight, if only slightly. As for us, we gave up trying to read Nintendo's body language a long time ago, and have just resigned ourselves to take the waggles as they come.
Analyst: US software sales up 70% in April
With NPD results for April due out this Thursday, it's time for all the analysts to jump into the prediction pool. Pachter already got his out the door, now it's time for Lazard Capital's Colin Sebastian. GameDaily reports that Sebastian believes software sales for April will be up 70% year-to-year, thanks to GTA IV and Mario Kart Wii.Sebastian predicts that although the PS3 and Xbox 360 received a strong hardware sales bump from GTA IV, the PS3 has another one incoming with Metal Gear Solid 4 in June. He states that it's hard to determine what sales in the second half of 2008 look like compared to 2007, but believes the summer months (weak for revenue, even just a few years back) will continue to see strong retail numbers with Wii Fit, Rock Band Wii, MGS4 and movie-based games. Who needs to go outside? There's just sun cancer out there.
Analyst: NPD will show March was a winner for software sales
The March NPD report is expected next week, but Lazard Capital Market's Colin Sebastian believes software sales will be up 35% for the month. GameDaily reports Sebastian expects top sellers to include Army of Two, Rainbow Six Vegas 2, and continued success by Call of Duty 4 and Rock Band. Thanks, in no small part, also goes to a little game called Super Smash Bros. Brawl.Sebastian believes an early Easter holiday and spring break for students assisted software and hardware sales. Speaking of hardware, the analyst believes that that his forecast of six to eight million Wiis being sold in North America during 2008 will "likely prove conservative" due to titles like Wii Fit. He expects healthy growth in the industry leading into the summer due to games expected this year like GTA IV, Mario Kart, GT5: Prologue, MGS 4 and Spore.
More analysts predict PS3 ahead of Xbox in July
Pachter ain't the only analyst predicting the July NPD numbers will show the PS3 has finally outsold the Xbox 360. Turns out Lazard's Colin Sebastian predicts the same thing, saying the PS3 price cut gave the console its expected sales bump for July, while the Xbox 360 hardware issues finally coming to light will cause sales to lag. The Wii and DS will keep doing what they do and make Nintendo gobs of cash.Yes, you can all release your collective "duh" now, but it's still Sebastian's job to say it. He says Activision should see a 200% growth in July, based on Guitar Hero and Transformer sales, whereas EA should expect a 10% decline (remember, this doesn't involve Madden '08 money). Well, whatever the stars tell the analysts, all will be revealed this Thursday by the NPD numbers.
Analyst talks price drop, Gran Turismo
Analysts, for some reason or another, are important to the industry. Colin Sebastian of Lazard Capital Markets commented on Sony's recent price drop of the machine, saying it will give the platform an important "shot in the arm." As the first official price cut since the product's launch more than two years ago, marketing will be crucial. Thankfully, according to Sebastian, Sony has a plan: "Sony is planning to support the pricing move with a new print and online marketing campaign targeted at young adults and teens." Let's hope it's better than what we've seen so far. Price is one of the sole detriments to PSP's performance. With a lower price, Sebastian notes, the system should sell much better: "We note that a Wal-Mart promotion on Black Friday last year generated significant sales volume for the PSP at a discounted price of $169, providing one indication of potential consumer demand. We also believe the potential release of Gran Turismo for the PSP in 2007 could further boost unit sales." Wait? Did he mention Gran Turismo? Isn't that game canceled? Or maybe it's not. Let's hope that he knows something we don't. The battle's far from over, the analyst reminds us. "It is too early to conclude whether Sony's pricing action will cause game developers to increase the pipeline of new PSP titles." Certainly, the price drop is encouraging, but "at the new $169 price, we note that the PSP is still $40 higher than Nintendo's DS." [Via GameDaily]
