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Analyst: Investing in Wii development is 'fool's gold'
Cowen & Company's Doug Creutz thinks the Nintendo Wii installed base numbers are misleading and he's not afraid to tell the world. When asked by Gamasutra which system developers are best off investing in, he said, "The choice here is really between investing for the Xbox 360 and PS3 -- since their capabilities are fairly similar -- or the Wii. I would caution investors and developers that the larger installed base of the Wii is really a bit of a red herring." Creutz explained that while there are 19 million Wiis on the loose in the US, the combined numbers for Xbox 360 and PS3 still edge out the Wii by 3 million units. Creutz continued, "I think the Wii installed base represents, to a certain extent, fool's gold for someone looking to invest in video game development." We'll keep that in mind once we get Joystiq Publishing off the ground.
SWTOR might be EA's best chance at improving profitability
In a recent article on Gamasutra, Cowen Group analyst Doug Creutz discussed EA's disappointing performance of late, blaming the software giant's "inability to develop hit core-gamer console titles". This has led to him significantly lowering his estimates for their 2009 earnings. The analyst's reportings are fairly doom-and-gloom, but he did mention A New Hope for the company: Star Wars: The Old Republic.EA acquired BioWare, the developers of SWTOR, back in October last year. Creutz is of the belief that EA has really messed up their console campaign this generation, and SWTOR could be the "best chance" they have to increase profitability -- that is, if it can hold its own against the reigning champ World of Warcraft. We have faith that BioWare will be able to bring out a quality MMO, and you couldn't ask for a better IP. It really all depends on how well the title will have to do to be of any use to EA -- obviously better than Warhammer Online, which did not even earn a mention in the analyst's report.
Analyst: World Tour demand still high, supplies still down
Cowen Group analyst Doug Creutz knows the public and, according to him, they want Guitar Hero: World Tour. Even though the guitar bundle for the game has been discounted like crazy over the last week (and selling just as crazy, we assume), he says that most folks are looking for the full band kit, which is difficult to find on store shelves."Supply of the full band kit version at all retail locations was very tight, with the title selling out quickly," Creutz said, even pointing to online resellers who continue to resell the full band kit SKU for ridiculous sums of money. "This picture of high demand and tight supply remains consistent with our previous channel checks."If these supplies were higher, Activision would be making a lot more money off the title. As it is, however, the company must mostly rely on sales of the game itself and the other guitar bundle SKU.%Gallery-23491%
