Price Wars To Be 'Key Takeaway' Of E3 2007

Author: by Staff

With the E3 Media & Business Summit due to kick off in mere hours, we bring you a quick guide to what to expect over the coming days of the event, including predictions from Wedbush's Michael Pachter and Lazard's Colin Sebastian, as well as full publisher lineups. With some of the largest news of the week already let loose -- Sony's announcement of a $100 price drop on its 60GB PlayStation 3 model and the introduction of an 80GB model -- speculation has already begun that we can expect a similar move by Microsoft at its keynote tonight. Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter has come forward and said to expect a price cut announcement of $50-70 across all models of the Xbox 360, and, in his latest note to investors, Lazard's Colin Sebastian agrees, saying "we continue to expect Microsoft to announce a $50 price reduction on at least one of the Xbox 360 skus before the end of the summer." In fact, Pachter calls the impending price wars "the key takeaway from this year’s E3." "We think that the console manufacturers will continue to cut price as their production costs come down, and expect sales to ramp significantly this holiday season," said Pachter. "We view the Sony price cut as another salvo fired in this console cycle war, and believe that it will be the consumer that ultimately benefits." But, the move may have not gone far enough for the manufacturer, who, in addition to being greeted with some skepticism from Konami may have a struggle on its hands with investors. Said Pachter, "We do not expect investors to be impressed by Sony’s PS3 price cut, as we believe that sales will increase by only 50 – 100% on a monthly basis." All eyes continue to be on Sony not just in the pricing arena, but also in its software lineup, with Sebastian saying of the company, "As in prior cycles, we believe the success of next generation consoles will be largely dependent on the quality and appeal of new software. We believe Sony has high expectations for the ability of third-party titles such as Metal Gear Solid and Madden NFL to move hardware; however, we continue to seek visibility towards a “must have” first-or third-party exclusive." He adds that Sony has much to prove with its online functionality, as well, with announcements expected on the company's addition of music and movie downloads to the PlayStation Store, and says of its forthcoming community service "our initial view of Sony’s PlayStation Home is positive with the potential to generate more robust community features." Finally, neither analyst has any strong predictions for Nintendo, whose Wii and DS appear to be coasting on their own momentum, neither in the pricing arena, with both priced low enough to be unaffected by any moves from the other two manufacturers, or on the hardware side, with Sebastian adding, "we do not expect Nintendo to announce the launch of a new form factor for the DS handheld yet, given that the device is still benefiting from strong retail sales." Gamasutra will be updating regularly throughout the week with all of the developments to come from the Media & Business Summit. What follows is a breakdown of each publisher's announced software lineups for the summit: 2K Games and 2K Sports BioShock, Xbox 360/PC Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution, Xbox 360/PS3/Wii/DS The Darkness, Xbox 360/PS3 All-Pro Football 2K8, Xbox 360/PS3 NHL 2K8, Xbox 360/PS3 Atari Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, Wii/PS2 The Witcher, PC Godzilla: Unleashed, Wii Jenga, DS/Wii Crave Brunswick Pro Bowling, Wii/PS2/PSP Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection, PSP/PS2/Wii Napoleon Dynamite, DS/PSP Dave Mirra BMX Challenge, Wii Crayola, DS George of the Jungle, PS2/Wii/DS D3Publisher of America: Dark Sector, Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 NARUTO: Clash of Ninja, Wii Dead Head Fred, PSP Ben 10: Protector of Earth, Wii/DS/PS2/PSP Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire, Wii NARUTO: Path of the Ninja, DS Konami Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles, PSP Contra 4, DS Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party, Wii Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA 2, PS2 Dewy’s Adventure, Wii Fishing Master, Wii Hellboy The Science of Evil, Xbox 360/PS3 Konami Kids Playground, PS2 Silent Hill Origins, PSP Midway Stranglehold, Xbox 360/PS3 BlackSite: Area 51, Xbox 360/PS3/PC Unreal Tournament 3, PC Ultimate Mortal Kombat, DS Cruis’n, Wii Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am, PS2 Game Party, Wii Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends: Imagination Invaders, DS The Wheelman, Xbox 360/PS3/PC TNA iMPACT!, Xbox 360/PS3/PS2/Wii The Bee Game, DS/GBA The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, PC Hour of Victory, PC Namco Bandai Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation, Xbox 360 Beautiful Katamari, Wii Culdcept SAGA, Xbox 360 Digimon World: Dawn/ Digimon World: Dusk, DS Digimon World® Data Squad, PS2 Dynasty Warriors:GUNDAM, Xbox 360/PS3 Eternal Sonata, Xbox 360 .hack//G.U. Vol. 3: Redemption, PS2 Namco Museum DS, DS Namco Museum REMIX, Wii NARUTO: Ultimate Ninja Heroes, PSP NARUTO: Uzumaki Chronicles 2, PS2 Smash Court Tennis 3, PSP Soul Calibur Legends, Wii Space Station Tycoon, Wii Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology, PSP Time Crisis 4, PS3 Natsume Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon, DS Metropolismania 2, PS2 Puzzle de Harvest Moon, DS Harvest Moon: Boy & Girl, PSP Math Play, DS Innocent Life: Pure, PS2 Harvest Moon DS Cute, DS Harvest Moon 2, DS Harvest Moon Wii, Wii Sega Bleach: Shattered Blade, Wii The Club, Xbox 360/PS3/PC Condemned 2: Bloodshot, Xbox 360/PS3 Ghost Squad, Wii The Golden Compass, all platforms Iron Man, all platforms Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Game, Wii/DS NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, Wii Sega Rally Revo, Xbox 360/PS3/PSP/PC Sonic Rush Adventure, DS Space Siege, PC Universe at War: Earth Assault, Xbox 360/PC Virtua Fighter 5, Xbox 360 Square Enix Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker, DS Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors, Wii Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates, DS Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions, PSP Final Fantasy II, PSP Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess, PS2/PC/Xbox 360 Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, DS Front Mission, DS Heroes of Mana, DS