14 DAY TRIAL // Michael Pachter, who is an analyst for Wedbush Morgan and often comments on video game industry matters, has said that a slew of high-quality game launches will push the market forward for the month of April, which is expected to see an increase in overall sales for the first time since November 2010.
The analyst has issued a note to investors in which he states that retail software sales will grow by no less than 15 percent, reaching 460 million dollars.
Pachter believes that the biggest reason for the increase is a number of high-profile game launches, with Portal 2 from Valve leading the charge.
The puzzle and platforming game is expected to sell 2.4 million copies in the United States, with a majority of them sold on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.
Another good performer will be, in Pachter's view, the new Mortal Kombat reboot from Warner Bros and NetherRealms Studio, which is expected to move 500,000 copies during the month.
SOCOM 4: US Navy SEALs will also do pretty well considering the problems that the PlayStation Network has had lately, with 225,000 moved to customers while two older titles, Pokemon Black and White and Just Dance 2, continuing to perform well.
When it comes to consoles, the Xbox 360 is set to lead the chart in April with 315,000 units sold, followed by the DS with about 15,000 less.
The Wii and the PlayStation 3 will fight for third place, with about 215,000 units sold each.
Pachter was less than optimistic when it comes to the sales of the new Nintendo 3DS handheld, saying, “We initially expected the launch of the 3DS to spike overall software sales growth back into positive territory beginning in April, but the handheld is off to a slow start, as a lack of compelling software has kept many consumers on the sidelines for the expensive hardware.”