The Sony PS4 and Microsoft Xbox 3 (or 720, or whatever) are due in the “next few years” according to Yves Guillemot, CEO of French videogames publisher Ubisoft. But how soon will those “next few” years come? Not before 2013, according to controversial analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan.
Guillemot promises “new home and handheld consoles” arriving in those vague “next few years”. Pachter, in an industry newsletter, says the only thing arriving any time soon is “the long-rumoured high definition Wii” arriving in 2010. “Do not expect the ‘next’ generation to begin before 2013, if at all.”
Why no new consoles? Money, of course: “Publishers will resist the introduction of any videogame hardware technology that requires a refresh of software, as the publishers have as yet to capitalise on the immense investments made in being competitive in the current cycle,” says Pachter.
Then again, recent Pachter wrong guesses have included a price cut for PS3 and Assassin’s Creed 2 to go for a French revolution setting…
