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
