Pachter Wii U Too Late

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter is not one to beat around the bush when it comes to criticizing developer and publisher decisions — neither is he afraid to make sweeping generalizations or predictions about future trends in the market. Most of the time Pachter is wrong, or slightly off, but that has never stopped him from making bolder and bolder claims.

Today's Pachter slam is directed at Nintendo, specifically in their handling of the Wii U, the Wii Mini, and the eShop. In the analyst's mind, the unveiling of these consoles and services was "years too late."

The quotes from Pachter come courtesy of his Game Trailers show Pach Attack, where the analyst suggests Nintendo is well behind the curve when it comes to an HD console and an online service. As we all know, an HD console was not a priority for Nintendo, but Pachter still believes they are several years behind the competition.

"I think Nintendo's a few years late. The Wii U is the 'Wii HD' and it's coming a few years too late. Wii Mini was a great idea back in 2008/2009... The eShop is about seven or eight years too late, Online multiplayer for Nintendo is about seven or eight years too late..."

It's hard not to agree with him on the Wii Mini, a console released far too late in the cycle, but it remains to be seen how large groups of gamers will respond to the Wii U. With so few worthwhile games available at the moment trying to sell the console to casual gamers isn't going to be easy for Nintendo.

We expect that at E3 2013, in an effort to compete with the unveiling of the PS4 and Xbox 720, Nintendo will unveil a venerable bounty of first party titles to get fans excited. New entries in the 3D Mario, Legend of Zelda, and Metroid franchises rank high on gamers' wish lists and we wouldn't be surprised to see all three make an appearance.

And even if just one of those titles hits by the Holiday season that could be enough to help increase the Wii U's stock with hardcore gamers, maybe even get them to pick up a Deluxe Version. Maybe Nintendo's console is a few years too late, but that doesn't mean it can't still sell well.

Do you agree with Pachter? Are the Wii U, Wii Mini, and eShop a few years too late?

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Source: Game Trailers (via CVG)

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