Anytime we report on a Michael Pachter prediction it's important that we mention gamers should take anything and everything the analyst says with a grain of salt. While many of Pachter's predictions do prove to be true, there are a fair amount of his predictions that are also blind stabs in the dark, and are based purely on his knowledge of the game industry.

Pachter's most recent predictions involved the next-generation of gaming, namely how much gamers can expect to pay for new releases. While EA seemed to suggest gamers could expect to pay the typical $60 for games, Pachter believes that PS4 and Xbox 720 games will retail for $70.

Pachter made the prediction during a presentation at South by Southwest (SXSW), in which he also said that Microsoft would win the next generation. He also predicted that Sony and the PS4 will thrive during this generation, and that Nintendo will still keep software king, but their hardware sales will take a dramatic downturn.

He also suggests that smartphones and tablets will continue to steal large portions of the market (duh!). And he says the PC will see a resurgence as a dedicated gaming machine (double duh!). Check out his full 'Predictions' slide below:

Not exactly revelatory information, we know, but as far as the pricing goes it's something many gamers have feared for several years now. With development costs always on the rise, and the publishers finding several different ways to increase revenue (i.e. DLC, Season Pass, Online Pass), it felt like only a matter of time before they increased the price of games outright.

On the other hand, we are making a gradual transition towards a future that relies heavily on digital distribution, which may help even out the costs. However, Sony doesn't expect to transition away from the Blu-Ray just yet.

So while Pachter's prediction might come true in certain cases, the general consensus is that next-gen games will still retail for $60 on average. It likely won't be until some time in the Fall that we finally discover how much a PS4 game will cost, though, but until then Pachter is free to speculate away.

Do you think that Michael Pachter's predictions will come true? Will next-gen games retail for $70?

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Source: Geoff Keighley — Twitter