Pachter: Natal Will Outsell Arc 5 to 1

Greg Tito

PR for Dungeons & Dragons
Sep 29, 2005
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Pachter: Natal Will Outsell Arc 5 to 1



Michael Pachter, financial analyst extraordinaire, stated that he believes Microsoft's Natal will outsell Sony's Motion Control, now called Arc, 5 to 1, or oven more.

Michael Pachter is one opinionated analyst. The Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst is known for making bold statements like his belief that we've seen the PSP Go was a "ripoff." [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/90443-Pachter-This-Is-The-Final-Generation] He is now sounding off on the Motion Control Wars of 2010, saying that Natal has a distinct advantage over Sony's Arc because Microsoft's entry will ship "in the box." He sees Arc's reliance on the PlayStation Eye as the major factor in its slower adoption.

"I think that the Sony motion controller will have some problems gaining traction, since it is not an 'in the box' solution. That will probably limit adoption to one or two million at the outset," Pachter told PS3Center.net [http://www.ps3center.net/article/380/2/motion-controllers-to-decide-second-place-in-console-war/]. "Natal is different... It's only one piece, is likely to be cheaper, and I think it will come in the Xbox 360 package with new consoles once launched, meaning far deeper penetration."

The bundle with consoles is going to be a huge selling point. Many consumers who might have resisted buying an Xbox 360, and gone with the cheaper Wii, might now think twice because they can get a more robust experience with Natal. But Pachter doesn't completely discount Sony.

"Sony's internal development is top notch, so I expect the launch titles to be fun, and likely on par with Wii Sports for quality, but ultimately, I think that the motion controller will only sell to 20% or less of the PS3 audience, limiting it's appeal to third party publishers," said Pachter. "A year or so after launch, there will be 10 million [Project Natal units] out there, which will probably attract more third party support. Also, I think Microsoft will subsidize third party development to make it a success."

So there you go, Pachter says that Arc will sell "one or two million at the outset" to Natal's 10 million.

Pachter comes at the topic from an analyst's point of view. What do you think as a gamer? Will Natal or Arc be able to loosen Nintendo's kung-fu-grip on the industry?

Source: PS3Center.net [http://www.ps3center.net/article/380/2/motion-controllers-to-decide-second-place-in-console-war/]

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Ranooth

BEHIND YOU!!
Mar 26, 2008
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Wait when was the controller officaly called Arc? I know that name has been floating around for a bit but is it actually the real name?

Also, why do i care? Damm grouchiness.
 

AgDr_ODST

Cortana's guardian
Oct 22, 2009
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I can sense that another round of flame wars/fanboyism is about to commence. I shall remain neutral on this one as I like not being on suspension(and the idea of getting an ultimate poster badge at some point in the future)
 

Onyx Oblivion

Borderlands Addict. Again.
Sep 9, 2008
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Natal will sell better, because there isn't nearly as much hype for Arc as Natal. But they'll both suck.
 
Apr 28, 2008
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That depends if people will care enough about both of them.

I wouldn't be suprised if people played with Natal for a few days, then stopped using it for a while. Same thing people seem to do with the Wii.
 

darthzew

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Jun 19, 2008
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Hate to be the bastard that does this, but the article summary in bold has a typo... It says "oven more" when it should say "even more".

Anyway, I agree. Natal is far more impressive than Arc and seems to appeal to a greater audience.
 

happysock

New member
Jul 26, 2009
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Credge said:
He actually thinks these things will sell millions of units?
Yeah and I can see where he is coming from, 10 million units would only be about a third of xbox owners buying one for their console and for the right price and the right games I'm sure a lot of people would buy one.
 

Hurr Durr Derp

New member
Apr 8, 2009
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Greg Tito said:
Will Natal or Arc be able to loosen Nintendo's kung-fu-grip on the industry?
I don't think either of them will beat Nintendo at the motion-controlling game. Nintendo simply has a massive headstart that neither of the new systems will be able to make up for. I do agree that Natal will likely do a lot better than Arc, but I'm not going to gamble on how much "a lot" is.
 

johnman

New member
Oct 14, 2008
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"On par with Wii sports for quality"
Is that suppose to be a compliment? I can see Natal doing better, Arc looks like a vibrator or singstar mike.
 

Angryman101

New member
Aug 7, 2009
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Am I the only one that really does not want this thing to do well? Games should stick to the controller and hands, only. I don't want to game when there's a camera studying all of my movements, and I don't feel like dancing around to control my games.
Please let this sell terribly.
 

Sporky111

Digital Wizard
Dec 17, 2008
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I don't think that either of them will sell very well among the existing audience. If gamers had wanted motion control, they would already have bought the Wii. I have owned a Wii for almost 2 years, and only own 4 games for it. The only one I really enjoyed was SSBB, and it had NO motion control at all. I just recently bought a 360 of my own, so I didn't have to be constrained to friends'.

However, I think that if Natal is being boxed with the 360 it will make it much more attractive to the new-gamer demographic (IE: Wii gamers looking to upgrade) so it will probably be a relative success. Even regular gamers without much interest in motion control now, my buy a 360 and get a Natal game or two for curiosity, since it's right there in the box.
 

That's Funny

New member
Jul 20, 2009
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Natal will sell better because Natal has Milo.

I mean Sony don't have an annoying English kid which attracts groomers do they?
 

Simalacrum

Resident Juggler
Apr 17, 2008
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Well, I have to admit, the Arc's reliance on the Eye did concern me a bit... but didn't Sony say that they would heavily market the product, as well as support it?

I don't think it will be that bad - if Sony make a bundle with the Arc and the Eye, and market the 2 as though their both the same product (e.g., make the Eye look like the equivalent to the Wii motion sensor bar), and most important price it VERY competitively, it could work.
 

scotth266

Wait when did I get a sub
Jan 10, 2009
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Natal might sell thanks to the "new interface technology" factor, but I don't know if the Arc will be able to succeed. We'll see, I suppose.
 

Twad

New member
Nov 19, 2009
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How is it called?

Speculation? Is it the right word?

The game is not even out yet. Wait and see, dont judge by the hype alone.
 

Jared

The British Paladin
Jul 14, 2009
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I want to know how they can make that decision, before its even out x.x