The name Michael Pachter is no stranger in the gaming industry. Every so often, the Wedbush Morgan industry analyst makes a prediction, states an opinion, sometimes even throws a controversial comment. With that said, Pachter will be lending his voice and his knowledge of the industry to keynote the Game Investment Conference this November.

Always quick with a comment, Michael Pachter has weighed in on the rumor about Microsoft buying Electronic Arts. As far as the Wedbush Morgan analyst is concerned, the rumor doesn't make any sense at all.

It seems that Nedgame's open opposition of the PSP Go and Sony's digital download model has stirred up quite an issue. Igor Cipolletta, boss of UK retailer ShopTo, has also expressed doubts about the PSP Go's success, reckoning that the handheld is already "dead before it has arrived." Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, on the other hand, thinks that these retailer are being foolish, silly, and just plain ridiculous.

The decline will narrow, but it will continue. This is Michael Pachter's prediction for the July NPD results, foreseeing a 22 percent downturn compared to the same month last year. See what he has to say in the full article.

The much-anticipated NPD software sales for June 2009 have finally been released, but while it's easy to be overwhelmed by the numbers in the thousands, they are, actually, underwhelming. in fact, the analysts have been proven right in their prediction that it will see the fourth consecutive sales decline -- and more. The newly-released sales numbers are now described as the "largest drop in nine years."

More forecasts roll out from Michael Pacther. This time, he estimates the success of the Grand Theft Auto IV  DLC exclusive for Xbox 360, The Ballad of Gay Tony, putting the number of sold units at 3 million. Meanwhile, the PSP version of GTA: Chinatown Wars is expected to fare much better than its DS counterpart  did with one million units to be sold in North America alone.

If the analysts turn out right, then we just might see the fourth consecutive sales decline in the June results of NPD, and then we'll see that price cut happen. Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan and Jesse Divinich of EEDAR are synonymous in saying that sales will most likely be down by around 20-23%.

Despite predicting that the PS2 will not have as much influence in the market in 2009 like it used to, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter still believes in the PlayStation power, saying that the brand will account for 31% of all the games sold worldwide in 2009. More after the jump.

Michael Pachter can be quoted for a lot of big claims, most recently his "ripping-off" comment against the PSP Go. Speaking to Industry Gamers about the controversial statement, the Wedbush Morgan analyst admits to poor choice of words, adding a full explanation and an apology to set things straight. Read the entire apology after the jump.

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter had some pretty strong words to say about Sony's decision to slap a US$ 249.99 price tag on the new PSP Go. In Pachter's opinion, Sony is practically ripping off people with it.