Despite having improving quality ratings and well-patronized titles, EA fails to impress market analysts with its current standing. Even with strong annualized titles and good releases, analysts think that EA could do so much better.

Have you guys noticed that platforms seem to have a new strategy of grabbing exclusive downloadable content for games? Well, the strategy worked for the Xbox 360 when they bagged exclusive DLC for Grand Theft Auto IV. One analyst says that this is just the beginning. Eventually, exclusive DLC might become the latest battlefield among the consoles.

It's been a while since we've heard some strong words said on the subject of the console war. How are the consoles doing, and what's in store for them this year? Read up on what analysts have to say about the matter, and head over to the full article.

March was a good month for video games (although any month is a good month for video games, really). One analyst, namely Colin Sebastian, says that because of strong titles released last month, video game software sales are expected to rise by about 35%. Go to the full article to read more on Sebastian's forecasts.

Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian has predicted that February video game software sales will be up by 25 percent. Even better is the fact that he sees even better sales figures in the coming months because of an impressive line-up of games from various publishers. If you want to find out more, head on over to the full article.

Now that almost all of us have consoles and handhelds, it's time to go out and grab more games. Analyst Colin Sebastian says that this premise will lead to an unprecedented industry sales total of US$ 10 billion in 2008. Will his prediction hold out? Judging by the amount of grade-A content coming out this fiscal cycle, it's a safe bet. More details in the full article.

The NPD Group will soon release the software and platform sales numbers for December, so it's time once again to hear from our favorite analysts, Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan and Colin Sebastian from Lazard Capital Markets. Check out the full article to find out what they predict for December's results.

After predictions poured in from Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter and virtual market arena simExchange, Colin Sebastian of Lazard Capital Markets stepped up to the plate to bat out his expectations for the initial holiday season sales performance. Games to lead the Yuletide purchase rush, as well as optimistic outlooks for all three console manufacturers are in the full story.

Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian has made his predictions for September's sales data. He doesn't see a lot of promise for the Wii and the PlayStation 3 for last month's sales but has high hopes for the Xbox 360, predicting a huge rise in sales thanks to the release of Halo 3.

Sebastian believes that the Wii's supply constraints would have affected sales but it would still remain strong in the market. For the PS3 he believes that the console would not have likely picked up, and wouldn't until a price cut or a new SKU is introduced. He does, however, believe that sales would pick up for the holidays.

Microsoft recently reported that Halo 3's first week garnered US$ 300 million; Sebastian believes that most of this came from the U.S. Owing to this big bag 'o cash and the price cuts the Xbox 360 got for September, he believes that 360 software sales would have increased 30%.

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter predicted last month that console sales for the Xbox 360 could rival the Wii's for September. Should both be accurate in their assessments (or even just one of them) it looks like September goes to the Xbox 360. The sales data for September is expected to be released next week.

While Nintendo has certainly opened itself up to third party game developers on the Wii, it's no secret that the games coming from the Big N itself is currently occupying the top spots in the charts.

Needless to say, this means they get the lion's share of the profits. Coupled with the Wii's success in tapping into the largely-ignored non-gaming demographic, there's certainly a risk of going up against the big N when you're making a game for the Wii, as far as investors are concerned.

Lazard Capital Market's Colin Sebastian thinks otherwise, saying that this sort of thinking is just going to be counter-productive. The following was his response in an investor note, verbatim:

In our opinion, this view does not adequately reflect Nintendo's evolving strategy in the video game market, and may prove to be overly pessimistic as video game industry growth rebounds following several sluggish years in the console transition period.

He also pointed out another thing about game production for the Wii: it doesn't burn as big a whole in developers' pockets like the other consoles. With inexpensive developer kits and the Wii's popularity, even the lower price point of Wii titles - US$10 lower than that of the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 - won't be that much of an issue, as far as breaking even and making profits are concerned.

This is supported by Lazard Capital Markets' title profitability analysis, which came up with the figures that a developer only needs to sell at least 300,000 copies of its game to get its money back, rather than the steep-looking 600,000 for Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 titles.

Certainly good news for third party developers with a budget and looking for the right console to launch their titles on. Plus, with Nintendo's WiiWare program, it's certainly going to be easier - and more economical if we may add - to break into the industry.