Pachter Factor Questions October 2019

Hey Pach. Did Valve drop the ball with first party development? Epic are doing the utmost to undercut Steam even going as far as offering an entire franchise as free (here: https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/collection/batman-free-week) for an entire week. They have had steam VR for 3.5 years now. Index has been out for months but still no 1st party Valve VR game and none on sight either. They promised 3 full VR games, with one this year. If Valve maintained their exclusive game development, would they have a better chance of differentiating themselves from the competition?

benjameshodges

Greetings Mr Pachter! As digital distribution accounts for a higher and higher proportion of sales, what is stopping marquee developers like rockstar eventually breaking ties with their publishers and going it alone to take a higher share of revenue?

Hey Pach. We’ve had a lot of Nintendo questions lately, so here’s one more. Assuming that cloud gaming continues to accelerate and subscription services like Apple Arcade are at least moderately successful, how do you envision Nintendo competing long-term with these challengers, if at all. I can’t imagine Nintendo creating their own cloud steaming service, for example. Congrats on your StarMine award!

Michael Dragone

HERESY WARNING: Why don't game publishers offer an extra mode for their games... a REWIND feature like Nintendo is doing for some of their Nintendo Online titles. There would be a simple rule, REWIND would only available for single player isolated mode, and any character development/leveling achieved with REWIND enabled would only be playable in isolated single player mode. If you wanted to play in multi-player mode, that character development would be totally separate, and could never use REWIND mode, so to keep the playing/competition field fair and skill based. This isolated REWIND function would be a boon to new gamers, particularly the over 60-year-old new gamers who are looking at gaming as a way to help avoid/slow cognitive decline.

Hey PACH, Shane, and the Rest!!! (Remember that old Gilligan's Island 'short' intro?) I like my Switch but why hasn't Nintendo stepped up their controller game? I have 4 joy-cons for party games but I have large "Adult" hands so mostly I use "pro" controllers. The thing is, I have other BETTER controllers made by 3rd parties like: HORI, PowerA, and 8Bitdo! (Pronounced Eight-bit-dew) Why is Nintendo letting these guy eat their lunch? Or am I wrong in thinking that Nintendo is losing out somehow? Hoping you are all well and having fun this summer, > Abner Torres <

BNR

What is the US or worldwide market penetration of 4K TVs? (Let alone good 4k tvs). Will this impact next generation as you "need" a good TV?

Mr Wolf 15G

Pach, which console do you think is going to have the best holiday sales this year and why?

NeO JD

Hey Pach, do you think the industry is heading in the wrong direction with MTXs? Do you think consumers need more protections against aggressive monetization via MTXs or should people just speak with their wallets?

Mark Davis

2020 around the corner what can we expect of next generation announcements ? Do u see both companies releasing new consoles? We only scene and heard from xbox but not Sony. Heck this is the 2nd year they sony will not having a psx. Also will there be stiff competition now with everyone one trying there own version of what the call a console or streaming type service will next this generation define the future how we play games?

Hey Pach. There are many great video game soundtracks on iTunes and Spotify these days. However, Nintendo who has probably the most recognisable music in games is notably absent with their music only represented by covers made by independent artist. Is Nintendo missing out on some easy cash by not making its music available or would listing their music just be a good PR move without any tangible payoff?

Nick Kearney

Mr. Pachter! Big fan. If Net Neutrality made a comeback, would that negatively affect game streaming? From my understanding, in other words, all internet traffic under such a regime has to be treated equally essentially de-prioritizing both gamer's and their respective streaming platforms objective of obtaining higher fidelity streams, especially at a time where people are moving to 4k television sets and demand for 4k service will skyrocket in the next couple of years.

Hey Pacther, love the show. I personally am not interested in a game streaming service like Google Stadia or Microsoft's XCloud but are ISP data cap issues an obstacle for their success? Comcast has a 1 TB gig cap, but you can go unlimited for $50 a month. AT&T makes you buy a more expensive bundle to go unlimited as well. In other words, a potential to have to pay more.

I'd like to know your thoughts about Apple buying Nintendo. I think it would be a net positive. The potential customers for Nintendo/Apple games would be huge. It shouldn't be too hard to develop a detachable set of joycons for iPhones. The audience Apple could bring to Nintendo would be huge. Who knows... with Apple experience and $$, the online "live" experience might be great too.

I am sure you must've answered this question before but how did Pachter Factor come to be and was that your first time meeting Shane?