E3 2009 is just about to wrap up, and already, we have a date for next year's event. Talk about having an early start. Waaaay early. But we can't complain. After all, with all the preparations they did for this year's Expo, we saw one of the most exciting gaming conferences in quite a while. So bring the early preps on!

Two days ago, Michael Pachter predicted that Nintendo will raise their hardware expectations following the release of their strong Q3 performance report. Well, we now have Nintendo's Q3 report, but they did just the opposite - expectations are at a low, and they're preparing for the worst in the remaining quarter. More info after the jump.

It's Unreal Engine 3's fault. This is what the former employees of Midway are claiming after the much publicized downspiral of the publishing company. But how did they pinpoint the technology to be the source of their woes? Find out after the jump.

Seems Michael Pachter wasn't off the mark when he predicted that the Xbox 360 would outsell the PlayStation 3 in October. NPD has revealed the hardware sales figures for last month and, true enough, the Microsoft console sold more units than Sony's multimedia monster. Be that as it may, both consoles still paled in comparison to the Nintendo Wii's sales. Sales figures for both software and hardware after the jump.

Michael Pachter has returned with his crystal ball to give us a glimpse... of the past! Dun dun dunnnnn.

Pachter has given us his predictions for the month of October ahead of the official numbers, saying that the Wii will still dominate. Obvious enough, but what's this? He also believes that the Xbox 360 outsold the PlayStation 3. More after the link.

More bad news for Electronic Arts as investors are beginning to abandon the publisher despite its strengths and potential to improve. Industry analyst Michael Pachter explains that EA management has shown indifference in handling their current situation.

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.

I know analysts tend to have a bad rep with most of you guys, but hear this guy out. No "well gee, Mr. Obvious, thanks for the duh" moments here. Analyst Colin Sebastian talks about how the economic crisis will affect game studios and the life cycle of consoles, something you guys might be concerned with.

Time for our monthly dosage of analyst guesstimates.

Ahead of the official sales numbers of the NPD Group, both analyst firms Wedbush Morgan (with posterboy Michael Pachter) and EEDAR predict that the Xbox 360 whooped the PlayStation 3 for the month of September. Surprise?

Steve Jobs once said that the iPod Touch is the best portable device for playing games on. Now, we may actually have a point of reference to see if he's right, if this analyst proves to be correct. According to Mike Hickey, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the DS will most likely be ported to the iPhone. More predictions in the full article.