Don’t get too excited over this latest Gamasutra story of an analysis saying PS3 is going to ‘outsell everything else’. It is beyond absurd.
It is tempting to laugh at them and say, “Stupid analysts!” But I want you to ignore that temptation. These people are shrewd indeed.
There are many analysts out there than the ones we hear about. However, we never hear about them. Why is that? Well, they are not speaking to the press. And why not? It is probably because gamers are not going to be buying their expensive analysis reports.
So why do the analysts that do speak to the press (and the game journalists who dutifully copy and paste what is sent in their email box) in the first place? It is highly likely that the objective is aimed at targeting public perception. Why else would you speak to the press? Investors don’t get their information through ‘game journalists’, so why in the world are analysts talking to the press?
No one is so stupid as to say the stuff that is in that latest ‘analyst report’. What is being said is being done so deliberately. If you mock them, that too is playing into their hands. The target is to change public perception.
Besides, analyst reports are SOLD because they have VALUE. They are not GIVEN AWAY FREE to the public unless the analysis has no value. The fact that this is being given free to the press already means that its value is nothing.
Why would an analyst give something away ‘free’ to the press? The answer to that question should be the context in how we look at these ‘analyst reports’ that corrupt our gaming news.
Instead of responding with “LOL stupid analysts”, we should consider there is a very tactical reason why they are giving away these “reports” to the press.