After GTA4, you'd think this hullabaloo would be over. But it isn't. Analyst Colin Sebastian of Lazard Capital says that new developments over the proposed buyout of Take-Two Interactive would come next week, and that Electronic Arts would likely have something new to add to their offer.

The country may be experiencing some economical doldrums, but the gaming industry shows promise that not only will it keep rolling, it will even roll better and rake cash in the process. Several analysts even admit that they have greatly underestimated the industry's performance for this month. Read more in the full article!

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.

As the first month of 2008 ends, analysts are sending in their forecasts and predictions of what they expect to happen this year. Some say the gaming industry will bloom during the first half, others say it's going to be an epic year of epic games. Find out what DFC Intelligence and Lazard Capital Markets' Colin Sebastian think at 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.

Despite THQ's under-performance for this quarter, analysts Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan and Colin Sebastian of Lazard Capital Market remain optimistic for the game developer studio and maintains that the company's stock is still a "buy."

THQ's revenue for this quarter was significantly lower than their initial forecast, owing to the lack of sales of two of their games in the market: Stuntman: Ignition (PS2, PS3, 360) and Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (PS3, PS2, PSP, Xbox 360, PC, DS). This, however, did not deter Pachter who, despite lowering his estimates for THQ, says that this is not likely to happen again.

Sebastian shares the same sentiments, saying that THQ's 2009 lineup seems to be a "significant improvement," mentioning their next Pixar video game adaptation of Wall-E, Saints Row 2 and the sequel to Red Faction. He predicts that the video game for Wall-E will do much better than their Ratatouille saying: "Stated simply, robots are cuter than rats, and make for better video game fodder."

THQ has announced earlier that they will be lowering their fiscal Q2 revenue guidance from US$ 240 million to US$ 229 million, and full-year sales of US$ 1.12 billion to US$ 1.06 billion.

It's the general consensus among analysts that Electronic Arts' acquisition of BioWare and Pandemic Studios was a wise move. One of the more popular analysts from Wedbush Morgan, none other than Michael Pachter, also predicts that the US$ 800 million purchase will pay off.

With the purchase of the two developers, Electronic Arts boosts their already solid reputation with "several games in development, six owned franchises, and 800 quality employees." Pachter believes that EA "has finally demonstrated the thinking behind its huge cash accumulation" with the purchase. (EA has nearly US$ 3 billion in cash.)

Pachter continues that if the companies continue with the quality of their past performance then "EA will likely achieve its goal of US$ 300 million in annual revenue." Not bad, not bad at all. Colin Sebastian of Lazard Capital Markets and Todd Greenwald of Nollenberger Capital Partners demonstrate the same confidence in EA, if not as strongly as Pachter does.

One analyst though, Ben Schachter from UBS, believes that we'll have to wait and see whether or not the acquisition was a good move. While he does agree that the acquisition was a good one over the long term, he's concerned that the steep price may have some negative effects on the company's current financial state.

The console wars can get really ugly sometimes, but there's one party who benefits no matter where the blows land: the retailers. Lazard analyst Colin Sebastian believes that GameStop, the world's largest video game retailer, will be the "key beneficiary" of both hardware and software sales for the holiday season.

His first estimates of sales made by GameStop was US$ 1.41 billion but he raised the bar to US$ 1.42 billion. He also raised his predictions for total sales for the fiscal year from US$ 6.44 billion to US$ 6.5 billion. His predictions are based on the success of Halo 3 and the anticipation surrounding the release of Grand Theft Auto IV next year.

His estimates are also taken from the anticipation of a "healthy lineup" of games. Major releases he predicts will be an uber success for the video game industry are: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360, PS3, PC), Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360, PS3, PC), Rock Band (Xbox 360, PS3) and Super Mario Galaxy. He also believes that the PlayStation 3 might introduce a price cut by the end of the year.

It looks like it's going to be a white Christmas this holiday season. Better warm those consoles up.

Electronic Arts has recently reorganized its top-ranking officials and made some key changes to its administrative roster. The maneuver was welcomed by a lot of observers, but one analyst made an interesting observation.

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter says that the reorganization was a good move and a necessary one for the publisher, but someone seems to be missing in the equation: R&D  head Paul Lee. "In our view, the most important item in the press release is the omission of any mention about Paul Lee, the current head of R&D. It appears to us that Mr. Lee may have been reorganized out of a job," he says. Pachter continues:

He has been in his position for about a year, following the departure of Don Mattrick last year, and in that brief period, we believe that EA game quality has improved. However, we think that Mr. Riccitiello is laser focused on cost control, given that the R&D budget has doubled during his three-year hiatus from EA, while revenues have grown by only around 5%.

According to the analyst, one reason why EA is reorganizing may be because the administration has decided not to go all-out on research and development. He says he expects EA to begin talking more about its plans and policies soon.

For one, Colin Sebastian of Lazard Capital Markets agrees with Pachter on the necessity of restructuring. "We believe the restructuring was a necessary byproduct of EA's rapid growth over the last video game cycle compounded by operational challenges evident during the recent console transition period," he says.

No official word from EA has been released regarding Lee's status and what the new policy on research and development is. A statement is expected by many to come out any time soon. We'll keep you posted for more.

Recently, John Riccitiello stepped down from his position as CEO of VG Holdings to become the CEO of Electronic Arts, a post he left  in 2004 to co-found Elevation Partners, responsible for the merger of BioWare/Pandemic Studios. Although Riccitiello's new appointment will take place this coming April 2, analysts are already saying that Riccitiello's appointment is a good thing for Electronic Arts. 

In a note to investors, Lazard Capital Markets said that, 

Overall, we view the appointment as a positive given Mr. Riccitiello’s tenure in the video game business, familiarity with Electronic Arts, and prior CEO-level experience. While it is too early to judge what impact there will be on the company (and the executive ranks) as a result of the appointment, we believe Mr. Riccitiello is well respected within the company and the industry.

Electronic Arts continues to be profitable for investors, and a giant in the gaming industry.