Wii U News: Financial Analyist Says Will Finish Third Behind Microsoft and Sony

Financial analyst Michael Pachter has announced his impressions on the upcoming console war, and according to him, things aren't looking too great for Nintendo. The Wedbush Morgan researcher forecasted that the Wii U will be unable to keep up with the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and will end up as a "distant third in this console race."

"Nintendo's in trouble right now," Pachter told ABC News. "Nintendo, I think, waited two years too long to launch a competitive console, you know, a high-definition console with the PS3 and the Xbox 360. I think by the time they did launch a console that stacks up really well, the other two guys passed them by."

Pachter is mirroring many of the criticisms gamers have been leveling at Nintendo. The Wii U is actually the first of the "next-gen" line of consoles, and yet, is significantly outclassed technologically by the current generation of devices from Sony and Microsoft.

He also attributes Nintendo's difficulty maintaining third-party support as a big factor in the company's inability to expand its audience. In the past year or so, Nintendo has seen a significant drop-off in the number of third-party titles making their way to the system, with EA recently stating it had no games in development for the Wii U.

"We know EA has no games in development for Wii U," Pachter said. "If others follow suit, I mean if you see Activision pull support, if you see Ubisoft, you see Take 2 pull support, the Wii U is a Nintendo-only gaming device, which is the way they were back with the NES in 1985. They're not going to sell a lot of consoles if they don't have games like 'FIFA,' and 'Battlefield,' and 'Call of Duty,' and 'Grand Theft Auto.'"

"The publishers are pretty excited about supporting the Xbox One and the PS4. They really didn't say anything [during E3 2013] about the Wii U," Pachter added.

He concluded that Nintendo has a long way to go if they want to win back the core demographic of gamers.

"I think [Nintendo] are at the bottom of a huge mountain with a huge uphill climb," he said. "I don't think they're going to get that mojo back. I think these two guys are passing them by. And this PS4, priced $50 more than the Wii U, why would anybody buy a Wii U? Unless they just have to play Nintendo games. I think the way it actually shakes out is anybody who buys a Wii U that really is a hardcore gamer is going to buy an PS4 or an Xbox One in addition, so they can play those third-party titles they love. So I think Nintendo becomes a distant third in this console race."