Pachter: US game sales will "rebound" in 2010

Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter's called it: American gaming fortunes will return this year, the analyst's said in a note.

"We believe that industry sales will rebound in 2010," Pachter said yesterday in a missive centred on GameStop's upcoming fortunes, saying the retailer "is well-positioned to reap the rewards."

The analyst said yesterday that GameStop and fellow US retailer Best Buy would respectively demonstrate "solid holiday sales in a weak environment" and outright growth in upcoming results.

US game sales suffered nasty comparisons throughout much of 2009, showing year-on-year declines of 7.6 percent in November, 19 percent in October, 16 percent in August, 29 percent in July, 31 percent in June, 23 percent in May, 17 percent in April and 17 percent in March.

September figures were actually up 1%, thanks to The Beatles: Rock Band, ODST and Madden NFL 10.

Fingers crossed, eh?