Game Horizon 2012 kicked off its afternoon session with one of the gurus of game and technology finance, Michael Pachter from Wedbush Securities.

Dressed deferentially with shirt and tie (not hoodie please note), Pachter covered a lot of hot topics.

Kicking off with Microsoft's Surface tablet, he was very positive about the device.

"Microsoft will put pressure on Apple with Surface," he said. "I think it will force Apple to innovate even quicker."

Incomplete

He was less keen on Google, however, saying the company didn't seem to be able to deliver on promise in this space.

"Google+ is a great product that no one uses," he said. "Android is ubiquitous but I think the model is flawed."

Of course, there have been plenty of failures from other companies.

"Windows Phone 7 was a great product but no one bought it," Pachter said. "But Microsoft will have the console market. I think the next Xbox is targeted at everyone who watches TV."

He also argued that Apple would be strong in the living room.

"But I don't think Google has a place in the living room," he ended.

Against the current

Of course, the industry isn't just about hardware.

As an investor-focused analyst, Pachter has strong opinions about the free-to-play business model.

"The biggest problem for the games industry now free content," he said.

"TV never backed down from delivering ads. I think we're emulating a flawed model from Asia, from where there wasn't a strong commercial model."