In this NYT story (local PDF link) on the online gaming market, they discuss in some detail how subscriber growth has exploded in the last couple years — not so long ago, for example, half a million Everquest users was a huge number, but now World of Warcraft boasts better than twice that (come say hi; Heathen play on Silver Hand).

At the end of the article, though, after all the commentary about how the market has trended upward for years, and about how online gaming has gotten better and more accessible to the casual player, they quote a clueless analyst:

“I don’t think there are four million people in the world who really want to play online games every month,” said Michael Pachter, a research analyst for Wedbush Morgan, a securities firm. “World of Warcraft is such an exception. I frankly think it’s the buzz factor, and eventually it will come back to the mean, maybe a million subscribers.” “It may continue to grow in China,” Mr. Pachter added, “but not in Europe or the U.S. We don’t need the imaginary outlet to feel a sense of accomplishment here. It just doesn’t work in the U.S. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

No, Mr Pachter, there’s no reason anyone will ever want to hear actors talk. And we’re sure you can forsee a time when every town might have a telephone, too.