The more of a product there is on the market, the less you'd think it usually costs. One big area in which this doesn't ring true is gaming, both PCs and consoles. Gone are the days when new titles hitting shelves would go for $20 or even less, complete with large boxes and color manuals. You'll be hard pressed to pick up any new title for less than $50, and some new titles are even going beyond that. But why? There is an excellent article at Forbes that tells us exactly why. While tools and technology are vastly improved over a decade ago, the manpower behind these games is increasing exponentially, along with the number of sales needed to make a profit for the companies behind them.
Especially with new consoles, when relatively few people may be able to actually acquire a title, the problem becomes even more complicated. While manufacturing costs are down for the games themselves, there's still a lot of hours poured into artwork and programming. It's definitely worth a read.