Games aren't getting any cheaper - in fact, prices are heading in the opposite direction...Why do games cost so much? That's a question many of us have asked ourselves after spending fifty bones on a game we finished in one weekend! The simple answer is that games cost a lot to produce, and that cost is only going up. The tab for developing and marketing a game on the next generation of consoles is expected to jump 25 - 30 percent. And then of course there's our old friend: inflation. I bet you thought I was going to say piracy:)

Game prices have stayed fairly steady for years now, effectively becoming cheaper as the value of the dollar goes down. So it's somewhat of a given that game prices will continue to rise above the $49.99 mark that seems to be the industry standard for AAA titles. But some big games are creeping upward. Like Doom3 before it, Half-Lfe 2 for the PC is listing at $54.99, and by next year, more games are expected to rise to meet them at their pricing level.

Of course, a lot of publishers are raising their prices, but then they often still give gamers bonuses through collector's editions or by bundling in hardware and/or Xbox Live. The Halo 2 Collector's Edition and Mortal Kombat: Deception are two high-profile examples.

But some publishers are moving in the opposite direction. Budget titles - sold at a lower retail price, but also produced on lower budgets - have been around for years. But aggressive pricing schemes like MS's Platinum Hits series and Sega's reduction of its sports-game pricing to $20 without reducing its high production values, are becoming somewhat de rigeur. It may seem suicidal to some, but ESPN NFL 2K5 has sold ten times as many copies as it did last year and has carved out a significant niche. Sega has also exposed its games to many more people who wouldn't have paid the extra money for it before.

The bottom line is, games are expensive and will only continue to go up. So save your pennies and start expecting more for your games; if you're going to pay $60 for one weekend worth of fun, it better be some of themost fun you've ever had.

Source: Official Xbox Magazine.