Wait? Who's being played? Cliffy B's argument is entirely circular, in that the massive costs for these games is mostly extraneous to the games themselves, ie it is the marketing, PR, licensing, etc which racks up the expenditure. That's not to mention to huge salaries going to upper management in many of these companies. They are certainly not feeling the pinch. If these extravagances and inefficiencies were cleared up, games would be significantly less expensive to put out there.
And after all, marketing is only a method of inviting sales through appeals to sheer popularity, NOT the actual worth of the product itself. A brilliant game need not have billions wasted in advertising, gifts and travel for journalists and PR, huge parties, cross media promotions and so on, for it to sell well. Sales targets are therefore largely to recoup the costs of selling, not creation and manufacture. It's as ass backwards and circular as Cliffy B's argument.
Also, just a thought about the home video industry, which seems to be doing OK without resorting to the destruction of consumer property rights, sharing and second hand. Most movies cost significantly more to put out there than a video game. Perhaps, if Cliffy B wanted to think outside the box, he'd offer alternatives which mirror the 'Box Office' period of any film's release, which is when those films tend to recoup much, if not all of their costs.
Instead Cliffy B is toeing the corporate line in further tormenting the current whipping boy of game publishers. Console makers themselves should be glad of any sale which results in a purchase of their hardware.
