In the world of computing and hitech, it’s a given that costs go down, products become cheaper, and everybody’s happy. For example, I just bought myself an iPod nano, and it’s a tiny little device with 4GB of flash RAM in there. This is the first iPod to be cheaper than its competition (this time, its in the flash MP3 player market).

The exception to this rule is the cost of producing game software. As consoles (and computers) become ever more complicated, software developers just have to put in that much more work to wring the most out of the hardware.

There have been many doom and gloom predictions about developing software for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Costs will double! Costs will triple! But at least one developer, the biggest one at that, is aiming to keep costs reasonably in control. EA is targetting a 50% cost increase for their games. What? 50%! Yeah, well, that’s what “reasonably in control” means these days. But at least it’s not 200% or 300%!

Gamasutra - TGS: Electronic Arts Talks MoH PS3, Next-Gen Costs