Sorry, I was gone all day and didn’t have a chance to respond. Actual game development (and development + publishing costs) are hidden like nuclear launch codes. I used a combination of comments and interviews and a few key articles most of which I didn’t bookmark except for this especially useful one http://www.diggingtheweb.com/wiki/DevelopmentCost .
A developer being interviewed said that DS games usually cost a few million so I interpreted that as 1-3 million. Another article said the PSP cost about the same as the PS2 to develop for and Fumitsu once estimated PS2 games as costing 3-8 million.
The Wii has been quoted to cost 1/3 or even ¼ as much as HD, and not much than the PSP which made it fairly easy to come up with a low end. The high end is pretty much a plain guess because I’m sure the most expensive game was made by Nintendo and they are extraordinary close mouthed.
"THQ Inc. Chief Executive Brian Farrell said that investment in a next-generation video game can run roughly $12 million to $20 million, while a title for the Wii could be in the $5 million to $8 million range."Ubisoft's Red Steel game for Wii will incur a development cost of approximately $12.75 million, according to a report by JeuxFrance.com. Red Steel is being readied to launch alongside the Wii later this year. According to its developers, the game will have approximately 13 hours of play time.
Wii is considered to be the cheapest next-generation console to develop for. In May, THQ president Brian Farrell estimated Wii development costs are in the range of a quarter to half of that required for PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 development. What does this mean for developers? A game such as Red Steel could cost them between $24 - $48 million on PS3 or 360.
The HD consoles, I would have started higher but I allowed for the fact that part of the development is sometimes partially split between them but at least two developers have claimed that just doing the HD graphics adds about 9M. The high end was easier, because it is claimed that GTA IV cost about 100M and that the PS3 costs more than Xbox so I split it 60/40. Also the cost of Halo 3 and MGS 4 seem to basically support these numbers also.
I claim no scientific precision for these estimates but they are consistent with what little information I have.
