Well, for the DS, I do know that you can divide the price by 20, and that is what the profit is. I've heard that it's a little slimmer on the Wii ($10 is what I've heard). The margin on the 360 Arcade is razor-thin ($4-5), but gets much better as you go up, going to $20 on the Elite. The PS2 gives retailers about $4, and the PSP about $7, but the worst margin of all is the PS3, netting the retailer just $8 for a $400 system. When you factor in credit card fees (1.9-4.5% depending on the company and its contracts) and shipping, most systems are sold at a loss, hence the push to buy something else. I've no idea about what will happen with the PSP Go, but if history prevails, it will net the retailer about $10, and lots of profit for Sony.
They'll sell you a game, sure, but it's their least favorite thing to attach. Typically about 20-25% of the price you pay is retailer markup, making that $59.99 game cost $45-48 at wholesale. It's enough to offset the console loss in some cases. But yes, accessories are their love-child of attachments. (You'll note that some retailers love setting up tables with them.) The markup isn't quite as good as mentioned prior, but average margin is 30-40%, and some third party companies give upwards of a whopping 55% margin on accessories. (Yes, Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft get nice profits on accessories too.)
Then there's the devil of used games. Brand new games have the "worst" margins; GameStop may pay $27.50 (w/ edge card) for a new game that sells for $50.49 (w/ edge card). And it only gets better from there...
-dunno001
-On a quest for the truly perfect game; I don't think it exists...
