did you read that link I put up earlier? Most promotion is paid for through game sales. Bayonetta sold 13k this week. That's about 50k$ worth of advertising they can use without cutting into profit.

Plus, making a game on the wii isn't cheaper by much. You still have to hire the same people to do artwork, sound, etc, and it's really only the developing that is easier. All the assets cost the same.

while I understand your point, you are seriously misinformed on the cost for assets in SD and in HD. There are numerous discussions on the topic to show that.

I agree, tech is probably a good chunk of it.  This is why engine reuse and licensing is so lucrative this generation.

For example Red Steel's R&D budget was evidently $12m, but a lot of that was spent on just initial R&D work on Wiimote implementation and converting UE2.5 to Wii spec.   On the other hand, Gears of War's R&D budget was just $10m, but that doesn't include any technology costs since it was build alongside UE3 "for free".  It's $10m for just assets, design, audio, script, etc.

Of course, if you dig around that Develop link, you find some scary high budget figures thrown around.  GT5 is $60m (and still going) for just R&D.  GTA4 was $100m for just R&D.  MW2 was $50m for R&D and a whopping $200m for advertising!  Budgets really have spiraled out of control this gen (and AAA HD games regularly balloon over $40m just for R&D), which is precisely why you so many many studios laying off, being bought out or just shutting down completely.  Not just studios either, but even semi-major publishers like Eidos and Midway.

I agree, tech is probably a good chunk of it.  This is why engine reuse and licensing is so lucrative this generation.

For example Red Steel's R&D budget was evidently $12m, but a lot of that was spent on just initial R&D work on Wiimote implementation and converting UE2.5 to Wii spec.   On the other hand, Gears of War's R&D budget was just $10m, but that doesn't include any technology costs since it was build alongside UE3 "for free".  It's $10m for just assets, design, audio, script, etc.

Of course, if you dig around that Develop link, you find some scary high budget figures thrown around.  GT5 is $60m (and still going) for just R&D.  GTA4 was $100m for just R&D.  MW2 was $50m for R&D and a whopping $200m for advertising!  Budgets really have spiraled out of control this gen (and AAA HD games regularly balloon over $40m just for R&D), which is precisely why you so many many studios laying off, being bought out or just shutting down completely.  Not just studios either, but even semi-major publishers like Eidos and Midway.

And last gen, any game possibly costing that much was either an already established hit franchise, or had an out of control budget.

Final Fantasy X cost $32 million, but that was the first FF on 'new' PS2 hardware. The last FF on the PS2 (FF12) was $42 million. I could just imagine how much FF13 ran Square Enix....(definitely $100m+)

That is probably the most expensive example I could find; GTA:San Andreas was probably in between FFX and FF12, but that did sell 18 million+