I remember video games being around the 40-50 dollar range since hmmmmm I'd say since Playstation started ruling the market. So for half a decade or so games have been getting expensive and its mostly due to the content within the game. Hyped up 3D graphics, voice acting in the cut scenes, long hours of play time....all these factor into the costs along with this simple fact.
A designers gotta get paid SOMEHOW and it ain't just pushing in just the hours. Based on the games sellings I would think the designers as a group get a certain percentage of the cyber pie.
I know I have ALOT of trouble bring myself to purchasing a 49.99 game let alone something that has extras turning it into a 59.99-89.99 dollar game cause you get a free damn shirt or mouse pad or some other loose end bull.
The last game I bought was Starwars EP III that was 49.99, I don't think it was a 49.99 game, it can be easily a 39.99 or a bit less, but never more than that....I do feel I was ripped off for its poor content and 8 hours of game play.
But if you want something worth your money and can stomach it, Xenosaga Episode 1 was diffenetly worth everyones money, 49.99 and you had over 80 hours worth of story, course most of it was cut scene after cut scene....but many said that's one of the few games worth the 50 dollars and just having it for 20 or less is a blessing compared to Episode 2 which only had a third of the time of gameplay Episode 1 had.