The James Logan Courier

By Benjamin J. Romano
The Seattle Times (MCT)

SEATTLE — Like big-budget movies, video games can cost tens of millions of dollars and take years to produce.

Top game studios have strict, high-pressure deadlines, large development teams and lots of overhead costs. With so much at stake, publishers have become conservative, preferring to put the big development and marketing dollars behind a sure thing.

In 2007, eight of the 10 best-selling games — including "Halo 3," "Call of Duty IV" and "Mario Party 8" — were sequels to previous hits. Together, they sold more than 27 million copies in the U.S.