People have to understand though, that the "big budget" of games this generation is also largely due to adapting to the new consoles and the development of the engine. After a first game, the budget for game development itself goes down significantly.
No matter how huge of an improvement Assassin's Creed 2 is over AC1, and Uncharted 2 over Drake's Fortune, there is no way they cost more than the original games, and more money thus is available for marketing. Killzone 3 will be easily profitable despite the insane engine created (and probably ridiculous amount of money needed).
The engine would already be in place and the costs for R&D aren't nearly as high because the IP has already been established.
Of course there are some studios out there like Rockstar North and Team ICO that seem to top themselves with each game (GTA IV being the most expensive game of all time, and Team ICO's games use different engines) but they are the exceptions, not the rule.
Polyphony Digital, Square Enix and Kojima Productions are also pretty crazy when it comes to game develpoment budgets, as well.
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