According to Famitsu and cube-europe, this is a chart of the average dev cost for each major console and handheld, based on number of games used in calculation:

Here' s the link:
http://www.cube-europe.com/news.php?nid=8112


As you see in the chart, the Xbox leads the pack, followed by the PS2, and then GCN. Ironically, the GCN average dev cost matches exactly with PSP average dev costs. Even stranger, the chart showed that GBA dev costs were higher than DS dev costs. But, we have to keep in mind the number of games the cost is based on.

What do you think of this? Your thoughts..

It was expected. With console quality specs in a handheld comes console quality development costs. I often thought that was one of the pitfalls of the PSP.

While Nintendo' s handhelds have never been hi-spec devices, they' ve always been low-risk ventures for developers to make easy money. They don' t have to sell as many copies of a Gameboy Advance or DS game as they would a console game in order to turn a tidy little profit, which is why Squaresoft was rumored to want onboard
the GBA gravy train after their movie bombed badly.

I imagine that developing for the PSP has the same type of risks as developing on a console so if an original title doesn' t sell too well on it then developers will feel the pinch as they would if the same title failed on a console.