" There' s been a lot of hand wringing going on because of what the cost outlook is for game development for the next set of platforms," said John Taylor, an analyst with Arcadia. " I think there' s a growing feeling that in order to build and launch a game you' re going to have to start at the $20 million mark - $10 million to build the game and $10 to launch it with a big splash. In order to be able to make any money on that kind of investment, you either have to assume some substantial unit numbers, which are hard to do in the first year or two of a platform' s existence, or you' ve got to raise prices."

Taylor said he expects AAA game prices to jump $10 to $59.95.

Banc of America Securities' Gary Cooper isn' t expecting quite as high an increase, but he' d like to see one sooner. In an August analyst note, Cooper called on publishers to raise prices on top-line games to $54.99 or higher by as early as this fall.