Why Are Books Cheaper Than Games?

In a not-very-recent post, Chris wondered why games were so much cheaper than food, at least by some standards of value. I agree with what he said, but an even cheaper medium has come to my attention: books. While I'd hesitate to pay $15 for a meal and $10 for a game, it would take a lot for me to spend even $5 on a book.

You can argue that books are shorter than games, but on the other hand, books are much longer than movies. Another factor could be the number of people involved in production-- a movie or game usually has dozens or hundreds of people working on it, while a book is often largely made by a handful of people. With many books being digitally distributed these days, the same argument can be made as that for digital games-- any profit is net profit.

I imagine that another explanation for the closing of bookstores and the low value of books would involve the phrase 'kids these days,' and while I probably can't comment with any good perspective on that idea, I was encouraged by the high attendance of a book sale on the Emory campus a couple days ago. Tables were piled with dusty tomes on religion, philosophy, and history, most priced at 50 cents and selling like hotcakes. Either there's literary hope for our generation or college students are attracted to low prices like moths to a flame.