Save a few people here, almost all of you are dead WRONG. The increased price of Modern Warfare 2 does not come from increased costs, lack of knowledge, inflation, and certainly not a lack of knowledge and/or care for the PC gaming market. A few of you did touch on the reason though, it is a test of the market's response to the increased price.
Activision is testing the elasticity of the demand curve for Modern Warfare 2.
What is Elasticity? Elasticity is the effects of price on the quantity sold. Products that are relatively inelastic, such as gas, have less response to increased prices. For example, when you go to your local gas station and see that the price has gone up $1.50 in the past month or so, most people say "damn, that sucks," and continue to fill up their tank. They might buy a gallon or two less, but nothing substantial, and the gas companies still make huge profits regardless.
In contrast, an elastic curve suggests a high responsiveness to the change in price. An example would be the price of coffee. If the price of a cup of coffee skyrocketed, people will switch to substitutes such as tea, hot chocolate, etc. Demand curve elasticity is usually dependant on a few key factors such as available substitutes, percentage of the customer's budget spent on the good, and amount of time that the product will be available.
In this instance, we are examining the elasticity of the demand curve (potential Modern Warfare 2 purchasers). Activision recognizes that console market, of which many of us here happen to dabble in as well, are willing to pay $60 per new unit. They are simply testing the waters, and seeing how elastic the demand curve is. If we buy it like hotcakes, you can be damn certain that other companies will follow suit. If we don't buy it, than you be damn certain that you will see a drop in price within the first few months of release to $49.99.
The $59.99 price point is a test. Nothing more, nothing less. If you don't care, and are willing to see this trend continue, make your purchase. If you do care, don't buy it.
Edit: Everyone here saw this when Doom 3 was originally priced at $54.99 upon release. Anyone notice how it went down in price within a couple months? The demand curve was elastic, and ID found that out very fast.
SemperFi10
This. That is what my initial post was hitting upon. It is simple economics. Those of you who succumb and buy the game at the raised price are indicating to activision that you don't mind, which will then be perceived by them that they can subsequently raise the price of all games like this.
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