Jim Ward of Lucasarts has some interesting thoughts on the industry model of gaming: it doesn't work from a business perspective.

Right now this industry has a business model that does not work. This industry has been flat for the past six years; we've been selling games to the same people. Our revenue model is based on one shot at retail - we have no back-end revenue streams like a movie might in terms of DVD [or] TV.

An interesting point: games as a form are tied into expensive home technology in a way no other medium ever has been. That's bad for ongoing returns. Old games easily slide into obsolescence, because the platform — unlike a page or a frame of celluloid — isn't stable. Florian Eckhardt

'Games industry business model does not work' - Ward [Games Industry]