Late reply is late.
The books comparison is more apt, however, I personally think it takes a lot more skill to make a game. For a writer to publish a book, they have to spend about £3000 to have it proof read and then published to a decent amount. I know this because my friend is a writer. There is, normally, only one individual that writes it. Don't get me wrong, I completely understand that the writer puts a great deal of effort into writing their masterpiece, but I still think the sheer amount of work that goes into games, towers over the book industry.
One thing you have to take into account, is that the developers of these games have to be paid and they aren't cheap. A junior developer will normally enter a job, looking at £25,000 - £30,000 salary. Now, if it is a AAA title, like Halo for example, there were about 180 people working on the game in different sections of the development cycle; ranging from concept art to programming. Of course, not all of these developers will be working full time throughout the course of the games development, but they are still being paid.
Games companies are business, as most companies are. At the end of the day, they need to come out with a decent profit so they can be successful. The costs include things like wages, advertisement, licenses for the development kits, hardware and so on. If you look at what a writer needs, it is minuscule compared to it.
Indeed, writers books are bought second hand and as you said, there are large stores dedicated to it; no question. However, the costing in making a game vs writing a box is alot more complex and with pre-owned games, it is making a noticeable impact.
It is understandable to think I am bias, because in a way, I am. This is the industry that I want to go into and I have been studying for nearly three years to gain the skills to do so, so I am sorry if I am acting hard headed! :3
