Adzeth: You are just now starting to realize how inane the situation is?
langurmonkey: So you think all these publishing companies are just retarded when it comes to business?
Do you really want an answer to this? Ok
No, they are not retarded. They think that the only ones playing are teen boys. How many people have been told "You still waste your time with video games? Why? You're an adult now."?
Add to it the following, Game with concept X gets a huge budget, makes a big marketing campaign, sells well. It's obvious that concept X is what gamers need, so let's make more of those.
Game with concept Y gets a smaller budget, smaller marketing campaign, but it still sells. Enough to cover its costs, and make a small profit over that. But the game isn't a best seller.
Will you fund concept X or concept Y for the next game you publish?
Oh, and by concept Y, I meant a first person parkour simulator, like Mirror's Edge. Likely, Mirror's Edge 2 has been spotted on Amazon.