It's often discussed here, I think, because game development on constrained-but-not-too-constrained platforms like iOS and Android presents an interesting set of 'hacker' challenges: how much performance can you extract from the CPU and GPU? How does your UI convey the necessary information on a small screen? Can you fit the resources you need into the small amount of RAM?
As to your other point: a dollar or so for (potentially) hours of entertainment is an excellent value prospect for those of us who do enjoying playing games. Games of all forms have been popular since humans have been human; is it really that much of a leap that some developers are doing well off this ancient impulse? ;^)
As to your other point: a dollar or so for (potentially) hours of entertainment is an excellent value prospect for those of us who do enjoying playing games. Games of all forms have been popular since humans have been human; is it really that much of a leap that some developers are doing well off this ancient impulse? ;^)