@Zoo
General price inflation, more competitors due to Webshops, quality of Product inflation(this one is very subjective) and Production cost inflation, all went up while prices of games actually went down.
LOL I believe more in wealth creation theory.
More people are having real productive jobs nowadays, making some real money, therefore we have to print more money to represent the growth. Because of the increasing quantity of money in the market, the value of the money would decrease accordingly over time while the value of things remains the same (it can be considered cheaper if you believe in the "quality of product inflation").
The preorder bonus is a common marketing tactic. Generally investors wanted to see early returns from the project and gain as much as possible at the shortest period, while the value of the investment (because of the trend factor, freshness, coolness, and such) is still at the maximum. This is called maximizing sales.
My advise is for you to simply question yourself: do you really think one extra good map compels you to buy the game? (Assuming the new Karkand map would be a wonderful one). People like Lainer is good for the economy, he is a conscious spender:
BF3 will be the cats ass. If it is the awesome modifiable game I buy for PC is another question. I am going to hand EA money either way.
He
is going to buy one has budgeted for one.