Bio: Manager and Principal of Fuzbi, a consulting firm focused on the business and design of online video games, and research affiliate of the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program.
A Japanese economic website estimates that the Wii costs just $158 to produce. (I’m not aware of a fully-translated version of this article, sorry.)
Burger King’s advergames have sold 2M copies. Given that they’re being sold for $4, that’s a pretty big win. Assuming a reasonable development cost, Burger King is advertising for free or even advertising at a profit. :-)