How DAFUQ do they make games!!

I will try and find out what the Video game process is...

'The first video games were developed in the 1960s, but required mainframe computers and were not available to general public. Commercial game development began in 1970s with the advent of first generation video game consoles and home computers. Due to low costs and low capabilities of computers, a lone programmer could develop a full game. However, approaching the 21st century, ever-increasing computer processing power and heightened consumer expectations made it impossible for a single developer to produce a mainstream game. The average price of game production slowly rose from US$1M–4M in 2000 to over 5M in 2006 to over 20M in 2010.' - Link to Quote

A video game is developed by a video game developer which can range from one man to a large business. Mainstream games are usually developed in phases:-

• Preproduction
• 'Idea  Approved'
• Funding
• Full scale development begins - Involved around 20-100 people that all have different job such as designers, artists, programmers and testers.
• Alpha stage
• Beta stage
• Final release

Modern games are advertised via magazines or Television and sometimes release teaser demos (A small  part of the game). 

After all of this, some games still don't turn a profit.

Preproduction

Preproduction is the focus of the idea and concepts development and production of the initial design documents. The aim of preproduction is to create a clear and easy to follow documentation with shows all of the tasks, schedules and estimates for the development team.
The documentation produced is called the production plan - This phase is usually not funded by a publisher.

Pitch

The pitch is where the development team stands in front of potential publishers and explains their games selling point and how it will be profitable to develop. If the publishers decide to publish the game funding is granted. If not then the development team may look for other publishers or change/scrap the game idea.

Prototype

'Writing prototypes of gameplay ideas and features is an important activity that allows programmers and game designers to experiment with different algorithms and usability scenarios for a game. A great deal of prototyping may take place during pre-production before the design document is complete and may, in fact, help determine what features the design specifies. Prototyping may also take place during active development to test new ideas as the game emerges.' - Link to Quote

A Prototype is a very rough first visuals of the game.

Production/ Full Scale Development

This is the main stage of development. Its where programmers write new source codes, artist develop game assets such as 3D models. Sound engineers create sound effects and music for the game. Level designers create the world/ levels for the game and write dialogue for cutscenes and AI.