The guys and gals over at Metanet Software are giddy awaiting the release of their games in just a few hours - they've done their own panel at GDC discussing the things they were able to accomplish with the Xbox Live Arcade version. An overview of the session has been written by Gamasutra:

As for how the game is funded, the Canadian duo managed to get Government funding from Telefilm for the game, with the duo explaining that it's a loan that's repaid out of profit. Sheppard then showed a full breakdown of N+'s costs - with $214,000 in total development dollars for the game.

She particularly noted that, even taking the programming in-house, it costs about a minimum of $125,000 to develop an Xbox Live Arcade title, including many of the compulsory or necessary payments for localization, testing, and so on. She did note: "Pay yourself as much as you can" with regard to salaries - in case of title delays.