Price of PC and console games

I'd wonder at that myself..mass production of the discs themselves would be the cheapest part of the operation..does the development of the code for the game cost so much that the company have to factor such high prices in to their marketing and sales? I get that the marketing department set a value on the product,balancing the price high enough to make a profit,and low enough that it'll sell plenty for them.. It boils down to-if You want something badly enough,You'll pay what the market price is...

It depends on what system you are buying games for. If the system is more recent the game will be more expensive and the reason for that could be because of the online playing capability. Its not only that but the games for the newer systems also have better quality in them, they are longer than older games, and they are more in demand. No one walks in asking for a playstation game anymore, no one even buys PS2 games anymore either! I recently lost my memory card for the PS2 and when I went to the store to buy a new one I bought two for ten dollars! I swear my jaw was nearly skidding on the floor when I found out how much it was. Originally when I first bought one the thing was more than twenty dollars. So in the end it depends what game you are looking for and for what system you are buying for. If the system is old then its old news and its cheaper. If its a hot item for a new system than it will cost more.

I read somewhere before that makers of game consoles actually don't earn from selling their hardware and only get profits from selling games, so that's probably at least one of the reasons. If I can afford it yes I'd pay for limited edition releases of my favorite games, however, as it was right now, I could not even afford to buy any of the current generation of videogame consoles so I'm still stuck with my PSP and PS2.

Ok, let me answer your last question first. If I'm interested in a certain game, I'll try to look for reviews on that game, either on game review sites which offer professional reviews or youtube reviews. Cnet is one such example but their reviews are more on the software, not on games, but their review on games are quite brief but it's right to the point. Youtube reviews offer a more detailed review as they let you see the actual gameplay, like the newest NFS sequel, Hot Pursuit 2010. I looked it up on Youtube and it sure was nice, be it the gameplay or graphics, everything was fantastically done. As for console video games, they are priced at such an expensive figure because of the technology of the console itself. We all know that consoles have exceptionally good graphics, which will in turn offer a more enhanced experience when playing a certain video game, like GTA 4, which is a game that uses a lot of memory and the graphics card need to be very good in order to run it. For this, game consoles will provide the best experience for hardcore gamers, which is why the games are sold at such a price. Finally, a collector's edition of a game is more of directed to certain people, especially those who are fans of the game, who want to enjoy the game even more. But some collector's edition, like for example, racing games, they have a particular car which they offer, but I need to see what that car is before I actually go for that edition. Most probably if I like that special 'offer' in the game, I'll take out a few bucks to make my gameplay experience even enjoyable.