I blame inflation. Tbh, I'm surprised prices are still as low as they are for PCs.

*stares at my collection of N64 cartridges, many of which were bought for $70+*

 And you're thinking of getting a 360?  Lulz.

OR maybe PC gamers are just getting spoiled.
It is, as you say "a great deal"
Ever thought about that Naznatips? =p

In all seriousness though, I agree the pricing is getting out of hand.
I would think 50$ per game would be sufficient for a healthy gaming market, maybe they were just used to raking in that much money last gen and want to be able to rake just as much this gen.
I also think Microsoft charging for online gaming is abusive.

I disagree with your stance on extra maps and special editions though.
People aren't forced to buy them, as long as they keep the standard game at a proper price it's all good. The only problem I could see arising in that situation is if they cripple the standard game and force people to buy DLC and special editions just to properly play the game.

I might be contradicting myself though, but I'm pissed that Infinity Ward is still charging $10 for the extra maps in COD4, even with the big payoff they got from all their sales. They could have just done it for free as thanks for all the people that bought their game. =l

Only reason I think PC games get cheaper faster is because its so much easier for people to just download the game illegally insert cracks and boom. Therefore to combat it the developers/publishers lower the price quicker too sell more. Well for some games anyways .....

I don't know what the "average" price is for DLC, but Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 are both charging $10 for a few maps. Rock Band charges $.99 to $2.99 for a single song, with the average being over $1.99.  Guitar Hero 3 releases songs in packs of 6 for $6.25.

I'm not saying anyone is "forcing" me to buy anything.  I'm questioning if the value is reasonable for the content.  We can discuss value without discussing being forced to pay for things... 

Online should be free because it is free while offering a better experience on PC.  Why should I be paying money for less features than I can get elsewhere for free?

Of course there are games that drop in price, they are just dropping much slower than they used to.  Gamedube and PS2 games used to be in Player's Choice and Greatest Hits a year or so after they launched.  They were sold for $20 at this price.  This system of selling games for reasonable discount prices seems to have all but disapppeared, and for the few times it is in use prices inflated ($30 is now discount for PS3 and 360).  

The price you pay for a controller?  No it isn't.  You pay $60 for a controller.  And if you want a controller on the PC, you plug it right in.  I actually own a 360 controller that I plug right in.

Also, sorry if I offended you with the reading comprehension comment. 

I don't know if I could say console game prices have become unreasonable as they are still selling fairly well. I definately believe that they are starting to trend up and will soon be out of hand.

My take on the cost of games is this: Sony sells their PS3 SDKs for a VERY hefty sum, something like $10,000+ (which was just recently lowered to this price). I say that is hefty because small devs don't always have the resources to invest that much money into something. Add the fact that the PS3 is a pain in the butt to program for, is HD which requires loads of artists for HD textures, and has high expectations, and you have HIGH dev costs. Since the dev costs are so high the publisher who buys the game from the Dev has to pay more money this gen, on the HD consoles at least.

The market model for Developers is varied but for a big title the Dev will get paid at least a portion up-front. They will get the rest of the money after they complete the game and hand it over to be published. Other times they will get paid only after they have created the full game, or have a working model they advertise their game with in hopes to sell it to a publisher. This type of model is VERY high risk for a developer, especially one that doesn't have any connections or a long development history. Yet other times the Dev will make a game and publish it and then get only the royalties from those sold.

The problem lies in risk, they cannot risk a game not selling as well as needed with a lower price tag, therefore not recouping all of the invested monies. The publisher therefore opts to increase the price to the retailer and the retailer passes it on to us, the consumers.

Now if the game sells as expected, they make enough money to do it again. If it is a great game and sales explode, they rake in the cash. BUT if it flops, well it flops; and either the retailer and/or the publisher takes the hit. The publisher doesn't want to take the risk that the game won't hit enough sales at a lower cost to make money or just break even. They want to make sure they get some money back so they increase the prices and voila~! We see the prices of games @ $60+.

It is all a question of volume; if they could ensure that they would sell 1 million copies for every game, then the publishers could sell the games to the retailers at a lower cost and they in turn could lower the price tag for our beloved(?) games. However I don't know if the retailers or the publishers will lower the prices this gen, since the model has already been set.

 Heh, I remember my parents having to order FFIII from Ontario at $99 plus shipping for Christmas.

i think the US market has good prices.

Look at poor old Australia we pay

Wii games: $100 (for new release)
PS3 and Xbox: $120-130 (for new release)

our dollar is almost the same value as the US so go figure that out. They blame it on shipping costs. Absolute lies. They can combine shipping and ship all their games on one fricken boat considering the discs are all coming out of the same country out of factories.

whats inflatation? post it on me wall

No. Not at all. Inflation and rising dev costs are to blame. No one complains about rising movie ticket costs. I do think that collector's editions are getting out of hand. Some however are worth the extra $. Bioshock is a perfect example.