DProject: Well, like I said I haven't used Elements, only Pro, but if it's like with Photoshop that Elements is a stripped version of...well, Photoshop, then yeah I think you'll manage with Elements and I suspect Elements is just as easy to use as Pro. Everything you actually need is only the possibility to cut videos and export, so basically any program will do really. I've always thought that Adobe Premiere has been easy to use so that's why I would go with that. I also like the Adobe Media Encoder, the screen where you export your edited video. They give you plenty of choices and none are too cryptic about what they actually do and how they influence the exported video.
If you still have the Elements trial, try taking some game footage, bring it into Elements and export it with different settings. If the result looks good (without massive file size), then I think you have found your program. The settings I always used when exporting my Let's Plays, were:
-Windows Media (wmv) video format, Windows Media 9 encode
-Same resolution as the raw footage you recorded
-Bitrate of about 2000-2500 (I mentioned this before that I
think YouTube caps at 3000)
-Framerate: same as source (I had 60 fps in my Fraps settings)
-NO deinterlace
-Two pass
-Audio encode: Windows Media Audio (wma)
-Audio bitrate: Anything between 128-192 kbps will do, whichever you prefer for the sound quality
but of course you're free to experiment and see what looks best for you. I am not saying these are definitely the best possible choices there are, but they worked for me really well. And if at all possible, the raw video footage should be uncompressed before you bring it to your video editor of choice. Or motion JPG.
Thanks for tips, over weekend I will experiment with different settings, but I will use yours as default one.
And if anyone has other tips about which program to use or what settings feel free to post them too...and Fraps is really best choice for game recording software?