Buy from a real gawdamn shop.Timmibal said:
http://www.dungeoncrawl.com.au/c-117-role-playing.aspx
Price of games in Australia
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http://www.dungeoncrawl.com.au/c-117-role-playing.aspx
Well, the way I see it, if the major retailers can't match Steam prices, I'll just buy online.Timmibal said:
Sure, it may take me all night to download it, but I don't have to leave the house and it's only 5 clicks.
Edit:
When steam becomes available for PS3, EB might finally pull their heads out of their asses.
I live in Australia and keep in mind that while games may cost more, I am led to believe that Australians also get paid more. I am not sure what the minimum wage in America is exactly but I know that it is much, much, lower than that of Australia.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
That's part of the problem though. Steam has already been 'bullied' into bumping up prices for Australian customers at the behest of the retail sector. Prices for purchases over Xbox live have been in lockstep with physical retailers since the service was launched. I don't know if the PSN offers digital distribution yet but I'd put money on it being the same.Danceofmasks said:
It's only the little importers who seem to be pricing fairly, but the cynic in me wonders how long it will take before they start looking at Australia and thinking "Gravy!"
We also have much higher costs of living, and basic essentials also cost at least double what the US market is paying.Judgedread said:
Well, retailers can only get away with that crap if people buy from them.Timmibal said:
If importers start being asshats, there's always importing stuff yourself.
The only people who get ripped off are people who don't know how to shop around.
(Ok, xbox360 has issues due to region locked DVDs, but that's why I don't freakin' have one)
Retailers started charging like wounded bulls, so we all went to Digital Distribution.Danceofmasks said:
DD realizes they can do exactly the same thing, so we all go to Importers.
Importers get on the gravy train, so we all somehow register ABNs as small retailers and import the shit ourselves.
Teh Gubbmint starts getting shitty over all the butthurt retailers are levelling at them, so they put a bar on imports. (They did it with certain brands of sporting equipment, now only select companies have import rights, Bauer and RBK being two prime examples)
So what, 5 years from now I've got to become a smuggler just to obtain legal content at a fair price? Fuck that.
No offense to your dad, but this is bunk. We've got other things we want to keep out of childrens reach too. That's why we don't let unaccompanied teens into pubs.l33tness08 said:
I agree that we're getting ripped off, in more than just the games industry (we have a higher cost of living) but in general, Australian's have a higher wage than in other countries (namely the US).
This is because the New Zealand dollar is weaker than most major currencies.Valagetti said:
IANAL, so please do correct me if I'm wrong on this, but all that chapter is basically stating is that the Aussie government may not levy fees or otherwise hinder digital distribution of products. It doesn't say anything about preferred suppliers or region specific products, and it certainly doesn't stop retailers from leaning on digital distributors to raise their prices voluntarily.Danceofmasks said:
Edit: Also, america might have a free trade agreement, and it's why they couldn't step on amazon when borders when under, but america isn't a region partner for games so those conditions are kind of moot.
One little thing that I should point out is that in Australia, our sales tax is factored into the listed price of a product, whereas in America, the listed price is the price before tax. For a new release console game sold at EB for $110, the true cost of the game is just $100.
But anyway, there are a few things that could explain it. The dollar might be particularly strong at the moment but it wasn't all that long ago that it was around 60 US cents, which makes a game that cost $60 USD in America $100 AUD in Australia perfectly reasonable. While it's been at and above parity with the US dollar lately, the Aussie dollar fluctuates more than most currencies do and it's only going to be a matter of time before it'll be 60 US cents again. Retailers would probably say that the price difference is what will insulate them from price increases if the AUD drops in the future, but this is probably just BS.
Like already mentioned, the minimum wage in Australia is a lot higher than it is in America and indeed most countries, and when people have more money retailers are going to charge more for things.
I think the main reason, though, is simply because they can get away with it. There might also be a factor of publishers using expensive regions like Australia/NZ, Europe, and to a lesser extent, Japan, to help subsidise relatively cheap games in North America. This is just speculation though.
But anyway, there are a few things that could explain it. The dollar might be particularly strong at the moment but it wasn't all that long ago that it was around 60 US cents, which makes a game that cost $60 USD in America $100 AUD in Australia perfectly reasonable. While it's been at and above parity with the US dollar lately, the Aussie dollar fluctuates more than most currencies do and it's only going to be a matter of time before it'll be 60 US cents again. Retailers would probably say that the price difference is what will insulate them from price increases if the AUD drops in the future, but this is probably just BS.
Like already mentioned, the minimum wage in Australia is a lot higher than it is in America and indeed most countries, and when people have more money retailers are going to charge more for things.
I think the main reason, though, is simply because they can get away with it. There might also be a factor of publishers using expensive regions like Australia/NZ, Europe, and to a lesser extent, Japan, to help subsidise relatively cheap games in North America. This is just speculation though.
It's interesting, lately at EB I've been noticing a lot more "used" games from overseas, particularly the US that look suspiciously new. I'm not sure how true this is but I've been told that they order in games from overseas and to get around the regulations, sell them as "used" even though they're really not. The price difference is only a couple of bucks less (as often is with EB's used games) so I bet they could make quite a bit of money that way. (Sorry if this was mentioned in the article, I haven't read it.)Jelly ^.^ said: