Since When did this become ok?!!

[Chesterfield Snapdragon McFisticuffs]

I Am a New-Zealand born gamer. I usually buy my games over steam because they typically cost substantially more (ie between 100-120 dollars) to buy at the store. Recently I have been seeing this trend though, where games are priced differently, more expensively, if they are AAA titles. At first I thought it was because they were big games (Modern Warfare 2, 89.99 USD) but then I realised that other were paying $59.99. Borderlands was originally $49.99 and got pulled, then re-released for $79.99. The price of Battlefield Bad Co. 2 has just leapt from $49.99 to $69.99.
My question is, when did it become ok to start overcharging other countries simply because games cost more in their region? There is no excuse for this as we are paying in US dollars, but what does the escapist (particularly those from nz and aus) think?

 

[Pimppeter2]

My question:

When did it become okay to sell shitty games at full price?


Seriously, we don't have a set price for Cars, why do we have one for games?

 

[RJ Dalton]

It's called people being dicks. The world has always been this way.

 

[MazzaTheFirst]

Yeah this has always irked me. Especially when you can compare two games from different regions and they are different (we pay more). I guess you could make the claim of the servers having to host the games, download rates etc. etc. But in the end it is pretty ridiculous. Until Australian/New Zealand gamers stop buying for that price it will never change.

 

[Toocoolforranch]

i had no idea they were doing this in other countries. thats ridiculous

 

[The_Healer]

Because they can sell them to us at higher prices?

We are undeniably the bitches of the gaming market. They can charge whatever they want for games (within reason) because we are such a small percentage of the total market.
Woo for Aus and Nzl!

 

[scoHish]

I Am a New-Zealand born gamer. I usually buy my games over steam because they typically cost substantially more (ie between 100-120 dollars) to buy at the store. Recently I have been seeing this trend though, where games are priced differently, more expensively, if they are AAA titles. At first I thought it was because they were big games (Modern Warfare 2, 89.99 USD) but then I realised that other were paying $59.99. Borderlands was originally $49.99 and got pulled, then re-released for $79.99. The price of Battlefield Bad Co. 2 has just leapt from $49.99 to $69.99.
My question is, when did it become ok to start overcharging other countries simply because games cost more in their region? There is no excuse for this as we are paying in US dollars, but what does the escapist (particularly those from nz and aus) think?

I don't know, but you definitely have the Longest Account Name award nailed. Congratulations.

 

[Erana]

Its not an exchange rate mistake, or something, is it? It can't be...
That's just not fair!
But still, why do games cost more in Australia, anyway?

 

[Samcanuck]

It doesn't...and its complete bullshit. I can see the U.S screwing Canada just as easily if we weren't so closely tied. It's politics. And let me tell you, I would never condone pirating ripoff priced stuff...oh...no...not I.

 

[Lucane]

Maybe it's some kind of misguided attempt to keep the local retail markets profitable though it might have been pushed by the license holders to gain a higher profit and to allow thier not digital copies a chance.... I'm not saying it's right though.

Edit: Well I guess if the New Zealand dollor is stronger than a U.S. one then the final transaction exchange could be in your favor but it still doesn't sound fair.

 

[Good morning blues]

Video game publishers aren't charities; they are profit-oriented organizations that are interested in making as much money as possible. They will therefore charge whatever they can get away with in each market.

 

[lacktheknack]

http://www.bestweekever.tv/bwe/images/2008/09/Capitalism%20Stupid.jpg

Note: I don't think you are actually stupid, but I couldn't find another appropriate photo. How could someone who watches "Whose Line Is It Anyway" be stupid?

 

[Insanum]

Bit of a Tip, DOnt use steam. So far ive had a 3 week dispute with them & i cant play HL2M, Which is really annoying as i only had steam 4 days in the first place.

Sufficed to say, Im sick of Steam's M'guffins & im launching a formal complaint against them.

 

[SpAc3man]

I've noticed this too. Here in New Zealand its cheaper to get most of the bigger releases from a retail store. My theory is that in countrys like the States consumers are willing to pay US$89.99 (aprox NZ$120) for MW2 where as it only costs NZ$99.99 (aprox US$70) from shops in NZ because thats what we expect the price to be and what we are willing to pay in this country. Same deal with PC vs PS3/360 prices. PC games in NZ almost never go above NZ$100 although the same game on a console retails for NZ$120.
This could be due to the extra cost of BlueRay disks and retailers matching the Xbox price with the PS3 just cos people will pay the extra, although I would imagine it has more to do with the fact the majority of console consumers expect this price and will pay the extra $20

 

[balanovich]

Everything is worth what people are willing to pay for it.

Are there special taxes ? Australia is quite sever against video games, especially with violent ones.

 

[Lord of Maggots]

Gotta love capitalism.

 

[ghstman]

On one hand I could understand driving the prices up a little bit if it costs more to have them shipped halfway around the world. From what you're describing though, it sounds more like price fixing. They all know that you don't have a choice but to pay the outrageous prices (illegal activity not withstanding) so they all agree to make as much money as they feel they can get away with.

 

[OnyxBMW]

something worth considering: It may not be related to a tax, fine, or fee of any form, but could be that, since importing the games is so expensive, the digital market is starting to run physical stores out of business, since it is so expensive by comparison. In turn, the digital distributors could be pressured to artificially inflate the price so that local stores actually have an edge to get people to want to choose them over distributors.

This is one theory I heard for why, in the US, digitally distributed games are equal in price to physical games, despite the fact that you don't have shipping or manufacturing costs at all in a digital product, which ergo should make it cheaper.

 

[Void(null)]

My question:

When did it become okay to sell shitty games at full price?


Seriously, we don't have a set price for Cars, why do we have one for games?

As much as I hate Meta Critic, I am beginning to believe a game should not be allowed to be sold at a price disproportionate to its Meta Critic score, averaging out critic score and user rating.

Under 50: Below $10
51-60: Below $15
61-70: Below $20
71-80: Below $30
81-90: Below $40
91-100: $50 or above

This would prevent publishers from forcing games out the door buggy and unfinished or developers releasing complete shit, and at the very least of they did... it would be priced accordingly.

I have no problem with a game having a few bugs, some poor gameplay decisions or only a few hours of gameplay. I do have a problem with a game having all of the above and costing $60.

Putting this system through its paces:

Star Trek Online: $20
Alien VS predator: $30
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat: $40
Mass Effect 2: $50

So far it seems pretty spot on to me. Now there would have to be a rule for depreciation every 3-6 months or so, but it seems like a workable idea.