Really Nintendo? Are you serious? Wait while I bend over then!

@MooseyMcMan said:

@Contrarian: I knew the Canadian dollar was around the same as the US dollar, but they're the number 1 supplier of oil and maple syrup to the US, that makes sense.

What does Australia have? Crocodiles, freaks of nature (platypus), and overly venomous critters (including the platypus). You can't make a profit off of that!

Also, if you want to know what happens when the US threatens to invade Canada, watch the film Canadian Bacon.

We have lots of gold, silver, coal, natural gas and many metals like iron ore. We are becoming a giant open cut mine. Oh, and our animals are awesome!

I saw Canadian Bacon and did enjoy the premise. Thing is, the US government does have an invasion plan of Canada, it should be out there on the internet. I read it a few years back. It was old and much to do with fear that England may try to invade - we are talking 1930s I think. Still, although I joke, gven the right conditions, anything can happen and it doesn't take much to convince a suffering public. In essence, Hitler's entire plan was planned on securing resouces for its economy, with other reasons to cloud and justify it. It is a scary thought really.

@Dagbiker said:

@Contrarian:

This is nothing short of theft.

No it is not theft.

I am absolutely disgusted by this. No wonder the Australian Federal Government is having an enquiry into digital service prices. It is also no wonder that Apple and Microsoft refuse to attend (the government should force them to attend or face big fines) as they know they can't rationally or logically justify their crime. I hope at the end of the enquiry, they give sweeping powers to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to force change or start handing out fines. There are no additional costs to distribute something digital and any argument to the contrary is a flat out lie. There are no boxes, no shipping - nothing.

Sweeping powers was one of the reasons why Australia couldn't get an 18+ Rating for Games until just last year, are you sure you want them to have sweeping powers?

And another point to show just how bad that $70 price is - if you buy the card version, with the box and manual, all to put on your shelf and have for as long as you like, to resell if you so choose to, from any department store, will cost you $60. That's right, the retail version is $10 cheaper and that is without discounting that goes on.

The reason Digital prices are as expensive as they are in your region is so they don't kill the physical games market. If they priced it just the same as America then they would have to price the physical game the same, and would loose money on shipping, duties, and so forth.

It was a metaphorical statement about theft.

The government already has sweeping powers and R18 wasn't a federal issue, it was a state one. The federal governement has enforced plain packaging on tobacco products, so don't underestimate how powerful it is and that isn't a bad thing when applied to the benefit of the population.

Retail is dying anyway. It either has to reform or die. The stone age didn't stop because they ran out of stones. To do otherwise is to support bad business practice. Don't get me wrong, I want retail games and I am willing to pay more for them. If that Mario game was $40AU, I would still pay $50-60 for the retail version.

@Contrarian: Don't get me wrong, I agree that Australia's animals are amazing. That was half the reason I watched Crocodile Hunter back in the day (RIP Steve Irwin). I just don't know that I would want to ever go there because I'd be constantly thinking that I would be completely surrounded by snakes and spiders that could kill me in a single bite, and I don't have a fear of snakes or spiders.

PlayAsia and OzGameShop are the way to go. Skyrim at launch was AU$89.99, so I bought it from the UK. Fuck that was a long wait.

@MooseyMcMan said:

@Contrarian: Don't get me wrong, I agree that Australia's animals are amazing. That was half the reason I watched Crocodile Hunter back in the day (RIP Steve Irwin). I just don't know that I would want to ever go there because I'd be constantly thinking that I would be completely surrounded by snakes and spiders that could kill me in a single bite, and I don't have a fear of snakes or spiders.

People always overstate the danger in Australia. The only real danger is water for sharks and crocodiles. Land based animals can be dangerous, but so few people die from them, it is far less dangerous than a wolf, a bear, a tiger or lion or a hippopotamus. I have never felt threatened by anything and I swam in water next to a sign that warned me of crocodiles. I live in the south and the only animal that can be dangerous is the Tiger snake, one of the deadliest snakes in the world. I leave them alone and they do the same.

@Inkerman said:

PlayAsia and OzGameShop are the way to go. Skyrim at launch was AU$89.99, so I bought it from the UK. Fuck that was a long wait.

I use both of those myself. Still, on average, with discounting making games cheap, I would import less than 20% of the 120ish games I buy a year.

@Contrarian: Yeah, but echidna spikes can puncture tires. PLACE IS A DEATHTRAP.

@MooseyMcMan said:

@Contrarian: Yeah, but echidna spikes can puncture tires. PLACE IS A DEATHTRAP.

Wussssssss! Echidnas are the cutest things ever. I have picked them up in my hands, but they have the same spur the Platypus has.

@Contrarian: You are clearly unacquainted with smaller and much cuter hedgehog.

Also, Wikipedia has no mention of spurs in relation to echidnas, and I don't think they would need one, given all of the other spikes on them. They do lay eggs though, which is weird.

@DigTheDoug said:

It sucks for sure, but you also have to remember that the Australian minimum wage is twice that of the US ($15.50 in USD). The cost of living between the two is very different and almost everything is more expensive in Austraila. And that's relative to NYC, one of the most expensive places to live in the US.

WTF!!! We should do that here in the states. Force giant companies like Walmart to actually give some of that insane profit to its base employees that actually do the day to day work. I guess this is a video game site, and that is a giant topic on it's own, but damn, $15.50!

@MooseyMcMan said:

@Contrarian: You are clearly unacquainted with smaller and much cuter hedgehog.

Also, Wikipedia has no mention of spurs in relation to echidnas, and I don't think they would need one, given all of the other spikes on them. They do lay eggs though, which is weird.

Echidna

They have the spur, but unlike the platypus, it isn't poisonous. I am not familiar with anyone ever being spurred by a platypus, let alone die from it.@DoctorWelch said:

@DigTheDoug said:

It sucks for sure, but you also have to remember that the Australian minimum wage is twice that of the US ($15.50 in USD). The cost of living between the two is very different and almost everything is more expensive in Austraila. And that's relative to NYC, one of the most expensive places to live in the US.

WTF!!! We should do that here in the states. Force giant companies like Walmart to actually give some of that insane profit to its base employees that actually do the day to day work. I guess this is a video game site, and that is a giant topic on it's own, but damn, $15.50!

As I said before, my staff, no skills, get $26 an hour. We have a regulated labour market. If you work at a restaurant on a Sunday, you can get as much as $40 an hour due to penalty rates. This is why we don't have tipping - people earn ehough to live on, with having to rely on being patronised by snooty customers. Some might say the tips gets you better service, but I would rather the staff ge a fair living wage.

@Contrarian: Wow that's crazy and kind of amazing. Does it work? Are small businesses still perfectly capable of surviving even with having to provide employees with such a high wage? Also, is everything just simply more expensive because of that?

I know I could probably look all this up, but it's easier and better to hear it from someone who knows personally.

Is it just massive tariffs or something? That's one crazy price gap between markets. Come to think of it. I believe the same thing occurs in Europe as well.

If it hasn't been mentioned, the Australian govt. is currently conducting a parliamentary inquiry into pricing of software from international companies like Apple and Adobe.

It must be because of the higher costs involved in selling physical copies of games in Australia. Like, sure they could charge you U.S. prices on the Australian digital download service, but then how are stores that exist in physical space going to compete?

@DoctorWelch said:

@Contrarian: Wow that's crazy and kind of amazing. Does it work? Are small businesses still perfectly capable of surviving even with having to provide employees with such a high wage? Also, is everything just simply more expensive because of that?

I know I could probably look all this up, but it's easier and better to hear it from someone who knows personally.

Prices are aligned to costs. Small business does fine if there is a market for what they offer and considering everyone has the same cost pressures, it reflects in market prices. There are other costs beyond wages, like rent, utilities and cost of goods, but again, everyone has the same costs so everyone is competing on an equal footing. Americans are unprepared to pay higher costs that would be reflected from higher wages. I find that sad as you should not be poor when working a fulltime job.

@QuistisTrepe said:

Is it just massive tariffs or something? That's one crazy price gap between markets. Come to think of it. I believe the same thing occurs in Europe as well.

There are no tariffs involved. The only additional cost would be GST of 10%, but most countries have some form of GST/VAT.

@chrissedoff said:

It must be because of the higher costs involved in selling physical copies of games in Australia. Like, sure they could charge you U.S. prices on the Australian digital download service, but then how are stores that exist in physical space going to compete?

That is true, but it is saying that we need to subsidise business through the consumer. We expect to pay extra for retail and that is the consumer's choice.

I'm not sure about others, but the prices of AAA titles here have made me look at alternative ways of regularly enjoying video games. Sure I splash out when things come out that I really want, but every thing else I just tell myself I'll wait until there's is a sizable price drop, and by then my interests have usually changed.

The high prices introduced me to the world of IF a few years ago when I was recommended Atzec Assault. I've had some of the most enjoyable gaming experiences I've ever had playing IF. High prices are also probably why rogue-likes like Dungeons of Dredmor, The Binding of Isaac and Tales of Maj'eyal have had collectively around 350 hours with me; a level of replayablility that is unmatched (for me) by any other genre. The prices of AAA games are probably the reason why indie games are in such a flourish at the moment.

Just thought I'd give my own spin on prices of games here in Australia.

Everything is way too expensive in Australia. EVERYTHING.

But video games are especially bad, I wonder if it is just straight up price gouging or if licensing/distributing/deals with retailers/some other weird shit is what keeps prices so high relative to the rest of the world.

@coakroach said:

Everything is way too expensive in Australia. EVERYTHING.

But video games are especially bad, I wonder if it is just straight up price gouging or if licensing/distributing/deals with retailers/some other weird shit is what keeps prices so high relative to the rest of the world.

Man that looks like and seems like price gouging. I mean the AUD and USD have almost a 1:1 currency exchanged rate without factoring the cost of living and other stuff. You'd think there'd be some pricing parity. I've looked at prices of games in the US and the UK and new game releases in UK are like £37.99 which comes around to about $60 which is about what new releases are in the US not adding in tax. The conversion between the pound and the US dollar is like £1 to $1.58.

With the example the OP gave for the digital download, he's paying almost twice as much (1.8 times to be exact) for the game. That's like one of those cheap limited/collector's editions. That's crazy. It doesn't matter if the Australian consumer is "used" to it, it doesn't mean that should put up with, especially being swindled like that for a digital copy which should by all accounts be somewhat cheaper than the physical copy.

Yeah, games here are stupidly expensive, but I guess it says something when I can afford to keep buying the bloody things (admittedly, mainly on Steam).

@mrpandaman said:

@coakroach said:

Everything is way too expensive in Australia. EVERYTHING.

But video games are especially bad, I wonder if it is just straight up price gouging or if licensing/distributing/deals with retailers/some other weird shit is what keeps prices so high relative to the rest of the world.

Man that looks like and seems like price gouging. I mean the AUD and USD have almost a 1:1 currency exchanged rate without factoring the cost of living and other stuff. You'd think there'd be some pricing parity. I've looked at prices of games in the US and the UK and new game releases in UK are like £37.99 which comes around to about $60 which is about what new releases are in the US not adding in tax. The conversion between the pound and the US dollar is like £1 to $1.58.

With the example the OP gave for the digital download, he's paying almost twice as much (1.8 times to be exact) for the game. That's like one of those cheap limited/collector's editions. That's crazy. It doesn't matter if the Australian consumer is "used" to it, it doesn't mean that should put up with, especially being swindled like that for a digital copy which should by all accounts be somewhat cheaper than the physical copy.

This pricing structure goes with almost all consumer products here in Aus, Games are by far the worst offenders..

At now a Box copy of Black Ops II would cost $108 ($114US) over the US $59 ($56).. also the coast has risen from an average of about $89 a few years ago to $99 and in the last year or so $109, Whilst the Australian dollar has risen from averaging 50/60 US Cents to parity..

Well, it's simple really: When they set those prices, 1 AUD was worth less than 1 USD. Same reason why a game in the UK cost £20, but in Germany, it would cost €30. The pound is worth more than the euro.

In Sweden, where I live, this has created an interesting situation. We don't use euro here and our currency SEK has been stable for a while, so when I buy games, I usually buy them from UK stores in pounds. The pound and euro have dropped a lot relative to our currency, so it will always be cheaper for me to buy in UK-prices at the moment. It's the same with Steam. I pay in euros, but the prices are not adjusted to my country. So instead of paying 500 SEK on average for a game, I pay 300 SEK.

I can understand if you think it's unfair that you pay more, but consider this: The publishers are the losers here. They get less for each game sold if the currency drops and they don't adjust prices. You pay the same amount as you always, but American consumers could face a price hike. At the moment, they don't adjust and take the losses instead. Use the opportunity and import games cheap.

@Contrarian: Wow, I just looked up cost of living numbers and Australia seems to know what's up. I mean, I'm not planning to work a minimum wage job my entire life, but it would still feel good to actually make some money at a job while in college.

@Zlimness said:

Well, it's simple really: When they set those prices, 1 AUD was worth less than 1 USD. Same reason why a game in the UK cost £20, but in Germany, it would cost €30. The pound is worth more than the euro.

In Sweden, where I live, this has created an interesting situation. We don't use euro here and our currency SEK has been stable for a while, so when I buy games, I usually buy them from UK stores in pounds. The pound and euro have dropped a lot relative to our currency, so it will always be cheaper for me to buy in UK-prices at the moment. It's the same with Steam. I pay in euros, but the prices are not adjusted to my country. So instead of paying 500 SEK on average for a game, I pay 300 SEK.

I can understand if you think it's unfair that you pay more, but consider this: The publishers are the losers here. They get less for each game sold if the currency drops and they don't adjust prices.

That clears things up quite a bit.

@DoctorWelch said:

@Contrarian: Wow, I just looked up cost of living numbers and Australia seems to know what's up. I mean, I'm not planning to work a minimum wage job my entire life, but it would still feel good to actually make some money at a job while in college.

I hope it works out well for you.

My advice?

move out of australia. I couldnt live in a place where videogames are so expensive. Plus thats just additional suffering on top of the constant threat of Great White sharks, sydney funnel web spiders, dingos, cobras, etc

and vegemite? ugh

seriously, Region 1 FTW

@Valkyr47 said:

My advice?

move out of australia. I couldnt live in a place where videogames are so expensive. Plus thats just additional suffering on top of the constant threat of Great White sharks, sydney funnel web spiders, dingos, cobras, etc

and vegemite? ugh

seriously, Region 1 FTW

Yes, but on the upside we get all get to ride in the pouches of Kangaroos all day.

Also Vegemite is awesome... I could eat a jar of it on its own.