Wherever you hail from on this big blue planet, you probably think your life is pretty crappy right? All that time and money wasted on paying bills and choking hookers can certainly make it appear as if your day to day existence is rather bleak. Well, at least your video game lifestyle is pretty easy going.
Because ours ain't.
For those of you who don't know, the land of Paul Hogan, Steve Irwin and whatever other irrelevant stereotype you may come up with gets the shaft pretty much all the time when it comes to video games. Now, I'm not just talking about our censorship and rating problems even though they are frustratingly backward. No, what I really mean is that we are victims to insane prices and lack of information.
EB Games is the biggest retailer in the country when it comes to game-only stores and hooo boy, do they know it. Like a spider with many, many flies, the Australian arm of the Gamestop Corporation sucks many a dullard in every day and convinces them that yes, a AAA game like Modern Warfare 2 should be worth $120.00 (110.00 American). And if you didn't pre-order the Presitge Edition, you'll miss out on the privilege of shelling out $199.00 ($183.00 American) for those night goggles.
But EB are just part of the problem. Pricing in general is horrendous. The Xbox 360/PS3 Beatles: Rock Band Limited Edition full band kit was released here for ...wait for it...$350.00 ($323.00 American). And no, it hasn't gone down in price. For $50 more, you could buy TWO Xbox 360 Arcades. Oh, and the God Of War 3 Ultimate Editon is rumoured to be $250.00 ($230.00 American). And an in-store purchase of an Xbox Live Gold 12 month subscription is $99.00 ($91 American).
On top of that, Australia is considered the bottom of the barrel by major game publishers. Nobody tells us shit. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (GB's Wii Game of 2009) has just been confirmed for release here on March 5. Why? Because Konami apparently couldn't find an Australian distributor. We found this out yesterday. Saw: The Video Game was released here weeks after the rest of the world with no explanation. Asking some game store clerks about release dates results in them checking out the store computer and looking up IGN.com. Some of them have no idea because nobody tells them.
Expensive games prices however, result in a strange state of being in Australian gamers. Any of us with half a brain throws up two fingers to EB Games and goes to bigger department stores and find the same game for eight or ninety dollars. Because of the standard pricing in this country, we consider $80 to be a bargain. WE CONSIDER $80 TO BE A BARGAIN. Sure, we can import but we shouldn't have to.
But you know what the kicker is? The real sugar on top that punches you in the face and calls you names? 99% of Australians couldn't give a shit. They are quite happy to keep floating along with the 'Well, that's what it costs I suppose' attitude that will essentially change nothing. Either that, or be content with Wii Sports or Ricky Ponting Cricket on their PS2.
So next time you're moaning about paying for that collector's edition of Mass Effect 2 or wondering whether or not to get that DSi XL, spare a thought for the little country who is still paying $500 ($462 American) for their Playstation 3.
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