I find the following photograph I took from my USA 3DS and Australian 3DSXL to show up exactly how countries outside the USA get arse raped:

New Super Mario Bros. 2 digital download: USA $40 Australia $70 or $73US.

This isn't just Nintendo by the way, all companies via digital service rip off Australians, as well as New Zealanders.

On point to this matter though. If you wish to download New Super Mario Bros. 2 in America, it will cost you $39.99. However, if you are in Australia and wish to download it, it will set you back $69.95. That is a whopping $30 dollars more for what cost exactly the same to distribute. It is even worse by the fact that the US price of $40 is in fact $38.50 in Australian dolllars as the Australian currency is worth more than the US one! That means we pay $73US for it.

This is nothing short of 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.

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.

Screw you Nintendo, and all the other digital distribution companies. Until you charge the same price in equivalent currencies, then I will treat you with the same disdain you treat us.

In the end, I got my red 3DS XL with a retail copy of Kingdom Hearts for an additional $30 as a bundle. That I am happy with. The XL is just awesome!