The obscenity of Australian gaming

[BlackKnight]

Check the price;

 

 

Thank heavens I didn't have to pay that much but seriously $109.95? Wtf?

 

On another note, Assassin's Creed must have some sort of record for me- it sat on my shelf for a week or so without me even opening the plastic seal.

[fumanchu]

I dont know what australian dollars is in british pounds but that is a flocking joke.

So how much for a preowned version of the game over there?in the uk you can pick up burnout paradise and assasins creed brand new in some shops for £15 each.

[BlackKnight]

To Pounds its roughly 2.5:1, so 40 pounds roughly equals $100AUD.

 

By comparison US Dollars are 1.10:1, meaning $110AUD is like $100USD.

 

Crazy by any standards by I do remember new games in England going for 40 pounds, so its roughly comparable, but still ridiculous.

[emwearz]

When did you buy it?

(Wondering as Harvey Normans last catalouge has it advertised for $49)

Only utter tossers pay RRP for video games.

Edited May 24, 2008 by emwearz

[BlackKnight]

That's when and where I got it from. It was still labeled like that though. I got it when that sale started.

[gavin19]

Probably the biggest gaming outlet GAME, here in the UK, most new releases retail for £40-45 which puts them around the $110AUS mark. Nothing new here. Even the massive retail outlet Tesco debuted GTA4 at £45. That's the standard. Even with the dollar weakened we are still at a big disadvantage. I do not like.

[emwearz]

50 bucks is pretty much the standard price you pay for most games, if you go to a shopping center, one place will pretty much always have it 'on sale' for the 50 dollar mark.

[Fatal Rose]

most new games in the states sell for 50-60$

[ken_cinder]

You have the VAT, and a HUGELY smaller market compared to North America and Japan. Demand doesn't outstrip supply 9/10 times like it does over here in North America.

 

Then theres the fact it costs more to ship to Europe from JP/US than it does to do JPUS shipments. This isn't conceivably true of AustraliaJP, but the market there is so small in comparison, this isn't an issue.

[gavin19]

You have the VAT, and a HUGELY smaller market compared to North America and Japan. Demand doesn't outstrip supply 9/10 times like it does over here in North America.

 

Then theres the fact it costs more to ship to Europe from JP/US than it does to do JP<>US shipments. This isn't conceivably true of Australia<>JP, but the market there is so small in comparison, this isn't an issue.

 

Even with the current exchange rates, a game costs virtually double that in the UK compared to the US. Then again, it's not exactly limited to games, it pretty much encompasses all merchandise. Time to move!

[ken_cinder]

I won't re-iterate what I just said, but it encompasses pretty much everything. Exports are not key commerce for Europe, in stark contrast to Asia/North America.

 

The more of something you can sell, the cheaper you can sell it for. It's obvious even where I work. Running 50000 feet of product is cheaper for us, than running 5000. This principle pretty much applies to everything.

You also forget alot of stuff is Multi-5 or multi whatever, because of the many different languages over there. You think that translating comes free?

 

I'm not niave though, there are cases where Europe is blatantly taken advantage of. Such as console hardware prices. There is NO WAY a US PS3 60GB model for $600 at launch, is reflective of increased shipping or even VAT at what, 450 pounds in the UK? Which is like $800~

You can't look at it head on that way though, as there is currency exchange dealings with the YEN, not the US Dollar. Here in Canada, certain things still cost more even with our stronger dollar. Why? Theres 300 million americans to our 33 million canadians