Australia Asks About High Game Prices

[CounterAttack]

Check out EB Games Australia for some examples. Max Payne 3? 110 bucks [https://www.ebgames.com.au/ps3-147350-Max-Payne-3-PlayStation-3]. These aren't collector's editions, either; these are the standard, off-the-shelf releases that people in this part of the world can pick up for $30, $40 and even $50 cheaper.

New Zealand has similar prices... listed in New Zealand dollars. And given the current exchange rates, we're actually paying more for them than Australians are. Sometimes I wish the world could just operate on a system similar to the standard credit seen in almost every sci-fi universe. A single currency for the globe would make life so much easier...

... but then things would still cost more to us. Why? 'Because shut up.' That's the answer we'll get.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Yeah, companies praying on market intertia is such a piss off, and once we experience very blatantly here in Canada. Games are not that bad, but many items cost as much as twice here what they do in the US.. which is only a couple hours away at most from quite a few major Canadian cities. Our dollar has been at par or even better with the US dollar for years now and yet we still get skunked by BS pricing should we decide to not just drive a couple hours south. And then the government always releases reports every year about how much potential money the economy loses to cross border shopping.

 

[Gather]

And then you have websites like Ozgameshop [http://www.ozgameshop.com/] that live in Europe and sell video games directly to you with free postage for "American prices".

Or, if you wanted an Australian based store there is Dungeon Crawl [http://www.dungeoncrawl.com.au/] who also offers free shipping (But also has optional paid shipping) and yet still has a decent margin of profit. Oh, and they actually have a physical store so they aren't saving money on that either.

I'm not entirely sure why there's a $50 pricetag for shipping if these companies can do it for free (And for half the price)

 

[ResonanceSD]

And then you have websites like Ozgameshop [http://www.ozgameshop.com/] that live in Europe and sell video games directly to you with free postage for "American prices".

Or, if you wanted an Australian based store there is Dungeon Crawl [http://www.dungeoncrawl.com.au/] who also offers free shipping (But also has optional paid shipping) and yet still has a decent margin of profit. Oh, and they actually have a physical store so they aren't saving money on that either.

I'm not entirely sure why there's a $50 pricetag for shipping if these companies can do it for free (And for half the price)

Yeah, it's because the market will charge what the market will bear. And we're idiots here in Australia.

I rec. ozgameshop for imports though, they're fantastic.

Sorry, I just had to do that.

 

[samsonguy920]

The answer to the digital distribution question is because publishers can't risk undercutting and pissing off retailers yet; it's the same situation everywhere else.

Pretty much. I've figured it was higher over there partly because of the cost of shipping, but also whatever tariffs and such Australia tacks on.
Makes me wonder if this guy...whatshisname...Stephen Conroy, the Federal Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy..boy, that's a mouthful. Let's just call him Bob.
Anyway, it makes me wonder if Bob has done his research on his country's import and export laws and trade agreements. That might be the best place to start. And it might just reveal that nothing can be done without pissing off select governments, like the US, China, and Japan.

 

[Andronicus]

Australian salaries are much higher and the conversion rates, they are actually paying less than any place in the world. $1AU is not equal to $1US. Even their minimum wage is like $18AU/hr

AU$15.51, actually. [http://www.fairwork.gov.au/resources/fact-sheets/conditions-of-employment/pages/minimum-wages-fact-sheet.aspx] While I realise this is still pretty high, as Judgedread said above, it's not exactly a cruise paying your way through life down under. I've done my fair share of complaining about Australian game prices, but in actual fact, just about everything in Asutralia costs more. That extra $8.26/hr more disappears very quickly, even before you've managed to make your way to EB games.

Course, maybe we do deserve to pay more? I dunno, I just don't know that much about the state of the economy to calculate what the fair amount for games we should be paying is, although I still imagine it'd be considerably less than what we're paying now. That, and if you're a kid who happens to like videogames, whose minimum wage is actually considerably less than the national average, then that extra $50-60 starts looking a bit more ominous.

 

[Eric the Orange]

I can answer that for ya, because there getting away with it. If they thought they could charge 100$ in the USA and more money they sure as hell would.

 

[Baresark]

I may be wrong in this but: I thought that Australian businesses paid high import tariffs for games and gaming hardware. So, of course, selling the physical product is expensive. So why is the digital just as expensive? If they are selling physical versions of games while simultaneously selling digital versions of games, they can't have the price be different. So, it stands to reason (in so far as I am not wrong about my very first point) that in order to sell digital games for cheaper, they must also lower import tariffs on physical copies of games. Which means that games won't get cheaper since governments aren't going to deny themselves the money of a high tariff item. I also seem to recall some argument recently that it's because the price is in US Dollars and not localized like it is in other countries, but at the typing of this comment the exchange rate was 1:1.0284. So that excuse clearly doesn't fly anymore.

If I am wrong, then by all means, correct me.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Australian salaries are much higher and the conversion rates, they are actually paying less than any place in the world. $1AU is not equal to $1US. Even their minimum wage is like $18AU/hr

But when a gov makes the minimal wage twice what 'others' pay out, then see products being sold for twice what 'others' pay for...

Er, uhm... Never mind. I've bitched the same song often enough.

EDIT: *smiles at the above post ; )

both of these

yes, everything might be expensive in australia, but so is it over here, gaming is no different from any other market. seriously, try surviving on 8$/hr while scrounging for solid hours at a job, it won't get you many video games after taxes and other bills kick in, i promise you that.

 

[Vivi22]

Australian salaries are much higher and the conversion rates, they are actually paying less than any place in the world. $1AU is not equal to $1US. Even their minimum wage is like $18AU/hr

I can't speak to what their wages are like, though at least one person here has said the cost of living is also higher. But for the record, the current exchange rate puts the AUD pretty much at par with the US Dollar. The exchange used to be quite a bit different which was part of the reason prices were so high.

As to why they're still high: the simple answer is that Australians got used to paying them and Publishers never bothered to change them because people kept on paying them.

 

[uncanny474]

On behalf of my colleagues in Australia:

"It's about bloody time, ya wankers!"

There, did I say that right?

 

[Astoria]

Australian salaries are much higher and the conversion rates, they are actually paying less than any place in the world. $1AU is not equal to $1US. Even their minimum wage is like $18AU/hr

Sigh I'm sick of seeing this arguement. Yes we get paid more but not by that much. Minimum wage is more like $12/hour. We also pay twice as much, sometimes even thrice as much for things like electricity, food, housing ect. If you worked out all the numbers we probably don't have things any easier than everyone else.

OT: Good about time. Hopefully this is more useful than that stupid petrol watch thing they introduced that did nothing to keep petrol prices fair.

 

[ResonanceSD]

On behalf of my colleagues in Australia:

"It's about bloody time, ya wankers!"

There, did I say that right?

Yup.

Australian salaries are much higher and the conversion rates, they are actually paying less than any place in the world. $1AU is not equal to $1US. Even their minimum wage is like $18AU/hr

But when a gov makes the minimal wage twice what 'others' pay out, then see products being sold for twice what 'others' pay for...

Er, uhm... Never mind. I've bitched the same song often enough.

EDIT: *smiles at the above post ; )

both of these

yes, everything might be expensive in australia, but so is it over here, gaming is no different from any other market. seriously, try surviving on 8$/hr while scrounging for solid hours at a job, it won't get you many video games after taxes and other bills kick in, i promise you that.

Thank you for saying that. I get so annoyed when they're like "YOU GET PAID MORE SO IT'S OK TAHT EVERYTHING IS MORE EXPENSIVE"

 

[ThunderCavalier]

$100+ dollars?

Now I can see why Yahtzee gets really pissed when he finds games boring or unfulfilling.

 

[Evil Smurf]

Conroy had better bring the goods this time if he wants to redeem himself for the filter fiasco.

I was just thinking that...

 

[Evil Smurf]

On behalf of my colleagues in Australia:

"It's about bloody time, ya wankers!"

There, did I say that right?

Yep. Now drink this VB and shear a sheep. *checks you have done that* You are now an Australian citizen! Congratulations!

 

[MercurySteam]

About damn time they started looking into this. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

Yep. Now drink this VB and shear a sheep. *checks you have done that* You are now an Australian citizen! Congratulations!

We don't all shear sheep and to be honest, VB tastes like ass. I prefer Fat Yak or Strongbows.

 

[Weaver]

While we're at it, can we lower book prices in Canada too?