Game Prices

[Jezzascmezza]

I'm Australian, and I've noticed that recently game prices have been made a little more bearable. I remember a couple of years back it costed me 120 (!) bucks to get the standard edition of Halo Reach, brand new, whereas a couple of weeks ago, I picked up the week-old Borderlands 2 for 69 bucks.
It's still not ideal, but it's better. If you go to the right stores (JB Hifi, usually) a new game won't usually set you back more than 80 bucks. Still not great, I know, but not as bad prices used to be.

 

[TAdamson]

Here's a really good article on the issue:

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/07/why-everyone-is-deluded-about-the-australian-it-pricing-inquiry/

The claim that it?s not possible to make a direct comparison purely because we have GST is insulting and ridiculous. If we add 10 per cent to the US price, we?ll have a very good indication indeed of what a GST-inclusive price would be. It?s certainly not spectacularly difficult maths; I believe some software companies sell tools that can perform that task if you find it too arduous.

The notion that meeting the requirements of Australia?s consumer regulations also jacks up the price doesn?t pass the sniff test. Our consumer laws were tightened up and harmonised nationally in January 2011. High prices for tech products in Australia predate that by decades. You might also argue that the harmonisation into national laws should have made compliance easier, since different rules no longer applied in different states. If that has happened, no-one is shouting yet about passing the benefit on to consumers.

The fundamental premise of the ?support and warranties? claim is also flawed, since it presupposes that we have massively more complex rules in Australia than anywhere else and that there are no costs associated with meeting consumer regulations in other markets. That?s self-evidently not true. US laws vary hugely by state; European regulations are often stricter than Australian ones. And doing the right thing by your customers should be a good business practice, not simply a cost centre.

Pushing the ?local support is costly? barrow also ignores the increasingly frequent reality: if you have a tech support issue of any complexity whatsoever and you contact the local branch of a global technology firm, you will be sent offshore with extreme speed (presuming you weren?t sent offshore right from the start). That?s doubly true if you use online support mediums. I?ve had tech support calls handled from the US, the UK, Egypt and India, but the only times I can recall serious interactions with local staff has been with ISP issues, which by definition aren?t being sold worldwide.

Another ?justification? that is also brought up in this context is the relative cost of living and Australian wage levels and economic prosperity. There?s undoubtedly an element of truth there ? Australia was far less impacted by the global economic crisis than comparable nations ? but merely quoting minimum wage figures doesn?t establish a real difference. Leaving aside whether or not most people in the supply chain who directly impact on the cost of IT goods are paid the minimum wage, that number also needs context (what?s the tax rate? how much does housing cost?). And again, it doesn?t make sense when the staff are increasingly offshore anywhere.

The entire house of cards collapses spectacularly when it comes to digital distribution of software and media, which is where most of the future sales growth for technology products is expected. Let?s compare a couple of products purchased directly from official company stores for Adobe and Microsoft for download:

The Master Collection edition of Adobe Creative Suite 6 costs $3948.75 for a business user through Adobe Australia. The identical product through the US site costs $US2599.
As the CHOICE report first highlighted, a copy of Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate with MSDN costs $6649 in Australia via Microsoft?s site, versus $US3799 in the US.

 

[RobfromtheGulag]

You Aussies have Kangaroos and Christmas on the beach and all this other stuff, now zip it.

 

[TAdamson]

I'm Australian, and I've noticed that recently game prices have been made a little more bearable. I remember a couple of years back it costed me 120 (!) bucks to get the standard edition of Halo Reach, brand new, whereas a couple of weeks ago, I picked up the week-old Borderlands 2 for 69 bucks.
It's still not ideal, but it's better. If you go to the right stores (JB Hifi, usually) a new game won't usually set you back more than 80 bucks. Still not great, I know, but not as bad prices used to be.

I'll pay that. I remember $120 release prices. But that was back when the AUD was trading at 0.50USD so it at lease made some sense even if it hurt. But to go through that and then still pay 50% more even though we're now at parity is damn rude.

I do think that if more people head towards the system of buying Steam codes from Britain this will drive the price down further.

Everybody off to www.ozgameshop.com! Australian Gamers unite.

 

[themind]

Hang in there Australia and NZ, things will even out over time.

This thread is a mirror image of Canada and the US during the PS1 & N64 days. I purchased WCW vs NWO World Tour for $109.99 when it was retailing in the US for $79.99. The Canadian dollar was on par with the US dollar, and it was straight up gouging. PS1 games that retailed in the US for $59.99 were $74.99-84.99 at around the same time. Even the N64 and PS1 greatest hits which retailed for $19.99 in the US were $29.99. There is simply no justifiable reason to have such a huge difference in price, especially considering almost %80 of the Canadian population lives within 100 miles of the US border.

The prices haev since levelled dramatically. The switch to all DVD formats certainly helped, as the cost of shipping the N64 cartridges added to cost, but now the price difference between the two countries is abour $5.00. That is understandable, the Canadian market is miniscule compared to the US or UK, so there is a need to cover fuel and shipping charges.

On top of that, the purchasing of US titles from US online retailers, and Canadians driving across the border to purchase games in the US itself drove the game companies to review their practice. If they couldn't gouge an extra $15.00 out of Canadians, they drop it by $10.00 and settle for gouging an extra $5.00. Eventually an extra $5.00 for the convenience of not having to order online or make a special trip across the border became generally accepted.

I understand the Aussie/NZ have fewer choices to affect change in the market, but increasing your online purchasing from retailers catering to your market is especially useful. It is tough to put pressure on the publishers from far away, especially when the politicians aren't helping matters, but spending your dollars online instead of at the local shops is one way to get them to change their tune. The video game stores want your money, and similarly if they see a huge drop in purchases, but the overall number of games being bought is staying the same, they will slowly change their tune.

It took from the NES to the PS2 to get competitive pricing in Canada, and I think the DD era can only help things along toward market equality.

 

[Worgen]

I'm not sure that anyone really knows why game prices are so high in Australian, extra credits had a good idea. They thought that it went back to when the US dollar was stronger against the Aussie one and despite the fact they are roughly equal now they prices never changed because games kept selling at them. Kind of like how game prices in the states are pretty much price locked around 50 to 60 bucks. Because they have always been that price.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

I don't know enough about all the info to give a proper comment but last I checked Aussies had more disposable income than US which would explain why higher prices there.

Actually they don't. They don't by far.

Average disposable income in the US: 23,776
Average disposable income in Australia: 13,296

I said last time I checked and last time I did this they did. Since the only info I found was the US census and they give $35,553[footnote]http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2011/tables/11s0681.pdf[/footnote] for 2009 and the Aus gives $~45,000[footnote]http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Lookup/by%20Subject/1370.0.55.001~2011~Main%20Features~National%20income~16[/footnote] my numbers say otherwise.

No matter the scale they are there. I don't even know why you are bringing digital into it in this case.


Higher wages with a higher take home pay and a smaller tax wedge means more disposable income which means more demand which will mean an increase in prices as people are willing to pay it. That is how you get demand pull inflation if supply does not meet new demand level. Given that Australian has a higher GDP Per capita showing a higher standard of living this is likely to be the case. Given that the last time I checked Australia has a higher minimum wage and as far as I know I haven't looked into it a smaller tax wedge higher prices make sense.

These are the digital prices. It's cheaper for me to import a single copy from England. Thats the point.

This is not demand pull inflation. It's a ratchet effect from having the Aussie dollar increase when all other currencies tanked.

And no. Scarcity does not affect the price of media goods. That might affect the after retail price on ebay but not at retail. What you deem to be suggesting is that they limit the number of codes given to the Australian region which is ludicrous.

These are not digital prices unless you are buying from Steam or others and since apparently digital games can actually go out of stock see Bioshock steam Christmas sale there is scarcity. Once again you are talking about retail of the physical product where there is scarcity. If a game can go out of stock in Gamestop it is scarce. Also again it may not have been Demand that put it there in the first place but it is demand that is keeping it there. What I am suggesting is the games have a limit which they do if you are buying from retail. Gamestop/others do not have infinite copies of anything in their stores they have to import them and the boxes have to produced and DvDs burned. Now games are a bit different when considered a commodity or if you want to bring luxury goods into but in broad sense that is what happens.

GDP per capita, disposable income, and average wages are all different things. Highly different. You said disposable income I provided figures for average disposable income in US dollars.

Real net national disposable income(a) per capita
Table 681. Disposable Personal Income Per Capita in Current and
Constant (2005) Dollars by State: 2000 to 2009
That is exactly the numbers I gave you. I never talked about anything else in relation to the numbers I gave you.

Did you even click the links? I'm honestly just asking because if you did you would see the graph to right on the Australian one and the title on the American one.

These are not digital prices unless you are buying from Steam and since apparently digital games can actually go out of stock see Bioshock steam Christmas sale there is scarcity.

These are the prices from Steam... Thats my point.

And scarcity does not affect retail price. I'm sorry. It just doesn't. It might affect the price of apples or fish but a these products have a recommended retail price (DIFFERENT FOR EACH COUNTRY) and everybody adheres to it. The eBay price might be affected by scarcity, getting Modern Warfare 4 on opening weekend might be a sensible investment to take advantage of the arbitrage but the retail stores cannot. This is not about scarcity. This is about profiteering by publishers who are taking advantage of artificially separated markets.


The fact that I can get a game for half the price simply by importing myself makes a mockery of this system.

You give prices and you give no source and then state a price from a Uk retailer how am I supposed to know the first few are steam store prices. So I can't be faulted for you posting an unclear OP. If you think scarcity and demand does not affect game prices in your country that's fine I'm done arguing that. If you don't demand this the prices will drop.

Funnily enough, they tried charging ?75 for xbox 360 in Ireland. It didn't last too long because there was no demand for it and was an unsustainable model. If Australians keep sustaining this model it will last. Regardless, of how it got there in the first place demand and supply will dictate the price of items. It is that simple.

Since you seem to be already convinced it isn't justifiable and seem to have made up your mind before this thread I don't see why you made it in the first place aside from people to go "Fuck Publisher/Retailer they took our games, Took Errr Garms, dey turk err gurmz, theeey durrrka duuuuurrr, Durka Durrr."

 

[TAdamson]

Funnily enough, they tried charging ?75 for xbox 360 in Ireland. It didn't last too long because there was no demand for it and was an unsustainable model. If Australians keep sustaining this model it will last. Regardless, of how it got there in the first place demand and supply will dictate the price of items. It is that simple.

Since you seem to be already convinced it isn't justifiable and seem to have made up your mind before this thread I don't see why you made it in the first place aside from people to go "Fuck Publisher/Retailer they took our games, Took Errr Garms, dey turk err gurmz, theeey durrrka duuuuurrr, Durka Durrr."

Your implication was that scarcity was increasing the price, which is absurd in this case.

And I didn't suggest that lower demand wouldn't affect prices.

I made the thread to draw Australians attention to the fact that they could get their games 50% cheaper by importing Retail copies or steam codes rather than buying from Steam directly. A course of action taken more widely take would reduce Australian prices by reducing Australian domestic demand.

Got it?

But yes, HURR DURR. Thanks for that input.

 

[lunavixen]

Sometimes I wish I could figure out how much a person in each country makes and the cost of living to see if other countries are paying more or if it's actually more equal from a broader look.

well, i'm an average Australian blue collar worker and I make about $20,000AU per year. What sucks for Australians is that the AU dollar is worth as much as the US dollar and yet we still pay more for games and they come out later. On the plus side, we are slated to get the R18+ rating for video games Q1 next year

 

[TehCookie]

Sometimes I wish I could figure out how much a person in each country makes and the cost of living to see if other countries are paying more or if it's actually more equal from a broader look.

well, i'm an average Australian blue collar worker and I make about $20,000AU per year. What sucks for Australians is that the AU dollar is worth as much as the US dollar and yet we still pay more for games and they come out later. On the plus side, we are slated to get the R18+ rating for video games Q1 next year

There's also the variable of living cost and how many hours you work. Also just looking at wikipedia, you make below average. Looking at what someone posted above Australians generally do have more disposable income. However I'm not that interested in economics so I'm not going to research it and see (which is why I'm okay with using wikipedia).

 

[lunavixen]

There's also the variable of living cost and how many hours you work. Also just looking at wikipedia, you make below average. Looking at what someone posted above Australians generally do have more disposable income. However I'm not that interested in economics so I'm not going to research it and see (which is why I'm okay with using wikipedia).

I don't have all that much disposable income, and the average income listed in previous posts is for white collar workers and upper level blue collar workers like managers who are on full time, it doesn't count part time and casual workers, especially not those on little peon level like me, at the moment i work roughly 20 hours a week at casual rates and a large proportion of those in the gaming age (average gamers age in Australia is about 24) are working on a casual basis, not full time.

 

[TehCookie]

There's also the variable of living cost and how many hours you work. Also just looking at wikipedia, you make below average. Looking at what someone posted above Australians generally do have more disposable income. However I'm not that interested in economics so I'm not going to research it and see (which is why I'm okay with using wikipedia).

I don't have all that much disposable income, and the average income listed in previous posts is for white collar workers and upper level blue collar workers like managers who are on full time, it doesn't count part time and casual workers, especially not those on little peon level like me, at the moment i work roughly 20 hours a week at casual rates and a large proportion of those in the gaming age (average gamers age in Australia is about 24) are working on a casual basis, not full time.

Where I live a full time fast food manager makes about as much as you, a kid working min wage part time makes even less (but I also live in the shithole known as Detroit so everyone is poor). Also do you think that the gaming age is different here in America? Gamers are still young people with low-end jobs too.

 

[lunavixen]

]Where I live a full time fast food manager makes about as much as you, a kid working min wage part time makes even less (but I also live in the shithole known as Detroit so everyone is poor). Also do you think that the gaming age is different here in America? Gamers are still young people with low-end jobs too.

Yes, but food and the like is also cheaper where you are, we've just had an 18% hike in electricity prices and about an 8% hike in water prices, not to mention rising rent, and they're slated to go up again next year, and the Australian dollar is worth the SAME as the US dollar, yet we still pay more for things, up to 40% more in some cases and it can't all be attributed to shipping costs. So all in all, yes we may earn more from the minimum wage but we pay more despite the value of the AU dollar.

 

[likalaruku]

I feel bad for our fellow Aussie gamers. Ludicrous prices, not getting titles at all, heavy censorship, late releases, Jackjumper ants....

 

[mohit9206]

this isnt just an issue for aussies.. where i live in india games are also overpriced. so even though i would love to have a ps3 i cannot get it since games are so expensive for the system. thats why i love pc games. games become really cheap over time on pc. eg i recently bought mafia 2 and SR:3 for under $10 each. so my advice is why do you people waste money by buying games as soon as its released. why dont you wait a few months before buying.? dont get into the hype.

 

[DoPo]

Inability to think logicaly and transfer a proper response to different situations . Pathetic .

It's funny you say that when OP never ever mentioned that they can't afford a game, merely pointed out the difference in prices. And your response was "If you can't buy it, find a new hobby". Which I count as illogical, for there is no connection between your response and the thread.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

Funnily enough, they tried charging ?75 for xbox 360 in Ireland. It didn't last too long because there was no demand for it and was an unsustainable model. If Australians keep sustaining this model it will last. Regardless, of how it got there in the first place demand and supply will dictate the price of items. It is that simple.

Since you seem to be already convinced it isn't justifiable and seem to have made up your mind before this thread I don't see why you made it in the first place aside from people to go "Fuck Publisher/Retailer they took our games, Took Errr Garms, dey turk err gurmz, theeey durrrka duuuuurrr, Durka Durrr."

Your implication was that scarcity was increasing the price, which is absurd in this case.

And I didn't suggest that lower demand wouldn't affect prices.

I made the thread to draw Australians attention to the fact that they could get their games 50% cheaper by importing Retail copies or steam codes rather than buying from Steam directly. A course of action taken more widely take would reduce Australian prices by reducing Australian domestic demand.

Got it?

But yes, HURR DURR. Thanks for that input.

No I never said it was the only cause you took it as being the only cause. You can go reread the post if you want and I fully admitted that it was not the only problem. You've been the one focusing on scarcity and claiming I know nothing of the subject after doing it for 6 years in school. I didn't want to bring that into an internet argument as it is a bit pissy and arrogant but yes I've been doing Economics and other business related subjects for my whole time in 2nd level education and these are factors that affect it.

You do seem to be of the opinion that demand is not a role from what you've been saying by focusing on scarcity as being a non issue. As if games were infinite in supply they would be worthless as it would not meet one of the criteria for actually being a good in this case.

If you wanted to draw attention to an already well highlighted issue and give your own experiences on it and your own sources to other Nationals of your country that is fine. In your OP you have no links & no sources bar The Hut. All you did was say "Is this justifiable?" with just "Game Prices?" as the title and the prices.

So yes after about 4 posts you've finally been able to say what should have been said in the OP. Thanks for explaining it and you're very welcome for the input and thanks for your time.

 

[The White Hunter]

Is this justifiable?

Dishonored:

$ 79.99AU
$ 59.99US - $ 59.99AU (-25.00%)
£ 29.99UK - $ 48.02AU (-39.97%)

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

$ 69.99AU
$ 49.99US
£ 29.99UK


But if I order from a UK retailer for example The Hut

Dishonored - £34.99 + 0.99 postage World Wide ~ $54 AU or US
XCOM - £29.95 + 0.99 postage World Wide ~ $46.5 AU or US

Wait, £29.99 for Dishonored? We talking PC? Cuz if that's PS3 I want a link and I want it now!
New games at retail are £45 to £50 here usually.

 

[VanTesla]

Is this justifiable?

Dishonored:

$ 79.99AU
$ 59.99US - $ 59.99AU (-25.00%)
£ 29.99UK - $ 48.02AU (-39.97%)

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

$ 69.99AU
$ 49.99US
£ 29.99UK


But if I order from a UK retailer for example The Hut

Dishonored - £34.99 + 0.99 postage World Wide ~ $54 AU or US
XCOM - £29.95 + 0.99 postage World Wide ~ $46.5 AU or US

We know it has to do with taxes by gov't and different shipping by country and etc, but the worse is when the prices are the same when it's digital for it should not be more in one place verse the other if it's online... The only one that is making that is the company unless the gov't of the country is now taxing the digital stuff which some are I think.

 

[TehCookie]

Yes, but food and the like is also cheaper where you are, we've just had an 18% hike in electricity prices and about an 8% hike in water prices, not to mention rising rent, and they're slated to go up again next year, and the Australian dollar is worth the SAME as the US dollar, yet we still pay more for things, up to 40% more in some cases and it can't all be attributed to shipping costs. So all in all, yes we may earn more from the minimum wage but we pay more despite the value of the AU dollar.

That's my point, you earn more and therefore pay more so percentage wise, the cost is similar. If you earn $100 a week and games cost $10 in aus, while in America they earn $50 a week and cost $5 it's the same percentage even though $10 is more than $5. Except I don't know the real numbers.