So EA charges nearly 2-4 times the price for their own games on Origin.

[Dirty Hipsters]

For me the prices are not even close the those. Calm your EA rage you hilarious children. And you non-us gamers should be used to being boned by game prices

So it's ok for EA to exploit their service just so long as they aren't doing so in Americaland? How fucking conceited are you?

 

[Zelcor]

For me the prices are not even close the those. Calm your EA rage you hilarious children. And you non-us gamers should be used to being boned by game prices

So it's ok for EA to exploit their service just so long as they aren't doing so in Americaland? How fucking conceited are you?

It's not ok just saying you guys get screwed over all the time when it comes to games but because it's EA you guys get extra mad like this was the tipping point? Don't kid yourself EA is terrible at what it does and right now all they do is publish the occasional good game and spend the rest of the time doing incredibly dumb things they ARE the george lucas of video games. Used to do good things now they don't and everytime they are mentioned people throw the largest hissy fit

 

[NLS]

Should be edited in and mentioned that this is New Zealand prices we're talking about here. These prices can vary a lot between countries, and so can the price difference between Steam and Origin. Also, they had a nice valentines day shooter sale.

 

[shintakie10]

Meh...digital distribution prices are almost always fucked no matter where you are. I had a good laugh durin the christmas steam sale when Dead Rising 2 went on sale for half off. Out of curiosity I looked at Amazon. The Amazon copy was a physical copy for 30 bucks, not on sale. The Steam digital copy that was on sale for half off? 30 bucks. What...the...fuck.

Edit - The moral of the story. Buy your PC games from Amazon, not Steam/Origin.

 

[Monkeyman O'Brien]

i guess it sucks to be a EA fan in NZ

Or sucks to be a gamer in NZ in general. I think that's the real lesson here.

Not if you are smart and know where to shop.
Lets see, these are all full boxed games with free shipping.

NZD
Mass Effect 1 - $21.99 [http://www.nzgameshop.com/pc-games/mass-effect-game-pc]
Mass Effect 2 - $26.77 [http://www.nzgameshop.com/pc-games/mass-effect-2-game-pc]
Dragon Age Origins - $21.99 [http://www.nzgameshop.com/pc-games/dragon-age-origins-game-pc]
Battlefield Bad Company 2 - $15.99 [http://www.nzgameshop.com/pc-games/battlefield-bad-company-2-game-pc]
Sims 3 - $50.99 [http://www.nzgameshop.com/pc-games/the-sims-3-game-pc-and-mac]
Shift 2 Unleashed - $22.79 [http://www.nzgameshop.com/pc-games/need-for-speed-nfs-shift-2-unleashed-game-pc]
Dead Space 2 - $26.49 [http://www.nzgameshop.com/pc-games/dead-space-2-game-pc]

So I guess the real lesson here is fuck digital distribution in its stupid ass.

 

[Bvenged]

I'm going to quote-edit post the UK prices, not as bad as the ones you've pulled up by the way, OP.

As of 16th Feb 2012

Mass Effect 1 - Steam £9.99 - Origin £9.99
Mass Effect 2 - Steam £19.99 - Origin £19.99
Dragon Age: Origins (ultimate edition) - Steam £24.99 - Origin £24.99
Battlefield: BC2 - Steam £19.99 - Origin £9.99 (OMGWTFBBQSauce! It's cheaper on Origin!)
Sims 3 - Steam £29.99 - Origin £24.99 (OMGWTFBBQSauce! It's cheaper on Origin AGAIN!)
Shift 2: Unleashed - Steam £29.99 - Origin £34.99
Dead Space 2 - Steam £14.99 - Origin £9.99 (WrrraaaaHH! Origins has done it again!)

So, here in the UK it seems Origin has lost on price by only ONE game, whereas STEAM has lost out on three games and they've both tied in price for three. Much better than I expected Origin to do and I'm surprised at Steam's prices; but still: Look at their news games and ask yourself "what exactly is their profit margin on that game? £40 to get me a physical copy via retailer, or £40 to stick it online... Fat chance.".

 

[ClanCrusher]

It's called shopping people. If the game is cheaper on Origin, get it on Origin. If the game is cheaper on Steam, get it on Steam. If you can get a physical copy that is cheaper than the digital distribution method, then get a physical copy. This isn't rocket science people, just shop around a bit and (hopefully) you won't get ripped off.

 

[88chaz88]

EA still tend to charge retail prices for digital download which considering its pure profit is a rip off

This isn't new. Outside of sales and the odd indie game digital distribution has always matched retail sales, no matter where you go.

In fact you can usually get new games cheaper from retail stores if you shop around.

 

[Kris015]

I'm a bit puzzled as to how you're getting those prices.

I'm in Australia, land of shitty pricing, and I get:

Mass Effect 1 - Steam $20 - Origin $20
Mass Effect 2 - Steam $20 ($40 for digital deluxe) - Origin $20 for digital deluxe edition
Dragon Age Origins - Steam $20 - Origin $20 (both as the standard game, no DLC)
BattleField: Bad Company 2 - Steam $20 - Origin $20
Sims 3 - Steam $80 - Origin $80
Shift 2 Unleashed - Steam $80 - Origin $40
Dead Space 2 - Steam $70 - Origin $40

Bolded those cheaper on Origin. None of those games were priced higher on Origin.

Same goes for Denmark.

 

[GoddyofAus]

Holy shit, New Zealand is getting epically shafted.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

I checked the prices of all those games Steam versus Origin US pricing. It seems like every game is the same right now. The only difference really is Steam has more sales, so I would still lean towards them.
In the end, it doesn't really matter since EA doesn't sell any good games so I have no reason to use Origin over Steam.

 

[jklinders]

I'd say region locking has a bit to do with this. Like others on this thread I am not seeing these dodgy prices. Shop around.

 

[Subatomic]

Except the use of Origin for some EA games is compulsory, and you can safely bet random valueables that in the future it will be for all EA games.

Origin is just as much "compulsory" as Steam is for Valve games. Granted, I'm not too fond of that either, but this double standard is getting a bit annoying.

 

[kasperbbs]

It looks like origin is the better choise here in Lithuania, but i'm not 100% certain that origin thinks that i'm here, for some reason half of origins text is in English and another half French? Anyway these are the prices ive got, everything is in euros.

Mass Effect 1 - Steam 14.99 - Origin 9.99
Mass Effect 2 (Digital Deluxe Edition) - Steam 29.99 - Origin 24.99
Dragon Age: Origins - Steam 29.99 - Origin 19.99
Battlefield: BC2 - Steam 29.99 - Origin 14.99
Sims 3 - Steam 44.99 - Origin 27.49
Shift 2: Unleashed - Steam 49.99 - Origin 14.99
Dead Space 2 - Steam 29.99 - Origin 14.99

 

[Kopikatsu]

Except the use of Origin for some EA games is compulsory, and you can safely bet random valueables that in the future it will be for all EA games.

Origin is just as much "compulsory" as Steam is for Valve games. Granted, I'm not too fond of that either, but this double standard is getting a bit annoying.

It's worse, really. Many retail copies of PC games use Steamworks. It's pretty much impossible to not use Steam if you're a PC gamer.