Witcher 2 Price Goes Up Down Under

[Zhukov]

And to think I was considering buying this game.

*sigh*

I suppose I could always pre-order it and then get another copy from elsewhere.

 

[kuolonen]

Huh. "having the nicest beaches tax" that Yahtzee mentioned sure seems to be ballbustin'

 

[jpoon]

Man, what a bunch of douchebags you have running the "show" in Australia.

 

[ThisIsSnake]

I hereby declare it OKAY in the law of my own little world for Australian gamers to pirate EU or US versions of The Witcher 2.

Would be my pitch line if I wanted to be elected in Australia.
Given how many gamers there are in Aussie land, and how much they seem to hate the current system, I think it's a good plan...

That would be pretty cruel considering the developers have already removed DRM to see if it reduces pirating. Just do the sensible thing, tie 15 duck billed platupi together and head over to New Zealand.

 

[DarkhoIlow]

Well this kinda sucks,I feel for you guys living in Australia.

Hope you will be able to get(somehow)the uncensored version,else without the excess of the "goodies" that the game has to offer,the game won't be the same.

 

[Jaeger_CDN]

That would be pretty cruel considering the developers have already removed DRM to see if it reduces pirating. Just do the sensible thing, tie 15 duck billed platupi together and head over to New Zealand.

Nah, if you went over to New Zealand you'd still be paying through the nose for the game (plus the same censored aussie version of Witcher 2).

When I was over in NZ for christmas, I wandered through many of the game shops there and they were all ridiculously overpriced than what I could get back home in Canada. Infact, in order to buy some of the games that Steam has on sale during the Christmas holidays, I had to work with Steam Support to have my Canadian account tagged so that I could make purchases while in NZ. The price differences from the north american to southern hemispherian were an eye opener even on Steam discounts (and game availability).

edit - must type faster and spell better

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

The price differences from the north american to southern hemispherian were an eye opener even on Steam discounts (and game availability).

Indeed... and guess what prompts that? Publishers setting the prices on digital distro so it doesn't have a massive advantage ove the local physical distro.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

This is probably the best look we've gotten at Aus. distribution that I've seen in years. I've always wondered why prices were so high down there. Government? Retailers? Publishers?

This deal points directly at distributors.

Correct.

It was even worse in the days of 'dual importation' laws which basically made it illegal to import media that was already under a local publishing and/or distribution deal... regardless of how long the physical distro of that deal may have taken (wasn't uncommon for Aus to get music releases pushed back as far as 18 months).

 

[ZombieGenesis]

I hereby declare it OKAY in the law of my own little world for Australian gamers to pirate EU or US versions of The Witcher 2.

Would be my pitch line if I wanted to be elected in Australia.
Given how many gamers there are in Aussie land, and how much they seem to hate the current system, I think it's a good plan...

That would be pretty cruel considering the developers have already removed DRM to see if it reduces pirating. Just do the sensible thing, tie 15 duck billed platupi together and head over to New Zealand.

They removed the DRM?

Okay out of principle I shall now buy Witcher 2.
Despite not giving a damn about playing it.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

The Australian government really does seem to hate games. That really sucks.

Its almost as if they want their constituents to break the law.

 

[Camarilla]

They removed the DRM?

Okay out of principle I shall now buy Witcher 2.
Despite not giving a damn about playing it.

I'll just qualify this by adding that The Witcher 2 only has no DRM if you buy it from GOG.com... which you should do anyway, GOG is awesome .

 

[Lupus_Infernus]

I don't get it, are the distributors stupid? Importing it from the UK is like AU$50 from game.com including postage for the Premium Edition. So for cheaper, you get a better, more complete product.

And so to compete, they increase the price locally? And then they wonder why so many Australians forego retailers and buy online. So the govt response is to consider adding the goods and services tax to online sales...

Brain dead incompetents.

And where are these distributors based? If locally, then the strength of the Australian dollar should make it better for them.

 

[Zenode]

Still a better price than you get at retail which hits as much as $110AUD for a new PS3 game or $100 for PC and Xbox 360.

I actually find this quite a cheap price, considering BRINK is $90AUD on steam at the moment.

AND YOU'RE SAYING $70 IS EXPENSIVE.

 

[Hellz_Barz]

People mention how games cost more in Australia all the time, so I looked up an interesting tid bit of info about the land down under:

'In 2010, the Federal Minimum Wage was raised to $15 per hour or $569.90 per week.'

Stop your belly aching you kangaroo riding heathens!

EDIT: Okay, heathen is a strong word, I apologize.

It's not just games though, everything is over priced here.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

EDIT: Although you could argue that the distributors could be 'price norming' (eg. $15USD=$30AUD... when our dollar wansn't 1-1), and this is my belief - despite the fact that our dollars are even.

Which is undue cuntiness on the part of distributors.

The reason distributors are gouging Australian consumers is "because Fuck You, What Else Ar You Going To Do?". They weren't really expecting the answer of "import it, that's what I'm gonna do, McFucko."... and then the owner of Harvey-Norman goes on the news and cries about how it's unfair to Australian businesses.

Fuck'em. Time to burn their house of cards down.

 

[Garrett Richey]

... while it's not the most conveniently-located continent on the planet, I would think that digital distribution would make that almost entirely a non-factor. So what's the deal?

It says in this very article that it's about distribution deals with retailers. Retailers can't overcharge us as easily if we can just order the game online at a significant discount. So when distribution rights for Australia were obtained it included the stipulation that GOG.com couldn't undercut the distribution prices (you can bet that that $69.99 will be between $80 and $110 at retail).

With that said, have to give credit to GOG.com for the way they're treating it. Offering the difference in credit is really more than could be expected of them. Also they have the best preorder policy I've ever seen. Preorder now but don't pay until you can download, and on top of that you don't have to actually make the purchase until May 31.

 

[Jake Martinez]

So considering the both the Australian government and the local distributors are being mighty cocks, is it justified to torrent this game and send 50 bucks to the developer or publisher?

I mean, really, this is amazing - both government and private industry are conspiring to keep me from getting the product that I want.

Edit: The really shitty thing from my perspective is that I'm American and living down here, so I feel like "WHY DO I HAVE TO OBEY YOUR COMMUNIST LAWS???" Maybe a little overwrought, but the sentiment is still the same...

 

[seditary]

This is probably the best look we've gotten at Aus. distribution that I've seen in years. I've always wondered why prices were so high down there. Government? Retailers? Publishers?

This deal points directly at distributors.

As I understand it:

You need a distributor to get you onto the shelves at retail outlets. You can't possibly call each and every Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart, Sears, Gamestop, etc. This is particularly true if your company is based in one country and you're trying to sell in another. The distributor han handle contacting all the stores, getting you shelf space, and getting the product to the stores.

There must only be one or two distributors down there, and they must take a HUGE cut. Additionally, they will only deal with you if you agree to not undercut them online. You CAN sell games for $60 down there, but only if you're willing to forgo retail. A digital-only indie can do that. A AAA game can't.

Note that all of this is my own take on this, based on what we're reading. Other interpretations are possible.

Very interesting.

Its being distributed in our area by Namco-Bandai, they decided on the price for the physical copies then noticed GOG selling it for a bunch less, told em they're screwing shit up and GOG had to change the price to not compete with itself.

Basically.

 

[ElectroJosh]

As a New Zealander this is bad news because it means we get the same version as Australia. When Australia outright bans a game, however, we tend to get the full version. I think I'll get this one off steam now - its cheaper and won't have the censorship issues by the look of things.

 

[mercr452]

Does anyone have an example of a AAA game that was only distributed online?

Right now current pc games are pegged at 39.99 to 49.99 dollars for regular versions. I guesstimate 10%-20%? is for distribution costs? I'm still wondering we need publishers as we get more digital.

I know that the fremium online games don't use publishers and distributors. That seems to be working for them.