Game Prices - Australia's are Not cool

3PointJ · 08-26-2009, 08:22 PM

Ok, I just speaking with a friend about Video Game prices. I was curious to see how much games are worth overseas

Batman: Arkham Asylum

(All rrp and current Exchange Rates)
Australia EB Games : 119.95AUD or 71.67USD or 109.03CAD
US EB Games : 59.99USD or 71.67AUD or 65.11CAD
Canada EB Games: 38.89CAD or 42.81 AUD or 35.82USD

(I used EB Games as the example retailer as they are in a fair few countries, and No, I don't buy from EB...)

Now that is a huge markup, Tax, whatever, shipping because we are isolated whatever its crazy...

And they wonder why Piracy is so high. My game is 3x more expensive than if I bought from Canada.

If anyone has a better understanding or reasoning to WHY Australians (or any other country) would pay so much more, please enlighten me.

Oh, and I am sure there are other countries with heaps cool pricing like ours too..

Mcninjaguy · 08-26-2009, 08:44 PM

Its probably due to to shipping the games overseas, maybe. I don't know if they do that but there should be a factory in Australia that does that.

Tiber Septim · 08-26-2009, 10:52 PM

It's not just games that are affected too, consoles are horribly overpriced.
I found it quite funny that the PSPGo is only about $30 cheaper than a Slim PS3.

I suggest having a read of this.

3PointJ · 08-26-2009, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiber Septim

It's not just games that are affected too, consoles are horribly overpriced.
I found it quite funny that the PSPGo is only about $30 cheaper than a Slim PS3.

I suggest having a read of this.

Your right.

The new PS3 Slim is 499.99 AU whilst it retails in America for 299US?

Having said that, I read the article, and it does clear things up and makes sense, pretty much end my whole topic and rant... lol

**Aus_Karlos** · 08-27-2009, 03:28 AM

Tax plus interest tax plus GST plus interest tax on GST.

When shipping games here they are slapped with a lot of tax which is why they are more expensive here than overseas.
But what confuses me is Online stores like steam sell them for the same price as local stores in Australia.
However i think Steam may have cleaned it up, just looking a Red Faction Guerrilla priced at $69.99 USD ($84.50 AUD) on Steam, on EB Games its priced at $90.00.
So really not much difference in pricing but you still save some.
The only problem with Digital purchasing is that it takes time to download and if you have a slow connection you'll waste more money on electricity due to your PC been on longer to download it..

Indoril Nerevar · 08-27-2009, 07:27 PM

Left 4 Dead Game of the Year Edition is currently $100 at the local GameTraders store here, and they have it marked down by $30 - so $70.

On Steam, L4D GOTY is $29.99 USD, which is approximately $36.30 AUD.

Twice the price for a box and a disc, just because they have to ship it over here.

08-26-2009, 08:22 PM	#1 (permalink)
3PointJ Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 134 OS: Vista Ultimate x64, Vista Home Premium, Ultimate, Business, Windows Server 2K3 & 2K8, XP Home & Pro My System	Game Prices - Australia's are Not cool Ok, I just speaking with a friend about Video Game prices. I was curious to see how much games are worth overseas Batman: Arkham Asylum (All rrp and current Exchange Rates) Australia EB Games : 119.95AUD or 71.67USD or 109.03CAD US EB Games : 59.99USD or 71.67AUD or 65.11CAD Canada EB Games: 38.89CAD or 42.81 AUD or 35.82USD (I used EB Games as the example retailer as they are in a fair few countries, and No, I don't buy from EB...) Now that is a huge markup, Tax, whatever, shipping because we are isolated whatever its crazy... And they wonder why Piracy is so high. My game is 3x more expensive than if I bought from Canada. If anyone has a better understanding or reasoning to WHY Australians (or any other country) would pay so much more, please enlighten me. Oh, and I am sure there are other countries with heaps cool pricing like ours too..

08-26-2009, 08:44 PM	#2 (permalink)
Mcninjaguy Temporarily Banned Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 10,422 OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: Game Prices - Australia's are Not cool Its probably due to to shipping the games overseas, maybe. I don't know if they do that but there should be a factory in Australia that does that.

08-26-2009, 10:52 PM	#3 (permalink)
Tiber Septim Asst Manager, Games Team Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Queensland, Australia Posts: 2,877 OS: Fedora 11 / Windows 7 My System Blog Entries: 5	Re: Game Prices - Australia's are Not cool It's not just games that are affected too, consoles are horribly overpriced. I found it quite funny that the PSPGo is only about $30 cheaper than a Slim PS3. I suggest having a read of this. __________________ First Steps - System Specs - SIW Help TSF beat Cancer and other serious Illness.

08-27-2009, 03:28 AM	#5 (permalink)
Aus_Karlos Moderator, Games Team Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Western Australia Posts: 3,472 OS: Vista Ultimate x64, Windows XP 32-bit/64-bit, Ubuntu x64, Windows 7 x64 Beta My System Blog Entries: 2	Re: Game Prices - Australia's are Not cool Tax plus interest tax plus GST plus interest tax on GST. When shipping games here they are slapped with a lot of tax which is why they are more expensive here than overseas. But what confuses me is Online stores like steam sell them for the same price as local stores in Australia. However i think Steam may have cleaned it up, just looking a Red Faction Guerrilla priced at $69.99 USD ($84.50 AUD) on Steam, on EB Games its priced at $90.00. So really not much difference in pricing but you still save some. The only problem with Digital purchasing is that it takes time to download and if you have a slow connection you'll waste more money on electricity due to your PC been on longer to download it.. __________________ MemTest86 / Nvidia Drivers / ATI Drivers / DirectX 9.0c / Sys Requirements / Everest Folding@Home

08-27-2009, 07:27 PM	#6 (permalink)
Indoril Nerevar Manager, Games Team Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Queensland, Australia Posts: 5,016 OS: Windows 7 RC 64-bit My System	Re: Game Prices - Australia's are Not cool Left 4 Dead Game of the Year Edition is currently $100 at the local GameTraders store here, and they have it marked down by $30 - so $70. On Steam, L4D GOTY is $29.99 USD, which is approximately $36.30 AUD. Twice the price for a box and a disc, just because they have to ship it over here. __________________ Donating to the forum keeps TSF free for all. • Common PC Game Issues • Common Installation Issues • Posting System Specs • Power Supply Information • • NVIDIA Drivers • ATI Drivers • Thermal Paste Guide • System Requirements Lab • YouGamers Game-o-Meter • • Everest • Prime95 • DirectX • AMD Drivers • Memtest86 • SensorsView • Driver Cleaner • I do not give help via PM. Please post your question on the forum.