TOG - The Older Gamers

Reoh · 26th May 2011, 02:23 PM

Yep, we can add another to the list of games I refuse to buy because publishers want to charge Australians twice as much. I've checked with my North-American friends and they're being charged half as much as I would be at the Steam store.

I urge you not to buy this game, or if you must (through other channels) please do not pay twice for a game. It only encourages them to continue these extortive rates.

Oh and I let Relic know how I felt as well.
Space Marine | AUS $90 ?!

Drac · 26th May 2011, 04:47 PM

Should have titled it $90 USD in Australia?

Most Americans probably wouldn't know what the AUD exchange rate is like.

Dalienx · 26th May 2011, 06:10 PM

What a crock.
enough said.

Genghoidal · 26th May 2011, 06:19 PM

Thanks for sticking it in their faces Reoh. I think every aussie gamer agrees with you that this is a joke which has gone on long enough.

rubicon · 26th May 2011, 06:19 PM

That'll be them protecting the local box-shifting retail outlets again then.

I blame EB rather than steam.

Reoh · 27th May 2011, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Genghoidal

Thanks for sticking it in their faces Reoh. I think every aussie gamer agrees with you that this is a joke which has gone on long enough.

I had this serious comment the other day from the friend that helped me workout what it cost him from NA. "Is that because of the violence?"

Sigh...

Genghoidal · 27th May 2011, 03:09 PM

Lol - I don't really get it but perhaps we should be charged more for the developers to include the ability to censor half the game for the australian market.. just in case..

Unknown · 27th May 2011, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reoh

"Is that because of the violence?"

It's because they only half paid attention during the whole L4D2 nonsense - they think that AU, like (or even moreso) than DE, is subject to unreasonably strict rules covering violence in video games - it's now become an automatic response from many folks overseas, thinking it must be because of "violence" (I even saw a post from one guy who claimed that in Australia, the higher prices were due to alcohol consumption in video games - WTF?!).

CHOICE has made a submission to the Productivity Commission which, in addition to other pricing disparities, draws attention to how AU gamers are being screwed on digital content:

Submission to the Productivity Commission inquiry into the retail sector - CHOICE

Drac · 27th May 2011, 03:21 PM

I reckon the publishers and retail stores are in cahoots here. The publishers set the prices on steam, and they'd have a decent say over brick and mortar pricing too. It's more $$$ for both, and every single retail store in Austraila does it. Price fixing at it's best.

What's perhaps most obvious are the actual console system prices as you think there's be some price parity between hardware.

160Gb PS3: is $500 AUD vs $300 USD.

160GB PlayStation 3 - EB Games Australia
160GB PlayStation 3 - GameStop USA

Yet look at any other hardware market, even Apple or computer components:

Intel Core i5-2500K CPU: $219 AUD (Umart) vs $225 USD (Newegg)

Which is almost even given the exchange rate:

219 AUD in USD - Google Search

I thought such agreements to fix prices was illegal in some countries, guess it's not here. Edit: Well lookie here, according to Wikipedia price fixing is illegal in Australia and their description of price fixing seems to describe this situation down to the letter:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_fixing

So you have to wonder why this is still happening, and do we in fact have legal grounds for complaining/campaigning for some kind of change?

I know TOG has a few lawyers in their member ranks, don't know if any of them practice international trade law though, would be nice to hear some other opinions on this. Google-fu and wikipedia only go so far.