As much as I hate our prices, i have restricted myself to just buying games off oz game shop. Got a pre order of Brink for $38. Almost made it worth it.
This is ridiculous. Before I knew about the pricing of steam titles in Australia (a year from now I once saw the prices first) I thought Europeans are the only one getting ripped off by steam.
Because they do literally 1 USD = 1 EURO conversion which is incorrect. But your situation is even worse.
That's why I mostly ask a guy from the UK or US to gift me a title.
Pro: Uncut and a lot cheaper.
Con: You need a guy from the UK or US.
I suggest doing the same. I could also help you out, but games I buy are mostly cut (Germany's censorship *grml*) and as told before, not the cheapest.
Btw: There is a cool greasemonkey plugin (steam prices), which gives you prices of a title in different currencies (and compoares them like "123% more expensive")
Geez, it sucks for you guys. There's probably like some tax or something. Or just greedy developers which could be case.
why the fuck are you guys complaining so much seriously.
minimum wage in australia has been $15 since 2010. it's actually up to $15.51 now.
minimum wage in united states averages (since is different by state) to around $7.25, which is the national average.
You make twice as much PER HOUR.
You would be able to buy your $90 game in 4 hours.
In the US you can buy a $60 game in at least 8 hours
if you are seriously complaining about this maybe try getting a job or something
but it's not about the wages it's about how we have so much taxes it's not funny we cant even buy beer without it being so over priced
[QUOTE=Chunky kong;31874656]As much as I hate our prices, i have restricted myself to just buying games off oz game shop. Got a pre order of Brink for $38. Almost made it worth it.[/QUOTE]
Is that the Ebay shop? I buy from there too.
[QUOTE=Trogdon;31875369]why the fuck are you guys complaining so much seriously.
minimum wage in australia has been $15 since 2010. it's actually up to $15.51 now.
minimum wage in united states averages (since is different by state) to around $7.25, which is the national average.
You make twice as much PER HOUR.
You would be able to buy your $90 game in 4 hours.
In the US you can buy a $60 game in at least 8 hours
if you are seriously complaining about this maybe try getting a job or something[/QUOTE]
1. cost of living
2. cost of living
3. cost of living
4. did I mention cost of living?
[QUOTE=Checkers;31872960]I will gift you a game on steam if you pay me 10 dollars less than the difference[/QUOTE]
Or we could get anyone else to do it free
[QUOTE=hmburger;31875616]but it's not about the wages it's about how we have so much taxes it's not funny we cant even buy beer without it being so over priced[/QUOTE]
Doesn't Australia have a decent government health care program? I think high taxes is a good trade off.
Those prices are still cheaper than the prices you will see if you go into EB Games. EB games is shit, they nearly double the price of everything.
The only games I buy from the EB store is old PS2 games that are $5-$15
[QUOTE=Trogdon;31875369]why the fuck are you guys complaining so much seriously.
minimum wage in australia has been $15 since 2010. it's actually up to $15.51 now.
minimum wage in united states averages (since is different by state) to around $7.25, which is the national average.
You make twice as much PER HOUR.
You would be able to buy your $90 game in 4 hours.
In the US you can buy a $60 game in at least 8 hours
if you are seriously complaining about this maybe try getting a job or something[/QUOTE]
cost of living.
[QUOTE=MarlaCouture;31876035]Those prices are still cheaper than the prices you will see if you go into EB Games. EB games is shit, they nearly double the price of everything.
The only games I buy from the EB store is old PS2 games that are $5-$15[/QUOTE]
Or when there is a sale of games that usually cost $30-$50.
[QUOTE=Eluveitie;31838113]Isn't it because the Australian dollar is worth less than the American dollar?[/QUOTE]
WRONG! your dollar is crap atm and aussie is worth a little bit more.
Also the reason ours is more expensive is because for the game developers to ship it over to another country is more expensive rather then selling the game in there own country. Its, I dunno, a shipping cost thing.
Also dont buy games brand new for $100 go to target or k-mart and get the brand new ones for like 60-70 brand new. Or if your buying an older game get it off ebay for like 25. Way beter
[editline]22nd August 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=Trogdon;31875369]why the fuck are you guys complaining so much seriously.
minimum wage in australia has been $15 since 2010. it's actually up to $15.51 now.
minimum wage in united states averages (since is different by state) to around $7.25, which is the national average.
You make twice as much PER HOUR.
You would be able to buy your $90 game in 4 hours.
In the US you can buy a $60 game in at least 8 hours
if you are seriously complaining about this maybe try getting a job or something[/QUOTE]
How many people actually work minimum wage?
[QUOTE=MarlaCouture;31876035]Those prices are still cheaper than the prices you will see if you go into EB Games. EB games is shit, they nearly double the price of everything.
The only games I buy from the EB store is old PS2 games that are $5-$15[/QUOTE]
EB has a bad selection of PC games too, always the smallest wall in the shop.
Not as bad as GAME at least, barely a damn corner.
Everything in Australia seems to be way more expensive than it should.
Go to other countries and clothes are half the price they are here.
I love games, but i'm seriously reluctant to buy anymore because of how much they are.
[QUOTE=Trogdon;31875369]why the fuck are you guys complaining so much seriously.
minimum wage in australia has been $15 since 2010. it's actually up to $15.51 now.
minimum wage in united states averages (since is different by state) to around $7.25, which is the national average.
You make twice as much PER HOUR.
You would be able to buy your $90 game in 4 hours.
In the US you can buy a $60 game in at least 8 hours
if you are seriously complaining about this maybe try getting a job or something[/QUOTE]
It's only $15 if you work for casual and are 19 years old. I do work, and I still can't afford games half the time. And I work for 11 hours a week. Which is part time. Minimum wage is probably $10 or less if your under the age of 18. When I was 18 I was earning $12.43 an hour.
Not that much when you look at how much it costs to live here.
[QUOTE=scotland1;31843433]Meanwhile the UK pays £25 ($40), one of the cheapest prices anywhere.[/QUOTE]
Meanwhile Polish retails are 15 bucks for a 60 euro game :v:
[QUOTE=WOOTBEANS;31876002]Doesn't Australia have a decent government health care program? I think high taxes is a good trade off.[/QUOTE] yes we got a good health care program but we cant get any thing without it being over priced see lets say you buy a game full priced which is around about $120 but to get to that price you got a tax on that then you got the government with a price of their own on it then you got gst on that the point is you cant have a tax on a tax it's so unfair
[QUOTE=hmburger;31890699]yes we got a good health care program but we cant get any thing without it being over priced see lets say you buy a game full priced which is around about $120 but to get to that price you got a tax on that then you got the government with a price of their own on it then you got gst on that the point is you cant have a tax on a tax it's so unfair[/QUOTE]
I don't think that the government puts a price on games. They may put GST on them. But don't know about the rest that your going on about.
[QUOTE=Goberfish;31875762]1. cost of living
2. cost of living
3. cost of living
4. did I mention cost of living?[/QUOTE]
so why don't you complain about cost of living instead of game pricing
i mean both are pretty arbitrary.
[QUOTE=Trogdon;31893804]so why don't you complain about cost of living instead of game pricing
i mean both are pretty arbitrary.[/QUOTE]
The reason that games used to cost so much was the currency difference between AUD and USD. Now that the gap doesn't exist (mainly because the US economy is going to the shit) we shouldn't have to pay more for stuff. Should a millionaire spend $20 on a loaf of bread? Fuck no, value is value no matter how much you earn.
[QUOTE=Jelly;31893977]The reason that games used to cost so much was the currency difference between AUD and USD. Now that the gap doesn't exist (mainly because the US economy is going to the shit) we shouldn't have to pay more for stuff. Should a millionaire spend $20 on a loaf of bread? Fuck no, value is value no matter how much you earn.[/QUOTE]
Does that change the fact that the minimum wage is twice as much as in the united states? Thus your salary can be twice as much on average, and you can afford buying things that cost twice as much.
[QUOTE=Trogdon;31894371]Does that change the fact that the minimum wage is twice as much as in the united states? Thus your salary can be twice as much on average, and you can afford buying things that cost twice as much.[/QUOTE]
It costs more than twice as much for everyday living here, PLUS the fact that entertainment like games and movies are not included in cost of living. So not only do we have to pay out of the asshole for living expensive (THERES A REASON OUR MINIMUM WAGE IS HIGHER SERIOUSLY USE UR NOODLE), but on top of that we're also paying shitloads for entertainment too. We don't earn ENOUGH more to justify this.
australia needs to pull harder on those bootstraps
[QUOTE=Dr Kevorkian;31876592]EB has a bad selection of PC games too, always the smallest wall in the shop.
Not as bad as GAME at least, barely a damn corner.[/QUOTE]
Here's an illustration of my local GAME store
[IMG]http://i53.tinypic.com/14loyeo.jpg[/IMG]
We used to have a gametraders here, then they left when GAME and EB moved into the same center :smith:
[editline]23rd August 2011[/editline]
Of the two PC shelves, one is new releases, the other is preowned and old games
The mixed new release section is basically just preorders for console games
[QUOTE=Hana-San;31877551]It's only $15 if you work for casual and are 19 years old. I do work, and I still can't afford games half the time. And I work for 11 hours a week. Which is part time. Minimum wage is probably $10 or less if your under the age of 18. When I was 18 I was earning $12.43 an hour.
Not that much when you look at how much it costs to live here.[/QUOTE]
14 years olds get $7.50 casual
i've never had a problem with pay at any other age so I don't know what they are
[QUOTE=Rusty100;31894394]It costs more than twice as much for everyday living here, PLUS the fact that entertainment like games and movies are not included in cost of living. So not only do we have to pay out of the asshole for living expensive (THERES A REASON OUR MINIMUM WAGE IS HIGHER SERIOUSLY USE UR NOODLE), but on top of that we're also paying shitloads for entertainment too. We don't earn ENOUGH more to justify this.[/QUOTE]
Pretty much this. We might get paid twice as much here, but things like food and drinks (milk being one major example that sticks out in my mind) are sometimes like THREE times as much as they would be in America. Then you have all of the luxuries over here that are insanely more expensive than their counterparts in countries like America. TVs, consoles, computers (even computer parts), movies, games, music, it's all RIDICULOUSLY costly here.
[editline]23rd August 2011[/editline]
What pisses me off most is that for a lot of things, if you try to import them, they're taxed to a RIDICULOUS degree. The fucking government tries to justify this by saying, "IT WOULD RUIN LOCAL BUSINESSES IF WE DIDN'T TAX EVERYTHING TO HELL AND BACK!" They pulled that good ol' rationalisation when Borders started going bankrupt (tried to make everyone feel guilty for having bought stuff from abroad), and they do the same with alcohol (shitty, Australian alcohol is nice and cheap - if you want to buy anything half decent though? Expect to pay out of the ass for it because it's importation is strictly controlled and it gets a shit load of tax slapped onto it).
Here's the thing though, competition won't destroy local businesses or industries, it'll FORCE those businesses and industries to produce higher quality goods to compete with stuff brought in from abroad, or it'll force the local business to drop their prices to a reasonable price if they're too high. It's simple economics - if people want something and someone is supplying it cheaper than you, then they're not going to buy from you; they're going to buy from the other people! You can't inflate your prices ridiculously then get pissed off when everyone goes somewhere else to buy stuff.
When I bought my uni books at the start of the year buying local would have set me back something like $380 or $400 dollars. Instead I bought online from the UK and the total cost was a little bit over $150. There's NO reason for these insane price differences
[QUOTE=kaze4159;31894527]Here's an illustration of my local GAME store
[IMG]http://i53.tinypic.com/14loyeo.jpg[/IMG]
We used to have a gametraders here, then they left when GAME and EB moved into the same center :smith:
[editline]23rd August 2011[/editline]
Of the two PC shelves, one is new releases, the other is preowned and old games
The mixed new release section is basically just preorders for console games[/QUOTE]
The PC section of my local GAME is one shelf. Has about 10 games on it. :v:
The only time I ever go to GAME is when I do trade-ins, since I find they do the best trade ins, as opposed to EB, and Gametraders (which is horrendous).
Funny story about that.
I tried to trade in some old Wii games and a Guitar Hero guitar.
None of the places were actually willing to take the guitar.. except for GameTraders.
...Who had the lowest total price for all of it. :v:
Can't stand shopping at EBgames anyway, it's convenient that their stores all have the exact same layout, but it's annoying that when they're having a sale on really old games that they get 1000's of bags saying "20% off", cut them up and hang them literary everywhere.
"i think eb is having a sale'
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