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[GOUGE ON] Steam doubles prices for Australia
Sushi_K
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
From Kotaku Australia:
What the hell Activision? In the case of digital delivery, the last bogus claim for Australia paying extra - due to shipping costs falls apart. I can't think of any reason for this other than retailers like EB and the publishers are price fixing against consumers in a captive market.
The great thing about Steam was that you could get games for a reasonable price down here without the hassle of importing, but I guess the good times are over.
The eagle eyes of tipster Lev Arris picked up on the fact that Activision's Call of Duty 4 offering on Steam close to doubled in price last night, from $US 49.95 to $US 88.50.
For comparison, here's the US version of Steam's CoD 4 page with the original deal.
According to a local Activision representative, the $US 49.95 price for our region was an error on Steam's part, not Activision's, and should never have been listed as such, as it was essentially undercutting Oz retailers. The increase is therefore a correction rather than a planned mark-up. Regardless, it still smarts.
Props to those who noticed the deal during the 11 or so days it lasted.
What the hell Activision? In the case of digital delivery, the last bogus claim for Australia paying extra - due to shipping costs falls apart. I can't think of any reason for this other than retailers like EB and the publishers are price fixing against consumers in a captive market.
The great thing about Steam was that you could get games for a reasonable price down here without the hassle of importing, but I guess the good times are over.
Inyourendo!
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I guess stores here are either retarded or counting on the fact that people here are retarded. I could actually see the latter being the case though.
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Not a good sign of things to come. I'm not going to be buying games through steam at retail price. I buy them for US prices, or they can go fuck themselves
(also this is why you import if you can be be bothered waiting an extra week)
Satans..... hints.....
From Wikipedia -
In May 2007, Reznor made a post on his blog on the official Nine Inch Nails website condemning Universal Music Group for their pricing and distribution plans for Year Zero. He criticized the company's retail pricing of Year Zero in Australia as "ABSURD", concluding that "as a reward for being a 'true fan' you get ripped off". Reznor went on to say that as "the climate grows more and more desperate for record labels, their answer to their mostly self-inflicted wounds seems to be to screw the consumer over even more." Reznor's post, specifically his criticism of the recording industry at large, elicited considerable media attention.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFXivarypE4
Man. *points to my sig*
But at least we're not fatasses.
Fuck them.
Had issues getting Titan Quest the other day through steam, aparently not available in my region.
Fine.
I'll get it elsewhere.
I'm asuming this is Activitions fault, or maybe Valves fault for letting them do bullshit like this
It's not a nice feeling.
Satans..... hints.....
I was all set to proclaim Steam as the only place I'll ever get new games again (until SC2). Then they pull this shit.....
Oh well.
Of course they should be undercutting Australian retailers, its digital distribution. I'm pretty pissed.
I guess they could have removed the game for purchase entirely.
I wonder if that price will change to reflect the fluctuation in the dollar. Will the game change price every day?
PlayAsia for the win. =(
Good thing I don't want it.
Only problem is selection is ass most of the time, and I have to registry hack the installs to get it into english, fun times.
I guess the reason that this sticks in my craw is that, having lived most of my life in the states, I didn't know how bad PAL had it. As a PC gamer the discrepancy didn't affect me that much, as PC games are very cheap second hand, completely region free, and for some reason actually release without much delay (with notable exceptions - I'm looking at you Psychonauts).
I got a Wii when it came out, mostly because I wanted something different, and I had missed the ease of console gaming. I've got a PC for hi-def and complicated controls and a Wii for back to basics and waggle. The pain of the PAL screw-job was eased by a relatively unmolested supply of PC games to occupy me while I waited out the PAL Wii delays. Are the good times coming to an end? How long before they start region locking PC games, i.e. forcing online activation that only lets games be played in the region they were purchased? Sadly, Valve already did when the invalidated Southeast Asian Orange Boxes being played in the U.S.
The advent of digital delivery was a huge step forward towards the realization of the benefits of a globalized economy. Unfortunately, this sort of 19th century mercantile, protectionist, railway-baron style price fixing undoes most of those benefits. And who profits? Until about 6 years ago, the justification for high Australian prices was the exchange rate. Well, the rate has been pushing 90 AU cents to the dollar for over three years. The games get bought from the publishers in $US. The retailers don't pay their employees higher wages. So somebody in the corporate chain is getting filthy rich - at the consumers' expense.
I should note that this isn't limited to games strictly, but technology in general. The case of Steam is unique in that the retailers can't hide behind the ridiculous notion that it costs more to ship products from the factories in Asia to Australia than to the U.S. After all, with Steam, its just ones and zeroes coming down the pipe.
Assassin's Creed came out here in Australia priced at $120 AUD.
Which is $104USD.
Seriously, at what point can you justify a translation in cost from $60 to $104?
I mean, that's how I'd justify it.
A small, cynical part of me thinks this is just like when valve "bricked" the asian Orange Box copies in the U.S.
Hopefully not. Apparently it's the publisher that decides the pricing. In the case of Valve games they decide their Steam prices (retail is through EA) and I don't think they would want to follow suit after the reaction Activision got out of this one.
The problem is the vast majority of the consumer base in Australia isn't aware, because this is how it's always been and they don't follow currency trends.
They'll all wake up once you hit pairity with our increasingly worthless American currency. That's what happened in Canada, anyway. Give it a few years. Hell, if we elect another Republican, give it one year.
Hi5.
Seriously if it's too expensive don't buy it.
You don't hear me bitching about the price of Ferraris.
Satans..... hints.....
No, but I bet you'd be bitching if every car you could buy cost twice as much as the same exact car in another country, even after shipping.
Cars in New Zealand sell for the same price or cheaper and come with a hell of alot more standard features included.
Are you going to start a thread about that as well?
Satans..... hints.....
So you use that justification to steal Ferraris?
I don't know about you, but I don't pirate games. I buy them.
Satans..... hints.....
Well then you might want to take back your Hi5.