Okay, look, I’m still not over the Steam ripoff thing. (Although, with a cousin in London, I did find a way around it for long enough to buy L4D2.) In addition to Civ 5 (50 USD vs 80 USD) there have been a series of sales this week for EA titles which have (ignoring the ridiculousness of additional publisher-based DRM in a Steam title) been spectacularly offensive.
Take Sunday’s sale of Dragon Age: Origins. The 40% off “discount” price in Australia is 40% off the frankly absurd 70 USD so it’s 46.89 USD. Hardly a bargain. The standard, non-sale US price is 39.99 USD, so our “40% off” price is still significantly more than the US standard price – let alone the UK sale price of 13.39 pounds, which works out at 19.82 USD, somewhat less than HALF the Australian “discount” price.
For a digital download that is in all respects identical.
I get that publishers have to add GST to games sold in Australia, but the 10% GST is 10% – considerably less than 110%, being ten percent and not one hundred and ten percent. It’s not much of an excuse for the markups they’re imposing, is my point.
And that’s not even the worst example – according to the steamprices.com top ripoffs page, Steam charges USD 20 for Red Faction Guerilla in the US, but to those stuck behind an Australian IP it charges USD… prepare yourself… are you sitting comfortably? Good, then I will continue… USD 70. (That probably needs to be in a bigger font.) Yup, a markup of 350%. I mean, you’ve almost got to admire the sheer gall of THQ, don’t you? That kind of ripoff is a thing of such spectacular shamelessness that it’s almost thrilling. I’m not going to buy their game, but I might come back and admire its monstrous pricing structure next time I need an emotional shock.
Also, unbelievable regional pricing aside, there’s the issue of the ever more stupid delays in game releases here, highlighted by – who else – Nintendo Australia’s treatment of its flagship titles. Like Super Mario Galaxy 2, which won’t be out here till July. Despite having been released overseas a month ago.
My question is: what the hell is the point of Australian distributors, and why wouldn’t we all be better off if they just disappeared and the big retailers imported directly from overseas?
Feel free to share the examples of us being ripped off and screwed over that have really gotten your metaphorical goat.
Tags: Australia, region delays, region pricing, release dates, ripoffs, Steam
One of the things that EA is doing that they`re making their customers pay an extra 10 USD if they buy EA’s new sports titles. This is part of an Online Pass System that makes players that buy EA sports games used or second hand pay an extra 10 USD to play the online content.
In other words, their fucking over everybody who gets their games second hand or used by making them pay extra for the online gaming that has always been available to gamers beforehand. and Ea is even trying to cover it up with a clear as water excuse that their using the extra 10 dollars for “premium online content” and blah blah bullshit (btw, I also hate it when the word “premium content” is thrown into a game description, its like someone`s lying to my face while his mate is stealing my couch behind him.)
this is a link for a video that explains it better then me ——> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pG8fHSagvo
Oh, that gets my goat too – it’s the game publishers misusing the power of their medium to take a basic right away from consumers, the right to onsell content for which they’ve paid. A right that was hard fought for last century as regards books and music and films: aa fight it looks like we’re going to have to have all over again.
I didn’t bring it up here because it’s not a way that Australian in particular are being screwed over by developers. It is, however, a topic that you can expect to see addressed in a podcast very shortly.
Cool, I await with baited breath for it, and thanks for the heads up.
Also, I felt it applied because at the end of the rant you said, “Feel free to share the examples of us being ripped off and screwed over that have really gotten your metaphorical goat.” So I wrote what was getting my non existent goat, or was your question directed at the Australian viewers?
[...] it can’t be bothered releasing it here), or in relation to which it has decided to charge us punitive pricing because it thinks it can get away with it, should be aware that the IP industry will be waiting to [...]