Retailers in the games industry have it tough. Because games are a commodity, the only real way they can compete with one another is by price, and throw in online retailers and digital distribution channels, and their margins are hit even harder. While there’s the occasional attempt to modernise the in-store experience, the fact remains that games retailers are being driven down two paths – slash the price on new games, and supplement the income with pre-owned games.
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Really interesting read. What I'd like to know is, why are games so infernally expensive at AU retailers when they are new (like you said, around $100)? Do you have any idea why there is such a price difference between here and the US? Unfortunately, for better or for worse, gamers are going to be stingy and try to pay as little as possible for their games. When things cost so much to buy in the stores here, it's inevitable that people will find other, cheaper places to make their purchases, which inevitably hurts the industry here.
Really interesting read. What I'd like to know is, why are games so infernally expensive at AU retailers when they are new (like you said, around $100)? Do you have any idea why there is such a price difference between here and the US? Unfortunately, for better or for worse, gamers are going to be stingy and try to pay as little as possible for their games. When things cost so much to buy in the stores here, it's inevitable that people will find other, cheaper places to make their purchases, which inevitably hurts the industry here.
The reason games are expensive in Australia is unfortunately that we have a small, geographically disperse population.
By that I mean – bringing in enough copies of a game, and then shipping it to all the games retailers in Australia costs the distributor a lot more money than it would in, say, the US (where there's such a large population that the bulk buying can lower the cost of each individual game), or Japan (where the population is clustered).
It sucks, but it's one of the few downsides to living in Australia, unfortunately. The good news for the global games industry is that as long as you buy 1) Digital Downloadable games or 2) Pay full price for an import game, the publishers still win, which ultimately means you win 🙂
The reason games are expensive in Australia is unfortunately that we have a small, geographically disperse population.
By that I mean – bringing in enough copies of a game, and then shipping it to all the games retailers in Australia costs the distributor a lot more money than it would in, say, the US (where there's such a large population that the bulk buying can lower the cost of each individual game), or Japan (where the population is clustered).
It sucks, but it's one of the few downsides to living in Australia, unfortunately. The good news for the global games industry is that as long as you buy 1) Digital Downloadable games or 2) Pay full price for an import game, the publishers still win, which ultimately means you win 🙂