Australian Govt. calls for public submissions into tech pricing gap

I wonder why an inquiry is needed.  The reason for high prices is probably obvious to most people in the distribution chain.  Just do a quick survey of that group and you'll get your answer.  

ABOUT TIME!!  Most new releases in Australia cost us gamers between $80-$110.  I personally think we are getting ripped off big time and I don't support the local market anymore. I import all my games from the UK. Most new releases cost me $40 and older games $20. A huge difference. Why should i line someone else's pockets full of hard earned cash. Drop your prices over-charging games stores and i 'll support you. If not, FU!

they should be more concerned with their bloated expensive labor unions - oh and their severe attacks on freedom of expression in that country.

less regulation, more competition will help with the prices lowering

let the free market decide prices, demand / supply are much fairer than anything the government can devise.

Its good to see that something may be done in terms of prices for this kind of stuff.  Australian prices are crazy compared to overseas.  Serioulsy guys, anyone in Australia who is into games, go on ebay.  Simple as that.  You WILL save heaps on games especially pc games.  On average i can get the same game for half the price you would pay in a retail store in Australia.  One amazing example i have is when Bioshock 2 first came out.  I ordered it from a ebay game store for pc which was located in England.  First day it came out i purchased it for 50 bucks.  Yes i had to wait a week and a half but big deal.  My mate purchased it from a certain retail in Australia and paid 90 bucks.  Then i told him and i could tell he wasnt happy lol. Anyway my point of this little rant lol is buy games on ebay cause you will save lots of money.  Its just crazy how cheap it is. Hope this helps guys cause gaming rocks lol.

...and here I was thinking 60 $ was a lot of money to pay for a videogame...

Troll as large fingers to play on the keyboard: http://imageshack.us/f/195/diablomore3.jpg/

To anyone saying 'shipping'

1. Consumers can ship individual products themselves and STILL often have products for as little as half (or less) the price they would have gotten in Australia

2. Australia has its own disc-copy production facilities anyway (for games).

3. With the strength of our dollar, these products that ARE imported should be cheaper than ever. They are not. Well, unless you import them yourself.

price changes have been reflected in other imported commodities. Why not consumer electronics/software?

On the serious side, this reeks of retailers using metrics to establish price points. The core concept to understand here is WTP or willingness to pay. The main variable the effects this calculation is an estimate of the wealth of the buyer(s). Evidently the retailers all made the same calculations, which is the concerning part or should be for the government. This smells like there may be a trust between the retailers of this market that needs busting or this is an amazing coincidence.  Perhaps all of them hired the same firm to crunch their numbers, or maybe there is only one accountant in Australia capable of crunching them and they had no choice.   

Could it be that the cost of shipping raises the prices?

Australia has electricity?

This is the first time the Australian Government has ever done something good in regards to video games :O

Anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about

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

its true, we are charged STUPID prices. Liek the avg wage in NZ is like $400-$600P/W, games cost like $100-$120 thats a massive chunk of someones wages in that week. Considering rent is about $150-$400p/w too lol. Its insane

Australians and New Zealanders have to pay more due to their proximity to Mordor.

ebay is my friend and ausgamez which is uk based way cheaper to buy overseas

Here is my solution.

Give the responsibility of game classification to an independant body that has got no political control from the government, therefore the cost of classifying games would not be as high.

Then allow the game retailers to float the game prices to the american dollar and be upgraded every 6 to 12 months, so therefore if the Australian Dollar is like 80 US cents, then the game prices for new stock would change accordingly at retail value.

well good for australia more power to you guys

Wow never realised quite how bad this is! That guy pointing out the differences in prices regarding an expansion being 12.99 here in the UK compared to almost 50 Quid else where! ..... Bad 

Perhaps if the Australian rating board and such weren't so picky on things it wouldn't cost as much to bring certain products to that area. I can't think of a country with worse approval processes. I hear more things banned their than anywhere else.

In canada, we generally pay more for everything then our american neighbours. Everything from cars to magazines. Surprisingly tho, video games and game systems are the same price to the penny. Uh oh, maybe it was a secret...

Of course everyone here is correct. When a product is priced for digital download it should be at a set price and then at the exchange rate. So if the Australian market is in parity with the US, the price should be the same. The price gouging needs to stop. Digital is digital  whether its to the US customer or the Foreign customer.   Good luck however, trying to get it fixed properly. The game gougers won't give up the easy money without a fight.

Not really that confusing. Once retailers find a price point customers are willing to pay, they will fight tooth and nail to maintain that price point.

Wow! Finally! Most gamers in Australia (And New Zealand, not sure about others) are smart enough to import and find boutique retailers that do good deals now, but I used to be in awe over staring at a shelf of new games at EB Games all $100-120AU, when games in the US are $60US, and our dollar was and is either the same or a little stronger. I'm surprised in a nice way about this

it needed in other countries too

Here in South Africa we're pretty much behind on every front with our incompetent government but at least games are cheap and file sharing completely ignored. 

The PC expansion for Civilization Gods of Kings due out in a month has the following recommended pricing.US: $29.99Euro: 29,95? or about $37.60 USD

UK: £12.99 or about $20.35 USD

AU: $49.95 or about $48 USD

Now what I find absurd is why is the product is cheaper in the Euro zone by about 25% where the game needs to be translated and voiced acted into Spanish, French, Italian, German and where there is generally at near 20% Value Added Tax! The boxed product we will receive will be from the same stock as either the UK or the USA but we will be paying 1.5 to 2.5 times as much.

Stop complaining in New Zealand we pay 100-130+ and you don't hear any of us moaning about it so get over yourself Australia you are not the only country in the world.