Comparing US and SA game prices

[qornea]

US vs. SA game prices compared

Are we being ripped off, or do publishers show mercy on our third-world wallets?

[The Joker]

Local gamers are quick to complain about the price of games and gaming hardware in South Africa.

Compare the prices of local gaming hardware to the us and you'll see we don't just get ripped off we sometimes end up paying 50-75% more.

[MOnk]

PC games in SA are almost always cheaper, by a decent margin, than EU and US prices, not quite sure why but PC gamers in SA get it good. At least on the software front. As Joker said, hardware is another story.

[The Joker]

Just a quick one. When the AMD 7970 launched, they cost $549 in the states, so that's roughly R4120, when they launched here they sold for R7500 which is roughly $1000. That's just one of many examples.

[Kuga]

Here's the thing.

In the UK/US - an hourly's wage can buy you a music CD, 2 hours wages a DVD, and a days wage a PC/Console game, this being their minimum wages.

In SA - a minimum hourly's wage can just buy you a loaf of bread.

See where the problem is?

[play]

Exactly Kuga. Even if it is found that games on average retail for similar pricing, the cost of living difference between the US and SA always makes games way expensive here.

[MOnk]

I think you meant the buying power not cost of living. Costing of living is lower in SA than the USA or UK but our buying power is lower.

[reactor_sa]

If I can compare it to aus, it definitely more expensive in SA. A ps3 title will cost 100aus dollar, which equates to 800rand odd, but when you actually earn in aus dollars its a 100 dollars. My brother there says it's like it would be if you were earning in rands and buying a game for 100 rand.

[MOnk]

My brother there says it's like it would be if you were earning in rands and buying a game for 100 rand.

I very much doubt Aus' buying power is 8x of SA, in fact you always hear complaints from people in Aus and NZ about how stupidly expensive their games are.

[sycogrim]

You guys also have to take into consideration the shipping and importing costs of SA's borders, that is why they are a touch more expensive. I can tell you now that if you import a game from EB then you will pretty much pay a little less than the retailers because they also have to put their markups on the games etc... So there are various points you have to look at when it comes to talking about game prices being compared, especially when they are being imported...