Local EA Origin Store pricing

[Prometheus]

How do we pay the US pricing on Origin? Last time I've checked they auto re-direct you to ZA/RSA if you try to go US...

Don't know. I just browsed through the US pricing and proceeded to the check-out right up till the credit card page. Not going to buy anything from a digital store so couldn't test it out further.

Right, now redirects me to the SA version but didn't do so last night. Weird.

Consistently more expensive was one if the lines in the article. Origin isn't going to operating for too much longer at these prices. Big ups to local stores for being more competitive on some fronts.

This comment reminds me of the guy who said Blackberries only sell because of our expensive mobile internet. The article only compared their SA pricing. US pricing like I said looks better than Steam so even if no South African buys from them they will continue to operate. This is SA afterall which to the rest of the world pretty much doesn't exist.

Have you actually used Steam before, at all? I have 61 games on my Steam account with an average cost of R29 (yes I actually worked it out), mostly triple A games.

No and I'm not planning to either. Besides for payment to US stores being a hassle I have seen enough people saying that shopping around would have got them the game cheaper and they generally only buy the specials because they are on special. I may pay a little more but not having a physical copy is out of the question for me and having picked up Prey for R12 and 4 Splinter Cell games for R50 I know that if I put in the effort I could have also come to a nice average. I can always sell my collection if I'm hard up for cash and have a few dupes here that I can sell. Steam games are worthless once you no longer want them.

New games will almost always cost full retail price on digital distro services, especially in the States, because the publishers are forced to do so by big retailers like Gamestop or else risk their games not being sold in stores or poorly promoted.

No-one is really complaining about NEW game prices where you really only find bargins of R20-30 if you look hard, people are complaining about the OLDER games where you can easily find copies for R150-R200 cheaper than what Origin is selling.

I would hazard a guess the real reason is that a digital store would want to milk a new title just as much as any retailer would. As for the older games the article lists quite a bit that are still at full retail pricing on Steam. Some of those are cheaper on Origin despite not being that old. Win some lose some.

 

[MOnk]

Second hand PC games? First time hearing of that, not sure who would be silly enough to buy a 2nd hand PC game since you have ZERO guarantee that the person who is selling the game didn't just copy down the CD key anyway and/or tie it to a digital account.

Besides for payment to US stores being a hassle

Hassle? You enter your CC details and you click pay, quite hassle free.

Not going to buy anything from a digital store so couldn't test it out further.

...not having a physical copy is out of the question for me...

People's attachment to physical media really confuses me, it's like trying to fight a change of format whether it's from LP to tape or VHS to DVD, no matter how hard or how bitterly you fight, change will happen so you might as well embrace it. No doubt you have missed out on many a great game (Torchlight, Limbo, Castle Crashers, Super Meat Boy, Braid) simply because you choose to prioritize the format over the content.

 

[Prometheus]

Second hand PC games? First time hearing of that, not sure who would be silly enough to buy a 2nd hand PC game since you have ZERO guarantee that the person who is selling the game didn't just copy down the CD key anyway and/or tie it to a digital account.

Really the first time you hear of that? Used to happen all the time in fact. We used to trade them, lend them out, or just give them away. Oh CD keys you say, another way the publishers are trying to limit us and dictate what we are doing with our games. Yes this is a rather touchy issue and I don't want to start another discussion around it but it never used to be an issue and still isn't for a lot of games. Most of the games in my collection are DRM free.

Hassle? You enter your CC details and you click pay, quite hassle free.

If you have a credit card. The number of local stores accepting bank payments should tell you it's not a given that most people do.

People's attachment to physical media really confuses me, it's like trying to fight a change of format whether it's from LP to tape or VHS to DVD, no matter how hard or how bitterly you fight, change will happen so you might as well embrace it. No doubt you have missed out on many a great game (Torchlight, Limbo, Castle Crashers, Super Meat Boy, Braid) simply because you choose to prioritize the format over the content.

It's forced and unnatural change I have a problem with. LP and VHS still has a place and will continue to do for some time. I prefer to think that my media is safer in physical format. What confuses ME is how people can think that platforms like Steam will continue to always be around and even if they are that their accounts will always be safe. Again it's the digital platforms that are the problem in trying to force a change that most pure gamers don't want. No doubt I have also missed out on a lot of stuff due to Telkom. Even if I embrace Steam it won't magically give me the cheap bandwidth to use it with. The barrier is not publishers refusing to cater for one market segment.

 

[Necuno]

...Wonder if we would be special enough to enough the 4th of july sales of origin. Steam at least have global sale events and not in a singled out country.

http://www.ea.com/news/eas-biggest-sale-ever-on-july-4th

not going to act too surprised here...

:edit
comments says it all

Kimtastic
If anyone working at EA reads this pay attention please. Your sale prices are more expensive that retail prices. Should be ashamed to call this a sale. You changed your name to Origin to compete with Steam. The main way to compete is price. With these prices you have no chance of overtaking Steam.


Komedy
EA u totally FAIL - These deals are only available in US. 500m people in the EU cannot access these deals - U FAIL HARD EA