$1 AUD = $.99 USD Whats the deal with game prices?

[Aquil0]

It seems like it my time to have my monthly whinge. Australias Dollar is going crazy good, You know it, I know it.
ECOGAMERS REJOICE

TV prices are freaking awesome.
Car Prices are insanely low...
Game prices... still $100 WTF  

While America is paying a max of $60 dollars for a new game we are still stuck paying $100 ($120 if youre a casual gamer shopping at EB)
Anyone actually know why?  

Its not shipping...
(Last time I checked Australia was closer to sweat shop land then the US)
Its not packaging...
(It costs like 3 cents to print a cover sleeve)

What do you think?

[Vague]

Yup, sucks that it is cheaper to buy the game overseas than to buy it locally. Maybe we are paying $30 -$40 extra for the privilege of being able to trade the game back in. (so no loss technically here in Oz for game companies and used game sales lol).

[Christopher]

http://www.ozgameshop.com/

AU$60 for a new release.

You can quit your whining now.

[SimOniS]

It all has to do with a company's bottom line - Profit

If they were expected to adjust to real time pricing according to the value of AUD to USD they'd start losing big bucks and end up closing up shop, so to continue serving customers they have to keep the cost of games at a set value, hence RRP - that may or may not be a fair price, hence pricematching which needs many conditions satisfied to be successful.

This is where the online game import sites come into play and offer better value but at the cost of service (shipping time, where is my game? etc)

[wingman]

 Yeah with the aussie dollar up, lots of UK game stores that ship to australia are really cheap!

 For example... Alan Wake http://www.gamecafe.com.au/gameprices.aspx?p=XBOX_360&Search=alan+wake  The 4 cheapest are UK stores....

[cheapo]

I doubt games prices in stores will change regardless of how strong our dollar gets. It's a joke so best to just find ways around it.

My approach is that I always have a backlog of games older games to play so by the time I get around to the newer titles, they've normally reduced significantly in price. Purchasing games from the UK and not being to concerned which region my games are has saved me a ton. There are plenty of other ways to getting that game you want cheap.

What will cost you in cash will normally save you time and what cost you in time will save you cash. I think that can be applied to a few things and not just purchasing games!!

[snuke]

Its called hedging, stops prices going up and down like a yo yo.
Just because the dollar is X now, it does not mean the goods are paid for in that amount.
Our company is still buy USD at 0.85. It will be 6 months before we get to 0.90.
But then your covered when it crashes too.