2008 game industry growth

[Uraniun235]

£30 for a DS title? That's theft.

UK prices for Nintendo (and all console) games are still a looooooot cheaper than Germany, to the point where ordering them from amazon.co.uk means raw PROFIT, especially considering the pretty good Euro <-> Pound exchange rate going on right now. For example, Force Unleashed costs £23.24 right now, which translates to ~ €26, which is less than half of the German price for that game that is around €60. Granted, the game is on sale there right now, but even the standard price of £39.99 would still be €15 cheaper.

So yeah, not PAL overall is being fucked, certain PAL countries are fucked more thorougly than others

What the fuck? Is there a crazy German tax on videogames?

[Bounty]

What the fuck? Is there a crazy German tax on videogames?

European prices for games have always been high; usually the price is copied 1:1 from US$ without taking exchange rates into account*. That said, the 'normal' price for a new non-shovelware DS game is around €40, not €60 - I don't know where Charlemagne shops but he's being gouged even more than usual.

(for example, US Wii price: $250. EU Wii price: €250, which is $320; same for games, a regular Wii game goes for $78)

[Admiral Valdemar]

Germany has game legislation second only to Australia in terms of stupidity. The whole green blood affair I found particularly hilarious, but it is true that the Eurozone tends to have pricier games in general. Though the oft quoted argument of PC games being cheaper than console games is fallacious to me, because I've never paid more for a PS3 or DS game than I would for a PC one, and in some cases significantly less.

[charlemagne]

Germany has game legislation second only to Australia in terms of stupidity. The whole green blood affair I found particularly hilarious, but it is true that the Eurozone tends to have pricier games in general. Though the oft quoted argument of PC games being cheaper than console games is fallacious to me, because I've never paid more for a PS3 or DS game than I would for a PC one, and in some cases significantly less.

Yeah, and also, because video games aren't recognized as "art" around here, every game with some kind of Nazi/WW2-content has to be censored and all swastikas etc. are taken out. This is of course not that bad, but it's still stupid and kills atmosphere.

European prices for games have always been high; usually the price is copied 1:1 from US$ without taking exchange rates into account*. That said, the 'normal' price for a new non-shovelware DS game is around €40, not €60 - I don't know where Charlemagne shops but he's being gouged even more than usual.

(for example, US Wii price: $250. EU Wii price: €250, which is $320; same for games, a regular Wii game goes for $78)

I should've written that I was talking about Wii games, not DS games. DS games are around €40, that's true.

And yeah, they just copy prices and substitute the $ with the € sign. It's ridiculous. The same goes for most electronics, like iPods, etc.