(This is the first one of a series. I'd like to show you how... different gaming in germany is and what we have to face)
It seems to me that Germany has always been treated "special" when it comes to video games. And i don't mean the "you're my valentine, here are some roses"-special, more like in the "they look like the guy from goonies, i think we can rip them off pretty easy!"-way.
"Haha! Ze stupid americans hav to pey 56.99, but we get it vor 54,99!"
And one major difference between America and the land of
Beer and
Bratwurst (which isn't really that popular as one might think) is the price of games. As a little example i'd like to show you how much you have to pay for some of the newest games here and there:
(prices taken from Amazon.com / Amazon.de)
Dragon Age Origins Xbox360
US: $56.99
Germany: $81.20 (EUR 54,99)
DJ Hero Bundle with Turntable Xbox360
US: $118.99
Germany: $162.39 (EUR 109,95)
Assassins Creed II Xbox360
US: $55.99
Germany: $77,46 (EUR 52,45)
And it's not just the Xbox360 Games, all the other consoles and PC games have the same price differences. Okay, so you have to translate the games into german, switch to european standards and even change the whole game to remove all the offensive stuff (more on that in part II), so the gamers can get "the full experience", just with more or less crappy translations, less blood and most of the time no chance to play the games in english. I can see why that leads to a higher price.
But one question remains: who said that we want that?
Believe me, every video game that isn't a AAA title sounds like a unwillingly funny B-movie if you play the german version. The dialogue is cheesy and the voice acting boring - if you're lucky.
"Mommy, why does Shepard talk like a gay Nick Carter? Make it stooop!"
But there is no cheap alternative for german console gamers, if they don't want to mod or crack their expensive hardware (and therefore loose their warranty). Or is there?
Ever wonder why Valve spent
most of their marketing dollars for the UK?
Let me answer that with a quick calculation:
Left 4 Dead 2 PC
German Version (less blood, less violence): Amazon.de -> $65 (EUR 43,95)
UK Version (uncut incl. shipping!): Amazon.co.uk -> $46.70 (£28.48)
So you see, any german gamer who can understand enough english for a video game would be downright stupid to buy the german version - except he is willing to pay for seeing less violence and (most of the time) experiencing less atmosphere.
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@Jon B: Sure if they don't offer it, you could patch it. But that would be illegal since you'd have to download the german files from a copy of the german game in most cases. But either way: that doesn't help me as a Xbox gamer for example.
Interesting blog!
Pricing of goods (doubly so for things like video games, with high up-front, but no to negligible production/shipping costs) is highly flexible. And this pricing is done in such a way that the producer can sell the most units for the most profit.
And having been in the UK for three months, as well as the US: Video games in the UK and the US are just as expensive as they are in Germany *compared to local income*.
The 30£ for a Briton are as much money as the 60€ you and I pay, or the 60 bucks a USian would pay.
You also forgot to take exchange hedges (no one pays the exchange rate in big business like the entertainment industry), purchase power parity (i.e. the "real" value, which plays into purchasing power itself), as well as things like tariffs and taxes into account.
It ain't as simple as you and I would like it to be.
Fortunately, the current console generation doesn't have region locking anymore, beyond differing TV standards (NTSC vs PAL), so imports can become a viable alternative.
And i know that all these things play a role in global perspective. But i wanted to give a consumers view. And why should i - as a consumer who should be treated as king - care to pay more for a cut down, localized version if there is a perfectly fine version out there?
There are a few games i'd like to play uncut (like Dragon Age) and i have to import them which is illegal in a few cases. Like the Skate 2 US version, which is illegal in germany because of some piece of clothing. The german version costs a lot more because it's a special version just for germany.
And on top of that came the euro, which really upset me. Not because i don't like it, i'm all for globalization. But most products are almost twice as expensive as a couple of years ago, but the amount on my paycheck didn't magically double itself ;)
I don't want to rant about the system, i have a good job and i'm happy. I just don't see why we germans have to be treated special and the first thing i thought about was that even if i buy a game from the us and let it ship to me via priority mail - i have to pay less than in the store around the corner.
Just to be clear - i know these high prices have a proper reason for the most part, but from a gamers perspective, it is just stupid. I think you will understand what i mean when you read part 2 in which i'll talk about our neighbours switzerland and austria.
And as long as a game doesn't have swastikas (or other, criminal code relevant content), you can even import it. That's why Austrian web shops are more successful than they should be. :P
And given the choice between "no excessive gore" and "no game at all", not forgetting that most Germans don't speak good English in the first place, cut versions are valuable alternatives.
Of course, it blows majorly that we have laws that make these things difficult, but, honestly, where's the artistic merit in having more blood flow than the human body contains? Sure, it's some kind of funny for a while, but I for one can watch Deathklok only so much. :P
Mind, I'm proud owner of The Punisher in the US version, including a German dub (which I never listened to), which is now verboten in Germany, too.
And as far as cost goes: No, you shouldn't have to care about it. Fact is, though, that you have to care, in a sense. The PS3 costs 500EUR because a) Sony wants a cut, and b) The EU *takes* a cut thanks to tariff on entertainment electronics. (And the Euro price hikes: Long over due, with the EUR giving a nice, sweet excuse to the chains).
Mind you, complaining is not wrong. But you gotta complain about the right things (and looking at the neighbor who's seemingly better off can put things in perspective).
And if you hadn't a point, I wouldn't've bothered in replying in the first place. :)