It’s like one of those spiritual buddhist questions for geeks: Why is it that even though the Australian dollar has hit parity with the USD that we’re still expected to pay double that of our American brethren? Mark over at Kotaku has done a lot of digging, and the answer is rather complicated.
Mark spoke to Dr Mark Melatos, Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney about the issue. He suggests a few different explantions as to why Australians get the rough end of the broom handle when it comes to games pricing, including parallel import restrictions:
“One of the main reasons things like books, software, and DVDs cost more in Australia than overseas is something called ‘parallel import restrictions’,” claims Mark. “These rules stop someone buying the product cheaply – but legitimately – overseas and importing it themselves to sell locally at a higher price, but still less than what current suppliers charge.”
The whole article is a fantastic read. Head over to Kotaku and read it now.
[Kotaku]