Why is Nintendo treating Europe like that?

[Kantor]

RolStoppable said:

Kantor said:

The UK price from GameGear is £196. The best by far, but still abnormally high.

I like the look of the system, but at that price...no way.

By the way, £196 is $313. $250 is £156.

Why do all three manufacturers (though I suppose Microsoft less so than the other two) feel the need to profiteer in the UK like this? We have a lower average wage than the USA, and higher taxes.

Maybe they try to prevent the rest of Europe from buying from the UK. With the weak pound and almost free shipping combined with the fierce retailer price wars, buying from the UK has usually been notably cheaper than from a local store in the last couple of years.

Looking at the Yen per pound graph here:

http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=GBP&to=JPY&view=5Y

You're certainly right about the pound being weak - the price needs to be high to give the same number of Yen. I knew it had weakened, but I had no idea it had tanked like that. A pound is worth just over half what it was worth three years ago, in Yen. But the USD isn't doing much better.

http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=USD&to=JPY&view=5Y

And yet they're getting lower prices!