The PlayStation 4; don't be surprised if it is "free" at launch

[Scisca]

Aielyn said:

Scisca said:
That's just your problem. You guys know what US $100 tranfers into in Australia, you know that say a US $50 game is AU $80, right? I don't know the relations in your country and I don't care about them. Even if in real world US 1$ = AU 1$, that tells us nothing, cause as you said earlier in the topic you guys include tax and like us Europeans, you get ripped off for games and consoles, so people outside of Australia really have no clue as to what AU$ 100 actually means. That's why you should use a currency that is widely used, recognised and that allows everyone to understand what a given price actually means. I'm not giving you prices in my currency, you shouldn't be using yours, cause it means nothing to people outside of your country and this is an international forum. It's a manner of basic respect for other users.

The only reason I know the US$50 thing is because I often argue the point, and like to point out how badly Australia has been ripped off. Most Australians wouldn't have a clue. And in the end, much of the time, I'd have to look up what the equivalent is, because it's not always consistent. NSMB U, apparently, costs US$60... it costs AU$80. But some of the US$60 games cost AU$90, and many cost AU$110 (although that's for 360 and PS3 games). It does not equate directly.

And I really don't see why the US currency should get priority. Why not use the yen? After all, two of the three major companies involved in these discussions are Japanese, as are about 70% of the major publishers. I take great umbrage at the idea that the Euro or the US dollar should get some sort of special treatment.

It's not like the article didn't provide a reference point to help you - it quite clearly refers, further down the page, to a $600 console. To me, it's a much bigger mark of respect for other users to NOT treat them like children who can't handle alternate currencies, because the vast majority should be capable of either deducing the equivalence through context or opening up google and checking it for themselves.

It doesn't matter what average Australians know. It matters what people using this forum know. It's a standard here that we talk about prices in US$ or Euro and that these are the reference points. When you talk about PS4 costing AU$600 I have no idea what it means, to what price it may transfer in other markets and knowing the exchange rate doesn't help me at all, unless you're saying PS4 is going to cost US$600, cause this is what we'll end up after "searching in google".

In this very post you yourself said that a game that costs US$60 is sometimes AU$80, sometimes AU$90, sometimes 100 or 110. So what kind of reference point can your price be for us? Your numbers tell us nothing and it's not because we don't know the exchange rates, so stop using that stupid argument about searching something in google! US$250 Wii was AU$400, US$300 Wii U is AU$350 - what can I possibly search in google to get any kind of reference to what a given price means to the world market or to my market? The prices in your currency mean and tell nothing to people outside of your country so just face the facts - Australia is a tiny market and gets pretty much random prices (and I feel sorry for you because of that), so can't be considered any kind of a reference point and giving prices in your currency is pointless. Just try to control your ridiculous patriotism and bear with the facts. The reason we stick to US$ and Euro is because these are the two biggest markets and 1$=1 Euro when it comes to consoles and games, so it's easy for everyone to understand what is going on and the relations between prices of different things. A price given in US$ or Euro is the price for pretty much 2/3 of the world's market, so this is the single most important number for us. Prices in other markets are derived from this one, not the other way round. Moreover everyone knows more or less the relation between his/her currency and at least one of the two. Just respect that and make everyone's life easier or stick to Australian forums if you feel so offended when asked to use a currency that other users actually can refer to and understand.

And may I remind you - in my country we use neither US$ nor Euro, still I use these currencies and don't act like an a-hole trying to force other people to google the exchange rate to my currency and search for all the other subtle-yet-affecting-the-price differences between my market and the US/Euro market.