So with the Aussie dollar briefly reaching parity with the US dollar a few days ago (however briefly) for the first time in (my) living memory, I thought it would be interesting (if somewhat depressing for my cuzzies across the ditch) to see how much of a rip off that represents for the PS3 buyer. The same excercise can be done for PSP, DS, Wii and 360, but I have a feeling the biggest rip off is with the PS3 so I went for the biggest bang for my buck, so to speak.

Last I heard the Aussie sales tax (GST) is 10%, and the price I'm using is the EBgames Australia 160Gig basic PS3 price with the GST removed: AUD$453.60.

Given we know Sony is a Japanese company prices should be referenced back to the Yen. So, in Aussie today the 160Gig PS3 retails for 36088.42 Yen (1 AUD = 79.56 Yen). In the USA it retails for 24368.19 Yen (1 USD = 81.23 Yen).

The difference is 11720.23 Yen, or AUD $147, or USD $144. That's almost 50% of the MSRP of the US price.

That's one helluva price differential. Unfortunate for Sony that Aussie doesn't have a bigger population to be taking advantage of such a massive increase in PS3 profitability in that market, all because of the vagaries of foreign exchange. Bummer for Sony if they hedged at a significantly lower value of the Aussie dollar.

They've been using that "currency value difference" excuse for ever. even when we where at 80c it's still way to harsh

I remember years ago years ago Michael Ephraim the head of sony entertainment Australia  being asked about the price differences and he would say things like its the low price of the Aussie dollar v the greenback that makes it high, then when the dollar climbed high suddenly he would say we are part of Europe don't compare us to the US or we are a small market  of 22 million the answer back is no we are European when it suits you Australian when it doesn't and yes the price of the Aussie dollar vs the US dollar matters you used it yourself and as the dollar gains in value imports become cheaper this takes time to pass on but time has past, we are pragmatic enough to realize we wont get  all the savings we are due as company's will leverage where they can but we deserve better treatment from Sony ,this also applies to MS and Nintendo.

How high is austrailian minimun wage? ONly 5.75 in the us i believe. How many business, city, and county taxes do you guys have to pay? its not just sales tax, but any tax paid by a business and how high minimun wage is that will efect the final price.

Minimum wage is much higher than in the US.. Maybe two and a half times as much? Then again, we don't have a tipping culture so it kinda evens out..

Seriously though, if you're in the market for a any new piece of hardware I'd import.. Just buy all your games from overseas too and you don't have to worry about compatibility issues and buy the appropriate power cables from Sony Australia or get an adapter.

Minimum wage is certainly higher in Australia but having talked extensively with some American friends of mine about their various property taxes and such, versus the generally much higher income tax rate in Australia (30-45c/dollar), we came to the conclusion that Australians still pay quite a bit more tax on the whole.

We get screwed on the prices of goods here and the proof is in the fact that prices don't fluctuate on imported electronic goods despite the fact that the Australian dollar often fluctuates by 20-30% of it's value within one year period.

Your looking at it wrong.

The Aussie dollar hasn't done much really. The US dollar has tanked due to the feds policy on printing money and as a result the US dollar has been brought down to the level of our dollar. This means you aren't really getting over charged or ripped off, it is more that the US is now getting a much better deal, the reality is US prices should actually be climbing (but I doubt any of them will do that as it doesn't make for good press).

Hey its only the consoles

SONY slashed its TV costs since we buy TV'S like CRAZY compared to consoles 

Retailers need to cover the risk for consoles which is explainable but for games its A JOKE.

We should be paying around 10-15 USD more than the US for games to compensate the smaller market. instead we pay 40-70 dollars more. such an JOKE

there are several excuses they use:

1. Currency difference

2. Shipping to Australia as it is remote costs more

3. Population

4. Government tariff taxes on these items coming in.

take your pick mate haha!!!

Actually, that's a perfectly valid reason for the prices not fluxuating to meet overall trends in Austrailia - the manufacturers can't be guarenteed post price-cut that they won't see a 20-30% revenue cut in their own currency just a few months down the line.  It would be a severe impact to their Aussie market (even if that doesn't impact the whole much at all) if they tried to make parity with US prices and suddenly found the currency to be worth far less.