The 3DS is about to cost $170 in the USA.  Converted into US Dollars, it is going to cost $275 in Australia AFTER the price cut.

We have a 10% GST (like a VAT) so make that $250.  That is still FAR too big a mark up even taking into account economies of scale.

So fuck that.

But.... no one cares about Australia ^^

man thats f'd up, but is it not fare? isn't it going to cost like 5k yen or something like that?
your getting off easy man!

in all seriousness though wait for the next price drop.

Isn't Australia always shafted with the prices? It's not like the PSes and Xboxes are cheap over there...

Once people have demonstrated a willingness to pay a certain amount for something you will rarely see it priced below that level ...

Austrailia's long standing low dollar led to Austrailians becomming very comfortable paying very high dollar values for certain products, and just having a much stronger dollar today does not change that.

The difference between Austrailia and Canada is that the barriers for Canadians importing their electronics from the United States are relatively small and, while we still end up being gouged, few products are priced substantially higher than what it would cost to import them from the USA when you include the price of shipping and other fees. With Australia sharing the PAL standard and 220v system of Europe, the high shipping costs from Europe to Australia, and the significant barriers to trade between Australia and Europe there is little reason to price anything based on the Australian exchange rate.

It only looks bad because of the strong Aus $, it's not like the prices in local currency are much higher than what they have been in the past. We had the same thing in the UK, something we called ripoff Britain. Now because of the weak GBP we have some of the cheapest prices in Europe.

That, and they wear lederhosen and eat bratwurst

Wait... your actually comparing one of the smallest markets in the world, that is an island with a population less than the state of California to the largest buying economy in the world?

Of course its going to cost a lot more to ship it to an island with a FAR smaller consumer market.... just like everything else over there except kangaroo steaks.

Australia also has a much higher minimum wage and much higher rates of income overall. I have a close friend who has a job making $20/hour there doing work that, in the US, would be lucky to make $11/hour.

I think you're mixing up Australia with Austria, which is wrong, because Austria is completely elsewhere. And you're wrong to think that Austrians wear Lederhosen and eat Bratwurst, that's a prejudice of the Germans. And you're wrong again with your prejudice, not all Germans wear Lederhosen and eat Bratwurst, that are only the Bavarians.