Australians, it pays to shop around too. Big W had Devil May Cry 4 for $74 within a week of it launching.

I agree with your main post; those prices sound pretty ridiculous (all except the price of the console, because it sounds high in US dollars in large part because the US dollar is so weak.

Which brings me to the bolded statement here.  The difference between the dollar and yen does explain.  Microsoft makes more in $US for each item sold overseas because of the weakness of the dollar.  The yen is quite a bit stronger vs foreign currencies than the dollar is.  And Sony has to take its profits after converting to yen, its home currency. 

So does nintendo

Sony charges people more in Europe/Others so they can sell for less in the Americas and Japan regions.

Sad, but I also think that is the reason. Others region seem to not care as much when paying premiums for their products.

@Tuanniez

Hehe, does sounds like the same place but as i said i never ordered online and had no problems in the store in Brisbane.

I have read your post and what you don't mention is the fact that while RRP of games are high, if you actually bother to look around different shops you can find much lower priced games. Up until I pre ordered MGS4 SE I did not pay more then $95 for any game. I find that the best deals are usually at big W and K mart when they have their discounts. For example I got Resistance and motorstorm for $50 each.

For the record I don't have unlimited funds and actually try and find good deals for games and largely succeed in doing that. My issue is that in my opinion you are focusing too much on Sony where as I think that gaming in general is expensive in Australia. Keep in mind that right now the ps3 is cheaper then the ps2 when it launched. While the ps3 did launch for a ludicrous $999 they have reduced it to $698 bundle packs and I expect another decent price cut this year.

Like I said earlier if you beleive the ps3 to be too expensive now just wait until it gets a price cut and you will get a much better deal. Sometimes we have to be willing to pay the price for new technology. Thankfully as time goes by prices depreciate and things become more affordable.

The cost of Gaming in Europe:

A 40GB PS3: €399  =$626

Games: €70-€75 = $109-$117

Looks like we actually pay more for games than you do, but slightly less for the console.

They do it because they know we'll pay, and we have been for years and years. A change would be nice, I cant afford any games at the moment. The prices on games is ridiculous. I don't wanna pay $100+ for a game.

The prices of games/consoles today is really too high. Good job Nintendo didn't follow suit with the hardware otherwise the only console I have been able to afford I would not have been able to afford.