Being a Canadian I was pretty happy since over the past three or so years the Canadian dollar has been rising non-stop. I had hoped this would inturn mean that prices would begin to slip for software and hardware but it didn't seem to make much of a differance and up untill now I kept telling myself well the Canadian dollar is still worth less then the American dollar.

Well since around September the Canadian dollar has been on par with the US dollar. However over the last few weeks infact the Canadian dollar is worth more then the American dollar and our Government expects it to continue rising. Again I thought that this would bring change and that hardware and software publishers would announces slashes in their suggested retail prices.

But no, none of the publishers or hardware developers have announced any change in their pricing to reflect the Canadian superiority. Infact I went south of the border last week to shop and noticed Americans get everything cheaper. Nintendo rips Canadian's off by 30$ per Wii and roughly 10$ per game, while Microsoft is even worse selling the X-Box 360 Elite for a whole 50$ more to us Canadians and each game averaging between a 10-20$ differance in price. While the PS3 sells at BestBuy for 499$ and in FutureShop (Owned by BestBuy Canada) 649$
.

Thats a horrible and blatent disregard for Canadian consumers since alot of the hardware actually gets shipped through Canada to begin with. Alot of the Nintendo hardware arrives in the port of Vancouver Canada so terrifs for shipping from the US are no excuse and shipping charges to ship to Canada are also no excuse. So where are the price cuts that Canadians deserve why should we have to pay up to 150$ more for our game consoles then the Americans do.

How can it be that Canada gets the shaft again despite a clearly superior dollar and economy as well as the fact that Canada is one of the largest gaming markets on the globe. What kind of justification can any of those companies have in stealing so much extra money from us. To be Honest I think from now on I'll go convert my money and go south of the border to get my consoles where things are cheaper and I can get more for my Loonie!

Canadian socialism FTL

Sorry you have to pay so much, man.

The Canadian market is only a fraction of the size of the US market and the larger the market the lower the costs can be. More importantly, dude, your taxes are really high. What are the sales taxes in MT or NH? 0%. What about just over the border in Canada?

Stop complaining to us. We did not do it and don't care. Systems usually cost less in Japan and I am not complaining.

Seriously, though, socialism sucks. Sorry you have to live in Canada.

Pay no attention to the ignorant yanks. They're apparently quite happy to pay 50% more for health insurance and spend more money than anybody else in the world on weapons that can't even defeat the few enemies they have.

The lack of a price change has nothing to do with socialism or taxes. Retail prices were set when the dollar was at 80 cents US, and that's the rate a lot of retailers will have paid for their stocks. In the short term, Canadians are still buying goods, but in the long term prices will lower as smart consumers will simply take advantage of the exchange rate and buy expensive goods across the border.

I understand the last time the 360 got a price cut, it was cut an extra $50 in Canada to reflect the loonie rising against the USD.

Retail pricing simply cannot move as fast as currency values do. If you have a problem with that, you can either take a trip across the 49th or step into the brave new world of online commerce.

Edit: Oh yeah, and don't buy crap at Future Shop. Worst prices I've seen anywhere. 

1.019 to the dollar

 Got a reputable source on that? Google search turn up mostly references to cosmetic surgery, one reference to a patient getting a specific procedure done in the US (paid for by our public insurance, anyway), and one reference to a particularly rich and famous politician getting treatment in the US.

 Here's a nice page on how you guys are getting hosed on health costs, though:

http://www.kff.org/insurance/snapshot/chcm010307oth.cfm

 Total Health expenditures as a % of GDP:

 USA: 15.2%

Sweden 11.5% (second highest spender)

Canada: 9.9% 

It's true, some rich Canadians go to the US to get a procedure done faster. On the other hand, some Americans go abroad to get procedures (again, it's usually, but not always cosmetic) done cheaply.

Remember that additional overhead costs can be spread much more evenly through the enormously larger American market. That adds a bit to the cost. Also, Canadian import taxes are higher IIRC. Not sure if they get them through NAFTA but I doubt it.

And fluctuating currency doesn't have much impact on pricing in the short term. It takes time and if the Canadian dollar is still this strong when the next gen of consoles launch, expect the price to be on par (or at least close) to American prices.

BTW, nice nation-bashing, fanousringo. Piss off. If you can't enter this discussion without bashing the US, just stay the **** out.

Do you live close enough to the US border to just drive on over and buy one?
That should save you some money.

My knowledge of economy is pretty crappy, but:

If I have heard it right, the Canadian dollar isn't rising... It's the American dollar which is falling, so why would that affect Canadian prices of things which aren't even manufactured in USA? Prices in USA should rise, but that's all, right?

The question is why do the people who have $$$ get the treatments in the US?

Its because ours costs more that we have better and more specialized services. Sure yours is free, but it also is worse in terms of service. You get what you pay for and thats why you get health insurance.