This is an interview you need to read.
When Screen Play's Jason Hill begins it with "Why did you announce a bundle instead of a price cut?" to Michael Ephraim, the man in charge at SCE Australia, I knew we were in for something special.
The pricing for console games and hardware has been a major sore point for all Australian gamers, and the disparity between what we pay for compared to what our overseas friends do has become even more gaping in recent times. The recent uproar on our bundled option instead of an actual price cut for the PlayStation 3 console has only created more ill feelings towards the matter.
There are the well known factors thrown in to hike up our prices like shipping costs and taxes, but in the ScreenPlay interview, the SCEA boss adds in a whole lot more to the mix. You see, it's also due to market share, the cost of living, the exchange rate, and something about Harvey Norman, that we end up having the only choice of paying over $400 more for a PlayStation3 when compared to what an American gamer can choose. From Screenplay...
(Mark) And at the end of the day, we compare our price to the UK and Europe, and when you do that, we're line ball between what they are getting. And we are very close to the US mark, and I challenge anyone to compare any product in Australia, we're always going to be a bit higher because of market size, tax issues and so on. But I don't want to get into a whole micro economics discussion.
All this and a whole lot more at ScreenPlay!