@LemonproX:

Many, many issues.

Theres the increased tax. In the UK its 17.5% VAT compared to America's 15%.

The big cruicial point is of course where its going to sell best, and America is GTAs stronghold.

Most importantly, piracy is much larger problem in Europe.

And most cynically, most non-European developers pretty much screw the EU audience for every penny they have. For a great case of this, Rock Bands your game.

Communist_Gamer

It cost 100$ here is Norway... sometimes 125$ depending on the store.

Philantrophy

Isn't everything expensive in Scandinavia? I say this from a UK perspective.

phicaluk

We pay $105 for retail Xbox 360 games at gamestop here, yes I'm danish.

But I got my copy for $90 online.

cdr

It´s the same in Iceland as in Denmark. We pay around x2 times what the Americans are paying.

Bumbuliuz

Its £40 in the uk which is like $83

Viper

does anybody know why the price is so inflated outside the US?

LemonproX

Condolences to my Skandanavian friends :/

Acute Gamer

Sounds like something is rotten in Denmark.

Oh come on, someone was going to say it.

Glad there is other options than EBGames there, hell I don't even go there in the states.

vega480

Meh, Denmark gets free healthcare and university education as well as 6 weeks' paid vacation a year and ~37 hour work weeks. I would gladly pay more for videogames for those types of security and perks.

linkura

What is way more outrageous, is that after we earn approx. 28k kr(~$6k) a month we end up at paying about 66% tax - and thats without counting the 25%Vat.

Now that is stupid.

I should mention though, that the tax below 28k is a lot lower - IE the first say 4k is withouth taxes then you get some with a little tax, the the some more in the middle, and then you end up getting laughed at when your payroll goes to a halt.

This nicely ensures that everyone basically earns the same, that you have no motivation to fight for pay, and that the government has enough money to pay the 20% of the population which are picking their nose in the public administration.

morfar

@illojal:

Exactly! Good point.
The price for a new Xbox360 game has always been around 500-550dkr, but now with the current Dollar situation it seems like a whole lot of money. Let's just say that the Dollar somehow manages to get back to its normal currency, then that means the game would cost around... $60-70

Vetterli

damn that's pricey!

Lanhoj

I'm a Dane, always fun to see a news-post about your own country. The prices in EB Games are outrages. Most people order the game online via different shops, the primary being Coolshop. I'm paying 464 danish crowns which is around 97 dollars.

Of course there are many factors in this, as written above. We probably have a higher income in average than most other countries, but then again we pay a high tax precentage. It all flows together. But games are very expensive, but not especially when you just look the right places, the price is gonna drop soon to about 350 danish crowns, around 73 dollars. But much cheaper it won't get.

Screamer

@Gjerven: Bwahha, checked the EB Games Finland site and their price is 74.9 Euros (117.2 dollars), that's 11 Euros more than other shops sell it at. Good luck for them, no wonder I've ever seen only one of their shops. : P

ara

Damn, you CANT compare our currencies to the dollar. The dollar is low-low now, eg EVERYTHING is more expensive in europe. This are normal prices, the cost for a videogame is pretty much now as they were in 98 here.

illojal

@RonJeremy4Pres: Not sure what the tax difference is, but taxes are counted in the given prices, not additional extra.

ara

Thats why digital distribution is going to be the next big thing to teh consumers... if only they stop that "the item is not avilable in your location" bullshit.

One reason for piracy is because of region locks, when you have a consumer, who is willing to purchase an item legally, but for the byrocracy of region specified political correctness, the content provider will not sell him this good because of that region specified programming.. etc.

for gods sake, people who own like GoW game on XBL for example, cannot purchase DLC for it.. I already got the game.. why can't I just get the DLC.. you are not the vendor I got my game from.. it really pisses me off to be stranded without DLC of my fav games.. just because Germany and the like does not approve of violent fps games.. even though I live in the Middle East, which really is more adult matieral senstive than violence and gore. (they can get both on sattlite TV anyways.. politicians/religous zealosts are hypocrits anyways.

Plsk1n

Well... *stretches* ...I'm from Denmark... and ehm...
Well, yeah... yeah, you could buy it at EB Games. True, true. But you could also... like, ehm... buy it... at normal stores that sell all kinds of electronics. EB Games isn't the only place, you know?

Vetterli

£Pounds?! In Denmark?!

Puzzle

Your cousin in Kenya can afford a $200USD game? Is that from the e-mail scams or the blood diamonds?

ElektroDragon

Whats with using Great british pounds for DENMARK?

Woylez

@BlackDove: My comment wasn't supposed to be a "well we're paying more than you" willy wave, it was purely to highlight the price of games in the UK for general discussion's sake.

@TaggarT6: Can this not be considered a source of the issue though? Do you feel that the level of piracy would drop if the games were cheaper? Furthermore do you think that the publishers would lower prices if there was a crackdown on piracy? I'm not so sure.

Cat-Duck

@Mark Wilson: oh, sorry, didn't realize you were being sarcastic.

/hides in corner

AgainstOne

As an scandinavian, I got interested to see what the cost is in Norway and Sweden (at EBGames). The danes shouldn't be crying to much!

Norway:
PS3: 649NOK = 127,11 USD

Sweden:
PS3: 699SEK = 116,83 USD

I'm actually going to buy the PS3 version for 379NOK (74,23USD)tomorow. I would just say that whoever sets the prices at EBGames must be smoking some very good..

I could not find the prices of the 360 version, but here in Norway they are usually at the same price as the PS3 version of games.

[www.ebgames.no]
[www.ebgames.se]

Gjerven

for $125, it better come in a game case shaped like Niko's head.

Machete_Bear

@AgainstOne: I'm just having fun. All is well.

Mark Wilson

After seeing all this, the limited edition $85 for Metal Gear doesn't sound so bad after all.

DELICIOUS BUNNY

I know a guy who paid 100$ for "Mickey's Magical Quest" on the SNES when it was new. That game was awesome, tho.

PlayerX

My cousin in Kenya Africa paid something like $200 in us dollars for the game even after i told him i`d buy 2 and ship his for waaaaay less.

slyzxx786

Do EU countries have some tax on just technology in general? It seems to me computer parts or anything else of this nature is just price hiked over there.

RonJeremy4Pres

Here in Norway they're pretty generous. But only with GTAIV. It costs 379 NOK. About the same price you would get it for if you imported it yourself, and that's excluding tax.

One heck of a deal we got going here, too bad it's all sold out...

Itchy (PSN: Kaizoku-ou)

i'd still pay that

SAGA

Denmark prices in pounds? That's rather strange. Looking at the local prices here in the north, I can see that both versions are 63,90 Euros, or about 100 dollars. The price is about the same as ever, dollar is just worth less than peanuts these days.

ara

@Sparx:

cheetos*

Sparx

Aww man, there goes my payment in sheetos. I wonder if they'll accept bits of string?

Sparx

@Cat-Duck:

OH NOES! ALERT THE FBI!

BlackDove

Ouch. And the special edition?

Erwin

Well, the guy who did the IGN review said he'd pay $300 for the game, so $125 is quite a bargain!

Realistically, that sucks.

toefer

And game companies wonder why Pirating is so rampant.

:puts on flame suit:

TaggarT6

In the UK the recommended retail price for any regular 360 or PS3 game is $100.

The special edition GTA4 cost $140.

Cat-Duck

"Because through the joys of an international economy, underage gamers in Denmark will have to spend a bit more to get their drugs/violence/sex fix of GTA." -Mark Wilson

why did you say underage gamers? wouldn't it cost the same no matter what your age is? also, underage gamers aren't supposed to be buying it or playing it at all! you sure aren't helping our case (to keep lawmakers away from age regulations in gaming) by implying that underage gamers will be the only ones concerned with buying this title!

AgainstOne

I'm danish (luckily not underaged) and I just have one thing to say. DAMN YOU INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY. Still... this won't stop me from buying the game :(

EwilTwin

Ah the global economy, I dont understand you nor do I care to. So importing a Copy might prove to be cheaper? Or are they (the man) going to screw you on that front too? My advice is to buy a shrink wrapping machine and reshrink rap your old games and return them as birthday gifts for store credit and pick up that new game you want....

err leading to crime you say Mr. Wilson? Does that count?

Derigor

Yeah, and you think you guys in the US have high prices...

It's still more than what I'd expect them to sell for compared to UK prices (saw a 360 copy for £39.99 today) but the current gen games have usually retailed for £50 or less - bar Guitar Hero 3 etc.

Laxe

@DreamcastRIP:
That was my first impression as well.

When did that start happening?

ca$h

All of this stuff about how much more expensive video games are in different parts of the world often ignores the fact that price discrepancies are more a function of fluctuating currency rates than anything else. What's the buying power like in Denmark? How much does a loaf of bread cost? What about a beer or a book or a DVD or a burger? And what's the median income? How much buying power does the average Danish citizen have compared to the rest of the world? Do they have a VAT or another kind of tax that is already considered part of the price? All these things are important when considering price. I'd love it if you left these exclamation-point 'Things in other countries are so expensive!' posts for gawker's economics blog. You guys do have an economics blog, right?

clevername

There's a party here in Europe and you're invited! (bring money)

nikolaj

The shock surely is that the PS3 version is a cheaper price than 360?!

DreamcastRIP

apparently, sweden beats them out at ~144 USD for a regular copy, as pointed out in the comments over there.

[www.videogaming247.com]

munchausen

They've also got us paying about $93 here in South Africa.

Shrimp

Yep, it's $98 or so here in Sweden.

They're ripping us off on pretty much everything, acting as if the value of the dollar is still as it was back in 2000.

BlackDove

Sheesh man those guys have it tough. $125 for a game is quite A LOT. $90 or less is my limit.

Bluejuan85

What are they talking about?
Reference price of GTA IV (XBOX 360) in Brazil is 220.00 BRL. This is 130.29 USD

Denmark is close, but I doubt that any of those prices will be higher than in Brazil.

By the way, brazilian XBOX games are printed in Brazil, so there's no excuse of high import taxes.

luckyz

@dozerking: So you think PC games cost pennies here? Obviously they're cheaper, but still not USA cheap.

cdr

hmm...this is one of the many reasons why PC Gaming is wildly more popular than console gaming. Asking someone to pay that amount is ridiculous.

dozerking

In Venezuela every PS3 game costs the same as a GameCube (and the the Wii costs even more than a PS3... and the PS3 cost the same as a good refrigerator)

... so, who's complaining?

Chopper_Mike

599 Norwegian kroner = 120.037803 U.S. dollars. That's what most people is going to pay here in Norway I'm afraid.

Alazar

@Vetterli: Du er da en idiot så.

Du kan få det til 460kr på coolshop.dk..
Jeg køber efterhånden aldrig spil i GAME / Gamestop osv.

cdr

GTA 4 is $112.99 for the regular 360 edition in AUS and it's got stuff cut from it to get it down to the MA 15+ rating. Who's really getting screwed here?

Deekman

Right now the profits on games is not very high and cost for making them has risen significantly. Game companies have lowered cost in certain areas, but not at an equal rate to the rest of the inflation in making a game.

With the shitty $ Americans will be broken out of their utopia consume only market and start paying higher prices to match inflation.

Not all, but a lot of American's act like games should be made for them with no profit or for free.

AntiHiro

@Communist_Gamer: Mabey people wouldn't pirate games if they had to pay 500 bucks to buy it new, and 150 more to import it (: (figurtive language...)

D Mitsuki

USA! USA! USA!, After see'ing this, i feel bad i complained that games cost a extra 10 to 20 bucks

D Mitsuki

Okay, listen listen... It's not THAT expensive seen through our eyes because our paycheck is a bit bigger than what you might normally see. I'm not being arrogant, don't worry :)
What I mean is that as soon as we get paid more, we have to pay more. It's quite logical. If I told someone from the US that I make $23 per hour I guess they'd crap their brains out, but if we go over our financial thingies here and there we'd end of with the same amount of cash, it's just that things seem a bit more expensive in Denmark than other places. But don't get me started about Iceland, haha... holy crap is that place expensive... or is it? OMG! This is getting deep!

Vetterli

About effin time there's attention to the game prices in here in denmark. And people complain over 60$ games? Geesh... I just forked over 549dkr for GTA4, which is approx 115$. The collectors edition runs for about 188$.

Rexter

I don't think it's correct to say it costs $125.25. The equivalent based on the cost of living instead of currency conversion rates I'd estimate more like $80, can someone else produce an accurate figure?

valleyshrew

Here in Slovakia it's 114$ for X360 and for 119$ for PS3 version. Thats fuckin expensive if you consider that average wage here is around 700$. Niko Belic knows why is he escaping from Eastern Europe...

flappy

@Communist_Gamer: Indeed.
I thought the UK VAT was lower to be honest. Here it's 25%.

cdr

@phicaluk: Yes. but you have to bare in mind that; All education, health care etc. is completely free. Plus, our minimun wage here in the land of pastries and bacon is about £11 / $20 an hour.

cdr

It seems like EB is learning from GTA and it's stealing from it's customers. Ridiculous.

realjas

Have to love the strength of the dollar.

The Jerk

Look at the bright side, this game is actually worth $125, and yes, since Im living in Norway I pay about $120 myself

KEELr

Well, it is called GRAND THEFT Auto.

Emphasis is mine.

cayton

@cdr:

Bare rolig, har bestilt det fra England, hvor jeg fik en masse pre-order lort med oven i købet for 399kr :)

Vetterli

@OT79: I hear you man, good thing here in Monterrey a lot of people go to the US every other weekend, thought I buy most my stuff here, expensive things like Rockband, Guitar Hero and things like that are bought in the US, you know the hugely inflated prices they have down here.

chemical_eng_mx

In Denmark the electronics store Elgiganten is also selling the game for DKK 399 ($86) for both 360 and PS3 versions.

Ninjakoala

Well,here in Mexico the game cost between $70 and $90 dollars,angry thing when we're so near form the US.

OT79

@ara: Normal price for GTA4 in Finland (where I live) is about 64€=100$ but hell yea some stores sell it for more than that. People just pay up.

spaz33

Everything is more expensive in Scandinavia (that isn't news)

But the funny part about all this: You can trade in 2 PS3 games (ANY -except MS and Resistance) at GameStop/EBGames, and then get GTA IV for free + £10. I bought 2 new games at an online store for £28, so in theory I did only pay £18 for GTA IV.

So maybe your title should be:

"GTA IV Pricing: Be Sad That You Aren't Buying GTA IV in Denmark (lucky you if you can)"

;)

moveteam

In Sweden, the price on console games (which are a bit more than PC versions) have been the same for a couple of years now yes.

So considering the low $ atm, it's fubar that the prices here are not lower.

sirspankalot

@luckyz:

In Venezuela all the PS3 games cost 500 BSF... meaning 232.55 USD... we win!!! :D

... sadly :(

Chopper_Mike

Well, this is what you get for vigorously inflating the value of your currency.

Lixie

@clevername: I think you nailed it. Now can we please stop these stupid "news".

anarfox

@linkura: Same here.

Evil Tortie's Mom

If you feel that paying 100+ USD for one game is acceptable, then by all means do so. If you feel that paying 100+ USD for one game is ludicrous, then just don't get it. People seem to forget that video games are a luxury item. GTA IV will not be the end all be all of games. In two years the price will probably drop significantly. San Andreas certainly did.

Furysetzer

In switzerland, I had to shell out 99CHF (swiss franks), which is about $99 dollars at this point, for a new PS2, GC or xbox game, and 110 for 360,ps3. And 70 for a psp game.

frobishlumpkin

On the usual Danish online software store where I buy my games it's more like £48 or $96 for both versions. EBGames in Denmark is not very cheap and they don't have a lot of stores here.

But generally speaking it is indeed expensive to buy consoles or console games here.
I really hope it doesn't take too long for GTA4 to come out for PC.

banelos

@cdr:

So if minimum wage is $20/hour, then a loaf of bread is what $7? How about gas?

robinandtami

@Furysetzer: You should know that we Danes are kind of Wealthy.

Like really really Wealthy compared to the averedge American.

Over all we got a lot of money on our hands.
Now it is a a bit expensive, but you know what it is not that bad.

CrimsonAngel

You have to remember that the general minium wage for uneducated work in Denmark is just above $200/hour, so don't fell bad for us in Denmark. Also I/you get paid around $1,000 a month from the state to study :)

tann3r

@LemonproX: Because the price of games can't fall as fast as the dollar...
Games in Denmark has had the same price around 500DKK for the last ten years...

However... Back then $1 was worth around 8DKK. Today $1 is only worth 4,77DKK!!

*DKK refers to the danish currency.

tjay84

Im from denmark and I don't know what this is all about...
I pre ordered the game at a big danish online store (not EB Games), and paid 466DKK (Danish Currency) wich is $97!

I know that is more than in the US, but thats because the dollar isn't worth s*** at the moment..

I think they meant 63€ not 63£...

tjay84

well if you buy it at one of the most expensive places, then yes that is the price or you could go to one of the scandinavian big electronic retailers(elgiganten.dk) and get it for lot less.

both 360 and PS3 version for 84$ or 63$ without our insane 25% tax.

the collectors go for 147$ or 110$ without tax.

So its really not that bad, but if ou want to pay the premium price fine with me :-)

the special

engell

Just to clarify the prices listed, the Uk and DK prices are fairly close.

However, due to the drop in USD, everything becomes a heck of alot more expensive compared to what people might think.

The prices listed have been pretty steady for several years now. 360 games has always been around 500-600DKK (danish kroner), which means that the prices are only higher compared to the current USD.

Of course, this is also why I import or buy games over steam, staying away from consoles.

And people wonder why scandinavia has so many pirates.

Zinic

Just picked mine up for £34.03 from Blockbuster.

Have put the kettle on for the HDD install, and then I'll be away...

I guess our Danish cousins can order from Amazon for £40 though?

stussygalore

Russian release is 8:00 PM April 29, and they haven't announced prices yet...
Damn.

BTW, what a prices for the collector's edition?

GolerGkA

Here in Japan, getting the Asian version of an XBOX 360 game is like 6000 yen, so about 60$. Not bad at all for an import. The most expensive one to date was Bioshock, which retailers were marking up to 75$ in Akihabara, but that is still a lot better than a lot of other countries.

Good thing is Xbox 360 is dead here, so you can buy used copies only a week or two after its release for only like 40-50 bucks!

aevanko

@BlackDove: well actually you can buy it for $66 / 399kr, at elgiganten in sweden :D never understand why games dedicated gaming shops always costs like 30-40% more than at some random shop.

Tajfoon

Well, here in Mexico the prices will also be high. $86.04 USD for the regular version and $143.24 USD for the Special Edition.

So You should also "Be Happy That You Aren't Buying GTA IV In Mexico".

And to add insult to injury, today We have been told that it is coming late, even though almost every major retailer promised to have it on the 29th. If We are lucky We'll receive our preordered (and paid in full) GTAs somewhere between the 3rd and the 9th of May. As I said, that is if We are "lucky".

ordigas

I just wanted to let you guys know that EB Games in Denmark actually had a pre-order special where you could trade in three pre-owned games to get GTA IV AND a 100kr gift certificate. You could even pick up three pre-owned games in the store (79kr each for the cheapest 360 games), purchase them (the 100kr gift certificate could be deducted from this purchase) and essentially get the game for 3 x 79kr - 100kr = 137kr (less than $30). Pretty sweet deal...

mortenfriis

It's about 102 dollars here in iceland.

RandomHero48

Well to be perfectly honest EBgames here in Denmark have ALWAYS been insanely expensive. If you live in Denmark just do at web search on some of the Danish online game sellers. I found my GTA4 copy to 450 Danish kroner [60 Euro, which includes postage and guarenteed delivery on release date) while the EBgame version costs 599 kroner (80 Euro). But besides that...listen to what "Clevername" says - he makes an excellent point.

Razumasu

@AgainstOne: Because he was making a joke. As in, "only underage gamers get woodies over GTA." It's a joke. Relax.

Crenshaw13

Does that factor in the rate of exchange. Is that the equivalent in US dollars?? More info please.

Crenshaw13

Turns out you actually only had to trade in two PS3 games if that was the version you wanted. For anyone interrested in the deal (not valid anymore - pre-order only), here is a link to the promotional pdf:

[www.ebgames.dk]

mortenfriis

Here is Denmark, almost all new games cost about 115 USD. That is, if you buy them from any larger chain like EBgames, GAME, etc.

@stussygalore:
GTA IV is region locked, so we would have to buy it from another country that uses PAL.

xaledo

I live in Denmark, and I bought it online. I gave 467 Danish kroner, which is approximately $97.
In the shops, it costs about the $120.
The special edition costs 999 danish kroner, which is about $207.
Hell yes it's expensive, but it's worth it.

Abcent