I'm a Czech gamer. Well OK, I'm a gamer and I live in the Czech Republic. So when something comes up that royally screws gamers here, I have to write about it. Well, I have to write about it no matter where it happens actually.
Today, Microsoft announced several new titles being added to the Xbox 360 Classics roster - GTA IV, Midnight Club: LA - Complete Edition and Bioshock.
They also announced new prices here in the country for older titles starting at 799Kc, roughly $45 or 30,90 Euro
Meanwhile, they announced the same titles for the UK with a price of about 15 Pounds.
Let's do some math with today's exchange rate
799Kc = $45 = 30,90 Euro
15 Brit Pounds = 420Kc = $24 = 16,25 Euro
Therefore - An old Xbox 360 classic title here is about TWICE THE COST of most other countries. Wow, way to screw over a country that has a lower cost of living than most others around it including the UK. Who made these prices and in what universe is this proper pricing?
I'll tell you where, NOWHERE. Someone in Microsoft seems to (pardon my vulgarity) have their head up their bunghole in regards to pricing things across Europe. Just for some added fun, I went to Amazon.de to see what kinds of prices the Germans are paying (they're about 200 kilometers from me).
Naruto - Rise of a Ninja - Classics - 18 Euro, or about 465 Kc.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 [Xbox Classics] - 25,45 Euro or 658Kc
Now the cost of living in Germany vs the Czech Republic is about 1.26 or 68% roughly
If that were applied to game prices then those titles should be 316 and 447KC respectively.
Prices here at the local JRC (owned by GAME in the UK) are mystical as they don't list the games on their website.
Alza.cz
Xbox 360 - Tom Clancys: Rainbow Six Vegas 2 - 392Kc (a good deal!)
They don't have Naruto either.
Electroworld.cz has no Xbox 360 classics on their local website.
Datart.cz has a 'filmy, hudba, hry' section...only there's no hry (games)
Bontonland.cz - Trying to drill down through their menus is like drilling through Basalt with a dull spoon...in other words - impossible. Eventually I found they also listed neither title.
Honestly, it's no surprise that Alza has the best price around. They generally have the best prices everywhere, no matter what the manufacturer suggested retail price it. I'm almost tempted to say something smells fishy, but I think they just buy in such bulk that they can manage it.
I went back to Amazon.de to do some digging and found this:
Bioshock - Classics Edition (Xbox 360) [Import UK] - 22.54 Euro while at Amazon.co.uk it was only 12,65 Brit Pounds...or 13,70 Euros. It seems the Czech gamers aren't the only ones getting screwed. The Naruto title is 12,96 GBP (14 Euro) and Tom Clancy was 12,95 oddly.
It's funny because the EU was supposed to bring with it things like one single currency and theoretically, even pricing across the region. However, now more than ever there seems to be some massive differences in pricing.
So a word of warning to our EU readers, do a little shopping around. You might be able to get a better deal from the next country over and even with shipping save some money.
Me? I'm going to ask someone how they came up with the awesome 799KC price for those games here in the country...I'm sure they won't be happy to hear from me...
