The GameBoy Advance will release here in Australia at a mind boggling AUD$200 (US$103.78). This is as much as mainstream consoles here in Australia.

GBA games are releasing at AUD$90 (US$46.70). This is more than many AAA pc games releases !

To compare when the GameBoy Color was first released here it cost AUD$120 (US$62.29).

As usual Australian's have no choice but to bend over and take it up the arse. I hear a similar thing has happened in the UK.

I notice on shopper.yahoo.com that the average price for a GBA in the US is about $100. Why so much ?

DAMN!

That's just how much they charge for them--$89.99 is the regular retail price in the States. Up here in Canuckenland, they run about $140 bucks--which basically translates to about $USD 95. You're not really getting raped up the ass... you're only paying about 10 bucks more heh.

GBA is just $100 here. I think that's the MSRP. And the games seem to have an MSRP of $40, mostly. So you're really not getting bent over anymore than we are. We've all been forced to assume the position.

Thanks Mark - good to know we are all getting f.u.t.a. equally !
laugh

Mainstream consoles are only $100? Which ones? Surely not PS2? I belive that for N64, PSOne, or Dreamcast, which cost about that much over here as well.

"We've all been forced to assume the position."

Yes, forced to. I know the police have been to my house already asking when I'm going to buy a GBA. I don't want to go to jail or anything.

That's an "Illinois-only" law Bruce.

I'm not sure why $100 US is too much to spend though...

-Andrew

I guess it depends on your circumstances Andrew. Some of us with families and mortgages barely have $50 at the end of the month let alone buying a $200 GBA. I dread the day when my 2 year old computer dies or the motherboard packs it in.

Hey-hey there Sean!
I've got a family and a mortgage and I support them on a freelance writer's wages (though the wife works part time as a nurse, which helps a great deal). I'm going to assume the "$200 GBA" line is a misprint, because you said they were $103 AUS which, you said, is $100 US.

Still, I don't think the price is unreasonable given the technology involved. Now, $69 US for a GBC is outrageous and the games should be cheaper, especially since a lot of them are straight NES ports.

-Andrew

Ugh, excuse me, I misread your initial post!
$200 AUS IS what you wrote....

Still, if that exchanges to $103 US, then, you aren't really getting screwed on the MSRP. True, if you can find one, they are retailing cheaper here ($89 someone said) but I got a Japanese one imported in early May for only $100 US. Only difference is the instruction manual language.

-Andrew

Yeah I was comparing it to the cost of the original GameBoy Color. I am hoping the price will go down although here in AussieLand they tend to keep the price inflated and eventually ship it with a free game. I'll play the waiting game.

Being able to play DOOM on the GBA still appeals to me a lot though.

The other problem is that our wonderful government here in Australia has added a 10% Good Services Tax on to everything we buy here including all computer hardware, software, and games.

Don't think it is a tax-free paradise anywhere else. In California, we pay a "sales tax" on most everything but food. It is a base of 7% if memory serves, but most counties have added some additional amounts for various purposes (like Orange County voters approved an additional 1% for freeway construction), so you end up paying anywhere from 7.5% to 8.25%. Technically, the tax is paid by the seller, but merchants always pass it through to the purchaser as a separate line on the bill.

Some states don't have a sales tax, though.

I believe that the OK sales tax is about 7.5%, but then you get city and county taxes, and 'round here (Tulsa area) is winds up being about 8.5% most places. It's a little cheaper if you're outside "city limits," but not a whole lot.

5% here in Maryland, no sales tax in Deleware.

-- Xaroc

Delaware.

25% here in Hungary (Middle Europe) on almost everything. About 11% on food, public transportation, etc.