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Sad truth of Latin American prices: Switch Edition
- Thread starter Salsa
- Start date
Yes, by investing in production lines in the company.
Simple fact of the matter is Brazil, and other countries, have taxes that are explicitly designed to make video games extremely expensive if they are made outside the country.
These aren't just normal sales taxes. These are protectionist taxes specifically designed to impede trade. No different than the 300% tax that Trump slapped on Bombardier.
TLZ
Banned
God damn! There goes my gift then!
Need to start a smuggling business!
It's a shame that most videogame companies don't see the market potential here in Latin America, the gamer community it's big here, just see how overpriced the physical games are and we still buy them! Iwata talked about this potential and how they want to reach these markets with good prices and maybe "special consoles", I hope those intentions are still part of Kimishima's strategy.
They need to start getting official presence in our countries or at least find good distributors, not shitty companies like Latamel, here in Mexico the official price of games is $1600 MXN ($85 DLS) and with the price of the Switch console you can buy two Xbox One S (Microsoft got official presence here in Mexico).
Thanks God we have Amazon now (and the gray market in some big cities), with most fair prices and sales, I got an Odyssey preorder at $1069 MXN ($52 DLS). You need to be a smart buyer if you want to enjoy videogames at fair prices here.
They need to start getting official presence in our countries or at least find good distributors, not shitty companies like Latamel, here in Mexico the official price of games is $1600 MXN ($85 DLS) and with the price of the Switch console you can buy two Xbox One S (Microsoft got official presence here in Mexico).
Thanks God we have Amazon now (and the gray market in some big cities), with most fair prices and sales, I got an Odyssey preorder at $1069 MXN ($52 DLS). You need to be a smart buyer if you want to enjoy videogames at fair prices here.
I'm not sure about Sony but, for example, here in Mexico Microsoft sell their games directly without any intermediaries so they can adjust the price of their games more according to the market, maybe that's the reason.
thats because they sell less, so they cut those prices pretty fast
yeah, the digital prices situation here is ridiculous. Sometimes a game will have different prices between three different digital stores, I think Unravel its like that.
in Brazil these stores have a base conversion. If a publisher isnt setting a specific price for Brazil, the store converts it automatically
PSN used to convert U$1 to R$2, but a couple years ago they changed that to R$3. Ms Store still uses something closer to R$2 I believe
On Steam the base converstion is even lower than R$2
PhilipDoesMatter
Member
MS Store has also become not feasible in Brazil. Launches range R$ 250-350 (US$ 80-110).
I just refuse myself being exposed to that and reverted my account to US.
I just refuse myself being exposed to that and reverted my account to US.
sixteen-bit
Member
That's highway robbery, wow.
Serpens007
Member
Prices aren't THAT high here in Chile, but damn Switch, it costs almost an entire one month salary (of what I make anyway. It's still higher than minimum wage)
Golden_Pigeon
Banned
Uruguay also here, I only buy digital games and it awfull. Taxes are insane, everything above 50 $ end up double the price.
You can even find ps3 at 500$+ in some store.
So yeah, even in supermarket you'll find pirated games. I heard that Steam will accept Uruguayan pesos soon, that could lower the prices for Uruguayan gamers. Anyway, there is not so much of an gamer scene, I think because of the insane price of the consoles. I literally don't know anyone who have a current gen console/video card.
You can even find ps3 at 500$+ in some store.
So yeah, even in supermarket you'll find pirated games. I heard that Steam will accept Uruguayan pesos soon, that could lower the prices for Uruguayan gamers. Anyway, there is not so much of an gamer scene, I think because of the insane price of the consoles. I literally don't know anyone who have a current gen console/video card.
Golden_Pigeon
Banned
This is unrelated. A Coke can is less than 1$ normally, Punta del Este is a city made for rich tourist. I never went there and it's common knowledge to never buy something there.
manueldelalas
Time Traveler
Yes, but new games are $45.000 (todojuegos), or about US$70, tax included, which is very cheap. Smaller games are about $25.000, or about US$40, which is not terrible, for physical.
Definitely not worth importing games or buying digital this time.
Serpens007
Member
Yep, games are cheap, that's the good news here. Specially since no one with a little knowledge will pay that much, having better options like Eurocentro or Persa BioBio where new games cost like 35 to 40k CLP, which is one hell of a deal
manueldelalas
Time Traveler
Also, about Switch games, there is absolutely no difference buying used or new, the card will not be damaged by use or handling, like a disc; and it's not like there are manuals in games, lol. I'm buying everything used for it.
MrChocolate
Member
yeah, that's the cheapest I've seen it yet. Sadly, it's back to 350k at Zmart
https://www.linio.cl/p/consola-nint...m_medium=hasoffers&utm_campaign=2900&aff_sub=
? And Linio is very helpful (except when states that the product is refurbished).
FantasticMrSnake
Member
I'm mexican and I like consoles since I grew up with them, but PC is absolutely the way to go if you like games at prices adjusted to our reality (or living in the border with an american visa so you can buy things in the US).
Both Steam and the Blizzard store have mexican pricing which is way less than buying the same games on console. I've been able to buy good stuff at less than $100 pesos ($5 US) during their sales.
Sony and MS sometimes offer decent stuff at good prices if you have a credit card and go digital, but Nintendo has been a lost cause since the Gamecube days.
The sad thing is that at least in Mexico, this situation is not about taxes or widespread poverty (Mexico's biggest problem is income inequality, but there's a lot of people who can afford stuff), distributors just like thievery and they know they can get away with it because rich people don't care and the middle class gets fucked.
Both Steam and the Blizzard store have mexican pricing which is way less than buying the same games on console. I've been able to buy good stuff at less than $100 pesos ($5 US) during their sales.
Sony and MS sometimes offer decent stuff at good prices if you have a credit card and go digital, but Nintendo has been a lost cause since the Gamecube days.
The sad thing is that at least in Mexico, this situation is not about taxes or widespread poverty (Mexico's biggest problem is income inequality, but there's a lot of people who can afford stuff), distributors just like thievery and they know they can get away with it because rich people don't care and the middle class gets fucked.
NathanDiego
Member
South American gamers are the most hardcore gamers,Brazil is not different
As a Mexican, what??? Are all incomes equal in others countries? What does this have to do with game prices.
lol, I was thinking about that tweet last night.
That's the reality for us Latin Americans. I had paid something like this in my Switch (I live in Brazil).
I've already seen vendor's here selling for US$850 a fckn switch.
Yeah, it's really sad
Well, the price is just more than 3 times the original price, huh n_n
oh, cool. Had no idea about that, barely used Linio. Will keep an eye on it.
I was pointing out that in South America, games have huge import taxes, hence they are expensive. Here in Mexico we have this little thing called NAFTA (which could die soon, but still applies), so there's no political reason for $9999 Switches and $1600 cartridges other than local distributor greed. And no, incomes are not equal in other countries but you're really naive if you think the pay gap between high/middle/low class in Mexico isn't way above average. There's this perception in other countries that Mexico is an overall poor country, but we probably have the strongest economy in Latin America, so there's assholes who can spend like they're in Dubai and also a lot of people working 10-12 hours a day with chinese salaries, or less.
W. L. Saga
Neo Member
I've always been anti-DLC and anti-every crap that goes beyond the retail game's price, meaningful content or not, precisely because of all this bullshit.
Gave up on current-gen gaming, mainly because of the prices and of the highway robbery that AAA gaming has become this gen with loot boxes, DLCs, season passes and whatnot. With Brazil's minimum wage, buying games is a choice between gaming and eating. Add those extra things and you simply can't afford that shit. Previous gens were far easier to manage, so yes, fuck all add-on content. It's sad to read all those topics on GAF about how 2017 is an incredible year for gaming, yet we're mostly locked out of the fun. =(
My stance won't change until I can find (or if anyone can help me find) a Switch that's below US$ 400. And I'm willing to wait, since Xenoblade 2 is being a massive disappointment to me. For now, it's an easy pass as every other current-gen console.
GPU prices are insane too, so
And lol @people saying MS has got it right here on Brazil. Just walked by an Americanas store, hey look! An OG Xbox One at almost 600 Trumps
Gave up on current-gen gaming, mainly because of the prices and of the highway robbery that AAA gaming has become this gen with loot boxes, DLCs, season passes and whatnot. With Brazil's minimum wage, buying games is a choice between gaming and eating. Add those extra things and you simply can't afford that shit. Previous gens were far easier to manage, so yes, fuck all add-on content. It's sad to read all those topics on GAF about how 2017 is an incredible year for gaming, yet we're mostly locked out of the fun. =(
My stance won't change until I can find (or if anyone can help me find) a Switch that's below US$ 400. And I'm willing to wait, since Xenoblade 2 is being a massive disappointment to me. For now, it's an easy pass as every other current-gen console.
GPU prices are insane too, so
And lol @people saying MS has got it right here on Brazil. Just walked by an Americanas store, hey look! An OG Xbox One at almost 600 Trumps
To PC gamers from LatAM, how are regional prices in the digital stores? In my case, Panama, GOG (and Origin in the past) gives us a fair price, usually. Games are much more affordable. Meanwhile, Steam continues pricing their games as if this was the United States. With our shitty salaries, it is quite hard to buy games at normal price.
One of the reasons GOG is seeing my money instead of Valve.
One of the reasons GOG is seeing my money instead of Valve.
Alex_Mexico
Member
In Mexico it used to be this as when it came to game software from the beginning until 15 years ago or so. I always bought them either in the US or in the flea market in Mexico (the only place you'd find them at a price close to what it went for in the US). Always. I didn't bought my first videogame in Mexico in a 100% legit store until midway into the PS3/360/Wii generation!" When things started to get better. Now it's not uncommon to find games closer in price or practically the same as to what they go for at retail in the US. And since Amazon opened up shop in Mexico it's been almost a level playing field now. I can't remember the last time I ordered a game through Amazon USA.
Sadly it seems not the same for hardware though. For some reason consoles continue to be prohibitively expensive... especially Nintendo hardware. I don't know if it's stupid outdated Mexican taxes that make them so costly or bad management or whatnot but yeah, they suck and I continue to buy consoles, Controllers and accessories through US retail or Amazon US because those prices here continue to suck ass.
For example: a Switch here goes for $10,000 pesos (almost $500 USD). A Pro Controller goes for $2,500 pesos (almost $125 USD) and yet I just preordered a new copy of Super Mario Odyssey off of Amazon for $1,100 pesos, taxes included (around $55 USD) which makes it cheaper than in the US.
We're progressing and the days of paying $160 USD for a Zelda Majora's Mask cartridge in Mexico in 2000 are long gone but there's still shit holding us back.
Sad to see things aren't looking up in South America tho.
Sadly it seems not the same for hardware though. For some reason consoles continue to be prohibitively expensive... especially Nintendo hardware. I don't know if it's stupid outdated Mexican taxes that make them so costly or bad management or whatnot but yeah, they suck and I continue to buy consoles, Controllers and accessories through US retail or Amazon US because those prices here continue to suck ass.
For example: a Switch here goes for $10,000 pesos (almost $500 USD). A Pro Controller goes for $2,500 pesos (almost $125 USD) and yet I just preordered a new copy of Super Mario Odyssey off of Amazon for $1,100 pesos, taxes included (around $55 USD) which makes it cheaper than in the US.
We're progressing and the days of paying $160 USD for a Zelda Majora's Mask cartridge in Mexico in 2000 are long gone but there's still shit holding us back.
Sad to see things aren't looking up in South America tho.
It's really, REALLY fucked up. Being a Nintendo fan in Latin America is an absolute pain in the ass with this insane prices. I practically gave up on gaming since I mostly like Nintendo stuff and I just cannot keep affording this ridiculous prices anymore. I've been spending more time on the Off-Topic side of GAF than in Gaming now due to this, hah. I just had enough of Nintendo not giving a fuck about their fans in Latin America that's why I still haven't bought a Switch yet. It still hurts me though, because in one week, one of my most anticipated games on the last few years (Super Mario Odyssey) comes out, and not being able to play it truly hurts me really bad... but I prefer that than going in debt for years paying thousands and thousands of extra pesos just because the distributor Latamel is a thief piece of trash of distributor selling Nintendo products 4x times more expensive.
Nintendo can't care, won't care. It sucks.
Who'd move to that hellhole over videogames?
Who'd move to that hellhole over videogames?
Alex_Mexico
Member
I remember Sears selling Majora's Mask for $1,300 pesos back in 2000 which at the exchange rate of that year meant they were selling a $50 game for $160 USD.
Things have progressed a lot and I'm old enough to see it but it's far from perfect. Like I said in my previous post I just preordered Mario Odyssey for $55 USD on Amazon MX but my Switch is US bought because there's no fucking way I'm paying $10,000 pesos for one here.
This.
Nintendo Switch games here are R$299.
Some weeks ago I went to a store downtown and saw Xenoblade X for Wii U... R$350.
That's a whole other story, you were talking about income inequality. What you're pointing out only applies to Nintendo. a USD60 game with sales tax is around MXN 1230 pesos. I bought Super Mario Oddisey for less than MXN 1200 pesos, and we're talking about the biggest Nintendo game of the season. I understand the price of the console is not ideal, but you can find it fairly easy at around 7K pesos with great financing options. Just look at what other Latam countries are mentioning, and this is a paradise if we compare, in pricing and availability.
Alex_Mexico
Member
We have more options than ever before. Hell, we used to not even get games in Spanish over here except the rare one that came with European Spanish which never flies in Latam.
I think the first console videogame I ever saw that came with a translation specifically made for Latam was Halo 3 (or was it Gears 1?). Credit for Microsoft for being the first ones to do it. Sony didn't start until Killzone 3! Nintendo started until the tail end of the Wii. The first Zelda in Latam that had any Spanish option was Skyward Sword in 2011 and now BotW even came with dubs in both European AND Latin American spanish! That's a farcry from having to force yourself through FFVI in English only in the 90s!
Thankfully English was never a problem for me but the language barrier was indeed a very real reason as to why games struggled to take off here for ages.
Mexico is Xbox territory because they were the first company to really give a tiny rat's ass about us. That's all it took.
And don't tell me it was easy piracy because PS1 and PS2 piracy was just as if not more rampant and easier than on Xbox and Mexico still never became the Sony territory we did with MS. The company had to care, properly market the games, offer warranties and especially sell games in Spanish!
I mentioned income inequality because Mexico is in a very shitty situation where big department stores know there's a big enough niche of rich people who don't care paying whatever price for a console, lower classes just go with piracy/mobile or don't bother at all and the middle class gets stuck in a shit sandwich of unfair pricing.
I still think you dont get how things work. Retailers do not price their products based on rich people not caring what they pay (a lot of them do). If selling a product is not profitable, why would they sell it? Charity? A retailer like Liverpool, Sears, Best Buy, Palacio de Hierro need to consider distribution costs, importing costs, IVA (sales tax or VAT). In all of these stores most games retail at 1200 pesos ( thats less than 60USD + sales tax)
I applaud Microsoft's efforts in Latin America since they're the only ones giving a fuck (they pioneered latin dubs in consoles with the same actors we knew from movies and TV).
In the case of Nintendo and Sony, it is clear their translations and spanish language support are meant for their hispanic audience in the US, not us. Nintendo even has the cynicism to indicate in their spanish manuals that all their official customer service and support is only available in the US.
I'm the one who don't get how things work? lol. You're the one mentioning distribution costs in a way that suggests that fucking Palacio de Hierro and Latamel buy their stuff at retail price from Nintendo and then resell it to us. I know MS and to a lesser extend Sony are a different story, but please tell me how, even if Latamel bought their Switches at $300US (they didn't) does that translates to $9999 pesos ($500 US)?
Astral Dog
Member
Its a shame becaus the Switch with a strong install base is a healthy system, and the Switch has the potential to be that, but prices in Mexico will stop it from happening
Its a big difference from the other games/systems
Look dude, if you think this is a topic of social injustice, which was your original claim were getting nowhere. Youre entitled to your opinion. To end this conversation I suggest you purchase your Nintendo stuff from a Amazon MX where youll find stuff at great and fair prices. Gaming and this high tech products are a luxury, always have been, always will.
that kind of price is not the base conversion, is publisher set. You are talking about reatail $60 games, and those the publisher puts the price
check indie games and you'll see what Im talking. U$20 games become R$61, and U$15 are R$45
Oh wow, I'm so sorry for this
If I'm not mistaken, Brazil for example has stupid tariffs on consoles. Nintendo could at least establish a presents in Latin America and sell their products directly in developing countries.
yeah, If they assemble their games here somehow that could possibly be resolved. You can get Sony and Microsoft games for less than $60 at launch on retail over here
Alex_Mexico
Member
I don't know about those Spanish manuals you mention but the translations are not the case anymore. BotW was dubbed in Spanish filled with recognizable actors that have decades in the industry. Sony makes their dubs in Argentina and Mexico now. Progress!
That's expensive and people around here complained about 329 Euro (including taxes of roughly 20%) for the system.
Well at least you guys can use the eshop to download games, this physical pricing would truly lead even me to go fully digital even though I love me some cartridges...
Well at least you guys can use the eshop to download games, this physical pricing would truly lead even me to go fully digital even though I love me some cartridges...
lol "gaming a luxury"... I thought you said "what income inequality in Mexico?!?!" A high school kid could probably buy a launch day title working a minimum wage job for a day in the US, Gaming is not suppose to be this exorbant luxury where you sell your first born child to enter.
No, I think you misunderstood my post. I'm not claiming videogame pricing is a matter of social justice. I was saying local distributors are stupid because they prefer to sell a small amount of consoles only to the hardcore audience knowing they will pay an absurdly inflated price instead of making a smaller profit but selling to a broader audience which in the long run will mean more software and accesory sales.
Paying $500 US for product that retails at $300 in the neighbor country (both countries united by a free trade agreement) is absurd, luxury or not. I don't know, seems like you don't like that I want a fair treatment for consumers? Do you work for a department store or something?
My inner child will rest happy if Namco gets the latin TV cast to dub Dragon Ball FighterZ