Yep, I'm aware. I was talking about the price here currently being relatively cheaper than what it would be if they just converted it from the dollar.
And yeah, I can see them all salivating at the thought of taxing everything digital. Sigh.
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PS4 price was just announced in Argentina!
- Thread starter Manu
- Start date
And yeah, I can see them all salivating at the thought of taxing everything digital. Sigh.
I might add, if you ask for one and it costs i believe something around 23 pesos with small fries/soda, and you try to go for medium fries/soda the price skyrockets to 55.
Yup, I think that's the reason behind why they pulled the Big Mac from their in-store signs and ads. Most combos cost about AR$50 nowadays, but you can ask for a Big Mac combo for AR$32 and, bout half a year ago, it was AR$29 and they even allowed you to up-size your combo for the regular AR$3.50; nowadays, if you want large fries and drink, they raise the combo's price by some crazy amount, which is probably what the real Big Mac's value is at. Buy hey, I won't be complaining if that means I can get a Big Mac combo plus a small triple burger for the same price it'd cost me to get one of the other combo burgers.
Anyway, back to digital distribution, I'm hoping no countries begin taxing digitally distributed stuff, but it is within the realm of possibility...
It's more of a case of electronics that are ridiculously expensive that won't sell, because they're not hacked to pirate games either (Compare the success of the PS2 to the PS3 for example by regions). With that kind of game prices and the digital stores for consoles matching those ridiculous prices as well, it's really just a case of convenience for someone with more money than patience.
PC Hardware prices tend to get updated way more often and there's plenty of stores that compete between each other, and they don't seem to have such an overblown tax/importation cost (unless you're Nvidia for some weird reason). Because that hardware actually sells. Of course a majority of those PC gamers will still pirate since it's quite the cultural thing, but digital PC gaming is probably the cheapest legit alternative you'll get now.
Regional pricing has helped me this year a lot ($45 for Bioshock Infinite for example at launch) and I've been convincing most of the people I know to stop with the media hoarding lately. It's gonna take work, but the market will be there once digital payments get easier and easier to do.
crazygambit
Member
To be fair those prices already include sales tax, which is around 20% in the region. The $660 price for Chile for example already includes a 19% VAT.
So if they were only around 25% over US retail price they'd be pretty much on parity. That would be nice.
Given lower wages in these countries they should be even cheaper, but that's a whole other discussion.
For that money? Not in Agentina.
Add a free sundae on top of that.
While that sounds about right, given the post you quoted you don't exactly need a GPU like that to be a PC gamer. I've been just fine for the last years with a HD 6870. The tax cost doesn't scale very linearly, they tend to overcharge for the more expensive products.
Add a free sundae on top of that.
While that sounds about right, given the post you quoted you don't exactly need a GPU like that to be a PC gamer. I've been just fine for the last years with a HD 6870. The tax cost doesn't scale very linearly, they tend to overcharge for the more expensive products.
You try to get people into PC gaming in Arg and have a 6870?....Brother.
So... since I'm not alone... Here's a question for the rest of you who live my same nightmare. What's your plan towards next-gen?
I for one, will wait it out for a year and a half, and then buy them on holidays elsewhere...
On Topic.
Argentina's Secretary of Commerce is truly mad, but what's worse is that most companies play along. Only Apple stood firmly, and left the country alltoghether. The Big Mac index is a
manipulated lie here, as are many of our internal and external statistics.
I think somewhere I read that videogame consoles where considered Premium Items, whereas cellphones and tablets weren't, which in term excuses the difference in price with other countries
I for one, will wait it out for a year and a half, and then buy them on holidays elsewhere...
On Topic.
Argentina's Secretary of Commerce is truly mad, but what's worse is that most companies play along. Only Apple stood firmly, and left the country alltoghether. The Big Mac index is a
well?
I think somewhere I read that videogame consoles where considered Premium Items, whereas cellphones and tablets weren't, which in term excuses the difference in price with other countries
I'm waiting for the next next (after 800/AMD9000 series) gpu batch to upgrade my PC. Also, the "premium" thing is for importing taxes. (Did you know, that the official import tax is 35% on these premium, yet if the customs stops them they charge you around 60%?)
Right now it is "lie down and cry."
Is that US dollars???!
Holy crap Batman!!!...if so
Edit** I could take my wife and two kids to McDonalds. Buy the two largest combos they have....and a kid's meal for each child....and not spend $30.
That has been my plan all along, never bought a console in a local store so I'm not going to start now.
In the meantime, Steam is all I need, besides my backlog is already huge.
Infinite Justice
Member
about half that at the very least.
Yea
Also wouldn't be surprised if the high end of that figure goes to 80k
I've got a gaming (kinda old nowadays) PC (Nvida GT560), but I gotta say, I love my damn consoles, ever since I layed my fingers on the first Atari I ever touched... I don't even have a Steam account, go figure...
DID NOT KNOW that part of the 60%, I've never been caught (luckily)
Yeah, been there, but I learned my lesson with the early adopter when I bought my Dreamcast.... man, I cried like a baby when SEGA decided to quit....
I know there are a lot of great games in Steam, but somehow, the PC is just not for me...
I love to not have to think about settings, and just play... Heck! I miss the old days when you would just put the disc and play...(no updates, installs, etc), but I'm grateful I'm no longer stuck with a broken game due to a bug..
I know what you mean, I was mainly console gamer until 3 years ago when I was introduced to Steam and decided to build a pc myself. It looks difficult at first but it is quite simple to tell you the truth.
Now, regarding settings I just put everything at max and then go down until I get 60fps. There were a few games where I had problems with audio settings and stuff, but nothing I couldn't solve within 5 minutes of browsing forums. Anyway, most of the time it works just like a console specially using Big Picture Mode.
He had a good suggestion for you. Don't buy one at launch, it's not necessary.
Wait a while and prices will drop or you can buy a used one.
I'm in America and I'm not even buying one at launch.
If I can get a WiiU and/or 3DS for less than the retail Argentine price, I'm definitely buying them and simply go digital with game purchases, buying a game every two months or so, hopefully more if I find myself in the position to do so.
I've been a console gamer for most of my life, and only went back to PC gaming when TF2's Spy vs Sniper update hit (I really liked the look of that game). Since I was a kid, I'd get one or two games per year and would proceed to play the heck out of them, but now that I have a job I've finally set out to getting games other than "safe" first-party titles. Nowadays I'm more of a PC gamer due to the huge amount of great indie games releasing there and Steam's glorious digital distribution system, but I still like playing on consoles more than on PC.
Thankfully, digital distribution is finally a thing with consoles as well, so I probably won't be missing obscure releases anymore. I'm even willing to put up with Nintendo's ass-backwards account system (or, rather, lack thereof) for the sake of not having to wait about a year between game purchases or having to pay over AR$500 if I want any games right away.
I knew I should've written AR$ in there. It'd be about US$5.60 for the Big Mac combo and about US$8.75 for the others, with the triple burger I often throw in costing AR$18 (US$3.15). It's more expensive than in the US, and you can probably find cheaper fast food at several other places (ie: buying pizzas costs AR$45-65 per every two people for a mid to high-quality pizza).
Drop...prices? Such a concept is foreing to a economy like ours. Hell, i'm pretty sure this is the "pre order" price, and when the console finally comes out it'll retail for $7000 or some other bs.
That's probably what I'm gonna do.
I don't think prices will drop anytime soon though. If anything, they'll go up.
EDIT: Beaten by Tecl0n
Wat.
As explained several times in the thread, it's almost impossible to import, and even if you import the taxes bring the price so close to the retail price that it ends up not making a difference.
Yup. Game price drops only happen around here if the game gets re-released at a discount or something like that.
It also hurts us that we only have one or two games-centric stores, which are both very small in the number of available stores and stock, and do things such as discounting 20% from a game's price if you pay in cash and don't ask for a sales ticket, which basically amounts to them evading the 21% VAT that's enforced here. I was looking around for The Last Story a while ago, and I noticed it has gone up over AR$100 in the span of a few months, currently sitting at AR$638 (US$111.93... wat).
That's not how prices work here.
Let's take apple, sony (or any company for that matter), when they release a new product it doesn't replace the old one, it's just released at a higher price and with months or a year delay.
Besides we would need Sony to drop 2/3 of the initial price just to get to the US launch price. We could wait for a PS5 and it would still be more expensive.
I can calculate, reading I have a problem with. Now I support the outrage.Math fail GAF makes an appearance!
25% over, not 25% of.
It does explain why I had so much trouble with statistics in school.
Video game prices at "official retailers" are complete idiocy here. Yes retards, charge a region with a considerably lower average income than the rest of the world two, three times the regular price. That's why I only buy my crap at "import stores", which are more like a black market. Instead of paying $100 for a new game, I pay around $60~, and often I can get it several days before the official North American release date. How? I don't ask.
AlphaProspector
Member
Prices never go down indeed. They always go up here. They'll do anything to mark things up and coerce you to buy it at that moment or else risk to pay even more later. I almost bought Heart of the Swarm on retail in one of the two stores you mentioned but I decided it's not worth it. I may buy the Starcraft II complete pack once the whole thing comes out and probably NOT over here. Hopefully I can get it in the US or somewhere else.
God, yeah, I hate those guys and their desperation to avoid the tax. They are already ripping you off with those prices and want to get away with even more. Screw that.
Anyway, console gaming stopped being the "put the disc and play" with all the patches, DLC, dashboards and stuff I've been reading all these years. I have no consoles since the PS2 era and that's precisely because the PS2 could be so easily pirated basically everyone got one. Consoles here were always about which one could be pirated the most. Family Game (aka, the non-official NES) anyone?
With Steam being so convenient it's basically a choice between some torrent site full of dodgy stuff or just buying the damn thing and safely download it off Steam. With all the bells and whistles. Add Big Picture Mode, the plethora of full controller support games (or more like, the amount of console ports where a pad is pretty much the only option to play them properly) and, well, my PC is my console and I can minimize everything and pretend I'm working...
Projectjustice
Banned
Exactly, get them now while they still can. lol
How about letting someone you know bring one from overseas? Put in luggage, do the check at airport?
That's a possibility, but then again not everyone knows someone who travels to the US that often; worst-case scenario, you'd just have to pay the taxes.
Ah, I remember when I was a lot younger and had come through Argentine customs with a DS and some games for it I had been given by my relatives... the customs guy was like "Seems like you're bringing more than US$300 worth of items in... oh dear, what in the world could we possibly do about it?" (read: fishing for bribes), but I was so young his suggestion flew right past me. When the guy noticed I didn't even know he wanted me to bribe him, he just gave up and let me pass through.
As many have said, in Argentina prices never actually go down..
But since I have a sister in USA, well that kinda makes things a little easier for me. On the other hand, you can also travel to free ports like Valdivia o Punta Arenas in Chile...
If you really want to game, there's always a way. I'm just saying, wait a year and a half...it's always better. The good launch games, are now cheaper, and you are not stuck with pretty turds/launch games (we've all been there). The great games start appearing, if the console was meant to fail, it is already evident and you won't be fooling yourself about your purchase... (which I think is the fear that drives some people to yell at the top of their lungs "SONY WILL WAN CONSLE WARZ 4 SUR!" or "XBOXZ ONE WILL RULEZ".... again, I learned my leason with the Dreamcast)
I'm not a teenager anymore, I don't need the lastest games right now... (all they would do is gather dust in my backlog since I don't really have all that time to game anymore)
Also, there are some place where you can get some consoles a little cheaper... cough cough mercado libre cough... not always reliable... but still...
Maybe I should look into it, to tell you the truth the games that interest me on PC are really not that demanding, it's just that I really don't like the hassle, besides, my girlfriend who lives with me also uses my PC and everynow and then I find myself cleaning viruses, malware.. etc..
But since I have a sister in USA, well that kinda makes things a little easier for me. On the other hand, you can also travel to free ports like Valdivia o Punta Arenas in Chile...
If you really want to game, there's always a way. I'm just saying, wait a year and a half...it's always better. The good launch games, are now cheaper, and you are not stuck with pretty turds/launch games (we've all been there). The great games start appearing, if the console was meant to fail, it is already evident and you won't be fooling yourself about your purchase... (which I think is the fear that drives some people to yell at the top of their lungs "SONY WILL WAN CONSLE WARZ 4 SUR!" or "XBOXZ ONE WILL RULEZ".... again, I learned my leason with the Dreamcast)
I'm not a teenager anymore, I don't need the lastest games right now... (all they would do is gather dust in my backlog since I don't really have all that time to game anymore)
Also, there are some place where you can get some consoles a little cheaper... cough cough mercado libre cough... not always reliable... but still...
Maybe I should look into it, to tell you the truth the games that interest me on PC are really not that demanding, it's just that I really don't like the hassle, besides, my girlfriend who lives with me also uses my PC and everynow and then I find myself cleaning viruses, malware.. etc..
AlphaProspector
Member
Nah, I feel your pain, bro. There is a reason why a lot of people use the demeaning term "Argenzuela", because we now pretty much have an unofficial exchange rate, the "blue" dollar. Hell, some were going to Uruguay to withdraw dollars there. I guess a US citizen can't understand our obsession with the dollar but when you go from crisis to crisis in 10 years intervals it's obvious even the dollar looks more stable than our local currency.
The airport comment is spot on. They are always seeking for bribes. The horror tales of people stealing and robbing passengers are endless. My godfather got stolen there and had to drop a lot of boxes when he came back here from Spain. I love to see the horror faces of foreigners when they tell them at the postal customs that there is a bank in there. ("Sucursal Banco Nación", el cubículo sucio ese al fondo del pasillo, por Dios, qué asco de país, si todavía usan ese sistema de poleas ahí!!!)
That's sad to hear about bribery.
Doesn't seem like a good way to encourage tourism, if it's commonly known that government officials will harass foreigners too?
I've never been to Argentina, but I've been to Mexico several times and it doesn't seem that way in the popular nice tourist cities. They usually treat tourists very well because they want them to keep coming back.
EnVy_CaLiBeR
Member
Wow. That's awful for the people in Argentina.
AlphaProspector
Member
It really depends. In the airports, the officials seem to be rather assholes. The common people will treat you well of course. The northern provinces of the country have a very bad reputation already. Buenos Aires is kind of like any big metropolis so in that regard you should be fine. But never show off a cellphone or watch, the usual. NEVER show something Apple related. Their shit is expensive as hell here, really, really expensive and cannot be found easily. Seriously. Avoid showing off laptops, tablets and such too.
edit: and these are precautions also to be taken into account when importing stuff. Anything electronics related gets the tax hammer. Order more CDs than you hoped for, tax hammer. The wieght of the package is over 2kg and something out of the ordinary is inside? (ie: one of those figmas or model thingies) Tax hammer. Bought something from Amazon? Tax hammer. EMS? Tax hammer. Is the package from USA and also has a tracking number? You get the idea.
Taxes in customs work like this: 50% of the total product price and 50% of THE SHIPPING. You could be buying a PS3 for $10 and the shipping alone will murder your wallet since it's expensive as hell to bring things in with tracking and all. (And no tracking is a russian roulette.)
In the zone I work there is a lot of tourism so I have ended up helping plenty of tourists finding a postal office, bus stop or streets. In english. Despite many being from diverse countries. Yet they don't really encourage english enough in schools. I wouldn't be here typing in english like this without the help of an aussie friend!
Sadly that example pretty much applies to ANYTHING in Argentina, throw in a few dolars and you can practically get away with anything. No one cares about anything. There are exceptions thou, and they are to be noted. But they are the exception, not the rule..
I'm curious as to what exactly were Sony Argentina Executives thinking when they announced such a steep price...
I remember when we finally got the PSN Argentina, most users thanked Sony, but said that they would keep their US accounts. There are no benefits to having an Argentina Account (I have one)
Edit: Also what AlphaProspector said is spot on
Since the only two large retail stores here don't even carry used games and hardware AFAIK, it's limited to stuff you can find on MercadoLibre (local eBay) or some random comics store (I remember buying some stuff like a NES and SNES from one that used to be a games rental shop as well).
I think tourists don't tend to get the same treatment as we do. If the console remains unopened or you're carrying duplicate consoles, then you might find yourself in trouble (since it's obviously something you didn't bring for your own use), but otherwise foreigners don't get into too much trouble. It's just us Argentines, since we're required to fill a form with the serial numbers of whatever electronic items we're taking out of the country to make it easier for them to tell when you're re-entering the country with stuff you bought overseas.
This is really the issue, but they are leaving money on the table at the end of the day, only Steam is doing the right thing now.
They are so stubborn, but their lack of care is what makes many to just jump to piracy, latinamericans want to game, but the prices are absurd, such enormous potential and these companies do nothing, it's a shame really.
Regarding buying used, that is sadly a gamble over here. Particularly because there is not much difference with the new price, and you won't have any warranty if anything were to happen.
I find it pretty hilarious that the price seems to be consistent with the Blue Dollar rather than the official one. It does screw you guys over a lot though
Yeah, that was pretty insane as it was screwing us over as well.
I find it pretty hilarious that the price seems to be consistent with the Blue Dollar rather than the official one. It does screw you guys over a lot though
Thanks for all the travel info, I will definitely keep that in mind if I visit Argentina in the future! If I do, it would be Buenos Aires which I hear is fine.