The announcement that third-party Wii games will carry an RRP of $109.95 in Australia is currently sinking in. On message boards discussing this issue, there are four responses that people have:
1) This sucks. I’m just not going to buy these games.
2) Discount stores will sell these games for under a hundred dollars anyway, so it doesn’t matter.
3) I only buy Nintendo games anyway, so this doesn’t affect me.
4) Get over it. Games are getting more expensive. There’s nothing that can be done anyway.
As someone who is planning on buying a Wii anyway, I’m concerned by all four of these responses. “1)” is a concern, not because I care about Nintendo as a company, but because if people don’t support their system, games won’t be made for it. Similarly, if people in Australia don’t buy the system, the games won’t be given Australian releases. The DS is selling really well over here, and we still don’t get local versions of significant games. “2)” is worrying as stores like Target and Big W can’t be relied on to have more obscure titles, meaning that eventually people will have to pay EB the full RRP for some titles. People using “3)” as an excuse are part of the problem that Nintendo has always had. If people don’t buy third-party games on the Wii, third parties will stop making games for it and Nintendo will be handed another third place. The people who don’t care about third party games can’t then complain when the Wii doesn’t sweep the competition.
However, it is “4)” that is the greatest concern. Australian gamers are constantly taken for a ride by distributors and retailers and we just sit back and take it like bitches. I don’t need to remind you that under current currency conversions we pay about 50% more than our American counterparts. Tax accounts for a small amount of this, but the fact is that we get screwed. Well, I say no more.
Back in January, there was an article on PALGN about the need for a lobby group made up of gamers. You can find it here:
http://palgn.com.au/article.php?id=3735
I think this is a fantastic idea. The gaming community is fairly close-knit, and the creation of such a group would only require the dedicated work of a few. The average gamer would only need to sign up. If enough people sign up, the organisers of the group could meet with retailers, distributors and politicians and campaign for all the gamers of Australia.
The group could work towards cheaper games, an R-rating on games for Australia, and anything else that affects gamers. For example, in the current case, if a certain retail outlet (Target, JB, Big W, even EB) made a promise to the lobby group that they would always sell Wii games for under $100 (or even under $90), then the lobby group could encourage its members to support that outlet, forcing other retailers to follow suit. While this would be a best-case scenario, it can’t hurt for gamers to have a voice.
What do you think? Could this happen, or is everyone content to just accept whatever the industry throws at us? I’m willing to give it my support (once I’ve finished my thesis at the end of this month), we just need people to get behind the movement (and someone to think of a cool name).
