Pay too much eh?

After having lived in California for the first 15 years of my life, I've returned home to my native canada, to find that games are $10 more expensive than they are in the good ol' US of A. At first i accpeted that the canadian dollar simply isn't strong and that the exchange rates and whatnot make it even. Now that I've lived here for one year, it has become apparent that the canadian dollar is so close to the American, exchange rates have nothing to do with them. Games are higher here than in the US. Don't believe me? Heres the Best Buy American website, the canadian equivilantand the current currency comparison.Now the reason for this is becaus in Canada has a low population density and harsher weather. This has contributed to problems such as cross-border shopping. More on this can be found atwikipedia. When i went to preorder halo 3, I had to get the collector's edition, because the normal ones where out of stock. Normally i wouldn't have mind,but after the high sales taxes, the original $70 went to $90. $90!!!!! Canadian economy needs to drastically improve in order to adapt and change with the video game industry, which constantly claims that money is the reason that many lousy games are made!

So basically, my point is for all you americans (not all of you, I know most americans to be real awesome people) who whine about prices..... Please stop complaining.We pay $10 more than you BEFORE our outrageously high sales taxes.

All that may be true. But you get to say "I'm from the same country as William Shatner and Bret Hart". So it all evens out.

:P

It's actually improved a little bit, although you're right - at the current exchange games should only be about $5 more.

Back when the 360 launched the console was priced at $500CDN to the US's $400. The Canadian dollar went up, the console remained the same price, so before the price drop this year people were still paying $500 for a console that you could pick up across the border for about $430, since the exchange rate had changed so much. They've taken that into account for the price drop, at least, and it also brings the Elite more in line.

The PS3 is also priced too high. So is the Wii, actually. They were reasonable at launch, but exchange rates have changed. It's in their favour, really...why would either company want to make less money?

Nothing drastic is ever going to happen just because it's not feasible for most Canadians to sneak across the border, go shopping, and come back again with cheaper stuff. Ordering online is out too since the vast majority of US stores/sites gouge for shipping, plus you get knocked for duty. Since there are very few alternatives available, they can get away with overcharging us.

We pay alot more here in the UK.

We are not called rip-off Britain for nothing you know?