Dawn of War Shenanigans on Steam
In case anyone is thinking of buying the Dawn of War complete pack on Steam, I'd suggest you take pause for a moment.
The pack costs £32.46, and comes with DOW1: Gold Edition, Dark Crusade, Soulstorm and DOW2.
The individual components bought separately cost:
DOW1: Platinum Edition (Gold + Dark Crusade) - £8.49
Soulstorm - £8.49
Dawn of War 2 - £9.99
A total of £26.97, a whole £5.49 cheaper than buying the package deal.
I think THQ need to hire a new person to be responsible for their Steam pricing. Cheers to @Driaden for the tip off on this.
Fallout 3, GOTY Edition, PS3 - £28.99
Fallout 3, GOTY Edition, PS3 - £28.99 delivered
This includes all 5 pieces of DLC, which cost roughly £30 separately. I can vouch for at least 3 of the 5 being great (Operation Anchorage is only OK, and I've not played Mothership Zeta).
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - £34.73
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - £34.73 delivered
Apply code "HWalk" to get £3 off.
Fallout 3, GOTY Edition, PC - £17.48
Fallout 3, GOTY Edition, PC - £17.48 delivered
This includes all 5 pieces of DLC, which cost roughly £30 seperately. I can vouch for at least 3 of the 5 being great (Operation Anchorage is only OK, and I've not played Mothership Zeta).
Maths with THQ
Red Faction Guerilla is this week's weekend special on Steam. This game normally costs £34.99/€49.99/$39.99 on steam, but the weekend special has brought the price of Red Faction Guerilla down by 25%. It is now £26.24/€37.49/$29.99. The UK and EU price of the game is still higher when it is on weekend special than the standard USA price.
To add insult to injury, Saints Row 2, a game by not only the same publisher, but the same developer, is priced much more sensibly at £14.99/€19.99/$29.99.
This table shows the prices for the two THQ/Volition games on Steam in the three regions and three currencies:
The astronomical inconsistency in international pricing between these two games is certainly frustrating. You have to assume that THQ have chosen this pricing strategy simply because it will make them more money. It is essentially price discrimination, the equivalent of looking at customers walk into a shop, and gauging how much to charge them based on how rich they appear.
I don't know exactly what we should be doing here. How steam used to work, where everyone paid in dollars exchanged into their currency at the exchange rate when the transaction occurs seems like it might be better for most people outside of the USA, although as SR2 proves this is not always the case.
How steam currently works is that the publisher sets a specific price for each region. These prices are generally roughly comparable to each other based on exchange rates at the time, however, if the publisher wants to charge more in one region, they are completely allowed to do so.
Were it up to me, I would still allow this practise, however, I would also regulate it a bit more. I would say some kind of rule where no game was allowed to be sold for (say) 10% +/- the price of the same game in another region, and could be reviewed monthly with regard to currency fluctuations. This would give publishers a margin for error, but prevent them gouging different regions just because they can.
Perhaps the whole thing is academic anyway, since RFG is far cheaper to get at retail:
Red Faction: Guerilla, PC - £17.99 delivered
Xbox 360 Elite, Pure, LEGO Batman & an extra controller - £127.02
Xbox 360 Elite, Wireless Controller, Pure, LEGO Batman - £127.02 delivered
Add the Xbox 360 Elite and Wireless Entertainment Pack to your basket, and at checkout, the price will resolve to £127.02.
I believe the reason this happens is because the site is coded to deduct the price of the Entertainment Pack from the price of the console, but the Pack has been mispriced. As retailers aren't required to honour misprices, this order is likely to be cancelled. Undoubtedly worth it if it isn't, though.
In light of the postal strike affecting the UK within the next week, I advise anyone who hasn't already signed up for the free trial of Amazon Prime that they offer at checkout to do so, or to pay for faster shipping in addition to the console price in order to ensure reliable delivery. If you do sign up for Prime, ensure that you've unchecked the rebilling option in the settings, or after the trial is up you'll automatically be billed.
- Will Templeton
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, PC - £4.13
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, PC - £4.13 delivered
Amazon have dropped the £5 minimum spend for free P&P, now all items get free super saver delivery.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, PC - £1.66
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, PC - £1.66 delivered
Amazon have dropped the £5 minimum spend for free P&P, now all items get free super saver delivery.
Alone in the Dark, Xbox 360 - £3
Alone in the Dark, Xbox 360 - £3 Preowned in GAME
It wasn't this price on the system, but it was stickered at this price. Not sure if this is nationwide or not.
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