Trump's new tariff proposal includes 25% tax on game consoles

https://www.nintendoenthusiast.com/2019/05/23/trumps-new-tariff-proposals-include-a-25-tax-on-video-game-consoles/

Trump is officially an enemy of gamers, now.

An extra $100 a console will hurt

Rebrand them as Media Hubs.

While I won't defend the move, I will put out there that the next major game consoles (PS5, the next Xbox) aren't expected to come out until sometime in 2020 at the earliest, and there is no guarantee it will be before the election. Even if it raises the price it's unlikely to be a big enough factor to affect the election since many younger gamers already hate Trump and are going to vote for his opponent no matter what happens between today and next November.

The Trump supporting gamers that are early adopters are unlikely to let a potential higher cost to get the next PS/Xbox system be the deciding factor in whether or not they will vote for him next year. If the game companies raise game prices (unlikely to be affected especially with digital purchases) to make up for the tariffs on consoles that may change things a little. Obviously, non-gaming Trump supporters aren't going to care and if they have kids that want one they'll just wait until it goes down in price.

But that's just my opinion, feel free to pick it apart with a rebuttal or two.

@ad1x2: Prices on games (not looking at DLC and microtransactions) have been more or less the same for 15 years here. I fully expect them to raise with another 10-15$.

I guess for American gamers, if you do intend to have a holiday/vacation then pop over to the UK and pick one up and hopefully customs won’t notice.

You can have a holiday and a console. Additionally, the sterling is very weak since the Brexit vote.

Trump

China will cave in and make a deal.

Then you would need an adapter for the electricity.

These latest tariffs are estimated to cost averagefamily $831 annually, in addition to the costs incurred by the earlier tariffs.

If you're confused because you thought the GOP disliked taxes, these are consumption taxes which affect the middle class and poor more than them and their donors. They're ok with those.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-is-what-trumps-latest-tariff-increase-will-cost-the-typical-american-household-2019-05-23

I remember games being 59.99 since the SNES days (N64 would go up to $70 with some games but we can blame cartridges for that and many PS1 games were $50). I also remember $2.99 McDonald’s Extra Value Meals during the same time period, so I think the game industry has done pretty well on software prices considering inflation. DLC is another story, but it’s not required.

If Trump supporting gamers vote against him over the tariffs possibly making their next console purchase (which may not be until 2020 or later) a little higher, they probably had other issues with him unrelated to video games contributing to their vote. In the year 2000, Al Gore’s running-mate was famous for trying to ban violent video games in the 90s and that fact alone probably didn’t stop a lot of Democrat gamers from voting for him anyway.

One thing that has affected prices here I think, is the smaller game stores have all gone bankrupt. James Bond GoldenEye cost 599(local currency) at release here I think, the same or more than AC Odyssey. In those 20-25 years gaming went from having more or less their own stores to be sold in bigger electronic chain stores, online retailers and services like Steam and uPlay. I'm sure those factors have dragged the price down (which it is in reality). Sales having increased a lot as well I think.

Don't worry the US versions will powered by coal.

Well... depends on the platform. I have two Nintendo Wii's, one from PAL UK, the other NTSC US, and I use my Wii power supply from the UK to power my Wii US, all I needed was the simple, no circutry travel adapter or hell, I could swap the power adapters. Some consoles allow for universal power supplies like the PS2 Slim (first version), which I used when I lived in the UK.

Even the GameCube and N64, you could just swap the power adapters for without complicated need to understand power differences.

Haha....never considered that.

Does this mean us gamers will be getting a bailout package too? I mean, we've already given out close to 30 billion for farmers. Why not give us a little compensation for his trade war too?!

@n64dd: Why will they do that exactly?

China has one ruler appointed for life, and a news media whose narrative is controlled by the state.

Trump has 2 more years in office and then an uphill re-election. Half of Americans think he is completely incompetent with the majority of the American media in agreement.

If I’m China and I’m looking at a 40-seat swing in the House midterms, I’m betting i have 2 more years before these tariffs are lifted.

And the damage goes beyond just the tariffs. It took years for US agriculture to establish a foothold in Chinas market of 1.5 billion people. Now we put our farmers on welfare with the fairytale that when those tariffs are lifted, China will just drop their agreements made with countries like Brazil immediately.

Trump made a serious mistake.

To be honest, I was able to plug most of my consoles into the local outlets while in Kuwait and Iraq when I didn’t want to overload the transformer I was using for other stuff. The PS4 I bought in Texas had a warning that it was 110 only, but it was dual voltage and just needed an adapter when I plugged it in while in Kuwait. Same deal with the Wii U’s AC adapter and controller charging cable being universal despite the 110 label.

The only consoles I really needed to use a transformer for was the OG Xbox One and the original Wii. Back in late 2007, I ended up buying a replacement dual voltage AC adapter for my Wii on Amazon after someone that I let use it while I was on a mission plugged it straight into the Iraqi power outlet and blew out the original AC adapter. Which of course deprived me of Super Mario Galaxy for about two weeks.

None of that was an issue in Afghanistan since where I was at we had 110 outlets.

who cares? china pays that tariff.

@comp_atkins: Factually, Americans pay the tariffs, your President is lying to you.

This is how tariffs work. Imagine your console costs $100, and the US government adds a 25% tariff. Then the console will cost $125. The additional $25 is taken by the US government.

If you are very lucky, Sony, MS or Nintendo will absorb some of the cost. They can do this by reducing the price of the console. Historically, companies rarely do this.

Or did you imagine that every console sold in the US comes with a voucher that you send to Beijing and Xi Jingping sends you $25 back? If so, you are mistaken.

fake news.

trump doesn't lie

@comp_atkins: Of course you’re right.

I want to add, Mexico has also paid for your border wall, American Soya bean farmers have become billionaires, his inauguration had the most attendees in history, he also won the popular vote in the election.

Not to forget, global warming is made up by China.

I think I will return back to the Matrix now and talk to the lady in the red dress.