Just read today's article at http://www.penny-arcade.com/ only to find them highlighting how Canadians are paying an extra $10 for already expensive games.. so games that cost US $50 or $60 are $60/$70 for them..

Today, the Australian dollar has just hit 90c US. So on average, US games should cost 10% more.. right?

But instead of costing us $60 or $70 per game, we're paying $100-$119 - especially at game traders like EB Games.

What the ****? What am I missing here? Shipping costs? Bulls***. If they were shipping games _individually_, i'd grant them a $5-$10 leeway. But bulk amounts of games? How the hell can that add up to double the cost??

I'm sick of it to be honest. We never hear mention of it, because while it's cheaper for outlets to purchase the games, their profit margins are sky high thanks to the dollar value - so why the hell should they give back to the consumer, in their eyes?

I've already given up getting games locally, and now get all my PAL games imported from Hong Kong or Singapore - costing roughly $70 per game (including postage). And this isn't for old games either - recent releases Bioshock/Halo 3/Overlord etc have all cost me roughly that much. I just hope others take the initiative and help drive down these ridiculously unfounded prices!

-Kaldo

Either your store is 1 out of 100 that's swapping consoles with the 3 ring problem, or your the one bsing.

Are you in Western Australia? If so, give EB Games at Mirrabooka, Morley or Carousel a call and see what their policy is for swapping a console with the aforementioned issue.

Then have fun while they laugh in your face and tell you to ship it off to Microsoft.

Then again, you're the one working for EB, so it'll likely be you doing the laughing.

It's likely not your fault - the useless staff my friend spoke to really weren't sure what to do with the issue - it was always the manager at these stores (and others) that would step in and say that a swap wasn't possible.

Cheers.

Here's the deal:

A mate just got the 3 rings of death. He has an extended warranty from EB. It's still under a year old though. Anyway, he calls up 4 EB's in Western Australia, only to be told they don't have any consoles in stock - but if they did, they would gladly swap (as per warranty conditions).

He finally comes across one that has it, takes his XBOX 360 in there and they inform him that all warranties are now covered by Microsoft, even the extended (regarding the rings) so they've wouldn't swap it for him. They said they've actually been 'calling' people to let them know they can get a refund on their warranties, if they took out an extended one.

Funnily enough, my friend never received this call. And despite being told otherwise by an EB employee, he has to send his console off for repairs. So his warranty is null and void.

End result? He's now telling his friends who own XBOX 360's and have bought them from EB/taken out an extended warranty, to take their receipt back and get a refund on it. It's $85 or so that EB gets to keep, unless you bother to get it off them. Despite allegedly letting customers know this, we know noone who has ever been called in order to get their warranty refund.

My friend is now currently also contacting consumer affairs. He's been disgusted with EB's ongoing attitude and rip-off prices, and this was the last straw.

Hope this helps others get some extra $$ back in their pockets!

-Kaldo.