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European DS Launch and Titles Announced
GamesIndustry.biz has the news that the Nintendo DS has been slated for a March 11th launch in Europe. The launch will carry 15 different titles, and the handheld will be bundled with the Metroid Prime: Hunters demo, as it was in the states. Australian gamers have something to be happy about as well. From the article: "The £99 price point is around the expected mark. Interestingly, Australian fans will pay the equivalent of around £90 for theirs, and although exchange rate fluctuations are believed to be behind that slightly more flattering figure, they can hardly be blamed for the unusual sight of Nintendo hardware making it onto store shelves down under before it does so here; Aussie gamers will be able to pick up a DS from 24th February onward."
Basically, different economies can support different prices. The same pricing policy might not work in different countries: in some places a high price will make people assume your product is a rip-off, in others a lower price might cause people to assume your product is poor quality. So you tailor your pricing and advertising for the local market in whatever country you're selling in.
As it happens, the received wisdom is that prices should be a lot higher in the UK (and Australia) than in the USA - typically companies seem to convert the US dollar price 1:1 to GBP, then multiply by two to get Aussie dollars. That seems to be the psychological ideal at which people don't realise how badly they're being ripped off. ^^
The above is limited and inaccurate information. Take an economics course if you want the real scoop.
VAT is one reason. Without VAT a DS would cost only 129.30 Euro here in Germany, where we have a relatively low VAT of 16%, 25% is said to be the average and would leave the price at 119.99 Euros, which equals 156 USD at the moment. Since I don't think they want to vary prices throughout the EU (except for the UK maybe) they pick one that gives them at least the same profits at all VATs.
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
There may be tariffs which make the Euro one more expensive than the Aussie one.
In addition, Europe is much further away from Japan than Australia is.
Another thing you should keep in mind is that Australia's economy is a part of Asia. Hence, if Japan's Yen is stable, the Australian dollar is generally stable.