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GAME Australia Now Also In Administration
Fluffeh writes "Yesterday the Australian Division of GAME saw an email from their Marketing Manager confirming that the 95-store chain has gone into voluntary administration. PriceWaterhouseCoopers partner Kate Warwick said, 'Initially we will continue to trade all stores, operating these on as close to a "business as usual" mode as possible whilst we get a clearer understanding of the current state of the business and actively pursue options to secure its future.' It also seems that GAME is having a bit of a fire sale, with many titles, including quite a few new releases, now in a $5-$74 bargain bin. Ms. Warwick also noted that the company's customers hold various claims against the company under loyalty cards, gift cards and vouchers. She said, 'We are working on schemes aimed at giving customers some return on these claims if they are used to make additional purchases.'"
This follows similar news from the UK in March.
So for people who put down the $30 to pre-order or $50 to pre-order the collectors edition have lost that cash. So I'd hardly say it's business as usual... My wife plans to pick up a few games from there but I'm still of the opinion that we should just get them from ebay or ozgameshop.com where it's cheaper anyway.
... wait, what?
Its interesting watching the journalist / news release re publishers solely focus on competition from download services and totally ignore mail order.
Download took away all the "I want it on release day" and "I want it now".
Mail order took away all the "I want it cheap" and "I've got metered/slow internet access" and "I want something unusual"
That leaves retail stores with... gift sales? Apparently the book industry has given up on retail except for gift sales, and that works for them, but video games are too fast moving of a target.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
http://www.glassdoor.com/Hourly-Pay/McDonald-s-Crew-Member-Hourly-Pay-E432_D_KO11,22.htm
So working 9-10 hours to be able to afford the game in the US as opposed to 3-4 in AUS
Those poor gamers.
PS: Voluntary administration is basically the step before liquidation/bankruptcy. An external entity is appointed to basically look over the books of the company on behalf of the creditors and then decide what is the best way forward to salvage the creditors money. options could include selling the company, breaking it up or simply liquidation
Translating from OZ to Yank speak is easy. take out the U's so colour becomes color and switch S's with Z's so organisation becomes organization. Just imagine you are writing with a mock East German accent. Oh and you will have to dumb it down so they can comprehend it!
I got to the chocolate box before you, that's why the hard ones have teeth marks.
What a ridiculous statement. The US minimum wage sucks balls, but to use that as a justification for inflated costs is just batshit idiocy. If you want to try some comparisons then how about Sydney is a more expensive place to live than ANY city in the US that includes LA or NY. Australian food prices are also significantly higher to account for the higher wages of service staff.
http://www.steamprices.com/au/app/10180/call-of-duty
Call of Duty
Release: 11th November 2009 - Genre: Action
AUD $ 89.99
USD $ 19.99 $ 19.99 (-77.79%)
GBP £ 19.99 $ 32.14 (-64.28%)
EUR € 24.99 $ 32.14 (-64.28%)
Yeah, no distributor rip-off there...
"We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run over." - Aneurin Bevan
Sure if what was being talked about was the cost of living (well of gaming) in various places, but the topic was whether $74 was a bargain.
And all that matters for determining that is whether the usual price is more than $74. It makes no difference whether it takes one hour or 27 years to earn enough money to buy the thing. It makes no difference if the usual price is cheaper in some other country.
In this case I wouldn't call it a bargain, 18% off is a discount but I'd be holding on for the usual steam summer sales... Again that has exactly nothing to do with minimum wages in various countries.
I'd heard of them, but I don't recall seeing an actual store - whereas right now, I'm in short walking distance of 3 EB stores. (And 2 JB-HiFi's). Hardly a 'major' chain.