Not too long ago my computer went to the otherside, and never came back. It’s a tolerable loss, but I’m sure some people couldn’t live on without their precious pc. The upkeep of my still newly fresh blog has become less frequent, and much harder. I use a laptop now and then but the keyboard seriously lacks in precision in these things. Enough about that.
The American dollar is going through a lot at the moment, but since I live in a country that has high taxes, it has certain advantages. I’ve added a Play-Asia.com link to my seletion of few good websites, a webshop where you can order cheaper region free games from Asia etc. The dollar prices are what you’d expect if you lived in the States, or at least near to what they are. Normally games cost around 50-65$, which might sound expensive.
Here’s the fun part for a European citizen, more precisely a Finn, our games generally tend to cost 60-70€. Certainly our taxes give us the benefit of free health care, but it also means that our VAT is a bit over 20% – games are extremely expensive. To put it in numbers, a game that costs roughly 70€, which is most of the triple-A games, is according to the current rates a bit over a 106$!
At the moment 1€ is equal to 1½ USD, but at one point it has been 1€=1,7$. I would guess Live time in the States would be around 60$/year, similiar to our 60€, which is still over 90 bucks. Consider yourselves lucky, gaming in Finland is a very expensive hobby, and I hardly think that the little benefits Live gives would justify such a price. I gladly pay 60$ for a game, since in my terms it means I’m saving at least 20 €uros when shopping for video games. Many great games out as region free and that’s the way I buy them when possible.
I’m afraid that the majority of great games coming out this year won’t be found region free on the lists of Play-Asia, but one can hope. If I find a job after matriculation exams, at least buying those games will be less of a blow to my economy, but time will show. Hopefully the majority of them will be available as region free versions, that would be fair for us all.
that it has been confirmed I will be getting a press pass for this event at Wembley Stadium on the 15/16th March, I hope to bring more coverage pre the event
What purpose is this comment supposed to have? Sure seems like a cool event to be a part of, but as it happens to be, I’ll probably never get to be involved in an event like that. Oh well, life of an average gamer doesn’t have many high points, apart from the good games of course