The Worst Countries In The World To Be A Gamer

Gamesradar- The physical act of gaming should not be difficult. The word 'game', by its very nature, implies fun, recreation, and a general lack of stress. In reality though, gaming is not always the carefree frolic through a sunlit Disney meadow that it rightly should be. While many of us enjoy an uninterrupted fine old time, in some parts of the world gaming is rather a struggle.

[Blastoise]

Poor Australia :( and I thought we were getting screwed over here in the UK

[Nimblest-Assassin]

I know man... not only does violence get abolished from some games, and others are outright banned... they're games are expensive as f***

I've been partaking in the steam summer sale, got skyrimm for 29 bucks, borderlands, fallout 3 GOTY edition and GTA episodes from liberty city for 5 bucks each

The aussies had to pay the normal price we pay here in canada, and the games were on sale too

0_0

Feel really bad for the aussies

[mafiahajeri]

Well here in the middle east we have terrible net although we have some up sides like getting games early and there not that expensive Also I'm pretty sure Aussies lag with pretty much everyone not in or around. Australia so yes Aussies are having it the worst!

[TiberusX87]

The RRP for "Next Generation" games when they first started being sold in Australia was $119.00 AUD. That's not to mention the 360 was $650.00 and the PS3 60GB was $999.00 - Also take into account that our currency value is almost the same as the US too.

It's getting a lot more competitive now that people are moving to online shopping, so the standard price in stores is around $79.00 now.

However, a lot of us still just buy online. Places like http://ozgameshop.com sell PAL Region games for no more than $60.00 and have great specials, rewards etc. - The majority of my games I pick up for around $30-$40 which I think is similar to the US?

[AusRogo]

We are getting an r18+ for our games though so that will allow the more violent games in like Mortal Kombat. But yeah, it blows over here. 80-90 for a new release? Hell, sometimes even 110$ depending on where u shop.

[Rhythmattic]

judas-savior

+1 for ozgameshop.

Have saved a fortune buying from ozgameshop.
I bought from them when they started out as ebay store, and now have about 60 tiltles sitting on my shelf thanks to them.

[THESONYPS3]

Aussies do earn more alot more money than Americans for wages, don't know aobut Canada though.

ALso aussies can just use the OzGameShop for brand new games that are $50. Also most games are about $79- $89 new. Finally New Zealand games cost more..

[Kevin ButIer]

Nice reading, thanks for the post.

[Red_Orange_Juice]

OK ok ok ok but stop talking about 'expensive' compare average and minimum wages from US, Canada and Australia - not so pricy anymore

People in Australia simply make more , wanna ask about games being pricy? Ask gamers from South America or Eastern Europe

[SolidStoner]

LATVIA, Lithuania and Estonia are the worst.

we have the same support from Sony like in African Jungle! Seriously! Google it!

I cant register my country, I cant buy anything legally, and i cant use any programs (netflix etc.)except games.

At least Microsoft is supporting us here, pity I dont like Microsoft and buy only Sony's products!

[andibandit]

@mafiahajeri

terrible net in the middle east??

explains why it's always some middle eastern named guy who kills me in MW3.

[nukeitall]

You can't really say expensive and not compare buying power! It's like saying people in third world countries things games in the US are expensive! No sheit!

[GrumpyVeteran]

Yes Aussies earn more, but everything essential costs more anyway, thus we're pretty much even.

[thats_just_prime]

I'd say japan cause they are so racit they wont play american games at all. Hell they hang signs over ameican games that read "western dogcrap"

[Pushagree]

Glad I live in a civilized country where free speech is held dear. Banning media is about on the same level as barbarism to me.

[nukeitall]

I agree!

It's amazing what people have to put up with in other countries. Us Americans are spoiled!

[b777conehead]

if obama stays in 4 more years you can kiss our freedoms buy buy

[Matpan]

"It's amazing what people have to put up with in other countries"... In many cases with you guys :P hahahaha

Now, jokes asides, try gaming in south america... Argentina at least: Expensive as hell! To begin with, each buck costs like 5 pesos and even then, resalers want to make a nice profit over the full retail price... So do the maths...

[1Victor]

could be worse in Dominican Republic there's a 2 to 6 hours of electric power at random thru the day.

[JoNaZ_RG]

True my friend, I feel your pain. But in Dominican Republic is not just the electric power, but the game prices and consoles are outrageous. It is better just importing it from the USA.

[badz149]

I remember spending AU$978 for the 60GB PS3 + 1 extra sixaxis + R:FoM + Motorstorm back then! ahh...what a BARGAIN that was...if you live in there LOL! that was right before 40GB and I really didn't want the stripped down 40GB!

retail games are crazy expensive too! I got Uncharted DF for AU$78 during a sale at JB HiFi and then I learnt that eBay is much better to save money and that's when I started buying stuff from eBay!

[YoungKingDoran]

haha yeah fight the power
headlines:
"omg retail is dying... WHY!?"
because we aint chumps anymore, chumps!

[JoNaZ_RG]

and I wanted to move to AUS so bad, but if prices of foreign electronic are that high, never mind.

[ELite_Ghost]

theres so much to do in australia tho, and their women 0_0

[tee_bag242]

Being from Australia I can confirm this. Prices are stupid. Most of my game I now import from the UK.

[Vortex3D]

Does Australia gov monitor their local gamers playing illegal or banned games on the network?

[awesomeperson]

@Vortex

As far as I know, they don't.

[tee_bag242]

I don't believe they do. I imported the new Solder of Fortune 2 when i came out, L4D2, GTA4...many others.
I'm sure they could confiscate it if they wanted to get tough though.

[ChrisW]

I wonder how bad it is to be a gamer in North Korea???

[badz149]

you don't game in North Korea! never! they play with real guns ONLY!

[gatormatt80]

ChrisW You can't miss what you don't know exists. Their leader doesn't allow any " propaganda" from outside his country.

[ChrisW]

gatormatt80,

So true. NBC's Richard Engel asked a computer science major in N. Korea about social networking, Facebook and Twitter, and the student had absolutely NO CLUE what he was talking about.

[M83_]

Australian's are hot.

There. I've made my contribution to the discussion.

[INehalemEXI]

If I was in a country where a game costed almost as much as the system ....I would move.

[r1sh12]

Theres a few issues with this. ITs all been converted to dollars which is fine to determine the value but currency makes a difference.
Its the same with clothes, e.g a hollister hoody in the U.S is around $40-$60, in the UK its £40-£60 depending on the hoody etc.
The montary value is higher in the UK, but that is due to currency.
Also new console games cost $60 in the US, and a new game in the UK costs roughly £35-$40, so taking into account of currency they are actually fairly similar.
This article is not accurate IMO

[6yo]

and I thought we were getting screwed over here in the UK
============================= ========================
No, but other countries are screwed by english ppl.
Nobody wants to play with them bcuz they thing like jewish ppl WE ARE THE CHOSEN ONES. ..I..

[tachy0n]

people should rise against this BS!!!!

[WeskerChildReborned]

Time to protest! lol

[ApolloTheBoss]

Yes, start an online protest! Don't worry bout it, Aussies! The US got your back!

[JoNaZ_RG]

Yea right! lol

[ALLWRONG]

I don't think most Americans really care about prices of gaming in Australia or anywhere else.

[ApolloTheBoss]

Then I'm not referring to those Americans.

[ChronoJoe]

Why didn't they include Japan? I'm pretty sure retail games are even cheaper than in the US there.

[The Great Melon]

Nope they can be about $100 if you check the exchange of yen to dollars on some of the bigger releases.

[ChronoJoe]

Hm, why did Atlus say they prevented the JP import of Persona 4 Arena because it enabled US / EU consumers to get the games for far less, then?
Puzzling.

[TheLeapist]

@ChronoJoe
It's because you have it backwards. They put the restriction to stop Japanese gamers from doing the importing from EU/US

[badz149]

1st, game prices are not standard and the higher the profile of the game, the higher the price will be! most almost all new games are more expensive than in the US too!

2nd, if you want to complaint about games from Japan not reaching the west, it's worst there where many more western games don't even reach there due to low demand and not many Japanese publishers want to take a hit from venturing the market with western games! XBOX and 360's sales in the definitive proof of this!

[ChronoJoe]

Oh I see.

Makes more sense actually. Sorta. I mean JP consumers would have had to wait then import from US / EU so it doesn't seem very viable either way for them to import for cheaper prices unless they enjoy getting their games months late...

Either way that makes more sense with the yen being like it is right now. My bad. :)

[h311rais3r]

Aussies have it rough. The heat, overpriced games and related content, delayed releases, banned games and poisonous critters in da potties. I feel sorry for the CoD fans over there....but I'm sure they're smart enough to not buy the same thing each year /troll

[DeadIIIRed]

I don't pity the Aussies since the male-to-female ratio there is very beneficial for the male population haha.

[Theangrybogan]

It's the middle of winter in in Australia, IM FREEZING MY ARSE OFF!

That being said the the range of games isn't that dramatically effected, it just means that many games that are 18+ or 17+ in other countries are 15+ here, sometimes games get edited, sometimes they get banned, so gamers just buy online.

The prices are crap, but the dollar is ok, many webstores offer free delivery, so a lot of gamers just buy online.

It sucks to be a games RETAILER in Australia, but it's still awesome to be an Aussie gamer!

[peowpeow]

This!

Only other thing I can say we have is terrible lag unless playing with Aus/NZ players

[Pozzle]

"Aussies have it rough. The heat,"

The heat's one of the best things about living here in Australia. I just wish it was hot all year 'round. :D

[Dingodile]

What about Iran ?
We pay 120-130$ for a new game & even 30-40$ for a 2006,2007 second hand game.
These days the price of a 160gb PS3 is about 700$ & a 250gb X360 is about 800$.

[TheObserver]

Wow...

Probably because of all the trade sanctions the US and its allies have against Iran. You have to buy them from from middle men who are not legally bound by US and its allies' laws. That is my guess. Is that correct?

[Eamon]

Yeah pretty much. I wonder when governments will understand that these type of sanctions in non-War times hit the people the hardest rather than the regime.

[Soldierone]

They won't ever "learn" lmao. The governments are about making money just like business' its stupid. They come with any excuse in the world to raise prices or change things.

"Oh we just argued with the middle east, gas prices will go up now" and they literally go up the same day it happens, not when the effect takes place.

"Oh we just cleared a deal, prices will go down" and they gradually go down for the next month, before going right back up......

[ShaunCameron]

Canada's close proximity to America is probably the only reason why game prices are bearable. And some people do have the luxury to go cross-border shopping. But **** these trade tariffs and sales taxes (both federal and provincial).

[justpassinggas]

Damn the HST! Can't even buy stuff online from other provinces without getting dinged an extra 8% (Ontario).

[ShaunCameron]

I live in Quebec. Add language laws on top of that.

[CanadianTurtle]

Dubai??

Everything there costs a fortune. I remember when Spiderman 2 the movie came out on DVD, here in Canada it was 24 bucks new. In Dubai it was 70 bucks new, I am not kidding you.

Now imagine games prices...

[Rashonality]

Actually it's not that bad
i'm from KSA which is next to UAE where Dubai is located and the prices here and there in Dubai are normal, we get games for 230 Dirhams(UAE curency) or Riyals (KSA currency) which equals about 60$ U.S with no tax (at least here in KSA)

so yeah, we got it pretty good, the only problem we face is with the collectors editions and banned games which we usually pay extra for (and i mean extra as in over the normal price for it)

i believe you went to some famous store in a big mall or something, some store make you pay extra for their name so yeah...we got it some what good

[mafiahajeri]

Exchange rate my friend that's your problem I'm from Kuwait and I'm currently in Texas and everything's much cheaper here than back home but when you come to Kuwait you will be like " wow everything's expensive" simply put its expensive for foreigners. Thank god for our oil and our strong currency :D BUT the Us is starting to get expensive but that's mainly because of the oil prices going up which in turn makes the dollar value go down. Inflation kicks in because the prices of oil are inflated and the world goes round because of oil so in the end prices go up. Black gold my friend black gold ;)

[doctorstrange]

North Korea

[Unexpecta]

I was just going to mention Antarctica as the worst place to be a gamer in the world, even though it isn't a country.

But now that you mention it, I don't know which one I would choose between the two, Antarctica or North Korea?

[SovereignSnaKe]

-This is why I'm bringing by North American 360 with me to Germany! :D

[unkn0wn]

North American huh? Try picking up a console in Mexico.

Just don't be surprised when your WiiStation 360 can only play Super Nintendo games.

True story.

[The_Devil_Hunter]

Oh man tell me about it. Family is from Mexico City and wow everything down there is piracy and games are like 100 bucks brand new there too. I remember my cousins husbnd in Mexico had a game console that played PS3 games along with Wii games but they had to be pirated only though. Unbelievable.

[violents]

austrailia definetly has it rough, however in the first graph based on costs might not hold real true. As far as I know the minimum wage in austrailia is almost twice what it is here, given that they probably have a much higher cost of living. I'm not sure how realistic it is but if you compare our mimimums and translate that to the graph it would cut the aust. numbers almost in half putting them much closer to our numbers.

I'm not sure if that would really work out but it's interesting.

[TiberusX87]

I'll give you a rough idea as someone from Western Australia. Our minimum wage is around 35K and the average cost of rent in Perth is $400.00 - $450.00 per week. We have a lot of people on a boom from the mining that earn ridiculous money (80K+), but it's hardly the majority. Most of us sit within that $40k - $60K mark.

[taquito]

every country in africa

every country in africa is the worst country to be anything

-i'm from africa, and its true

[DragonKnight]

Greenland is worse.

[Brownghost]

didnt they ban consoles in China

[hongthay]

They are not officially licensed for sale. You have to import from outside the country, usually Hong Kong. The Chinese make great use of Taobao (A more unique version of Ebay.). Also, there are little shops here and there that import the games and sell them at a slightly inflated price.

[DragonKnight]

Australia still has it the worst, not only because of price, but because of their ridiculous review board and government banning the sale of some M rated games. Mortal Kombat anyone?

[BitbyDeath]

R18 games are to be introduced to Australia next year.
Better late than never...

[Keeperofzion]

Bump to the guy talking China. They even have laws for time played on PC games. Talk about a funny case in court...

Gamer "Your Honor you see It was my Little brother."
Judge "Your family has more than two children?"
Gamer "I mean it was my dog"
Judge "Your letting dinner play on the computer?"
Gamer "Um it was my dad yea he was playing WOW all night."
Judge "Your dad plays Alliance? Isn't that Code for American?"
Gamer "Yea um it was me I played for 5 hours last night"
Judge "Off with your hands"
(A joke, please know I am 1/2 Asian so its ok for me to make jokes about my own people)
China sucks! You cannot play for extended hours online. Have more than one child or actually afford the Ipad you manufacture.

[chobit_A5HL3Y]

being "asian" doesn't necessarily make you chinese, and being half asian doesn't make it ok lolz simply being asian and being chinese are two different things. i really hope you know the difference lolz

[TheFinalEpisode]

But it's still funny xD

[DFresh]

Makes me glad I'm American.
:D

[AmkOwns]

Lol..

[xchamp]

Guernsey...

[TXIDarkAvenger]

I don't really count Canada as getting screwed over tbh.

[chobit_A5HL3Y]

gaming is pretty good here ^^

[clevernickname]

Yeah, I was wondering where this article got their valuation from, because we're apparently paying a 30% premium over American prices and our new game prices are, to the best of my knowledge, the same. Unless they are counting game hardware or the cost of used/older games.

[byrnezy]

Yep it sucks being an Aussie gamer :(

[peowpeow]

You buying retail? It'd suck for me too :P

[SyluxPT]

Portugal..

[Ghost_Sparta]

I don't know why you said that... We don't have any kind of censorship, we normally have the major games at lauch and almost every kind of collectors editions, we have decent net services... the only inconviniente is that we are living a bad economic depression: it's really more difficult to buy a game whith a price of 69 Euros or a console of 299 Euros; and the unemployed people are growing, means less money spent in this kind of stuff, people have prioritys... But considering Portugal to be the worst place to be a gamer I think is exagerating!

[urwifeminder]

Im a happy australian gamer .

[hongthay]

I am a gamer in Thailand, and the online kills me. The games are imported, at a slightly inflated price, but that's bearable. Never being able to connect unless it is a Sony server is the worst. Good luck attempting a lag-free Xbox Live connection.

Also, some games are blocked on Steam as well, such as the recent sale of Batman Arkham City, which I really wanted to pick up.

[timzone]

As a New Zealander I import most of my games now. Unless it's a major title that I may buy DLC for. The high cost is no only with games. As an example the Nexus 7 16gb tablet translates to almost US$350!!!

[level 360]

Not a happy Australian consumer.

Yes almost everything is ridiculously priced and not only gaming, that is why I buy most of my stuff from overseas.. even the things I wear for goodness sake.

Too expensive and a LOT of Uncaring, Opportunistic people/companies/corporations.

[IHateYouFanboys]

eh, im Australian and while we do pay more for video games, we also get paid a LOT more than those in the USA on average. our minimum wage is something like 15 dollars an hour - whats the USAs, $6?

you want to see ripoffs, you should see our car prices. whats an M3 BMW cost new in the USA, something like $50k? $160k+ here.

i havent paid more than $79 for a regular copy of a game for years from a retail shop (huge collectors editions like Gears 3 epic edition etc excluded obviously). as long as you dont shop at EB youre fine. i got the amazing spider man for 360 from Harvey Norman Online for $55 a few days after launch. thats <50% of the RRP.

[glennco]

average price for a game in Oz right now is about $80. this article is out of date. with R18 coming next year things will only improve further.

"Last year IGN Australia compared the international prices of six different games..." this article is bullshit. do some damn research for yourself, then it might just be up to date

[CaptainSheep]

I'm a Pakistani gamer. :P
The prices are the same as US games, sometimes even cheaper. We get the games 3-4 days late, though. But I payed 45$ for UC3 and UC3 had just released 3-4 days before.
But if you're searching for Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, PSP, DS games, you'll have to search A LOT to get them original. PS3 games are always original here, same for Vita. All the other consoles' games are hacked.
And if the games are hacked, they cost about 80Rs and that is less than ONE dollar for US. (of course, the game is hacked and no online but still)

[BlackPhoenix]

Correct.
In addition to all of this (especially the difficulty of finding genuine games)
Gaming is usually looked at as something childish. Older than 15-16 amd you would be 'too old.(specifically in the part of the country I live in. K.Pukhtunkhwa). This also means that spending spending the required amount on hardware and then the games themselves is considered ridiculous and stupid.

Where do you live Captain sheep? I live in Peshawar to be precise.

[Gazondaily]

What's odd is I have cousins in Pakistan who play pirate games on the 360 online somehow haven't got their consoles banned.

[BlackPhoenix]

The only online multiplayer I've been able to play is in the local gamezone. They have genuine MW3s on PCs with some good internet connections.

[InTheZoneAC]

how sad is it there's still places out there in this world that have these old neanderthal communist rules and prices.

[Kluv]

Now THIS is the type of story I come to N4G for.

[Gambit_the_White]

If you're not a millionaire, it's hard to be a gamer here in Iceland. A new PS3 game costs around $120 - $140. Last time I was at the store, I saw a USED Lair (one of the first titles that was released on the PS3, for those who didn't know) and the price was $40... for a used, 6 year old game...

[tiffac008]

Yeah the Philippine PS3 launch of 2010... good times... I was already playing FFXIII at that time and they were just demoing it. -_-

Did not freaking change the pricing of the console or the games. D:

[PandaJenkins]

I hope this shows why I get annoyed at many people who complain about the prices of their games being too high when really it is far cheaper than it is those such as myself who live in New Zealand. There is a reason I get a lot of my games shipped in from overseas now.... I also rely a lot of steams US prices which are so much better, but in many cases the big publishers will purposely put up the price of big games cause they can get away with it here.... it's bs.

[MWH]

what can be done about it?

[plmkoh]

Nope Australia is actually one of best countries to be a Gamer by occupation, why?

The government pays you up to $400 per fortnight to be unemployed. You don't even have get off your ass to survive.

[tigertron]

So us Brits have to pay nearly twice as much than Americans? no surprises there, although I do feel sorry for Australia. Daaaaaamn.

America has it easy.

[bub16]

if i lived in australia. i would be outside all day in nice weather, on he beach, only reason i play games a lot is cos its always bloody raining in the UK

[TVippy]

What a silly article. Take a country like Russia where people earn $600 a month on average, then take an average game price of $85. Now who's getting screwed? In other 3rd world countries it's even worse.
Now stop whining because you can only buy 10 games instead of 20 per month. 1st world countries with their 1st world "problems"...

[TopDudeMan]

I buy most of my games from amazon, so I don't pay anywhere near the amount listed there for uk. But they're still more expensive than the us prices.

[Tdmd]

Surpised to see that Brasil almost didn't got mentioned. A game here in the stores costs something around $100! We also don't have game advertisements or support. For those with knowledge, the only way to game here is trough the black marked.

[AsimLeonheart]

Very fun article, enjoyed reading it a lot.

[JAM_brz]

Australia?????
Here in Brazil the prices are ridiculous! Here, you have a minimum salary of 317 USD. And the games cost 100 USD.

So, stop complain. Here we are stolen by our shit politicians. If we don´t import ours games, we can´t almost even play. And you? You keep complaining that "I can´t buy 20 games in a month because here I pay 75 USD in a game and only have a 2000 USD of salary per month".

I bet the salary in Australia is much better than here.

[Baka-akaB]

In some of the carribean island we have it easily worst than australia , be it with net infrastructure or the price of games .

We pay an average of 115 dollars per game (and it was 130 at the start of the gen) , and a ps3 (at least a 320gb with 2 pads) now cost 565 dollars .

We have a rather average online connection , and since we are spoonfed EU games , in region locked games our default servers are across the atlantic . Of course in most game we can at least choose to play on neighbor us servers

At least some of us know its BS and decided to just import games from the US whenever they can .

As for retail ? Whoever you choose among local store or chains , it's mediocrity beyond belief . lousy stocks , bland selection of titles (dont expect a lollipop chainsaw to appaears at release , even in a slow period , they'd rather stockpile fifa and max payne) , worse selection of accessories (only now do you see the newer bluetooth headsets from Sony) .

As for services from both Sony and MS ? You are plainly BANNED from EU services such as vidzone and music unlimited , depending on their mood , despite being officially part of eu and being sold stuff at EU prices (+ local taxes) . They dont even want you to buy their movies .
Yet dont even try accessing US services , as it aint your region .

I'm sure there are places that got it worse . Just saying that the list is way off . It's eay to see the worst country to be a gamer , they arent even noticed by such lists .

[Baka-akaB]

Another last detail , dont go expecting new games to drop in prices around here .That's usually over 6 months after release when they shave off like 20$ of the price .

Used games ? Most recent games are still sold over half the retail price no matter what .

[JAM_brz]

The WORST its read people from 1st world countries complaining.

[TheFinalEpisode]

Which Island are you from? Because where I live it's pretty much the same as the US

[Baka-akaB]

Martinique . So basically the same as France PLUS major extra taxes

[konohashin]

To bad that the thing has a monumentally big error.

Alot of people from mainland europe including me buy games from the UK. Because they are cheaper. Now that 1 British pound = 1.27 euros its not that cheap anymore but they are still a bit cheaper in the UK.

But for example I got Resident Evil Revelations for 28 euros from UK in Europe it costs what 42?

Not to forget that the UK shops etc constantly have great deals while the European ones just occasionally have them.

The last 2 years I bought all my games from the UK

[Frodosmugins]

North cyprus is quite bad!
You cant buy any new electronic products without paying about 40/50% of the products value on top.
No game shops and only pirated PC games most of the time..
Second hand electronic products are not charged but good luck geting those items delivered safely to your town/home!

[Tzuno]

That's why piratery exist :)

[bahabeast]

i live in the bahamas which is rite next door to U.S and ps3 system cost $550 rite now in 2012 new releases cost $90 in 2012. when the ps3 was released it was $1200 easy in most stores and cds were $120

[masa2009]

I though that Brazil was expensive as well.

There are also some countries where videogame rentals are impossible due to legalities, which is a huge problem.

[ajax17]

We here in the United States get screwed if there is too much nudity and it seems like everyone else in the world are pussies when it comes to violence.

[Kos-Mos]

There are 739,165,030 people living in Europe and it`s listet as one country. Poor journalist.

[Psychotica]

Do the prices vary that much for digital downloads of PC games? I wouldn't have half the games I got now if I had to pay Australian prices, wow.

[kingPoS]

Reverse import anyone? ... Well, I'll be off onto the interwebs for reasonably priced games then.

[Emilio_Estevez]

Iran, nuff said