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Luke
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 Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 11:53 pm Post subject: Michael Ephraim Interview |
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| Michael Ephraim Interview by Luke |  | | PS3 Interview: We speak to the Managing Director of Sony Australia and New Zealand. | | [View Article] |
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Spanca
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| Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 12:02 am Post subject: |
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It's a shame that his discussion of game pricing mentioned all the differences between now and 8 years ago, except the impact of the dying US dollar which would surely have countered a lot of those upward pressures to some extent. Between 1999 and 2000 the Aussie dollar was between 50 and 60 US cents. Today it hit a record high of over 95 cents, and looks set to creep closer to parity. Of course we couldn't expect games to be half as much as they were back then, but to actually see a rise in prices is a tough pill to swallow.
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The Brett
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| Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 12:34 am Post subject: |
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Good interview - Ephraim seems like a decent guy. I'm somewhat concerned though by the lack of interest surrounding the PSP though (despite his attempt to hype it somewhat).
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genxevo
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| Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 12:57 am Post subject: |
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| Spanca wrote: | | It's a shame that his discussion of game pricing mentioned all the differences between now and 8 years ago, except the impact of the dying US dollar which would surely have countered a lot of those upward pressures to some extent. Between 1999 and 2000 the Aussie dollar was between 50 and 60 US cents. Today it hit a record high of over 95 cents, and looks set to creep closer to parity. Of course we couldn't expect games to be half as much as they were back then, but to actually see a rise in prices is a tough pill to swallow. |
well paying those translators to translate our PAL games to 6 - 8 different languages is an added cost for us too 
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mayo
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| Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 2:05 am Post subject: |
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| genxevo wrote: | | well paying those translators to translate our PAL games to 6 - 8 different languages is an added cost for us too |
Spanish and French are already in NA NTSC releases, so that leaves only German and Italian for PAL translators to add.
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ObsoletE
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| Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 4:10 am Post subject: |
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| Spanca wrote: | | It's a shame that his discussion of game pricing mentioned all the differences between now and 8 years ago, except the impact of the dying US dollar which would surely have countered a lot of those upward pressures to some extent. Between 1999 and 2000 the Aussie dollar was between 50 and 60 US cents. Today it hit a record high of over 95 cents, and looks set to creep closer to parity. Of course we couldn't expect games to be half as much as they were back then, but to actually see a rise in prices is a tough pill to swallow. |
i think the problem might be more because it's a dying US dollar, rather than an improving Au dollar, and we're effectively subsidising the cost of US games.
doesn't make it any easier to swallow (in fact, it's harder, to think that we pay what we do to offset the loss in profits elsewhere in the world), but i'd like to think that if it were more due to an improving Au dollar that the price would come down. pipe dream, perhaps.
i imagine the sagging US dollar is proving a boon to Canadians, especially those living close to the border. i know when my sister was recently at Niagara Falls, everything on both sides were dual-priced, with the Canadian price being ~50% more than the US price, but with the Canadian Dollar worth more than the USD (at the time, not really sure about now) everyone was buying things in their US price.
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Lord Haart
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| Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 5:29 am Post subject: |
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^Yes and know - we are still booming after all.
I think it's more about the fact that we Australians can and will pay those prices than it is about the justification for them.
He probably should have mentioned the non-exclusives as well. It's important for Sony that people realise that even though they don't have tons of exclusives, they share most of the 360's game library, making them at least an equal competitor.
I am indeed surprised they are selling so well, good on 'em. Though I wonder just how big a difference GTA4 made. Seems like Microsoft's bid for that market was a relative failure.
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Spanca
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| Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 10:33 am Post subject: |
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| genxevo wrote: | | Spanca wrote: | | It's a shame that his discussion of game pricing mentioned all the differences between now and 8 years ago, except the impact of the dying US dollar which would surely have countered a lot of those upward pressures to some extent. Between 1999 and 2000 the Aussie dollar was between 50 and 60 US cents. Today it hit a record high of over 95 cents, and looks set to creep closer to parity. Of course we couldn't expect games to be half as much as they were back then, but to actually see a rise in prices is a tough pill to swallow. |
well paying those translators to translate our PAL games to 6 - 8 different languages is an added cost for us too |
And we didn't have translation costs 8 years ago? Are new languages sprouting up in Europe to counter falling costs in other areas? That whole translation issue has always been a spoonful of BS fed to us. In the grand scheme of game development, employing 1 or 2 people to translate text (and possibly voices) for a game seems an incredibly minor addition to me. I mean the Japanese developers used to get away with doing it themselves with a Japanese to Engrish dictionary!
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Jeremy
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| Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 10:50 am Post subject: |
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Australian gaming prices are based on European prices, not the US prices. You'll find that they're actually quite close, and in some cases, we have them a little cheaper.
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Karai Pantsu
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| Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 10:58 am Post subject: |
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| mayo wrote: | | genxevo wrote: | | well paying those translators to translate our PAL games to 6 - 8 different languages is an added cost for us too |
Spanish and French are already in NA NTSC releases, so that leaves only German and Italian for PAL translators to add. |
Don't forget French, that's in the mix for PAL too.
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mayo
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| Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 1:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Karai Pantsu wrote: | | mayo wrote: | | genxevo wrote: | | well paying those translators to translate our PAL games to 6 - 8 different languages is an added cost for us too |
Spanish and French are already in NA NTSC releases, so that leaves only German and Italian for PAL translators to add. |
Don't forget French, that's in the mix for PAL too. |
...I think you may have misread what I said 
French is translated for NTSC software already (French-Canadians).
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Karai Pantsu
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| Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 2:21 pm Post subject: |
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I think you're correct... *facepalm*
Clearly I shouldn't try posting before at least two coffees.
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mayo
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| Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 2:36 pm Post subject: |
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I know that feeling >_>
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