Online Distribution and How it Does Not Benefit Australian Gamers

It’s no secret that over the last year I have become a huge advocate of importing games. In fact, it’s to the point where I seriously consider importing all electronics I desire. It’s also no secret to Australian gamers (even technophiles in general) that our technology market is so horrendously over-priced, often to the point of paying more than double the amount that people from say the US, UK and Japan are spending. As it stands today the Australian Dollar is doing strongly against the US Dollar, yet this hasn’t hindered the cost of products within our own country in the slightest. Why is this?

It’s argued that Australians pay more for consumer-grade electronics due to the currency conversion, shipping costs and taxes, which a majority of the time would be true. However keeping this in mind, the fact that I can import a legitimate copy of Halo: Reach for $60 from an online UK store with free shipping, as opposed to buying at a local video game retailer for the full retail price of $118, is pretty damn upsetting. It shouldn’t be cheaper for me – often by 75% – to import from half-way across the world than it is to walk to a shopping centre and buy within my own economy. Further, the prices of these titles are usually reduced by a considerable amount within just a few months of release in the UK compared to Australia. And it only gets worse when titles are distributed digitally.

How, you ask? Retail stores will sooner or later (for hit titles, usually later) begin slightly dropping prices to remain competitive, especially during the middle of the year and the holiday season. Usually you may also find certain trade deals or bundles to help keep savings, some stores even featuring a 7-day return policy. Unfortunately in the realm of online distribution it is very unlikely to find any of these – mainstream internet markets such as Steam, Xbox Live, Playstation Store and Nintendo’s Shop Channel make very clear statements in their user agreements that purchases are non-refundable. So tough luck if you buy a game you end up not liking.

There is also the adoption of the cumbersome points system, which Nintendo and Microsoft are the main offenders. Instead of using real money you are forced to buy their money (Xbox Live does indeed require real money to purchase titles from their Games On Demand service, however). This system represents one of the most unbalanced portions of online distribution since 800 Microsoft Points and 1000 Wii Points mean completely different things in every territory. For example 1000 Wii Points is equivalent to:
- $10US
- €10
- ¥1000
- £7
- $15AU

If you run a quick currency conversion of those just listed you will see that most remain only close to the correct number, with Australia paying the biggest difference at almost $5. With these online stores providing immediate service of content, supposedly cutting any “middle man” costs out of the equation, we are still being forced to pay a premium for content that is exact with the rest of the gaming market. If the gaming market steers completely into the direction of online distribution, then that leaves few outlets with the ability to sell content and less opportunity for competitive pricing. With games already being sold exclusively on Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Store and WiiWare there is very little opportunity for people to pick up games at reduced prices, unless the game sales are slowing thus rendering a price cut. It often gets much worse with full retail games. Take a good look of this graph comparing Australian-American pricing on Xbox Live’s ‘Games on Demand’.

The titles featured in this graph are some of the higher-rated games spanning the life of the Xbox 360 since its launch, the oldest being Oblivion and the most recent being Assassin’s Creed II. There is a considerable price difference for all games with some being relatively reasonable (Batman: Arkham Asylum at $10) and some being absolutely
bat-s#$% insane (Fallout 3 at a whopping $70). Microsoft has every right (unfortunately) to charge whatever they want for this service, since they own it and the console it’s on. And this graph shows they’re well aware of it.

The Playstation Network on the other hand is a mixed basket. Online play is free and the Store charges real money and is often competitive with XBL in prices. However it also shares the blame with over-charging most downloadable games and content ($7 for PSP minis that are only 100MB big and often less than an hour long? Really?). Though as an up-swing to this, Sony offers a subscription to their premium service Playstation Plus for $70 which gets you monthly discounts and “free” content/games for as long as you’re a member. But then another con to the PSS is that it takes far too long for some content to become available – for example, Australia is still waiting for the ability to rent/buy movies and TV series. XBL trumps this with their integrated Zune service for movies, but we still lack Netflix (though this may not be the fault of Microsoft) for television shows.

The only mainstream services that I’ve found to have a much greater balance for consumers is Valve’s PC-centric Steam and Apple’s App Store. Steam uses US currency giving any international consumers the ability to pay by straight conversion rates rather than region rates. However since there is a balance for international customers, it seems that newer full retail games are relatively over-priced in general. As for the App Store, since the service focuses so heavily on mobile gaming therefore rendering smaller gaming experiences, the prices are usually matched accordingly. Where the US pays 99c for the more popular “standard” price point, Australians only pay $1.19. Technically speaking it isn’t that much greater than the other services mentioned, seeing as though in this case the 20c difference = a 20% mark-up, given that the prices are still low makes it much more acceptable.

I implore everyone to take the time to shop around online and offline before making a purchase of a retail game. For PC gamers there are more services out there to compare prices with, but since I am not a PC gamer I can not really make an argument of that market. Also please spread the word to others who may not be informed about this predicament. Remember that these companies work for you – you are paying them with your hard earned cash.

Super Meat Boy

Video games have come a long way since the old-school sidescrolling platform games of yore. Most games these days are developed to be more streamlined, more forgiving towards players. We live comfortably selecting our difficulty setting and knowing that we’ll reach the end of the game. If that’s the kind of game you’re looking for, then it’s doubtful you will find it here. Super Meat Boy is one of the most unforgiving and infuriating games I have played in recent memory. And I love it.

Don’t get me wrong, the game is most certainly playable. In fact the controls are some of the most balanced I’ve found in a platforming game since the original Super Mario Bros. Super Meat Boy harkens back to a time where gaming was reliant on skill, rather than cinematic experiences. It’s a game that tests your reactions to see if you’re worthy of that 65G achievement bounty.

You play as Meat Boy, an anthropomorphic wad of meat whose girlfriend, Bandage Girl, has been kidnapped by the evil Dr Fetus – a newborn inside a monocle-wearing robot suit. Your objective is simple: save Bandage Girl. The execution however, is not. Super Meat Boy features some of the most robust and well thought-out level design I’ve seen in an old-school platformer. The route to the goal is often obvious at first glance, however it will usually be followed by an “Oh crap…”.

 Old-school game, new-school look.

The first thing people will probably notice of the game is its cartoony charm. Despite the humour being gratuitous and often crass (which suits me juuust fine), it shows personality in its style. The vibrance in colour help overlook the grim outcomes of some of Meat Boys failures – of which there will be many. As Meat Boy runs and clings to walls he leaves a trail of blood on the areas he’s touched, and will remain on the environment until the stage has been cleared. Once a stage is cleared a replay of all your Meat Boys’ efforts will be played immediately afterwards – it’s funny seeing 25+ chunks of meat running and failing simultaneously on one screen. Throughout the game you may encounter warp zones which are usually inspired from classic 8 and 16-bit games and feature a graphical style akin to it. Also I found myself literally laughing out loud at the ridiculousness of the cutscenes. Though there’s no voice acting, it definitely delivers more charm and personality than some recent efforts to include them. *coughMetroidcough*

The controls are minimalist; you run and you jump. In addition to this is a plethora of unlockable characters with unique special abilities such as The Kid from I Wanna Be The Guy’s double-jump and Commander Video from the Bit.Trip series’ hover. Other honourable guest mentions go to Ninja from N+, Tim from Braid, Pink Knight from Castle Crashers, Jill from Mighty Jill Off and Alien from Alien Hominid to name some. Each character has their own distinct feel and you’ll often find that some are better to use for certain stages than others. The characters are unlocked by either finding specific amounts of bandages or completing warp zones, both of which are hidden inside certain stages.

The level design in Super Meat Boy is nothing short of intelligent. There is a supposed total of about 350 unique stages, which I believe to be true since I have only completed around 210 and can still see so many more to even start yet. There are five chapters dedicated to the main game and three unlockable chapters, one being a sort of epilogue featuring Bandage Girl. Alongside the five main chapters are its Dark World parallels; a kind of alternate collection of stages that have been dynamically altered compared to their Light World counterparts. The game does well at easing you into a rhythm during the first couple of chapters with various gameplay techniques and challenges. As the the game goes on you’ll notice a considerable amount of change in terms of difficulty by the final chapter, and it only gets harder from there. For the most part you won’t encounter any enemies until the later chapters; you’ll become much more familiar with environmental perils such as spikes, spinning razors and piles of salt. However once you find your mojo with the environments you’ll find yourself breezing through them. The stages were designed to be beaten in under a minute; most have a target time between 15-30 seconds, though attaining those times will depend on your level of skill.

Poor guy just wanted to smooch.

One of my most notable pleasantries with the game was the soundtrack. Team Meat has put together a great collection of tunes that are both catchy and not annoying (which is important when you end up having to replay some levels a hundred times… literally). Like the rest of Super Meat Boy the music is a hearty nod towards 8-bit and 16-bit music, usually using the same types of sound bites. Each chapter has its own theme that plays throughout every stage, and the Dark World ones are almost remixes of their parallels. The tunes featured in warp zones inspired by classic games are particularly enjoyable to listen to. Also, the sound effects are crisp and add that extra layer of immersion; at first I found Meat Boy’s bloody pitter-pattering footsteps and wall-clinging squish disturbing but soon warmed up to it.

For a downloadable title there is an incredible amount of content here. The game is currently running at 800 Microsoft Points until the 1st of November, from then on being a fixed price of 1200. The game has replayability coming out with the wazoo with competitive leaderboards for people to try their skill at speed runs in over 350 stages. Then there’s collecting bandages and finding warp zones to attain the hidden characters. The game is well worth its 1200 MS point price, and at 800 it’s an absolute steal. Do yourself a favour and at least try out the demo; this is the best XBox Live Arcade game to come out since Castle Crashers.

Score: 10 out of 10

 

(Super Meat Boy will also be released on WiiWare and PC in the near future, though prices are yet to be announced.)