As most Canadians already know (I know there are many others on here), the Canadian dollar has been rapidly rising in value to I think around 94 cents and still rising. So I checked out the prices on games and hardware from both Canada and the US.
In Canada a Wii costs $289.99 and (new) games cost $59.99. In the United States the console costs $249.99 while games cost $49.99. So essentially, relative to US dollars, a Wii should cost around $265 and games $53. So why have prices remained the same? Will they ever bring them back down? I get the feeling we're being taken advantage of here (this goes beyond just videogames as well).
They treat Canadians horribly.. the PS3 is $700.
God, I hate it.
THey rip us off so bad. ;~;
It is because Canadians are rich
We have to pay for health care (though it is better :p)
Lol yes we do. It is things like this that make me proud for living in America.
Lol yes we do. It is things like this that make me proud for living in America.
amen. 
Ack, one word posts D:
It is because Canadians are rich
No
Ack, one word posts D:
with a smiley! 
and how are canadians rich?
you are assuming that these prices should change due to the fact that the canadian dollar has a greater value compared to the u.s. dollar then before, but in reality the american dollar's value has fallen w/ respect to most currencies. nintendo of america may run the canadian marketing, but i highly doubt that they set the prices... i would imagine that the prices would be based on the prices that nintendo sets in japan as they are a still a primarily japanese company and still have their hq in that nation. i would actually argue that nintendo is losing profits in america as 250 or 50 american dollars do not hold the value they did even 6 months ago.
some people would blame this deflation of american currency value on the artificial exchange rate fiddling the chinese have done w/ respect to the american dollar, but they really should turn their attention mainly to our foreign policy decisions and the dreadful fiat system that we have had in place since the federal reserve act... it is not exactly a coincidence that our economy collapsed less than 20 yrs after it passed. and the adjustments made since have only prolonged the existence of this system. our constitution only gives congress the power to print money... yet we have outsourced it to the 13 private banks we call the federal reserve, which charges our nation interest for the money they print and only partially back w/ real physical resources. i realize that many developed countries have fiat systems, but very few of them are as tyrannical and autocratic as the american fiat system. we now, as a nation, owe more money in interest to the federal reserve banks than our estimated national worth (ie the total sum of our property, resources, labor force). this is why you'll hear many libertarians and anarchists refer to our dollars as 'debt notes'. it is such a bad system, economically speaking, that almost all of our inflation is caused by it rather than the availability and demand of certain resources. sorry, but it is very rare that i see a chance to rant about our absurd currency system.
yea i just learned about this stuff, in order to put value back in the dollar, they have to decrease the money supply in circulation, thus since theres less of it it has more value. like a brand new NES. would be hundreds or thousands, because theres so few of them, but if Nintendo (so some bizarre reason) put the NES bak in production the cost would go down.
Ya I learned about that this year in History. Germany once though that if they made more Deutchmarks then people would have more money to buy things. It went terribly wrong.
Poor Canucks.
there are many things that decide what price consoles are sold at, and most likely, the dominant reason isn't the value of the country's currency compared to other countries, it' the country's average income per family. for instance, things cost more in California generally, and New York too (especially living expenses), but people generally make more money in those areas too. if i remember correctly, the federal minimum wage in the US is about $5-6. some state set it higher, but in New York city, "minimum wage" jobs start paying at $8-9. so Canada may be paying more, but how much more are they earning?
That is very true. You made an excellent point but wouldnt that mean it would be easier to afford a Wii in California or New York?
Gluegun: I'm not against my neighbors to the North, but from what you're saying, it's just another reason why the US is so awesome.
wouldnt that mean it would be easier to afford a Wii in California or New York?
Not really, because like Nomad also said, cost of living is also much higher in those areas. So even though they're making more (and the Wii price isn't increased in those areas), they're also paying much more on rent and bills and food even.
wouldnt that mean it would be easier to afford a Wii in California or New York?
Not really, because like Nomad also said, cost of living is also much higher in those areas. So even though they're making more (and the Wii price isn't increased in those areas), they're also paying much more on rent and bills and food even.
Correct, certain goods (such as the Wii) are not affected by local differences within a country, while others, such as gasoline, milk, bread, rent, and so on, can be adjusted according to the average income of an area. That is a big reason I've moved (back) from Memphis to North East Mississippi. Rent is literally half, houses are so much less, and there is no traffic.
Ok so I now have the perfect plan. You live in a state outside of New York but you somehow get a job in New York. That way your cost of living is low and you are bringing in tons of money. Only problem is getting to your job.
Ok so I now have the perfect plan. You live in a state outside of New York but you somehow get a job in New York. That way your cost of living is low and you are bringing in tons of money. Only problem is getting to your job.
many ppl do this already. most ppl work in New York and then live in Penn. where things are so much cheaper.