Analyst: Australian videogame prices to drop 40% by 2012

According to a report at GameSpot, Rob Blythe, analyst with Macquarie Bank, predicts the inflated cost of videogames in Australia won’t last long.

The report from Macquarie Bank’s Equities Research, which analyses Australia’s predisposition to spending online, asserts that the strong dollar and Australia’s failure to fall into line with international videogame prices are primary drivers behind consumers’ move away from brick and mortar retail.

Blythe, co-author of the report, says: "In the second half of this year or at the very least by early 2012, we will start to see game prices in Australia coming down. From my estimates, I predict they’ll drop from around A$120 to somewhere around A$70."

"Economists are predicting that our currency will normalize and eventually come back down below parity with the US dollar, and when that happens, the attractiveness of buying video games overseas will be eliminated for Aussie consumers."

It will always be more costly to ship boxed product to a country with Australia’s huge land mass and small population, and our distance from other ‘European’ territories will continue to add logistical premiums onto our games, but the cost may soon end up negligible once the dollar rights itself.

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