DMShade:
I'm Canadian, and Retail Gaming Stores are really my only option. My roomies have ordered games online only to have them arrive horribly later than told (As in WEEKS horribly), nevermind the cost to get anything over the US/Canada border seems illogically high.

that's the us postal service for you, it takes 2-3 weeks if not more to get from the us to canada but canada to the us is a LOT faster

if you pay the extra to get it shipped via ups or something, i honestly hate that eb went to ups, they are a real pain in the ass to deal with and even worse if you have to work and can't be home during the day and calling them to send it to the depot for pick up is even worse. at least purolator will send it right to the depot and attempt delivery the next day and fedex will allow you to sign a box saying "leave it here"

ups will try to get your neighbours to pay for your package and sign for it, i'm half tempted to say "no this wasn't delivered to me" if they get my neighbour to sign and then say "we don't get along at all" when they say they gave it to my neighbour

DMShade:

My Younger Sister has regailed me with tales of going in knowing what she wanted and, if her clerk were a man, would try to heap every virtual puppy/kitty/horse game on her (She's TWENTY, by the way). I've also found it difficult to get what I want at any store I don't frequent, as clerks try to hawk the FPS/RTS of the moment on me at every opportunity. (I despise both genres, with rare exceptions).

The one I frequent is a Godsend as they have a diverse staff from which I can get more than one honest opinion with ease, long as they aren't swamped.

that's rather common for them to recommend girlie games for girls, cause well that's what a lot do play and want for themselves, girls who want fps' and rts games are few and far between. my annoyance is with clerks talking out their ass to give you an answer so they seem smart, sad part is i probly know more about games and computers and tech than they do and i will often correct them on the spot.

that whole just giving you and answer to satisfy you and try and get the sale is rather common, futureshop, rogers, bestbuy and ebgames all do that. granted some of their customers are REALLY stupid and don't know jack about computers or tech. but you should realize it won't work when someone comes in and asks you a highly technical question in the correct terms that bullshitting your way thru the answer is the wrong thing. i now ask to speak to a manager when they give me a bullshit line. rogers is horrible for giving you the wrong answer and blaming their issues on you.

now to answer the original poster's question

i don't find an issue ordering games or preordering, i only preorder if there's some good loot with a game i want or the game will be hard to get if i don't, such as the collector's version of gta 4. but for the most part i can usually go into my local ebgames and say "hey do you have any extra preorder stuff around?" when i get the game and the clerk will give me it.

tho now my friend is a manager at the local ebgames it kinda helps getting free crap cause i just ask him to set something aside for me. it also helps for preordering stuff cause i don't have to show my bill or id cause he knows me

tho with the extra money we canadians do spend it does have something to do with extra taxes and such but could also be a money gouge

In Italy we have a similar situation, except for the violence issue (sellers just don't care, neither do the majority of parents :|).
I usually buy my games online (I looove play.com), but I also found that browsing in the electonic section of the biggest malls often leads to good bargains (Killer7 for 16€, three months after release :D). It's a pity they have tremendously narrow selections of titles to choose from.
Electronic stores offer more games and you can also find limited editions, accessories, a variety of bundles etc., but prices are high. Also, their offer is still far from varied: I always had problems finding Gamecube games because the console wasn't as popular as the PS2.
Game stores are a rarity; they're more specialised in used games and imports, I guess (I never went into one of those personally).

Canadian here, and I strongly advise against using UPS for cross-border purchases. The last time I did so they billed me $20 in brokerage fees for a CD. A plain-old music CD, retail value $16. "Brown" can just crawl back up its poop chute so far as I'm concerned.

I tend to buy my games from retailers, sadly the big-box ones these days like Future Shop (now owned by Best Buy) and Walmart as we're running out of small game stores. The selection is pretty good and the prices end up the same as anywhere else.

-- Steve

While I have heard plenty of horror stories about Gamestop/EB that is pretty much a regional thing depending on their DM. In my store, and other stores in my district, yes, you WILL be greeted with the "Anything I can help you find?" If the answer is "no" my team is instructed to simply say "well, if you do have any questions I'll be over here, feel free to ask". End of story...there is no need to brow beat a customer that wants to shop in peace :) And there is absolutely NO POINT in asking someone who's just walking in if they brought anything to trade in when they are obviously empty handed!

Once you get to the register, yeah, we are going to try to pitch a reservation, politely, if you don't want one...well that's OK too, I see no need to go all "high pressure" in my store and in the end I think we still get good results :) My staff has fanboys like any other store but the rule is "Leave your bias at the door" I wont have my team spouting how much they hate the 360 to a loyal Microsoft customer....ditto for PS3, Nintendo or PC.

As for pre-orders, yeah, if it's a really hyped game it may be a good idea, especially if you are going to buy the game anyway...I'd say it's much more important for those obscure titles that the store is likely to get 3-4 copies in and then maybe never again...especially if the Targets & Walmarts aren't going to carry it at all...

Anton P. Nym:
Canadian here, and I strongly advise against using UPS for cross-border purchases. The last time I did so they billed me $20 in brokerage fees for a CD. A plain-old music CD, retail value $16. "Brown" can just crawl back up its poop chute so far as I'm concerned.

yeah ups is a pain, i had it once where they messed up the shipping on 2 items i had ordered from different companies with different tracking numbers, gave them the tracking number for one item, they changed the other order

i even asked for them to deliver it to a different location, a rather large financial company, they were like "we need a postal code" i'm like "look just say this address, it's in <this large city>, the drivers come here at least twice a day they will know it by street address alone", wouldn't ship it

best buy sux for game selection up here and futureshop isn't much better and i refuse to support walmart, they hurt the economy and the environment more than any other company.

tho i remember going to best buy to get a dvd player cause it was easily region hackable, the guy asked me why i was getting it, i told him and he was like "wow i should get one myself", the dvd player also happens to be one of the best ones i've had, plays any disc i put in it AND it's region free now

futureshop i don't ask for help from the ppl in the store ever, i usually know more about stuff than them. so i go in there look for the game i want and if i don't see it leave again, same goes for bestbuy

stompy:

Great... This sucks. I don't want to pay $150 for games, while the Yanks get 'em for $80. Really, I should start getting into PC gaming or something...

Yank:
Holy crap! I can't believe that anyone could pay that much. I live near Boston, USA, and new releases for the Xbox 360 and PS3 here are $60USD. New release for PC: $50USD. Now that's for game stores like EB Games and Gamestop as well as huge Electronic stores like Best Buy. Personally, I think Microsoft is too greedy with the Xbox LIVE nonsense of making people pay for multiplayer while PC gamers (with the exception of MMORPG gamers) can latch onto a server and play for free. That's why I have COD4 on PC instead of Xbox 360, but that's another story.

Being American, I feel like I owe you guys some kind of explanation. I'm no expert, but isolated places in this country, like Alaska and Hawaii, tend to have more expensive goods in general due to the fact that everything needs to be shipped there. The high prices may be due to shipping costs, fees to a localization staff, and import taxes. I guess you could find an American based website and buy from them. Or maybe Yahtzee is correct and the games industry just hates Australia.

If it's any consolation for my seemingly discounted games, I too have horror stories about actually buying the games. Heaven forbid I try to buy from a store like EB Games, where the employees, okay okay, one employee is a Yahtzee "that guy" to the point that he freaks out other "that guys", and they look at you funny when you ask about the original Condemned. Then when you buy a game they want you to subscribe to some magazine and also buy the "official" strategy guide. And I'm sure you've come across the pre-teen gamer that swears WAY too much, we got 'em here too.

Reading through these posts, I didn't see anything about being carded. I have never bought a game outside the US so I don't know if this happens elsewhere, or at least as often, so indulge me. Whenever I buy a "Mature" rated game (Mass Effect for instance) from any place other than the Internet, the cashier will ask me, a 20 year old with full beard, for a picture ID to verify that I am at least 17. Then the cashier will read the content from the back of the case; "Are you aware that this game contains 'violence' and 'use of alcohol'?" Seriously, I'm curious, no one brought this up.

ShyWinter:
Reading through these posts, I didn't see anything about being carded. I have never bought a game outside the US so I don't know if this happens elsewhere, or at least as often, so indulge me. Whenever I buy a "Mature" rated game (Mass Effect for instance) from any place other than the Internet, the cashier will ask me, a 20 year old with full beard, for a picture ID to verify that I am at least 17. Then the cashier will read the content from the back of the case; "Are you aware that this game contains 'violence' and 'use of alcohol'?" Seriously, I'm curious, no one brought this up.

Funny enough, being underage, I usually get my mother to buy my games for me, so I don't face the ID thing. But, when I went to GAME a while back, the guy didn't card me, even when I came with my mum before (my mum went shopping while I got the game). I as able to trade in, and ended up getting COD4. Without ID. But I seem to be of average adult height, and people say I look ~18. Maybe he thought I was old enough, but still a mama's boy...

Oh, and for Aussie games being $USD100, it's because, as you said, they have to make a profit in an area with less consumers, so they jack up the prices. I wanna try and import games, 'cos I have the feeling it's gonna get to ridiculous prices soon (next gen, if it's an average of $AUD120 per game, I'm definitely importing).

- A procrastinator

Yeah....

i just brought Dirge of cerberus of NZD$50 brand new nver played before
finished it in 8 hours

that equates to 40$US

i brought this 2 days ago

so could anyone who has recently seen the US price please tell me if this is good or not

smallharmlesskitten:
Yeah....

i just brought Dirge of cerberus of NZD$50 brand new nver played before
finished it in 8 hours

that equates to 40$US

i brought this 2 days ago

so could anyone who has recently seen the US price please tell me if this is good or not

Sorry man. I just checked amazon.com. It's $USD20. Ouch...

- A procrastinator

DAMMM NEWZEALAND GAMES MARKETS SUCK

took me 16 years to realise

at least WOW is only gonna cost me $16 NZ to buy

(US$12)

Ironically shipping should cost less for most video games in Australia then United States. From memory EA games listed as Asia-Pacific Edition are stamped in Singapore for Asian market.

Although I don't buy games from Australian stores often my experiences arn't bad apart from price. I basically walk in, give them money and walk out. I do my research first as the kids in the stores wouldn't have a clue.

I also buy from computer swap meets, often a bit cheaper.

For PC: I mainly buy games from online distrubitors such as Steam or from JB Hifi who have alright prices.

For PS3: Buy from psn network a bit or from www.play-asia.com. Much cheaper then buying in Australia and all PS3 games are region free.

For Xbox 360: www.play-asia.com for games that arn't region locked to NTSC.

There used to be quite a few independant video game stores in my area but EB games rolled in years ago and wiped them out. Once i'd see Video Games Heaven, Games Rush, etc. Now it's basically EB Games, a few GAME and thats about it.

JB Hifi now sells games and generally have a range close to EB games. They are always cheaper as well.

EzyDVD company now has a videogames online store www.ezygames.com.au haven't tried them yet. To be honest i don't see the point in buying from Australia, asian online stores are sometimes more then half the price of local releases and the shipping is usually less then 7 days.

I live in Australia and here we get the pointy end of the stick. Despite our AU dollar being nearly equivalent to a US dollar we have to pay about $100-110 for a new release ($40-50 dollars more than in America) so that ticks me off a little.

On the subject of game stores, most seem to have nice staff that don't pester you when you just want to look around and are friendly when you actually go up to buy something. There was however one time when I bought a PC Game (At EB Games), and the woman behind the desk forgot to put the disc in the box. I came back, told a different sales clerk and they got the disc for me. When I pointed out the woman that served me the frist time, they told me that she was the manager of the store!

Aswell as that, EB Games always seems to be full of 8 year olds, pestering their mum to but them a copy of Horsez or some other junk, throwing tantrums, screaming. I feel like stompng their head against the counter.

I only used the Ebay to buy games twice. One time the item was perfect, second time half the box was in Japanese. Then again Ebay has always had this problem.

And finally rentals are plain crap. The the prices are stupid and change with each moon, the staff have no idea what to do, and the discs are always scratched.

I've used 4 ways.

1. Normal buying from local Best Buy.
2. Web-Order.
3. Import from another country. (Guilty of it 2 times, for Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl. IN JAPANESE. SEXAY>)
4. STEAM.

My favorite is STEAM, because it's fast, effective, and, for the games I buy from it (Only CounterStrike: Source and Garry's Mod) cheap.