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I live in Docklands (Melbourne) and regularly visit the EB Games store. About a 5 min walk from my apartment. Sometimes I go there on my lunch break to pick up pre-orders, etc. and yeah, a few times they've just been sitting behind the glass.
But actually I got a Series X near launch online anyway. PS5 I got later (from Docklands) since I was less interested in it initially. I actually had a pre-order for a PS5 ready from launch too, but cancelled it at the time, only to get it later.
It is a shame that Valve is consistently too small to sell new hardware outside of just NA snd Europe, but I guess it is what it is. Ouya could send me a hardware unit just fine. Analogue can accept a pre-order for me right now and send to Australia. Perhaps one day, Valve will also grow to a level where they can sell and ship hardware globally, but I get it's asking too much in their current state.
Are you talking about the big "super store" that's three stories or whatever?
If so, I'm not surprised - I haven't been to that store since I was still in the military (around 2012-ish), but it was a big store back then (when an entire floor was dedicated to Nintendo) and my understanding is that it's still one of the biggest 'EB Games' stores in the company (at least for Australia, anyway)... I'm told a lot of the floor space is dedicated to 'pop culture' merchandise these days, though.
It'd be interesting to "be a fly on the wall" for any potential negotiations... I was thinking about it last night, and what would GameStop / EB Games really get out of the Steam Deck anyway?
Games for the Steam Deck are exclusively digital and as I understand it, the vast majority of GameStop's / EB Games' profit in 'GameStop' and 'EB Games' stores comes from the games themselves (second-hand / used games in particular); they don't actually make that much profit from the consoles, I'm told.
So if the only profit GameStop / EB Games are making off the Steam Deck is on the consoles themselves, there'd either want to be a respectable percentage of the retail markup or some awfully good incentives... This might also serve to explain why I'm told through internal sources that it's unlikely we'll see the Steam Deck in EB Games (Australia) stores in the foreseeable future.
Of course, all of this is way, waaay above my pay-grade and even if Valve Software / GameStop come to some sort of agreement, it's unlikely we'll find out the specifics... But still, it's an interesting dilemma.
Did they end up selling the Steam Deck through GameStop or EB Games in the United States or Europe? Or is it sold exclusively through the 'Steam' website?
Thankfully, we do not pronounce "deck" like the Kiwis and Māoris do (for those unaware, they pronounce it in a way that sounds like a man's, ahem, "tool")... 🤣🤣🤣
Nope, not that one. I'm not sure I've ever seen one there, because that store is way too popular (but I do go there probably once every week or two on average). Also, it's only two floors now, since they got rid of the Nintendo Experience upper floor (which I think has relocated to Marvel stadium but I don't care for stadium sports so haven't visited it myself).
Nothing. Except the possibility of selling console-specific accessories and other merchandise. It's the same as the Xbox Series S and PS5 digital edition. EB might even have an agreement whereby they must sell those if they also want to sell the other versions? Otherwise, they just want to be "the place" where you go for anything gaming, and it's better to buy from them than someone else if you're going to be getting one anyway.
It's worth noting that EB Games do sell PC games, but the selection is always quite small compared to other retailers such as JB Hi-Fi (which frequently clear out older PC games at < AU $5 which is crazy!). As you say, there is no money to be made there for them in the second hand market, which is where they historically have seen the bulk of their profits. Also, competing with Steam pricing which often drops fast must be hard. Having said that, they do sell a *lot* of PC gaming and streaming accessories and peripherals. They want people playing on PC (if they have to be on PC), not a Deck, because they're not going to be able to sell most of that stuff to "PC gamers" that don't use keyboards, mice, Elgato capture cards, etc.
Exclusively via the website AFAIK, which really frustrates me. I understand smaller cheaper accessories such as the Steam Controllers being sold via EB Games here back in the day (which is where I got mine IIRC) but for more expensive devices, they should just ship it directly like everyone else does, and just charge us whatever the postage is (which typically isn't that bad anyway). If you're already spending maybe AU$1K on a Deck or whatever they end up charging here, slapping an extra $70 shipping charge on top isn't going to be an issue for most would-be customers.
Interesting. I wonder what they use the top floor for these days (because obviously, it would still be there)?
Might have to ask next time I'm at work - many GameStop employees have a habit of checking out the local local EB Games and / or ZiNG Pop Culture stores when they're on holidays... You would think that we'd avoid those places on holidays, but you'd be surprised how many of us do it. 🤣
Are you sure about that?
I used to travel all over Australia on a regular basis with my former career and I haven't seen a PC game in an 'EB Games' store in years... I've been back on the Gold Coast now for a few years, and none of our stores sell PC games - I even checked with my wife (who works for EB Games) and she said not only do they no longer sell them, but it's actually ultra rare that companies even release physical games for PC anymore (she pointed out that they do 'Steam' gift cards though).
EB Games do dabble with PC peripherals and the like, though... Mostly keyboards, controllers and streamer gear (the latter is probably what they sell the most of 🙄 ).
When Valve Software finally release the Steam Deck in Australia - most likely in several years time going by their track record - I suspect this is the way they'll do it... Maximum profit, and maximum control over the sales process.
It's bad for stores like EB Games and JB Hi-Fi, but what do Valve Software get by selling consoles though those stores?
EB Games and JB Hi-Fi could refuse to carry 'Steam' gift cards anymore in retaliation - but Valve Software wouldn't care because there are plenty of other places that currently sell large varieties of gift cards who would be more than happy to pickup the slack if that were to happen...
If anyone knows of a video review of the Steam Deck by a New Zealander, please link!
Actually it's well documented, some people just refuse to accept it. We know that valve only has a distribution center in the US and Europe hence why they aren't even selling them in Japan yet.
We also know their limited distribution avenues is why they partnered with EB to distribute the index.
Some people just don't want to acknowledge that for a company whose primary business is digital distribution it's not cost effective to open, staff, and maintain a warehouse for a small market segment in Australia.
Also if people in Australia want one they can easily pay the difference and use a variety of services that let you buy items in the US and have them shipped to you. It just costs you more
Also part of the issue is the Australian government. Other sites like Amazon have stopped shipping from their international warehouses to Australia as well because of changes to how they charge GST
The problem is they are too big to manage the volume needed without a warehouse, but don't do enough physical manufacturing to justify a warehouse for Australia's small customer base. Hence why in the past as mentioned they teamed up with eB who does have warehouses there.
Nothing. It's closed off, and the lights are off.
Yep. I don't look at that section too often, but they had Ion Fury and stuff there a few months back. They have a PC Gaming -> Video Games section on their website. For games listed there, you can see which stores have what.
Don't quote me, but I'm pretty sure I saw or read something online about them blocking Steam accounts outside of the regions where the Steam Deck is officially available (e.g. if you live in Australia or Japan and bought a Steam Deck then tried to sign-in with a 'Steam' account that was associated with one of those companies, it would not let you sign-in)... In fact, I'm pretty sure it was one of 'The Linux Gamer's' early Steam Deck videos that mentioned this.
Something to consider for anybody hoping to get one via a package remailing service...
What a load of s#%t!
As I type this, I have a number of orders coming from Amazon's American warehouse right now, and whilst I often order from the Australian website, I also make purchases from the American website from time-to-time... Ditto for (the American version of) Audible and a couple of other Amazon subsidiaries.
The only part of this comment that is accurate is that the Government changed how GST is charged; specifically, GST is now required to be charged on all foreign purchases and if foreign businesses do not indicate that they have charged the customer GST, it is charged at the border by Customs.
There might have been the occasional small business that no longer ships to Australia - but the vast majority of businesses and all of the majors still ship here (there were concerns they weren't going to in the lead up to these changes, though).
Stop talking smack.
You do realize that this argument has been proven wrong again and again and again and again, right?
Here in Australia, we pay a lot more than most countries for pretty much everything - often more than even New Zealand (which is significantly smaller and further away from everything than us) - as much as 400-500% more in some extreme cases... Every 5-10 years people starting whinging about this and the Government's go-to argument is "Oh, but Australia is so much smaller and further away from everything!"
Cue the "experts".
Whenever this happens, the media and countless "experts" set out to prove this argument wrong as a factor in the reason we pay more for everything... And for the forty years I've been around, they've never failed.
Then there's the fact that on a per capita basis, we have both one of the largest percentages of gamers in the world and we spend huge amounts on games (in the order of several billion dollars a year)... But I don't suppose that counts for anything, right?
Ah, it might be an online only / select stores thing then... I know for the part of GameStop I work for, they only carry certain niche items online now, because there's simply not enough demand.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-31/amazon-blocks-australia-shopping-deal-how-it-affects-you/9820312
They reversed it for first party items onlyhttps://superdeluxeedition.com/news/amazon-change-their-policy-on-shipping-international-orders-to-australia/
Nope, none of that changes that your customer base is far smaller then other countries. It doesn't matter if you make more. Nor does it matter if you pay more for items because of the costs of transporting them to you or tariff's.
I also never said anything about why you pay more for everything, so helps if you read, although clearly you don't care about the reason, logic, etc. You just want it and don't care that it makes far more sense for Valve to fulfill orders to the bigger markets first.
Australia spent about $2.7 billion US on gaming in 2021. Japan spent about 10 times that, Europe spends several times more then that, etc. So again, other markets are far bigger and spend far more then Australia, and Valve already has distribution channels to reach them. I mean in terms of spending Australia is only slightly higher then Brazil for instance in video game spending....
Spoken like someone who has no idea what it takes to bring a product like this to market.
A couple of things. Sony is 76 year old company. Nintendo is a 133 year old company. All the console manufacturer's have supply and manufacturing infrastructure that goes back to before Valve was even a twinkle in Gabe's eye. It's not just a matter of having enough money. Stuff needs to be sourced. Facilities need to be built. All that is hampered by the global supply chain issue I mentioned previously. Manufacturing will accelerate, it's just going a bit slower than it would have otherwise. Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft aren't immune either. I haven't seen a PS5 or a Series X on store shelves since they released. I've only occasionally seen a Nintendo Switch. Usually they're cleaned out.
Patience. I will happen eventually. It's one of the downsides of living on the far end of the world.