http://www.vg247.com/forum/topic.php?id=6774 Just another bbPress community en-US Sat, 25 May 2013 10:32:18 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q http://www.vg247.com/forum/search.php http://www.vg247.com/forum/topic.php?id=6774#post-38943 Fri, 02 Nov 2012 09:49:24 +0000 Digital Bamboo 38943@http://www.vg247.com/forum/ <p>I was feeling a little bad for the Aussies today and wondering why they had to pay so much more for their video games. So I did a little research, and my findings were really unexpected. </p> <p>The Australian, Canadian, and US dollar are virtually on par with one another, and yet the same deluxe Wii U system that goes for $350 in Toronto or New York sells for $428 in Sydney. Seems unfair, right? Until you take into account the minimum wage in these countries.</p> <p>Minimum wage varies in both Canada and the US, but averages around $10 &amp; $7.25 a hour, respectively. Australian minimum wage, from what I understand, is paid weekly, and works out to $15/hr for a 40 hour week!</p> <p>While the price is higher down under, the average Aussie only has to work 28.5hrs to afford that Deluxe Wii U, whereas in Canada it's 35hrs, &amp; the US, over 48 hours. However, it's the worst in the UK, where the same system costs nearly $500 and one must work over 50 hours at a minimum wage job to afford it.</p> <p>My eyes almost popped out when I saw the price of an Australian Wii U game--$78!! But again, 5.2 hours work at min wage compared to 6 for Canada @ $60.</p> <p>If this is true, then Australians have it the best out of anyone! Of course, this was all done without taking into account different taxes, and making the assumption of a 40hr workweek in Australia. Is this true? Are my numbers way off? I'm just genuinely curious, because $15/hr seems incredibly high for minimum wage to me.</p> <p>And yes, I had a lot of free time at work over the past few days, with little else to do but surf around the net and read about this stuff. </p>