dollar
Latest
Brazil wants to know why Apple bills its citizens in US dollars
Brazil's national currency is the real, but you wouldn't know that by looking at its iTunes storefront. Apple prices everything there in US dollars, which has led Brazil's Consumer Protection Secretariat to write a formal letter to the company requesting an explanation. We're not sure why this has taken so long, given that iTunes came to Brazil two years ago, but in any case Apple now has ten days in which to respond or face the threat of a penalty. Other countries that've tackled Apple over its pricing policies in the past have generally failed to reach a resolution, and in some cases citizens have even been urged to take matters into their own hands.
Carmageddon free, The Incident and more on sale
Just in time for the weekend, here's a few apps that have dropped their (already cheap) prices even lower, meaning that you've got plenty to play here for just a few bucks' worth (all prices USD). The PC classic turned iOS port Carmageddon has gone completely free for today only. The Incident is on sale for 99 cents. The Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders flight-simulation title has dropped down to just a buck. Just a few weeks after release, Sega's dropped The House of the Dead: Overkill to just $2.99. The game's not fantastic, but it does have a really innovative shooting mechanic built for iOS. Crazy Taxi is also on sale for 99 cents. Zach Gage's Halcyon is currently completely free to download. Chillingo has dropped Tiny Troopers 2: Special Ops down to free as well. Velocispider is on sale for 99 cents. NetherRealm's impressive Batman: Arkham City Lockdown is just under a dollar, too. Excellent price to try that one out at if you haven't. Cavern is a roguelike RPG with some good buzz that's on sale for $1.99. Big Fish Games' cute and polished point-and-click adventure title Fetch is only $2.99. That's just a buck off the usual price, but the game's well worth it. Finally, the retro arcade space shooter Plasma Sky is also available for free right now. Personally, I'm still enjoying Firaxis' free Haunted Hollow, but I'm loading up a few of these on my iPad as well. Enjoy!
Capcom puts iOS titles on sale, post-Father's Day weekend
Capcom didn't get the memo about hosting app sales this past Father's Day weekend apparently -- the company has instead put four of its titles on sale for just a buck today. Right now, you can pick up Street Fighter IV, Devil May Cry 4 refrain, Dead Rising Mobile or Resident Evil Mercenaries all for just a Washington each. Those are all solid titles that offer more than a buck's worth of entertainment. The great Death Rally (which, disclaimer, I'm in as a cameo) is also on sale for 99 cents, and there might be a few other sales from the weekend still poking around: Army of Darkness Defense is still free, for example. If you're interested in one of those, better grab it quick!
Get the Shatter soundtrack for $1
One of the big PSN surprises of the year was Shatter, a retro-futuristic take on the popular brick-breaking genre. Anyone who's played the game is bound to agree that what makes the game so special is the fantastic soundtrack. From now until Christmas, Sidhe is running a special sale on its site, reducing the price of the DRM-free OST to one dollar. One hundred pennies. Yes, for less than the price of PAIN DLC, you can get the entire 14 track album to play on the go. [Via @jeffrubenstein]
Strong Yen could see lack of Wii bargains this holiday season in U.S.
Analysts think that due to the continuing decline of the U.S. dollar and the 13-year high for the Japanese Yen, you won't be seeing too many hot deals on Nintendo's Wii this holiday season. With the Yen being so high, it drives up the cost of Japanese goods for U.S. retailers. And, seeing as how the U.S. economy has been in such bad shape all year, merchants have discounted their goods to offset that fall to a point where they can't afford to lower prices to attract customers any more.Wii Fit, one of the items analysts see as being a must-have this season, could be most affected. With the profit margin on it so small (same goes for the Wii console itself), retailers can't afford to cut prices. One positive thing to come out of this, however, is that the Euro has been on a decline, as well. This means that Nintendo should be shipping more to the U.S., whereas in the past, Nintendo focused on Europe first.%Gallery-23454%
Pachter: American Wii Fit shortages due to weak dollar
Americans have been buffeted with news of our nation's pending recession and the devaluation of our dollar for months now, but in a market with such standardized prices, the American video game industry and game consumers haven't really felt the effect of our economic instability. However, according to industry analyst and prognosticator extraordinaire Michael Pachter, our pecuniary puniness is the cause for the current American Wii Fit shortage -- nearly four times as many copies of the title made their way to Europe, where the Euro, unlike the dollar, is gaining strength.In Pachter's own words, "We're seeing companies ignore their largest market simply because they can make a greater profit elsewhere." You don't need to be a revered industry analyst to notice that -- the title, which sells for $90 in the U.S., is speedily selling for the equivalent of $140 in Europe. Pachter also remarks that Americans can afford to wait for future shipments of the title, as Nintendo knows "that Americans will be just as fat a few months from now." Words hurt, Pachter. Words hurt.
World's luckiest video: guy wins a Wii from a crummy mall arcade game
Note: the embedded video above is definitely NSFW, or NSFH(ome) if you have little kids running around, because it contains some pretty strong language.It shows something we all thought could never be done -- one really lucky sucker winning the big prize from a Stacker game. The same kind you see in malls, movie theater lobbies, and Wal-Mart vestibules around the country. We've spent our fair share of quarters in them, trying to score much lesser prizes, like copies of Outlaw Golf.Now someone just please try and explain to us why Wiis are sold out across the country, yet sitting in Stacker machines where people can win them for a buck? Perhaps it's all part of a secret new marketing campaign from Nintendo. Now to start looking for more Stacker games ...[Via Nintendo Wii Fanboy]
"Diamond Crypto Smartphone" for the rich and paranoid
Thought we admire diamond encruster extraordinaire Peter Aloisson and his previous work, it suffered the same problem as other million-dollar cellphones have in the past: not enough cryptography. Happily, Russian firm JSC Ancort has developed a Windows CE-based smartphone ready for Aloisson's bejeweling that employs "powerful encryption technology" to "provide secure protection of information against kidnapping, technological blackmail, financial racketeers and corrupted state officials" -- sounds like marketing speak for a password-protected wallet app, but who are we to judge? Of course, with its $1.3 million price tag and 50 diamonds (10 of which are blue) we think you might start to have more trouble with mugging than with "technological blackmail," but there's only one way to find out for certain -- anyone want to donate the cash for a hands-on?[Via textually.org]
Price parity for Wii in Europe, UK
A Nintendo UK spokesperson has confirmed that the Wii will go on sale in Europe at around the same price point as has been announced for the US and Japan. Yesterday we got word that the Wii won't cost more than $250 (around £135) so if we combine that word with this latest statement we can conclude that the UK could see a launch price of around £150 (if you add 17.5% VAT) with Europe seeing a price point of around €200.We've complained endlessly (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) about the price disparity between the U.S., Japan and Europe so it's great to finally see that Europe is getting a fair deal. Hopefully this will set a precedent that Microsoft and Sony will follow.[Via Engadget]
