Just to gather regional info for pricing my own digital releases, what is the usual retail price of a pirated AAA game disc in Brazil?

7.36 US dollars.

A 7-game bundle can be bought for 34.52 US dollars.

It makes me sad as a programmer and as a citizen. When I criticize people for buying and selling pirated software, they complain that legitimate prices are too high - and I tell them, you have options, you're not forced to use pirated software. Run Linux, LibreOffice, whatever. Steam has a lot of affordable titles, buy and play those. But people just go on buying pirated games (and software, and movies, and music).

It's tough to make a living by selling digital content in Brazil.

I'm sure it doesn't come close to the markup on the console, but what is a typical cost of living figure like in Brazil?

I've heard Brazil highly inflated its national currency to keep the economy growth sustainable. Is that true?

If it is, then this is the natural result. Internal market WHOA! but import goes really awry.

I've heard Brazil highly inflated its national currency to keep the economy growth sustainable. Is that true?

If it is, then this is the natural result. Internal market WHOA! but import goes really awry.

I think that is not true. On the contrary, the exchange rate flows freely and the gov't only intervenes when it moves too fast, either up or down.

This article does a decent job of explaining in English why Brazil is so expensive.

I'm sure it doesn't come close to the markup on the console, but what is a typical cost of living figure like in Brazil?

That's a difficult question. I'll try to answer to the best of my capacity.

First, income.

Brazil's federal institute for geography and statistics, IBGE, which is really professional and respected, published what I believe is an accurate survey of income (among many other metrics) in 2012. According to p. 204, 13.7% of respondents made 3x the minimum wage or more, which at the time was R$622,00 - that was roughly US$300 at the exchange rate of the time (1 US dollar = ~2.05 reais). So that means that roughly 7% of the population made US$900 or more a month. The labor laws in Brazil establish that every year, every salaried worker works 11 months (1 month vacation) and is paid 13 salaries (a mandatory bonus, usually paid in December). At US$900 a month, a worker would make US$11,700 a year. Since we're roughly ~200m people, some ~27.4m make that in a year.

Second, cost of living.

DIEESE, a non-governmental organization, calculates and publishes the "ideal" minimum wage (the official minimum wage is far from ideal) every month. For June of 2012, it was R$2,416.38 - US$1178 at the exchange rate back then. I think that's accurate enough, because back then my rent was US$463 a month (2-room modest apartment, I pay all utilities). Healthcare, gasoline and phone cost some US$300. If I only made $900/mo, I'd be just US$137 shy of being broke.

Third, conclusion.

Since median and average income is quite low, companies aim for a small part of the market - much, MUCH smaller than those ~27.4m who make more that US$11,700 a year - and charge outrageously high prices. Those who can pay, will buy. And those who can't, will buy too - with their credit cards, at very, VERY high interest rates.

If 64% is just a tax + import duty, then this means the base price is $1100 and $700 goes to taxes and import duty.

That sounds about right. Few yrs ago, when I still lived in a small country which didn't have official support from Sony/MS even not so long ago, thus things like PS1/XBOX commanded similarly ridiculous prices.

I can still remember PS1 costing 5 full months on a median salary.

The original US prices always just irritated us, of course, since they were so unrealistically low.

Incidentally, I stopped by my local Gamestop last week (I'm in US now) and checked the price of PS4, since I forgot it from the time I paid $100 advance (to reserve one piece for me on a day one). I was told it's going to be $399, meaning I only need to pay $299.

That, for sure, is insanely cheap for a brand-new next-gen console...

I also live in Brazil...

So, if you are a brazilian you may realize that:

1) Sao Paulo to NY Flight: US$ 900 ( 2 ways )

2) PS4: US$ 399,00 + taxes ( as I remember NY taxes is about 7.5 or 8% ) Total = US$ 430,00

3) Hotel for 1 night in NY: US$ 200,00

Well.. I can spend a weekend at NY and buy my PS4 on USA ( no taxes to bring it to Brazil as the ps4 price is lower than threshold imposed by Brazil Government to importing stuff ) and it still cheaper than buying in Brazil...

As said before, the only excuse to sell this console for R$ 4.000 ( today U$ 1,00 = R$ 2.38 ) is because the Brazilian will pay... if Sony ask for R$ 5.000 or R$ 6.000 brazilians will pay....

sad... so sad... :/

( well for a MacBook pro, worth U$ 2.000 on USA you will pay R$ 9.999... )

- http://store.apple.com/br/buy-mac/macbook-pro ( BR store )

- http://store.apple.com/us/buy-mac/macbook-pro ( USA store )

200 dollars a night?? daaamn, I'd buy the ps4 and take a plane back right on

The only thing customers should do to this-like companies is to REFUSE to buy their stuff. They will either realize that you can't overprice in different countries in the world, or bankrupt in that country (and honestly I wish Apple and Sony to hit a damn hard brick wall with how much their prices vary over the world - and it's not just VAT or other taxes, it's sometimes a lot more big difference).

Personally my advice - buy a PC, it is better, nuff said.

The only thing customers should do to this-like companies is to REFUSE to buy their stuff. They will either realize that you can't overprice in different countries in the world, or bankrupt in that country (and honestly I wish Apple and Sony to hit a damn hard brick wall with how much their prices vary over the world - and it's not just VAT or other taxes, it's sometimes a lot more big difference).

Personally my advice - buy a PC, it is better, nuff said.

Excerpt from From Brazil Cost to Brazil Profit: Why are electronics so expensive in Brazil?:

“When I was living in the US, I was running once when I saw then president George W. Bush, running as well, with security guards. He was using the same Nike shoes as I was. Here in Brazil, it’s hard to picture such a scene. Because objects still very much reflect the social segment of their owners. The sneakers, the car, the restaurant aren’t valued only for what they are, but also as status symbols. This is why it is more expensive to have dinner in Rio or São Paulo than in New York.”

THAT's what people outside Brazil don't get: there are many, MANY consumers here who will buy stuff for abusive prices, and then BRAG about it to friends and family. The mindset here is that dysfunctional.