We occasionally hear about the dog-eat-dog corporate culture at Microsoft.
I hope someone will shed light on the details of what happened over the past 10 days or so, who managed to persuade who to reverse whose decisions, etc.
Must be an interesting story to tell.

The first SF I read was the Demon Princes, many decades ago. Got me hooked on the genre for a while. Still my best travel agent to faraway places you can only go in your imagination.

Thanks for your (and the other guys posting as ACs) detailed answers.

So it's mostly a ratchet effect on the foreign exchange, with massive impact because of AUD/USD volatility.

It sucks that online platforms such as Steam are playing that game and not allow you to buy in USD at US prices... Well it also sucks for me to some extent (although online prices in Japan are not so bad - almost in sync with the US, the selection is limited, with AAA titles such as Arkham City missing for obscure reasons, etc). There used to be a time where I actually relied on Steam more, when they had not implemented regional segmentation yet. Now I am back to brick and mortar import shops or HK based outlets.

Why is it so expensive? Taxes?
Or just good old price fixing?

I am a European, now living in Japan, and have ordered a lot of stuff from the US over the years. While I can figure out most factors for explaining game prices in these 3 regions (the 1 USD = 1 GBP = 1 EUR "special exchange rate", VAT differences, margins lower in the US vs rest of the world aka price fixing), I still cannot make sense of the outrageous prices in Australia...

If I see these guys putting top investment bankers' heads on spikes or something, then I will take them seriously. With fear and respect. Otherwise, they are just whiny hippies.

Mod parent up. The perception of the US abroad is probably what is going to change the most at the moment he becomes president, even if it might not be so obvious as seen from inside the United States.