Nintendo Fined $143m for Price-Fixing

kyz writes "The BBC is reporting that the anti-trust branch of the European Commission has fined Nintendo 146 million euros (roughly $143m) for preventing its distributors from selling games as cheaply as they are sold in other European Union countries. For example, "prices of Nintendo products were up to 65% higher in Germany or the Netherlands than in Britain". Now if only the EU could do this with Microsoft, Levi Strauss and the MPAA members..."

$143 million dollars?

[Anonymous Coward]

All they have to do is make a Pokemon game, and then paint it 4 different colors.

Do you think upon hearing the verdict....

[nooboob]

....the president of Nintendo flew up into the air and coins exploded from his body?

It has also been reported...

[cornjchob]

...that as part of the ruling, the head executives of the branches of Nintendo International concerned with this case will have large barrels hurled at them by a giant ape while trying to get up several stories of floors. In a press release, one of the executives said simply, "BEEP."

Conspiracy

[cyberise]

Sounds like they are just trying to get some extra coin out of Nintendo. Bill Gates probably put them up to this!

Re:Good for them

[kingpin2k]

Wow. That's quite an impassioned response to overpriced video games.

$ 143 million...

[weird mehgny]

...or 1430000 extra lives! Game over!

Trickle-down effect

[ohboy-sleep]

Because of this Nintendo will have to cut prices across the board. The red potion in the original Zelda will only cost 20, and you only need 80 coins in Super Mario Bros. to get an extra life.

Re:Ahem

[Anonymous Coward]

I think it's spelled cannoli, not conole. They are tasty though.

Re:So...

[Anonymous Coward]

Economics 101:

Less demand ==> Lower prices
High demand ==> Higher prices

Nintendonomics:
Less demand ==> Higher prices
High demand ==> Higher prices

Nintenonomics == Price fixing

Re:Nintendo never changes

[Anonvmous Coward]

Is that what happens when you register stuff? If I had known that I wouldn't have made a 'frrpbpb' noise and tossed all those cards away!

Nintendo's reaction:

[Anonymous Coward]

The lead attorney for Nintendo, upon hearing the verdict, angrily tried shutting off the power to the courtroom while screaming "FUCK THAT SHIT MAN, THE FUCKING SYSTEM CHEATS! I HAD THIS SUIT WON".

Other attorneys on the case were quoted as saying that the lead attorney had a copy of the trial saved on a memory card, and would try his closing arguments over and over again until he won.

Re:Do you think upon hearing the verdict....

[artemis67]

Only if King Bowser Koopa was presiding over the court and threw a turtle shell at him...

So What?

[4of12]

This is an important less, corporate boys and girls.

If you're fixing prices, then you'd better make sure that you charge the same high price in every single country in the EU.

Got that?

You can still catch flak for uniformly high pricing [theinquirer.net], though, but it beats this kind of bad press and fine crap.

Re:Do you think upon hearing the verdict....

[FortKnox]

actually, I heard that the bricks of the Nintendo Complex in Japan are engineered pretty cleverly.
If you take one and smack your head into it, a coin pops out of the other end.
They'll have the cash in no time.

Re:Ahem

[Jaysyn]

You mean remember, right? ;)

Jaysyn

THis is very un Nintendo-like

[Sivar]

Hopefully they won't try this kind of BS again. Nintendo has existed for over 100 years and, as far as large media companies go, has been very ethical.

Recently Overheard in the Castle

[murky.waters]

Mario to Luigi: "Ah, I think-ah we better pimp out tha Princess!"

Luigi: "Yessah, to make-eh some extra gold coins, eh!"

Princess: "Oh, dear."

Re:Basic rights

[CSG_SurferDude]

My government takes 55% of my income EVERY year.

I'd like to make a suggestion here....

Maybe it's time to find a new accountant?

Poetic Justice?

[Rude Turnip]

"Every year, millions of European families spend large amounts of money on video games," Competition Commissioner Mario Monti said. "

Wow, how bad is it when your own game characters come out against your company? Oops...wrong Mario!

Re:Sounds like DVD region encoding to me...

[Kombat]

The distributors want to extract as much money as they can from each market

Those bastards! I suppose you work for free then? I suppose you believe that investors should just randomly invest their money in companies, rather than favouring those who tend to turn the biggest profit? Perhaps in your view, we should do away with the whole concept of "money" altogether?

Go back to China, pinko commie.

So who can we buy video games from....

[Suicide]

Microsoft is evil. Sony is part of the MPAA. And now Nintendo is doing bad things.

I just want to know who I can buy console from and not feel guilty. Where is Atari when you need them?

Re:Nintendo's reaction:

[unicron]

Someone told me that the judge held Nintendo's lawyers in contempt because he noticed they had their briefcases plugged into big ass game sharks.

Re:Nintendo never changes

[Alzheimers]

Actually, it was a COUPON which was for $5 dollars off your next purchase. I remember my parents taking it "To give to Santa Claus."

Mario is attacking Nintendo

[Hamstro]

I don't know about you guys but I thought it was quite funny that name of the EU spokesman is Mario...