Lucky Europe got this excellent game on the 20th May as part of their WiiWare launch. Platform/Puzzle fans in North America jealously coveted a slice of the action but were to be disappointed when it didn’t come out the following week in their territory.
All the waiting will soon be over as Two Tribes have confirmed to us that the wait will soon be over! The game will however cost 1000 Wii points for the USA, which we can only attribute to little Toki’s air fare from his home in the Netherlands to the USA. For 1000 points this is still an excellent game so no whining please!
Check out our Toki Tori review and our Two Tribes interview.
Comments 44
YAY! This is one I've been really looking forward to.
Amazing game. Best WW by far
1000 points in US Dollars is still cheaper than 900 points in Euros. Please stop complaining that Europe gets games first. Super Smash Brothers Brawl is still not out here. We only got 6 games at the WiiWare launch. Last Monday, we didn`t get any new games, and it looks like we won't get any games next Monday either. The only ones who really have a reason to complain are Europeans because we almost always get everything last, and the products are more expensive.
YES!!! This is GREAT news! Thank you. And for 1000, I'm certainly willing. I just need the Points for it, that's all.
How much in Euros do you pay per 100 points?
In US it is 100 points = $1.00
It doesn't make sense that points cost more for Europe versus US considering Euro > Dollar. I do feel bad for you guys always getting the shaft...but you have better bands over there! (trying to make you feel better).
It's because of tax. It costs £15 for a 2,000 point points card, which works out at about $30.
I am interested in this game it looks quircky and funny. Reminds me of Mario vs. Donkey Kong for GBA
It's because of tax. It costs £15 for a 2,000 point points card, which works out at about $30.
Yeah and also milking. Tax is not 50%! In the EU its generally 15-25%.
Tax is still used as an excuse but there is a fair amount of milking going on as well. People will argue people in the EU earn more and that includes employees of NOE so it has to cost more...
You'ld think Nintendo would be greatful to the EU and Europe for helping them make profits (their currency being something of value) but instead we get Nintendo still refusing to pay thier fine for price fixing in 1991-1998 (the fine was issued in 2002) and trying to take the EU into court over it (Microsoft tried this* and...they ended up with a bigger bill to pay, nice to see Nintendo learned something...).
*-It wasn't for price fixing, though but the EU take price fixing very seriously.
@Stratos: 100 Wii Points in the Euro zone = €1.00 = approx $1.55
1000 points? Darn it, I think I have exactly 900 points left if I remember correctly! So close.......and yet so far, Toki Tori.
This or Dr. Mario?
Finally the Wiiware moment I've been waiting for a long time.
Awesome. I can't wait.
1 € = 1,5545 US$ so we pay about 15$ for toki tori and 23$ for Final Fantasy: MLaaK, nice huh?
and JesteR, you are not quite right, australians are even more screwd than europeans, they often get games later than us
FINALLY!
Great news for the US; it's my favourite WiiWare game.
@ Bulan
Ok, but Europe is the second biggest market, so I think we should at least get it at the same time as the US. And if the excuse with localisation comes up again, why do PC games come out at the same time in the US and the EU?
Anyway, my point was that I don`t like Americans whining when they get many games earlier than us and cheaper than us.
At least now I won't be stuck with 100 points I can't wait
People are really complaining about the price? This game looks awesome for 1000 points.
Toki Tori, Toki Tori, Toki Tori! Yay!
And those of you complaining about the price should just chill. Exchange Rate is the WRONG way to compute international pricing. The only purpose of Exchange Rate is to encourage more imports or exports between countries. It is an artificial number that the US is intentionally holding low to improve our economy through foreign trade. (We used to hold the dollar higher so that foreign imports would be cheaper for us.)
The number you want to be comparing is what's called "Purchasing Power". It's the true value of a currency related to local goods. A common index to compute this is the Big Mac Index. (Literally, the price of a McDonald's Big Mac around the world.) Using that index, we find that 20 EUR == 18.18 USD. And 14.99 GBP == 9.25 USD. Thus you guys are getting this stuff (relatively) cheaper than we are in the US. In fact, the low exchange rate on the USD means that we are overpaying for a lot of stuff you Europeans get at far more reasonable prices.
So quit yer bellyaching already!
@ JesteR
yes, you're mostly right, but in europe you have to translate more languages: german, french, spanish, italian, dutch...
but i think that's not an excuse for some titles to have an delay of 6-12 months.
@thewiirocks
All you have to do now is convince the Banks to use the Big Mac purchasing power rate instead of the official exchange rate and you'll be all set for an international shopping spree.
@thewiirocks
Dude, 20 Euros is 31 dollars. No financial institution is going to give me money based on the international prices of McDonald's food. And the US is not keeping the dollar low intentionally; there are many reasons for the decline, including debt. Read this article.
Great, now I have a sudden urge for a Big Mac. Thanks a lot.
Basically the Big Mag Index is a version of the whole higher lving costs (in this case Big Macs) from higher salaries counter argument I outlined earlier. The average European may well have more dispoable income than the average American (anyone know for sure and if so how much...is it ~50% more?) so this overcharging acts as a balance...
Personally I still don't think it makes it right as I could just import a US Wii and shock pay US prices (I know the true cost of this is no warrenty meaning I lost it all upon breakage/plus no local deals toi take advantage of). Or if Nintendos store interface wasn't so antiquated and was say like PSN where with a US account you can buy US goods at US prices (though I remember the money part being a problem for some).
This is great that were getting this game on monday and cant wait to try it out and play it!
looking forward to this.
@Tim & @JesteR - Well, you better start complaining about the price of a loaf of bread then. I mean, you guys are getting SCREWED having to pay $3.89-$4.66 for a load of bread! I mean, we Americans only pay the $2.50-$3.00 for the same loaf!
If you start comparing everything by exchange rate, it's going to get rather ridiculous rather fast. The exchange rate is only for international commerce. Don't confuse it with the local value of goods. Even if you could import a US Nintendo without much hassle, the cost of shipping it internationally would easily eat up any savings you might have realized. And Wii Points are intangible, so comparing about the possible import costs of intangible goods is just as silly.
You are not paying more for Nintendo stuff in Europe, in any form except for some transient balance sheet. It just looks like you are because the dollar is currently such a weak currency on the world stage.
Why a 100 points extra?
Probably because of the weak dollar. Toki Tori is produced by a European company.
Or possibly because Nintendo realized the market will bear that much. So they're charging it!
The good news about this is that it opens the door to discounts in differing regions. e.g. I completely think that Star Soldier R would have sold better in America if it was cheaper. Yet they didn't want to screw themselves out of great Japanese profits. So it's not a bad idea to adjust for the region.
Dang! And I was just telling myself that if nothing good comes out for wiiware this monday, I would download F-Zero X and Star Soldier R. In fact, I was so sure that there wasn't going to be anything good monday that I was going to download them today. I've been putting off F-Zero X for months now!
Oh well, maybe some other time... 'till then, I'm really looking forward to Toki Tori!
I've never played the original, but Ive heard and seen a lot about this one and it seems really fun! I just hope I have the space for both this and SSR... maybe if I finish Lost Winds, I can make room for them.
Great news. Sucks though. I just got 200 points yesterday, spent it all, to find out Toki Tori is gonna be released monday. well at least the points were well spent. (LostWinds Dr. Mario)
@thewiirocks
Where are you getting your bread prices from? A loaf of bread can cost here anywhere from 69 Euro cents (about 1 Dollar) to 3 Euros (about 5 Dollars).
And, luckily, I have someone in the US who can send me games. However, she can only send me DS games, as I haven't chipped the wii to make it code free. Points are not interchangable between regions, so she can't send those either.
Some games here are 50 or 55 Euros, while in the US they are 40 to 45 Dollars. There is no reason for that, especially with the exchange rate the way it is.
"...Some games here are 50 or 55 Euros, while in the US they are 40 to 45 Dollars. There is no reason for that, especially with the exchange rate the way it is."(JesteR)
There is a reason for it. The reason is they can do it and you can't stop them.
Until recently retail games were $10 more in Canada than in the US. There wasn't a $10 difference in the exchange rate, so many border Canadians started crossing the border and those with online purchasing power as well were buying from Americans. The Canadian retailers no doubt noticed they were loosing money and then decided it would be in their best interest not to inflate the prices. Of course their marketing campaigns would have you believe that the reason for price drops were directly related to the Canadian dollar increasing in value.
Unfortunately you don't have the option to do that because of region lock outs. You could always not buy the game until a price drop but for them to get the message you all would have to do it. Good luck with that.
The main reason we have to pay more than the Americans is probably the low Dollar and high Euro course, which makes everything look more expensive than on the other side of the Atlantic. But since our incomes also increase we actually don't pay that much more.
Toki Tori is the only WiiWare game I downloaded and it's definately worth it. The level design is very clever and challenging. And the hard levels are hard, very hard. The game is also very addicting and it contains about 75 stages, so it's definately worth your $10,- or €8,-
Much like Aardvark Soup, TT is my first and so far only WiiWare title as well, and I'm loving it. =)
It's already challenging the heck out of me, I'm currently stuck in one of the early Ghost House stages...
One dolar makes absolutely no difference, imo. Can't wait for the game, instant buy for me.
Wow, everyone is talking about the 100 point difference and exchange/Big Mac rates instead of talking about the actual game: Toki Tori!
On that note, I plan to get this with my next card (sometime this month) along with Strongbad and/or Dr Mario/Gyrostarr!
Somehow I predicted this. This is fantastic! Es fantastico! Me interesa "Toki Tori"! Dr. Mario will not be active for a bit.
Another reason for price discrepancy: Many retailers purchase games from a wholesaler at a set/export price. Therefore, in some cases, they must raise the price of their games a little to compensate so they can actually make a profit.
Oh... and The Whopper PWNS The Big Mac... easily.
Like Mr. Calvert said: NO WHINING PEOPLE ! It's a one dollar difference... get over it !!!
I wasn't whining. I was just curious.
...this game never really interested me. I saw the in-game video and it just confused me.
The game holds your hand at first and teaches you how to use the items. Then its up to you how to prove to the game how well you know the items and work out what order to do things. Like sometimes even though an egg is right there, getting it too early would leave you trapped.
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