Wii Points Index

I recently got a Wii. How I am going to find time to play it is irrelevant, I just wanted one.

Those who have one, or may have been following its progress, would probably know that Nintendo has a Wii Points system to allow players to purchase retro games from its online channels. The games are priced by Wii Points, with the more popular/more recent games obviously charging higher prices.

That, and my great admiration for The Economist's Big Mac Index, gave me a thought: how much do these Wii Points cost in different countries? Clearly every Wii Point is exactly the same, and should theoretically be worth exactly the same. In practice, regional restrictions mean there are no arbitrage opportunities. In any case, I started with what I could find off the net, as follows:

Cost of 2000 Wii Points
Country	Local Currency	Store	Price (in local currency)	Implied FX Rate to USD
US	USD	Toys R Us	21.9900	1.0000
UK	GBP	Woolworths	13.9900	1.5718
AUS	AUD	EB	35.0000	0.6283
CAN	CAD	Sears Canada	24.9900	0.8800
JAP	JPY	Indicative	2,000.0000	0.0110
Country	Local Currency	Current FX Rate (USD equiv) www.xe.com	Implied Price based on Current FX Rate	Over/(under) pricing relative to current FX rate
US	USD	1.0000	21.9900	N/A
UK	GBP	2.0609	10.6701	31.11%
AUS	AUD	0.8770	25.0741	39.59%
CAN	CAD	0.9895	22.2233	12.45%
JAP	JPY	0.0092	2,390.2174	(16.33%)

So the lesson isn't so much about international economics and arbitrage; it's simply that UK and AUS gamers are clearly being ripped off by local retailers, who aren't passing on the benefits of a weaker USD. Time to campaign, geeks. Japanese players, as usual, are treated to an entirely different echelon of gaming goodness. I would move there just to be hooked into Nintendo nirvana.

Highly doubt this will replace the Big Mac Index; for one, it does not account for the "basket of goods". Still, makes you realise why game console makers continue to maintain region coding even though there are clear benefits to gamers to remove them (i.e. being able to import hot games from overseas, rather than relying on the pitiful supply from local distributors).