Microsoft Points. How I loathe those little buggers. I've wanted to pay for stuff on Xbox Live with a credit card for quite some time, and if the latest gossip is to be believed, that fateful day may soon be upon us. Quotes attributed to Microsoft's Scott Austin state that the new "Games on Demand" service will eschew MS Points in favor of sensible retail prices. Could this hint at a bright new age where Microsoft's Monopoly Money is thrown on the scrapheap where it belongs?
If you love MS Points for some sick and twisted reason, there will still be an option to pay with them. Sensible and well adjusted people, however, will be able to pay directly and simply with a credit card. So far, there is no word on whether this option will be made available to all products on the Xbox Live service, but if it works out well for Games on Demand, perhaps this will be the first nail in the coffin for the wretched things.
Microsoft also discussed the new rating system for games. It'll be a lot easier to find quality titles on Xbox Live, as they will get a five-star rating. Of course, since most people can't tell quality gaming from puerile sh*t (just check your local videogame sales charts), it might not be too trustworthy. Still, it's a fresh step in a new direction, and you can't say no to that.
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
8:20 AM on 06.09.2009
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SO THERE!
I'll be interested to see if the currency difference(s) are considered in the new pricing.
"Wah wah Paying by card is copying the PSStore!"
Paying by card is fairly standard practice across *all* forms of buying.
All MS has to do is have the "$" still equate to a gift card, like how Nintendo does it. Win-Win :-D
Wah wah!
Ever heard of insand points? There are lots of sohps in the i net wich offer this service. Pay and get your points via mail as a code.
FINALLY.
Fed up of buying 160MSP songs from Rock Band until I have 150MSP left. Thus charging me ANOTHER fiver for the damn things.
Microsoft and Nintendo should be shot in the face for the idiotic points thing in the first place. It's an old business strategy to try to get people to spend more on your products than they would have otherwise, and I absolutely detest it.
Also, like others pointed out, you can buy them online without sales tax. I can also buy them from Best Buy and they go towards my Gamerzone/Reward Zone totals...it's not much, but it adds up and it's certainly more than if I just used my credit card.
Wait, that's what they want me to feel!
Trophies copy achievements. Badly.
At least Nintendo has a 1:1 point ratio: so it's not unbearable.
Honestly, sometimes those little fuckers are a Godsend. That and Pre-paid cards are the only way to give someone points as a gift.
Also isn't a huge amount of Live users under 18 with no credit card? I'm guessing a large amount of that group has been using points.
It seems that MS never consider the fact that cutting off some gamers is still a problem, just like with Live and what you can access on it.
I was able to get them at super discounted prices from my friends at Best Buy.
this is the first time that i disagree with Jim. no worry, i will always come to Jim for Koei's Warriors game coverage.
Did you read the article?
Jim Sterling: "If you love MS Points for some sick and twisted reason, there will still be an option to pay with them"
Maybe they can just change the pseudo-exchange rate...100 points = $1.