In a recent interview with Game Informer, Xbox Live General Manager Mark Whitten was asked about the possibility of Microsoft dropping the points-based system for sales of items on the Live Marketplace for real-world currency. Think he avoided answering the question? You bet your ass he did.
Using language like, "It’s Microsoft points right now," and, "We continue to think about it," Whitten deftly dodged anything resembling a direct reply with the skill of an Olympic slalom racer.
There is some precedence for dollar amounts being used on the service. Games on Demand offers the option of dollar amounts, which has led some to believe that the MS Point's days may be numbered. According to Whitten, the point system has been pretty successful for retailers but I don't see how that's an argument in favor of them. The gift card isn't exactly a new concept and I've never had to whip out a calculator to find out how much $50 dollars will buy me.
Just ditch it, Microsoft. You can still provide a system that will satisfy retailers and offer a more convenient system for your users. Of course, you will miss out on the cash from all those leftover points around the world but I wouldn't be surprised if you get sales which make up for that by removing a step from the process.
Interview: Xbox Live General Manager Marc Whitten [Game Informer via G4]
Conrad Zimmerman is Destructoid's News Editor and home to the busiest mustache in the gaming press. An amateur historian and pop culture fanatic, Conrad possesses a nearly limitless wealth of videogame factoids and a passion for the power of games to teach, inspire and entertain. He enjoys reading, writing and turning things which should be fun into work.
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Contest:
10:00 PM on 01.04.2010
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If they could let me just put it on my credit card, the exact amount, just for the game, like with Steam, I would like it.
Even though those people would say that anyway.
I WANT MONEY NOT SPACE DOLLARS!
NOW!
I really don't see the big deal behind MSP, 500 is 6 bucks. So if a game is 800 points you buy two sets of 500 and have 200 left over. Big deal.
I still have 3 cents lofting around in my PSN wallet because Sony can't just charge full dollar amounts. So how is that different? I'll continue having these useless cents until I make 1000 purchases, then I'll have a useless dollar.
The real problem is that they quite blatantly will put something over the $10 or $20 mark by just a couple bucks to make you go out and get more funny money.
THAT is what needs to stop. PSN requires a $5.00 purchase to put funds in your wallet, yet magically, every PSX game on the service is $5.99. Awfully convenient for Sony, isn't it? Bow I'd have to spend $10.
Gamers should be more upset about the lack of a fair pricing structure for all of these networks than they should be craving to just use their credit cards. If we ditch the system as it stands, it cuts off not only younger gamers who can't legally own a credit card, but also those of us that are a little particular about where I put my credit card info.
You kinda get like that when your identity has been stolen once. So spacebucks can annoy the hell out of other people for all I care. So long as I have deep control of where my information goes, I'm more than happy to deal with funny money.
I do wish Microsoft can allow me to donate the left over points to my favorite charity such as my wallet, but it doesn't bother me much. PSN's real money is real money. You can buy 10 bux PSN money card for 5 bux. That's that. And you will end up having some odd amounts sitting around with your real cash.
Furthermore, the points system has one major advantage: every now and then, Microsoft can essentially "sell" "cheap money." Retailers occasionally sell 1600 point cards, the equivalent of $20, for $15, for instance. If $20 meant $20, as it does on PSN, then that ability to entice people to buy some "cheap money" (in the interest of "saving" money, despite the fact that they've been persuaded to put money down in the first place) would go away.
Of course, this could be better solved by just converting their point system to the Wii's scale, where $10.00 equals 1000 points, yet they're still points, so you can fudge the price of the points for a sale.
That the one thing that is sensible about the PSN if the prices aren't on par then they're damn close to it(maybe a dollar more sometimes) sure as hell nowhere near what MS does to us with POINTS.
Hell the Wii Points were just a skewed as the MS ones infact maybe a bit more so, but Nintendo got wise and fixed that shit, its TIME MS!
The worst thing is many Canadian gamers don't care enough about "OH its only a few more dollars" when really its them getting ripped off. Its gotten to the point where I only buy points either at EB Games with trade in money so NO TAX then OR I just wait for a sale somewhere.
Also the fact that this nonsense is taxed is retarded, it should be handled like a money conversion(which does have a fee for say the bank, BUT only at ~2.75% or so nowhere NEAR 13%[our tax rate on goods]).
Dude where the fuck are you shopping!?! I've spent an entire day looking for a discount on an MSP card and ended up having to settle for the full price.
Seriously man I really, really, really want to know.
You need a minimum $5.00 charge on PSN to add funds to your wallet, but if you buy something for $5.99 they will only charge you $5.99 and not make you buy $10.00 worth of credit.
http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Live-4000-Points/dp/B000NDRT62/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1262670569&sr=8-3
44.99 at the moment. The cheapest they listed is 39.99, but I doubt it can be legit (could be stolen). I need something real quick so I ended up getting 8000 points. Another benefit buying from Amazon is no tax. Normally, there are quarterly or bi-annual discount on Microsoft points.
You are just a douche if you pay full price for xbox live and points now days. Just be patient and shop around.
I guess what I thought you meant by "retail" by in-store. Of course Amazon has it $5 cheaper. They always do.
Where the hell did the douche thing come from? lulz
The only bummer about buying from Amazon is that kinda defeats the purpose of not needing a credit card.
Sales tax. Many stats charge sales tax when buying from the PSN Store. That's not the case with the points.
Secondly, and more importantly, retailers frequently sell the 1600 point cards for less than $20. Admittedly, I've only bought like 4 cards since getting a 360, but I've never paid full price for one yet. OTOH, for PSN, I've had to pay full price every time. Which means I'm more likely to buy stuff on the 360...(Not to mention Sony's asinine policy of updating the store on Thursday evening, when they get around to it, as opposed to early in the week)
(nothing on the store costs 500 or 1000 points) to entice you to purchase even more when you realize how close you are to another 800 MSP purchase or to just squeeze that extra 2 dollars for the time being.
btw, it's not that hard. every 800 points equals 10 dollars. "ooooh math is so difficult!" Pussies.
Sorry, been browsing an awful forum elsewhere.
Really? Because all those kids and adults somehow are able to afford Live somehow. I think the argument that credit cards aren't available is pretty weak. Loads of kids playing games on Steam with no problem.
Kids find ways of getting money and get it into a paypal account, transfer that to a paypal debit card and bam, credit card. Seriously... The only reason that physical cards are around are for gifts from relatives and for people who are paranoid about shopping online (who are probably buying a card to give as a gift...)
@chronic
I think it's because they're removing the need to collect tax on game purchases on behalf of the game publisher, is my best guess. If the money is collected at MS' end, then all taxes get paid by them, and then all transactions from there on are done under this tax free system. I think that's also why MS is more than willing to let publishers pick and choose their ability to provide download codes/prepaid cards at their own discretion.
It would explain how the Amazon Marketplace is allowed to exist when there's no physical ability to do storefront style purchases in the same manner outside of prepaid cards.
Oh, and @Chronic Logic and @BluDesign
The reason that Microsoft likes the point system versus the PSN system is that people almost ALWAYS have leftover points that they aren't spending on anything. Times that by just a few thousand and you can see why they like that. (It's like free money for them! Cause, ya know, they NEED it!)
Remember reading about that in some article awhile back...
Im pretty sure you can go into purchase page then select fill wallet to purchase amount for your future purchases to avoid having small amounts of cash left in your PSN wallet.
My bad. I do most of my purchase online. I use the discovery card with randomly generated credit card number every time I buy something online.
@shadow763
Yes, if you start renting or buying movies and music stuff off the xbox live, you get into that situation. So good luck sticking with only purchasing games online. I can see some argument using the real money for certain sections (i.e. games on demand, movies, music, etc.), but I still like MS points for buying games. XBL seems to give better discount than PSN.
@Jaffacakelover
Good point, but as an American, I just didn't think about the market places around the world. It does actually make more sense to keep the points if you think about the world market.
@everyone else who argues for the real money.
Don't you end up getting odd changes left in your PSN account regardless you buy points or real money PSN card? And if you do have odd changes, wouldn't your OCD part of brains screams for spend money to get rid of the left over dollars and cents on your account? I guess that's why I want Microsoft to allow me to donate the left over points to my favorite charities eventually if it won't convert them to real money.
http://sites.google.com/site/haendleruebersicht/haendler/xbox-live--gold-mitgliedschaft-bzw--ms-points
MS, I have fractions of dollars and cents laying around that I am unable to spend... Sure, you can have it Bill Gates... I won't need that money when I'm hungry, or thirsty.
If I'm not mistaken, I think they do this for currency exchange rates and whatnot. However, I don't see them adjusting it to reflect the current market prices of the local currency (Canadian, British, Euro, Japanese, American). Which from what I understand is extremely bad business practice. It also rips your customer off. Fuck, I still have like 130 points laying around from me getting castle crashers a year ago... And no. I will not buy fucking avatars.
Again. Fuck the Disney Dollars and let us see what we're actually spending.
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/category.aspx?k=xbox%20live%20points&c=us&category_id=2999&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&dgc=EM&cid=51501&lid=1330675&acd=ZQ40BZ-K3XCV-UKSKTN-GY5JID-T5BD2-v1&nf=116252~0~3413310&p=1&_nks=true
Okay I am waiting Sony to give 50 bux debit card for 42 bux. Or massive price cut across PSN store items. I am fine with either.
A: Do anything that eliminates complicated bullshit from one of its products
and
B: Do anything that involves any of it's customers actually saving any money.