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.
