Microsoft has acknowledged that the Microsoft Points system used for purchasing the majority of content over Xbox Live is not without its faults, and says that it's looking into pricing content in real world currencies in the future.
The news comes after Microsoft began allowing Xbox 360 owners to pay for Games On Demand using real world currencies as well as Microsoft Points - a move that was welcomed by the Xbox Live community.
Xbox group product manager Aaron Greenberg told G4TV: "I think people like to see the dollar amount. We never intended to ever mislead people. I think we want to be transparent about it, and so it is something that we're looking at.
"How can we be more transparent and let people see it in actual dollars? The fact is that you've got to think that we have one service that we're offering around the world. The nice thing about points is that no matter if you're on the yen or the Euro or the dollar - something that's 200 points is 200 points everywhere around the world.
"There's more technical complexities to being able to put local prices in," he added. "You have to do that for every product in every country and you then have to deal with currency fluctuations. So there's some challenges to that, but we absolutely did it with the Games On Demand, response has been good and absolutely it's something we're looking at doing."
Greenberg also told the site that Microsoft is working on removing a cap that only allows Xbox Live users to have 100 friends.
excellent. now just let us copy our media to our hardrives, allow us to keep active profiles on more than one console, an internet browser, mice and keyboard support for games and browser, increase the nav speed on the dashboard (hold b to go to dashboard.) and increase the party allowance to 16 and ill be an eccdn.static.
@attitude2k Yeah, £4.25. But Natwest seem to be able o make that MORE than £4.25 if I pay online. Seems they add some sort of fee/charge that I wasn't aware of until I saw my statement - kind of like the fees you pay when you pay for something in the US. Points truly ARE an alien currency. I remember when they had a deal on buying 2x2100 points at HMV a few months ago. Should have bought a ton of those!
If Microsoft points were available in amounts that correlated to the point value of the software I would agree i.e. I purchase 1000 points to buy something that is 1000 points. But the fact that you have to purchase more points than you need is a clear scam.
I still spend far to much money of points to but arcade games and expansions but I'm under no illusion that it's a con, especially when my points balance currently stands at 70.
"The nice thing about points is that no matter if you're on the yen or the Euro or the dollar - something that's 200 points is 200 points everywhere around the world."
Thats all well and good, but when 5000 points cost £42.50 in the UK and 5000 points are $62.50 (aroun £38.72) it hardly seems fair.
i know i might sound picky about this but thats at the current exchange rate, when the xbox 360 launched at the end of 2005 it was roughly £1 = $2. that means americans were getting 5000 points for the equivelent of £31.25, £10 cheaper than over here..... now that doesnt seem fair.
and just so i dont leave out the japs, they pay 7400 yen for 5000 points, thats £51.11, nearly £10 more than us.
the points system is just a cover for over charging other countrys without us realising, id rather know that i was being ripped off
"The nice thing about points is that no matter if you're on the yen or the Euro or the dollar - something that's 200 points is 200 points everywhere around the world."
Thats all well and good, but when 5000 points cost £42.50 in the UK and 5000 points are $62.50 (aroun £38.72) it hardly seems fair.
i know i might sound picky about this but thats at the current exchange rate, when the xbox 360 launched at the end of 2005 it was roughly £1 = $2. that means americans were getting 5000 points for the equivelent of £31.25, £10 cheaper than over here..... now that doesnt seem fair.
and just so i dont leave out the japs, they pay 7400 yen for 5000 points, thats £51.11, nearly £10 more than us.
the points system is just a cover for over charging other countrys without us realising, id rather know that i was being ripped off
This.
Ideally I would prefer that both options be available and each customer can choose for him/herself. Choice is a good thing when it comes to consumer goods. If you happen to have a bank account in a foreign country (or if you are paid in a foreign currency - this usually only applies to people assigned to duty stations abroad on behalf of their country or some multi-national corporation or non-governmental organization,) using a currency that offers you the same amount of MS points for less real-term cash than if you had to buy the same amount of MS points using your local currency then you stand to gain. Otherwise it is precisely the way Andy3050 described it.
Although I do agree that something that is 200 points in the UK and 200 points in the USA is a fair system, I don't belive the statment "we din't mean to mislead anyone".
I have have some very bad experence with MS over XNA membership and Xbox Live membership, and trust me, their goal is to make it very hard for you get stop giving them money.
Example 1: I signed up to the XNA game creators club so I could program simple 360 games in C+. You can sign up through your 360 or on the Internet. When you have had enough and want to cancel it you can't do it on your 360 or even through their website. You have to phone up and make an half hour phone call and explaine to them why you want out. After all of that it took me 3 months to get a refund out of them for the few months I had not used.
Example 2: When I was selling my 360, I wanted to cancel XBL and MS to delete my account and my credit card details. Same story as above, you can't do that through your xbox or online. You have to phone up, but this took 3 three phone callseach at half an hour each.
MS are always trying to keep your money and they make it hard and annnoying for you to cancel any service you have with them. Unless their next console is so amazing it makes the world turn the other way, I'll never buy another MS console again or sign up to another MS service. Windows is the only thing i'll ever buy from them.
Although I do agree that something that is 200 points in the UK and 200 points in the USA is a fair system, I don't belive the statment "we din't mean to mislead anyone".
I have have some very bad experence with MS over XNA membership and Xbox Live membership, and trust me, their goal is to make it very hard for you get stop giving them money.
Example 1: I signed up to the XNA game creators club so I could program simple 360 games in C+. You can sign up through your 360 or on the Internet. When you have had enough and want to cancel it you can't do it on your 360 or even through their website. You have to phone up and make an half hour phone call and explaine to them why you want out. After all of that it took me 3 months to get a refund out of them for the few months I had not used.
Example 2: When I was selling my 360, I wanted to cancel XBL and MS to delete my account and my credit card details. Same story as above, you can't do that through your xbox or online. You have to phone up, but this took 3 three phone callseach at half an hour each.
MS are always trying to keep your money and they make it hard and annnoying for you to cancel any service you have with them. Unless their next console is so amazing it makes the world turn the other way, I'll never buy another MS console again or sign up to another MS service. Windows is the only thing i'll ever buy from them.
I know several people who have cancelled their gold subs to go away travelling with no problems at all - just one call.
They should probably look at changing the phone-only system, though, as I know some people can be intimidated by having to talk to people on the phone to cancel things.
I think MS have now fixed the xbl recurring charges shenanigans. I'm sure that Major Nelson guy announced that you can just log onto your account at xbox.com now and do it relatively hassle free.
Still, it was a crap practice before.
And every now and then there are good deals for points. I got 2100 points from zavvi not so long ago for £14 odd.
I bet the biggest thing for Microsoft is that you rarely get to spend the last point you purchased.
If they have, let's say 10 million users, each with a dollar worth of points they can never spend, that's 10 million dollars of free money for Microsoft.
I've bought stuff off Live for years, and never has my balance been exact 0 points. The lowest has been around 20-50 points which I can never spend.
Although I do agree that something that is 200 points in the UK and 200 points in the USA is a fair system, I don't belive the statment "we din't mean to mislead anyone".
I have have some very bad experence with MS over XNA membership and Xbox Live membership, and trust me, their goal is to make it very hard for you get stop giving them money.
Example 1: I signed up to the XNA game creators club so I could program simple 360 games in C+. You can sign up through your 360 or on the Internet. When you have had enough and want to cancel it you can't do it on your 360 or even through their website. You have to phone up and make an half hour phone call and explaine to them why you want out. After all of that it took me 3 months to get a refund out of them for the few months I had not used.
Example 2: When I was selling my 360, I wanted to cancel XBL and MS to delete my account and my credit card details. Same story as above, you can't do that through your xbox or online. You have to phone up, but this took 3 three phone callseach at half an hour each.
MS are always trying to keep your money and they make it hard and annnoying for you to cancel any service you have with them. Unless their next console is so amazing it makes the world turn the other way, I'll never buy another MS console again or sign up to another MS service. Windows is the only thing i'll ever buy from them.
I know several people who have cancelled their gold subs to go away travelling with no problems at all - just one call. .
Cancelled or deleted their account? You can cancel your account quite easy, but deleting is a different matter. I wanted my account & details to be deleted after the mess they made with my XNA
I say keep MS points. I can find 500 points cheaper than £4.25. However, I can't get £4.25 cheaper than £4.25.
On the PSN you can get £20 for just under £16 so the same sort of saving should still be available to LIVE users if MS changed from points to real currency.
As poor a show as that is, I don't think that problem (getting your account/details deleted) is a problem particular to MS.
I've had nightmares getting email and phone details of various companies databases and marketing crap.
I bought a £900 PC from Evesham a couple of years or so ago, then they went bust and the directors just restarted the company under a different company no. They kept on and on at me to take out an extended warranty as my original three year warranty died when the company did. They said they were unable to delete my details, I was getting marketing emails every other day etc.
Not as bad as being potentially charged, but these companies are just bottomholes when it comes to handling our information/personal details.
At the very least Microsoft should show the currency rate equivalent to the prices they charge for points direct via 360 marketplace. So at the moment 2000 = £17, 1000 = £8.50, 500 = £4.25
They could have the value in pounds shown in brackets next to the points, or flash between points and currency value. So if you were about to purchase something for 240 points it would show; 240 (£2.04)
You can purchase 2100 for only £15.99 from Amazon, so you can save yourself a few quid with 1000 = only £7.61
It is the way everything is priced and the amount of points that you can buy it is all a big con to make you spend more.
I bet everyone that has posted on here has been left 10 or 20 points short of buying something. There for you have to go and buy another 400 points minimum . That's why everything is priced in multiples of 20 for example 240 560 etc.. and not in multiples of 25 for example 250 550
This points system also encourages me to shop around and get them cheaper. Though it is a pain when you have a dodgy 120 points or somin hanging over with nuthin to do with it.
Although I do agree that something that is 200 points in the UK and 200 points in the USA is a fair system, I don't belive the statment "we din't mean to mislead anyone".
I have have some very bad experence with MS over XNA membership and Xbox Live membership, and trust me, their goal is to make it very hard for you get stop giving them money.
Example 1: I signed up to the XNA game creators club so I could program simple 360 games in C+. You can sign up through your 360 or on the Internet. When you have had enough and want to cancel it you can't do it on your 360 or even through their website. You have to phone up and make an half hour phone call and explaine to them why you want out. After all of that it took me 3 months to get a refund out of them for the few months I had not used.
Example 2: When I was selling my 360, I wanted to cancel XBL and MS to delete my account and my credit card details. Same story as above, you can't do that through your xbox or online. You have to phone up, but this took 3 three phone callseach at half an hour each.
MS are always trying to keep your money and they make it hard and annnoying for you to cancel any service you have with them. Unless their next console is so amazing it makes the world turn the other way, I'll never buy another MS console again or sign up to another MS service. Windows is the only thing i'll ever buy from them.
I wouldn't stand for that. After the first such experience I would contact my bank and ask them to stop all automated payments to MS. It's the equivalent of shock treatment but it stops them cold in their tracks. At that point it wouldn't matter if they threaten to cut off your access to XNA, etc. since you've already decided you don't want those services any longer. In short: When dealing with automated credit card transactions you have the long end of the stick.
As poor a show as that is, I don't think that problem (getting your account/details deleted) is a problem particular to MS.
I've had nightmares getting email and phone details of various companies databases and marketing crap.
I bought a £900 PC from Evesham a couple of years or so ago, then they went bust and the directors just restarted the company under a different company no. They kept on and on at me to take out an extended warranty as my original three year warranty died when the company did. They said they were unable to delete my details, I was getting marketing emails every other day etc.
Not as bad as being potentially charged, but these companies are just bottomholes when it comes to handling our information/personal details.
Which should be illegal, IMO. It is also the reason why I create "dump" e-mail addresses that I only use for website or product registrations. That way I can abandon the e-mail account if it gets out of hand without it adversely affecting my main private and professional e-mail accounts. f**k those parasites.
It is the way everything is priced and the amount of points that you can buy it is all a big con to make you spend more.
I bet everyone that has posted on here has been left 10 or 20 points short of buying something. There for you have to go and buy another 400 points minimum . That's why everything is priced in multiples of 20 for example 240 560 etc.. and not in multiples of 25 for example 250 550
You can get around that, or at least minimize the left overs, by carefully planning which points packages you purchase and which games you buy with them. True, it requires quite a bit more effort and a bit of luck depending on what discount sales may be going on at the time.
why dont they just let people add there credit debit card to there accounts and just take of the money for the game after purchase, stuff the points system. so no min purchase of 800 points.
change the whole price structure also, dam skate 1 is £20 on demand i can buy skate 2 which is a better game after all the improvements for new £15.
enough with points now its past its time, like vhs. we want propper currency so we know when were getting scammed for content. a game costs £8.00 then let it cost £8.00 not convert it to ms points and then it costs £9.00
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