Microsoft Points a scam? Talks of copying the PS3 system
The Microsoft points system for Xbox Live has been an area of complaint since the beginning of the currency system. Criticisms were drawn to the system due to its confusing nature. It seems like Microsoft is thinking about changing the currency system to fix these concerns.
Near the end of last month, InformationWeek reported a lawsuit that may become a class action suit against Microsoft. The suit is in regards to the Microsoft points system for the Xbox 360. The suit accuses Microsoft of engaging in “a scheme to unjustly enrich itself through their fraudulent handling†of the complainant’s account.
I wouldn’t go as far as to call it a fraudulent scheme, but it is a scheme of sorts. It’s similar to how gift cards pretty much work. You have to buy chunks and spend it all at one location. This isn’t the first time Microsoft has been criticized by the “Microsoft Points†system.
Microsoft has been criticized by IT Pro Magazine for the way users have to buy music for the Zune. According to Paul Thurrott a writer for the magazine, a song costs 79 Microsoft Points which is about 99 cents. Thurrott accused Microsoft of obscuring the true cost of this content by showing what seems like a lower amount (79) than 99 cents.
Also, The Wall Street Journal criticized the system by stating that you have to buy at least $5 for a 99 cent song so Microsoft can hold onto $4.01 of your money.
This differs from other currency systems used on competing game consoles such as the PS3. The PSN store allows users to purchase the content for the exact value – no bulk points, no confusion and no hassle.
Aaron Greenberg recently told G4TV that the company might do away with the points system and move onto direct cash purchases like the PS3.
As a heavy purchaser on XBL Marketplace, I am extremely glad to hear this. It has been a long standing annoyance whenever I have points in my wallet leftover that can’t be used for anything else. Over the course of four years I probably “loaned†Microsoft money with no interest during the whole duration.
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79 Responses to “Microsoft Points a scam? Talks of copying the PS3 system”
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February 8th, 2010
Nice one, sock it to those bastards.
The microsoft points system sucks, if we’re being honest.
I don’t wanna spend £8.50 on 1000 microsoft points, to get DLC worth 800. It’s a shady scam to say the least.
I was looking at the Assassin’s Creed dlc, which cost’s around 300/400 points.
So if I want that, I’ve gotta purchase 500 points. Sorry, but that fucks me off.
February 8th, 2010
my work here is done….this place is shit now,thers no xbots, nobody to have flame wars with..WTF!!!???
i am leaving,i will soon evaporate and live on…i will see you guys on PSN……….Goodbye
February 8th, 2010
one more thing…..Kev you are the defintion of a stupid american imbred redneck cuntbag piece of shit!!!!!! Go and try and have a life instead of spooning with your 360! fuck you too CAD you faggot, GRAN TURISMO 5 OWNS FAGZA 3 fuckers!!!!!
PS3 FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And im gone……………………..
February 8th, 2010
*starts the slow clap*
February 8th, 2010
*finishes up his popcorn and walks out with a unsatisfied look on his face*
What? that’s it? I was expecting a much bigger climax. Now I feel kinda jerked around. Liquid certainly isn’t going to win any awards for this performance.
I want my money back.
February 8th, 2010
lol…he didnt finish his job. Kev will be back Thursday or Friday and CarlB is still around
back on topic..
MS points….big scam
February 8th, 2010
I guess the Ps3 fans are no fun. Lol.
Anyays, it snowed and I don’t have to go to work today. Yeah! Competition is always good. Both Sony and Microsoft continue to push each other. This will be good for Xbox users if they structure this similar to Sony’s system.
February 8th, 2010
So…..is Sega coming up with a Wii-like Console (Summer release) ??
http://www.pocket-lint.com/news-gallery/31177/new-sega-console-hitting-summer/1
February 8th, 2010
Yeah what the hell is going on with the weather?
The south is getting pumbled with snow and at least here in Ottawa we had snow on the ground the whole time but no storms or big snowfalls since early winter.
We had some nice warm days over the past couple of weeks.
When I drove down to Florida in Dec. there were a lot of cars and trucks in the ditch from the snow. (on I81) Not that I want the shit. They can have it. LOL It’s just strange.
February 8th, 2010
Last year we had so much snow the roofs were caving in on people’s homes. People were making big bucks clearing snow off the roofs.
February 8th, 2010
Do they not let you use a credit card? That’s what I use and only pay what is needed.
February 8th, 2010
they let you use credit cards to buy MS points…and then use the points to buy w.e you want
February 8th, 2010
Yes, the snow was unexpected. We were not supposed to even get any snow today. When it snows down south, everything just about shuts down. I know the people who live up north would probably just laugh at us for shutting down with our little amount of snow compared to what you guys normally get.
February 8th, 2010
I still think I have a fairly strong case against MS. The “exclusives” that they advertise are false advertising. I’m pretty sure that my case would stand up in a class action law suite.
February 8th, 2010
Twilight,
We got about 2 feet here in Philly. I managed to get out of taking a test on Friday
Supposedly we are getting more on Wednesday. So I might get lucky again and get out of a giving a speech.
Please snow!
February 8th, 2010
@Phranc
lol irl srsly
*joins the slow clap with a slightly less slow clap*
February 8th, 2010
I don’t have a beef with the MS points system, it’s not like they keep the change, it is still yours until you spend it.
If you only ever intended to only purchase a single piece of DLC in the entire life of the console, then yes, you might have a case of being ripped off. Since this MUST be a miniscule minority of Xbox Live users, seems like a nice improvement to go to a straight pay system, but not a miracle cure for some long suffering ill.
February 8th, 2010
so what do you guys think about the Heavy Rain demo?
February 8th, 2010
It only builds my anticipation further. The variation in the sleazy room scene alone is exciting.
February 8th, 2010
That was a cool scence….cant wait to play Madison’s part of the story
February 8th, 2010
It’s so boring here without the xbots to tease.
February 8th, 2010
Roca,
I’m looking forward to playing this game. The graphics look great.
Bj,
We only got about four inches of snow. Hopefully, you’ll get a break. Sometimes, it’s good to get a break. I remember when I was taking classes that I absolutely hated during speeches and research papers.
February 8th, 2010
“It’s so boring here without the xbots to tease.”
tell me about it….
February 8th, 2010
@Twilight
you dont have your PS3 yet huh? there is a demo, really good for this “niche” genre. I hope Sony keeps making more games like this one. the demo alone was a great, fresh, new experience!
I hope you will enjoy it
February 8th, 2010
Just got the Rockband AC/DC for $5 new at EB.
My girlfriend likes AC/DC. I use to be a headbanger lol.
Now I listen to hiphop mostly.
I haven’t really plaid Rockband yet. I bought it the same day I got the PS3.
February 8th, 2010
not bad for $5 bucks.
February 8th, 2010
yeah. If I ever play it LOL.
I like playing the guitar on Guitar Hero.
February 8th, 2010
When I see games at $5-$10 I have to buy them. Even if they suck you’re only out $5-$10. That’s also the reason I don’t pay full price also. (except GOW3)
February 8th, 2010
I can’t wait to get my Pandora’s box.
Hope she is still a virgin.
February 8th, 2010
Roca,
I guess you missed my post.I got my Ps3 system last Friday. I took a half a day of vacation time to make sure I got a Ps3 before the weekend. I went five days without a Ps3. It was miserable not having a system. I’m too much of a die hard gamer to not have a system. Gaming is a huge part of my life. I should be on line next month when I relocate.
February 8th, 2010
full price is not that bad, for example GoW Collection cost you about $40…and you have been playing for about 3 months already and you not even half way through the first game…$40-$60 is not bad for a good quality game. plus you will never find good games at around $5-$10
February 8th, 2010
“I should be on line next month when I relocate”
cool, so is your PSN ID going to be “Twilight” or maybe something fancy like “Twilight-New-Moon”
what happened to your 360 you just got during x-mass btw?
February 8th, 2010
*insert homosexual vampire rip-off analogy here*
February 8th, 2010
“plus you will never find good games at around $5-$10″
Not true. I got a few games for that. GH Aerowsmith for one.
February 8th, 2010
lol @ Jofa
but I must admit, it was a decent movie
February 8th, 2010
“Not true. I got a few games for that. GH Aerowsmith for one.”
I said good games, not horrible milked games
February 8th, 2010
I prefer my vampires with a fatal weakness for the sun and wooden stakes, tyvm.
That said, New Moon was a far better movie than Twilight. I would never have watched it myself, but the wife runs a popular fan site, so I am inundated with this crap. Now the movies get to turn into a vampire X-men clone. I am actually looking forward to this, better than all this teenage emo bullshit they put forward as “drama”.
February 8th, 2010
Hollywood doesnt know what to do with Vampires anymore.
Blade: Vampires killing Vampires (different races) and a daywalker
Daybreakers: Vampires farming humans for blood. City runs by Vampires.
what happen with Dracula…Coffins, bats, Castles, transylvania etc???
February 8th, 2010
“what happen with Dracula…Coffins, bats, Castles, transylvania etc???”
Watch Batman Vs Dracula! Good movie.
February 8th, 2010
Roca,
I haven’t thought about a user name yet but it will be something to reflect my personality. As far as the Xbox360 goes,I took the Xbox360 back to the store and got a refund. I am not willing to deal with crappy hardware failures. Although I do like the movie,I wasn’t thinking about the movie Twilight when I created the user name. It’s so funny about this.
JofaMang,
Twilight is more of a women’s movie like Superbad is more of a guy’s movie.
They don’t seem to make any good true vampire movies anymore. One of my favorite vampire movies is Bloodlust Subspecies 3 and Bloodstorm Subspecies 4.
February 8th, 2010
Buffy! LOL not
February 8th, 2010
I seen a good one not to long ago.
It had two friends become enemies. I can’t recall the name though.
February 8th, 2010
The one kid became a good vampire and the other became a bad one.
February 8th, 2010
Twilight: New Moon
February 8th, 2010
The Vampire’s Assistant
February 8th, 2010
My kid is/was into twilight.
February 8th, 2010
@ Twilight
Well duh, of course it is for women more than men… so far. The next movie (and the probably 2 movies that the 4th book is going to break into) are closer to X-men than twilight. The super powers will rule the plot, with action and violence being splattered across the screen, if only to be interrupted occasionally by Bella crying or Edward not crying. Seriously, that writer is retarded. Rich, but retarded.
It’s like a Marvel/Twilight Fan fic.
February 8th, 2010
Actually jofa, Disney will make it twilight/Princess.
February 8th, 2010
Microsoft Points always reminded me of the Simpsons episode with ‘Itchy and Scratchy Money’.
@ twilight,
Shame you had a crash, did you say you had a RRoD? With a Jasper chip? That’s weird, Jaspers may get the E74 failure, but I’ve never heard of a RRoD on a Jasper. Maybe you were sold an old Falcon/Xenon or something?
February 8th, 2010
Any one see the Spartacus series yet?
I think it’s pretty good. Kind of like if Gladiator was a TV series instead of a movie. But there’s also some 300 art style thrown in.
February 8th, 2010
Nice clown Harry
February 8th, 2010
Harry,
I’m positive that the system was the lastest Jasper model unit. The system actually red ringed. I don’t know if it was the traditional red ring error or the E74 error. All I know is that the system just quit working. I had the system laying flat on an open shelf with nothing surrounding it. I was upset that the system died. I could get another Xbox360 but I don’t think it is even worth the headache. One of my friends is trying to talk me into giving the system another chance. He feels that I just got unlucky and got one of the few bad Xbox360′s. He swears that the latest models of Xbox360′s are reliable. I was looking forward to playing Mass Effect 2 and the latest Splinter Cell game. Hopefully, you’ve been enjoying this game. I hope this game comes to the Ps3 system. Did you get your Ps3 problem taken care of?
February 8th, 2010
Thanks Spidey, it’s from Zombieland. That is such a tits movie, Bill Murray’s cameo was hilarious.
@ twilight,
I think your friend is right, the Jasper model is much more reliable. If it was the E74 error it would have come up on the screen. I don’t suppose you noted the voltage details on the back of your system by any chance? Shame you gave up on it, you missed out on Mass Effect 2, easily the best game i’ve ever played.
I had an issue with my 360 on Friday, my house was hit by lightning and it blew up my modem, my switch and the ethernet port in my 360 (which was on standby, charging my controller). I called Microsoft and they said that it’s still under warranty, but the funny thing is that I bought it more than 3 years ago. I didn’t complain, I just finished ME2 and sent it in for a free repair (and hopefully an Opus chip, my 360 is a Xenon, I am one of the lucky ones who didn’t get a RRoD with the Xenon).
Re my PS3 issue, I haven’t played it much since I had ME2, or used the browser much either. I did spend a few hours last night playing UC2, that game kicks arse. My only problem was getting him to go into cover. There was one point where I was on a bridge behind a cart (the monastery stage) getting fired at, so I hit the circle button to get into cover, but instead of covering behind the cart, he decided to dangle off the bridge instead. haha
February 8th, 2010
Yeah ME2 is one of my fave games ever. The suicide mission is ace, everyone survived
I was hoping to shag Miranda but I got that Tali instead! WTF!? Where did I go wrong? lol.
Defo getting it for PS3 for the Trophies.
February 8th, 2010
Harry,
The voltage on the label was 12.1 volts. The system also had the smaller power brick which was 150 amps. I had checked all of this because I wanted to be certain that I had the Jasper edition of the Xbox360. My friend’s put a deal on the table for me. He says that he will reimburse me all of my money if I buy another Xbox360 and it fails.
I haven’t seen Zombieland yet. I’ve heard many people say that they like this movie.
February 8th, 2010
oldie,
Not sure if it’s going to make the PS3. That code that Mike posted last week is in every game that uses the Unreal engine, regardless. I did Miranda. I wanted some dude on dude action with Grunt, but it didn’t happen.
twilight, sounds like a Jasper. You look to be one of the very unlucky ones.
February 8th, 2010
Grunt lmao! I think it will make it’s way to Sony now it’s EA. This time next year I’m guessing or when ME3 is announced. I’ll play it again before hand though, wanna be a full on bad ass and get my team killed.
Other article:
Yeah I picked Garret to lead the teams. Jack to give my team the Biotic barrier, she’s the strongest one and Legion to do the vent/hacking.
Kelly came in too my room as well the dirty little bitch lol. You played the HR demo Harry?
February 8th, 2010
Nope, I looked for it last night before I played UC2 and it wasn’t in the playstation store, I guess the Aussie store is behind the rest of the world, just like everything else.
February 9th, 2010
You got a English account? It’s UK only. You have to win the download code off the Four Day Challenge thing. I just googles the answers lol
February 9th, 2010
That sounds like a lot of work for a lazy person like me. Is it coming out on general release soon? It looks interesting.
February 9th, 2010
26th Feb in UK. Aus should be about the same mate.
February 9th, 2010
cool. i might pick it up if I finish Uncharted 2 by then. Then again, March is a bit of a shocker with GOW 3, FFXIII and an Xbox title who’s name escapes me coming out.
February 9th, 2010
You ain’t completed U2 yet? Ah, the train level still amazes me lol.
Next month is busy for games, can’t wait for GOW3 and FF13. I’m just gutted about FF13 because I heard it’s extremely linear and 50% of the game had to be taken out for it to go on the Xbox. Fucking winds me up lol.
February 9th, 2010
Gears of war 1 & 2, shadow complex, last remnant, splinter cell conviction, etc……all these games uses the unreal. Engine and there’s no PS3 code on them. So mass effect 2 will make it’s way to the ps3 just like the gta4 dlcs, they just can’t say it yet because there’s money behind it. EA owns and published the title so MS can only buy some time before it makes an appearance on the PS3.
@TWILIGHT
) hopefully you will get to play ME2 and SC:C someday if not there are plenty of ps3 games to keep u busy and once you get online everything will be a lot more fun
my friend has gone through 2 Jasper elites in a matter of 3 months..the funny thing is that he is not a gamer, he doesn’t play that often and yet it still died. all 360 models die eventually MS is just doinf a better job covering it and showing the exact figures. ….if you want any proof just go to ur local gamestop and ask how many dead/defective/refurbished 360 they have in the back room…maybe they’ll let u see the 360 graveyard they have in the back….its sad to hear that you got it during Xmas and now its dead…..(ncaissie should have warned you
February 9th, 2010
“I was hoping to shag Miranda but I got that Tali instead! WTF!? Where did I go wrong? lol.”
MIRANDA is mine thats why, so plz stay away from her Oldie.. lol
looks like everyone is playing ME2.. I m still doing the loyalty missions, so plz no SPOILERS, anywaz thanks for the tip Oldie, i will stay away from tali now
Dont wanna screw up my relation with Miranda, shez so cute
February 9th, 2010
@Harry & Oldie
So were you surprised to see, how some of the minor decisions u made in ME1 had something to do in ME2..
I was surprised to see conrad verner in that N7 armor
February 9th, 2010
“an Xbox title who’s name escapes me coming out.
”
Metro 2033 Harry.. Looks like day 1 for me..
February 9th, 2010
@ roca,
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/bioware-ps3-refs-in-me2-code-erroneous
Sounds pretty cut-and-dried there. But keep praying, it might happen.
@ Toshi,
Yep, I did get constantly reminded about the bad shit I did in the first game! haha.
If you want a challenge, try getting a mano-a-mano relationship with Grunt or Legion. I tried my best advances on Grunt, but got constantly denied.
February 9th, 2010
Roca,
It is absolutely insane that your friend has gone through two Xbox360′s in this short amount of time. I’m done with the Xbox360. Even though Xbox360 may have a few titles I want to play,I’ve had enough. I want be playing any games that do not come out on the Ps3 system. I’ve always preferred the Ps3 system over the Xbox360 system anyways. I just wanted the Xbox360 to play the few titles that were not available on the Ps3. However, it is certainly not worth the trouble.
February 9th, 2010
@ Tosh: I couldn’t get a relationship with Miranda, we’re just fuck buddies. She does things to me her father would be ashamed of lmao.
The decisions from ME1 to ME2 were extremely minor from what I could tell, just a different sentence in a dialogue lol.
February 9th, 2010
@Harry
Rockstar/Microsoft said the same about Fallout3 & GTA4 DLCs and look now….EA/Bioware can’t say the game will eventually come out on PS3 because there might be some cash involved. no need to take it personal its just a trend with all the 360 exclusive
- Bioshock
- Ninja Gaiden 2
- Star Ocean 4
- Braid
- Tales of Vispera
- Castle Crasher
- GTA4 DLCs
- Fallout 3 DLCs
- Lost Planet
- Oblivion
- Rainbow Six Vegas
- Splinter Cell: Double Agent
February 9th, 2010
@Harry
Stop that Harry, now he’s posting lists again!
February 9th, 2010
@ me_,
haha crap. At least he’s got passion.
February 9th, 2010
Hopefully I get mine back this week, I want to give Mass Effect 2 another crack. This time I’ll be a female biotic, and i’m going to try to have a lesbo relationship with Jack (she seems like she is open to try anything) and ride Legion’s metal rod.
February 9th, 2010
Metal rod …… surely she’d like a hot beef injection instead ??!!
February 9th, 2010
lmao buy a game for 267.98767656 ms points! make sure to round up kids! fuck u
February 9th, 2010
Legion is a robot, but I am sure he’s into the odd bit of skin flute.
February 9th, 2010
@twilight
Just trade consol’s with your friend to play the games you want to play.
Then maybe your friend will see what the PS3 is all about and sell his POS 360.
February 9th, 2010
I will just use that money on upcoming games instead..Heavy Rain is a sleeper hit and FF13 and GoW3 and around the corner.
*Getting Bioshock 2 today8