Like everything else with the word “Rumoured” on it, be sure to take this story with a grain of salt, but reports have recently begun surfacing about Microsoft’s plans to start killing off their “Points” system in favour of the more popular and understood “actual damn money” system.
(I mean, 800 Microsoft Points equals ten dollars. But you can only buy them in packs of 500 (at least in Canada, I’ve heard that they changed this in America). I have a distinct feeling someone at Microsoft has a dark sense of humour.)
Inside Mobile Aps, a technology website whose focus should hopefully be readily apparent, released an article earlier this week stating that Microsoft was planning on phasing out their longstanding points system in favour of a simple money system, with the hopes that MS Points would be completely curbed by the end of the year. This move would have wide-ranging implications for all of Microsoft’s products, as not just Xbox Live but their Zune Marketplace and Windows Mobile phones are both currently subscribed to this play-school money system.
Personally I couldn’t be happier with this idea. There’s something inherently…childish about buying games with “points”, it’s always felt like I’ve gone back to my childhood arcade, where I could trade in tickets for plastic baubles. I don’t want to trade in 800 Microsoft “fun dollars” to play some kids’ game, I want to slap ten dollars down on the virtual counter and have a deep, interactive experience.
Though I’m probably just over-analyzing the situation again.