RUMOR: No more MS points system after 2012

I think the real problem is that some time ago there was content for purchase that was 100-120 points. While it's true you could eventually make it divisible by 80 point but was a hassle.

Pricing seems to be much more standard now.
 
[quote name='shrike4242']As much I dislike having a credit card tied to PSN, there doesn't seem to be any way around that, unlike XBL.
[/QUOTE]

Why? I've seen $10, $20 and $50 PSN money cards in stores. And you can buy PS Plus cards or download codes as well.
 
I don't see why Xbox Live Rewards would go away, or other giveaways. No reason they can't give rewards for small monetary value instead of a small point value.

Same concept, just different denominations. Seems like a lot of whining over nothing in this thread, as I don't see a move to $ (like PSN) changing anything service wise. Rewards can still happen. You'll be able to buy cards in stores (or buy download codes from online stores) just like you can for PSN money and PS+ memberships etc.
 
This my two cents, from a slightly different perspective.
I'm a marketing major in college, and I"m starting to see a trend here. I might be wrong, but just my view. Feel free to disagree or challenge it.

First: Background
I remember a couple years ago when people bashed the points system. "What the hell is the point of this?" (Pun intended), but I did have conversations with my friends over it. The purpose was this: By allowing physical distribution of point cards, young gamers will have access to purchases. Remember, they don't have debit cards or bank accounts.

Notice how the article says the point system (assuming it's true) will be discontinued. This doesn't mean you won't be able to buy cards. Hell, that's stupid if they get rid of cards. What Microsoft intends is to transform the system into a dollar system, just like (you guessed right) the Playstation Network. So now, consumers can buy $20 credit instead of 1600 points.

I think there is more than just a financial perspective/justification from Microsoft to discontinue the point system.

From a marketing standpoint:
Remember the Zune cards? Anyone? You could buy 2000 points or even 2500 points. It was a failure. Yep, they are no longer in the market. I remember seeing them at Best Buy's website and Zune's website. Apparently, it confused the consumer. Apple doesn't use points system. They use a monetary system and it's clean and simple, (aka itune gift cards). They are simplifying the process for the new gamers.
Another point, I may add, (I might be wrong) but having a points system is sort of...teenager-ish. In a sense, it sort of is. Having a monetary system makes the idea of Xbox Live more mature and broad to all consumers (from Zune to console to phone users). It just is. Look at Wii points. Have you noticed the 3DS uses a monetary and yet most of their users are long standing Nintendo gamers, not young gamers? Why didn't they use a points sytem? Marketing & simplification.

From a financial perspective:
Smart move for the company. This should (and I emphasize should) cut tons of different marketing, labeling, and manufacturing costs for the different cards. Now everyone will have a $10. Simple. The company knows consumers will be have tough time finding deals with these cards too.

From legal standpoint:
Lawsuits. I believe there was one in 2007? or 2008? Another one in 2010. (google it) A man claimed Microsoft was forcing gamers to buy unusable points. The outcome was the option to buy the points in tiers (400 points, 800 points, etc) through the network.
With a monetary system, guess what? No more bull****!


I have a feeling Xbox will change the name of it's network sooner or later. "Xbox Live"
is becoming antiquated. Microsoft is beginning to streamline their whole brand, from the phone to the console. Hell, they changed the name of Windows Mobile phones to Windows Phone. Who takes out one small word out of a international brand? Someone willing to change everything. Branding is expensive.

Anyway, that's all. =) Hope I entertained you for a while.
 
Yeah the worst part of this move is that we've probably seen the last of getting $60 in points for $47 or whatever deal someone comes up with.
 
That could be true as it doesn't seem like there are deals on PSN $ cards very often--though I'm a new PS3 owner so I never paid much attention until recently.

Honestly, I didn't bother with points deals all that often. I don't buy a ton of downloadable stuff, so I usually just ended up buying points when I wanted to buy something right then as I didn't want to stock up a bunch of points I might not spend.
 
This is a smart move by m$. Save money by not printing cards and having to ship them. Get money up front and everything.

Now they can actually force us to use our CC on XBL MP, which sucks since they automatically charge them and etc. I always preferred cards as opposed to my CC.

Also you can get ms points way cheaper than retail as well by just looking around, so this will be a disappointment if they got rid of it, although at first it seemed useless when they first introduced it.
 
i think i posted this in the used game thread but i really wish microsoft would allow other virtual game distributing companies like steam on the sytem. i know they wont because they rather keep the monopoly tho :(

another issues is i dont want to give microsoft my CC info again too. they tried to resubscribe me to a years worth of xbox live even tho i cancled auto renew!
 
[quote name='fezlopez']
From legal standpoint:
Lawsuits. I believe there was one in 2007? or 2008? Another one in 2010. (google it) A man claimed Microsoft was forcing gamers to buy unusable points. The outcome was the option to buy the points in tiers (400 points, 800 points, etc) through the network.
With a monetary system, guess what? No more bull****!
[/QUOTE]

How is buying 1600 points and having 160 left over from a purchase different than buying a $20 card and having $2 left over from a purchase?

[quote name='Geco17']This is a smart move by m$. Save money by not printing cards and having to ship them. Get money up front and everything.
[/QUOTE]

That's never going to happen.
 
[quote name='Kevfactor']...another issues is i dont want to give microsoft my CC info again too. they tried to resubscribe me to a years worth of xbox live even tho i cancled auto renew![/QUOTE]

No reason you'll have to. PSN uses a dollar system and you can buy cards for $10, $20 or $50 and load on to your account, and can buy codes for PSN plus membership etc.

Only change is the system is using $ credits instead of a made up point system. No reason anything else has to change.
 
I don't see your argument valid. Because in some places, they charge tax on psn cards/xbl points. Also, purchasing something on psn is taxable unless you live in a state that doesn't charge taxes.
 
[quote name='Corvin']How is buying 1600 points and having 160 left over from a purchase different than buying a $20 card and having $2 left over from a purchase?
[/QUOTE]


This. Just cause dumbasses file a lawsuit doesn't mean anything. did that guy also use his logic to file a lawsuit about .1 cents he's owed at the gas station?
 
[quote name='fezlopez']This my two cents, from a slightly different perspective.
I'm a marketing major in college, and I"m starting to see a trend here. I might be wrong, but just my view. Feel free to disagree or challenge it.

From a financial perspective:
Smart move for the company. This should (and I emphasize should) cut tons of different marketing, labeling, and manufacturing costs for the different cards. Now everyone will have a $10. Simple. The company knows consumers will be have tough time finding deals with these cards too.

I have a feeling Xbox will change the name of it's network sooner or later. "Xbox Live"
is becoming antiquated. Microsoft is beginning to streamline their whole brand, from the phone to the console. Hell, they changed the name of Windows Mobile phones to Windows Phone. Who takes out one small word out of a international brand? Someone willing to change everything. Branding is expensive.

Anyway, that's all. =) Hope I entertained you for a while.[/QUOTE]

Well, I don't know how well you are doing in your marketing degree because you don't realize the power of branding. The Xbox division is one of the highlights for Microsoft and the only division having rapid growth. In fact, Wall Street wants Microsoft to divest the Xbox division so that it is not under the burden of a slow moving megalithic corporation. Microsoft stock is not a recommended buy because most of its businesses are slow growth. And investors want to make money and they would make more if Xbox was separate and capitalized on the Xbox branding. This is why Microsoft is now tying the Microsoft name to Xbox because they know that investors saw Xbox as the cool brand and the Microsoft name was lacking in terms of innovation that investors loved with the Kinect. In the old days, Microsoft would push Xbox separately. Xbox was the gaming multimedia project. Microsoft was the desktop enterprise. Now, you see the Microsoft name tagged to everything Xbox. You can't talk about Xbox without Microsoft reminding people that Microsoft is behind it. That's the branding that is Xbox.

Last I check, Microsoft did not market these point cards. have you seen a commercial advertising 1600 Microsoft points? making these plastic cards costs pennies.

And one of the reasons for the points system is currency rates. Do you go to a system where games are of different values? A game costs 400 Microsoft points. In the US, that 400 points equates to $5. But in Germany, it's 400 points but it's not $5. By having a points system, you are not tied to fluctuations in monetary exchange rates.

And people are not idiots. They're used to the point system. You earn reward points at Best Buy, on your credit cards, flyer mileage points, etc. To say that points confuse people is basically mocking them. If a person didn't know that 400 points is $5 in the US, then that person needs to think about improving his education.

There are so many other reasons Microsoft has a points system. It leads to more impulses purchases. It sets up a fund that they can earn interest off of. It allows kids to purchase items, knowing they don't have credit cards or bank cards.

As a cheap gamer, I'm all for the points system. I get why people who barely buy anything don't want points and would want to spend exact dollar amounts. But for me, getting $50 worth of points for only $35 means I basically get $15 of games for free everytime I buy that $50 of points. I regularly buy DLC, XBLA games, and XBLIG games so I want the best deal possible. that's why I'm a cheap ass gamer.
 
Like others have pointed out, I really don't get all these people complaining about having odd point amounts left over. I've had an odd dollar amount left over in my PSN wallet for years now. Don't remember what the hell it is that I bought, but I've had like a buck in there forever. Same, exact thing. Not the end of the world, either. That lone dollar is not making or breaking me financially. If it were, there would be issues in my life much, much larger than gaming...
 
[quote name='dirtyvu']
As a cheap gamer, I'm all for the points system. I get why people who barely buy anything don't want points and would want to spend exact dollar amounts. But for me, getting $50 worth of points for only $35 means I basically get $15 of games for free everytime I buy that $50 of points. I regularly buy DLC, XBLA games, and XBLIG games so I want the best deal possible. that's why I'm a cheap ass gamer.[/QUOTE]

There's no reason there couldn't still be deals on cards if they switch to a dollar system though.

There are deals on iTunes $ cards pretty often. I've only had a PS3 for a month or so, so I can't speak to how often those PSN $ cards go on sale though.
 
As long as they have deal and i can still buy a card instead of having to give xbox my credit card info im good with this.
 
[quote name='Slappybob']As long as they have deal and i can still buy a card instead of having to give xbox my credit card info im good with this.[/QUOTE]

They'll definitely have that, just like PSN, iTunes etc. do.

Only question is whether deals on them are as good/frequent as deals on the point cards.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']There's no reason there couldn't still be deals on cards if they switch to a dollar system though.

There are deals on iTunes $ cards pretty often. I've only had a PS3 for a month or so, so I can't speak to how often those PSN $ cards go on sale though.[/QUOTE]

With the name dollars retails will be a lot less likely to include them in sales, I've had a PS3 for years, and I've only seen PSN cards go on sale once, and that was an accident, however Micorosft Point cards are on sale everytime there is an xbox accessory sale, it's pretty standard for a retail to exclude things deemed as a "gift card" which a dollar amount of a PSN or if "Live Dollars" would include.

It may seem like there -should- be no reason, but there is to retailers(cha-ching).
 
[quote name='JaredFrost']With the name dollars retails will be a lot less likely to include them in sales, I've had a PS3 for years, and I've only seen PSN cards go on sale once, and that was an accident, however Micorosft Point cards are on sale everytime there is an xbox accessory sale, it's pretty standard for a retail to exclude things deemed as a "gift card" which a dollar amount of a PSN or if "Live Dollars" would include.

It may seem like there -should- be no reason, but there is to retailers(cha-ching).[/QUOTE]PSN cards have gone on sale more than once in the past few years, though they are few and far between compared to XBLM points card sales.

I think it's been 2 or 3 times that I can think of in the last few years, and always at TRU.
 
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