According to rumors, those pesky Microsoft Points will be gone by the end of 2012. For the uninitiated, Microsoft Points are the system of virtual currency used to buy content on Xbox LIVE, Zune Marketplace, and Windows Mobile Marketplace.
The points, which do not correspond to actual money in a way that makes sense to human beings, seemingly have no purpose except to make you spend more money. If you don't know how much an actual item costs, you're more likely to fork over points for it. It's like trading tickets in at the arcade. Can you believe this bouncy ball that would only cost me fifty-cents at the store was only 12,450 tickets? SCORE! Plus, you can only purchase microsoft points in bundles, and because of Microsoft's pricing structure, you always end up buying more points than you actually need, which means more money for Microsoft and a pair of sunglasses for your avatar.
While most other app stores use dollar-to-dollar cost models (except for the Nintendo Wii, which also uses points), Microsoft has stood by their confusing and convoluted system that makes you feel like a clueless American tourist trying to figure out what 34,000 Yen equates to in US dollars so you can get a new girlfriend pillow. Now, it seems the system is so out of line with the way the rest of the industry does business, that Microsoft might actually have to price things at what they cost, and not in their archaic system of space bucks.
The points, which do not correspond to actual money in a way that makes sense to human beings, seemingly have no purpose except to make you spend more money. If you don't know how much an actual item costs, you're more likely to fork over points for it. It's like trading tickets in at the arcade. Can you believe this bouncy ball that would only cost me fifty-cents at the store was only 12,450 tickets? SCORE! Plus, you can only purchase microsoft points in bundles, and because of Microsoft's pricing structure, you always end up buying more points than you actually need, which means more money for Microsoft and a pair of sunglasses for your avatar.
While most other app stores use dollar-to-dollar cost models (except for the Nintendo Wii, which also uses points), Microsoft has stood by their confusing and convoluted system that makes you feel like a clueless American tourist trying to figure out what 34,000 Yen equates to in US dollars so you can get a new girlfriend pillow. Now, it seems the system is so out of line with the way the rest of the industry does business, that Microsoft might actually have to price things at what they cost, and not in their archaic system of space bucks.
What do you think?
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