Microsoft to cash in chips on virtual currency
Points break
Microsoft will call time on its virtual currency, Microsoft Points, with a switch to real money on the cards later this year, it has been claimed.
Future transactions across the Windows Phone, Zune and Xbox Live platforms will be based on the currencies of the region in which the user has pegged their account to, an anonymous mole says, according to InsideMobile reports.
This would see the end of the Points format and align the system with purchasing protocol used on rival platforms, including the iTunes App Store and the Android Market.
Mobile developers with connections to the company have apparently been warned to plan for the change, so upcoming downloadable content and in-app purchases can be priced accordingly.
Users with remaining MS points after the switchover will find them converted into their local currency.
Microsoft has pondered such a move in the past - in 2010, in some regions it began listing real-world prices alongside Points prices to help buyers understand how much they were spending.
The use of Points exclusively has even resulted in legal action being brought against Microsoft.
We'll let you know when official word surfaces. The prospect seems a sensible one, though and all signs point to... for Points to go. ®
COMMENTS
About Time
I hope they do away with the old carny trick of making you buy points in fixed amount, where it seems that you are always stuck with an unused balance that is too small to buy anything.
About time to
Good - being an Xbox 360 and iPhone own it always puts me off buying add-ons, Videos etc. on the Microsoft Platform it tells me that it is going to cost my x amount of points then working out the real value, at least with Apple products you know how much it is going to cost before you purchase it, this will be a win for Microsoft and for the end user.
It's just a rumor...
This has already been reported on trueachivements.com and as they said, there is no proof whatsoever to back this story up.
Itchy And Scratchy Land Money....
...It's like real money, but more fun... And now worth nothing.
I was going to ask how anyone falls for this crap, but then again, if they can dupe Homer Simpson into it...
