Xbox Live Marketplace sales bonanza, starting today [update]

@devildog9802 That's the point, good for them, bad for consumers. : (

@nerdydesi1 In which I mean just plain money is better than proprietary points, especially those left over.

@nerdydesi1

You mean the other way around? A points system is like having everything on sale because you can buy the points cards at cheap prices.

@devildog9802 Don't know why you're getting downvoted for this. Points are a HUGE scam. They are specifically designed to not be rounded out properly with their real world value, and sold in specific amounts that you'll always have points remaining after you've bought what you want.

It took me some doing, but I'm at zero MS points on my account now. I have difficulty justifying purchasing more points these days, because I hate just have a weird number I can't spend on anything I want just laying around.

It's a crap system. I'd probably purchase a lot more if I could just spend real money on it, instead of using a really shitty points system that is designed to fleece us.

But it makes MS tons of money, so I doubt it'll change any time soon, and I'm super bitter about it.

@omgJOHN

I don't see any difference between having some left over points in your account that aren't enough to buy anything and having $.50 left in your account like many other systems use.

@omgJOHN

So instead you buy PSN or Nintendo points in $20 increments?

The major upside to the MSP system is that it's not considered a monetary gift card, meaning retailers can get them for a lower price and offer discounts on them. Having small amounts of points leftover in the account becomes moot when you've accumulated savings equal to or greater than said point difference.

@devildog9802
Most of the games and DLC on XBLA cost the exact amount of points you can buy, and if you have points left over odds are there's going to be something you want to spend it on eventually. Microsoft gives you plenty of opportunity to spend those points so if you don't that's kind of on you. And it's not like it's any different than buying a $20 or $50 PSN card and having to figure out how to spend the extra funds after you bought a $9.99 arcade game.

@omgJOHN
You say you'd spend more if it was cash but complain about being fleeced because it's points? I don't see the difference. If you already have the points spend them.

@An Irish Saint I've never seen any other system where I can't just spend money as I see fit. On PSN I can buy a $10 game by charging my credit card $10. Same thing with Steam.
I don't know about Wii as I don't have one and never used the Wii store, but I do know that 1000 points is equal to $10, and all of their prices are divisible by 100, which is reasonable.

On XBox, if I want a 800 point game, I have to spend something like $15 to get around 1000 points, and that's pretty much my ONLY option. Afterwords I have points remaining that aren't easily divisible in any way and I can't just purchase any one points package to round it out so I can easily afford another game.
Don't even get me started on something that isn't divisible by 100. I'll be left with an odd number of points for MONTHS.

On PSN and Steam, even IF for some reason I have some change left in my account (I've been given cards for PSN and had to charge $5 to purchase some items on Portal 2 and TF2 which left me with some change) when I go purchase something I can use my remaining change to cover at least some of a purchase I'm putting on my credit card. That way when I'm done, I have absolutely no change left over.
Perfect!

Don't get me wrong, I'm an XBox fan and play the majority of games on that system. But I'm not going to sit back and take this crappy deal Microsoft has given us, and franky I'm pretty shocked that more people aren't pissed off about this and you are in fact defending it.
What's wrong with actually spending money instead of points? I really can't comprehend any reason to do this other than to make things difficult for the user and have them spend more money than necessary to get what they want.

@An Irish Saint
Because $.50 unused multipled by 1,000 people in the same boat is $500 profit. It's the same as gift cards for stores, the store is banking you're going to forget or lose the gift card so to them it's pure profit.

At least with PSN you can use your debit card to purchase the exact amount you need (as long as it over $5, last time I checked).

So you may say "well they're scamming me for $.10, no big deal". And they're hoping you say that so they can pocket the money...times 1000 people or more saying that.

@notoriousEIC The difference is that I'm being forced to spend the extra money to get what I want, instead of voluntarily handing it over in the exact amount I want to spend.

@OMGJohn

$10 gets you 800msp or $20 gets you 1600msp. Most games are priced in increments of $5/10/15/20 anyway so what's your problem?

@Muu
Thats what i was try to reply but you beat me too it.........

see if one has to buy a dollar for a dollar why would they sell it for 90 cents...they wouldnt therfore never having a "sale" on them........


oh BTW if your paying retail for XBL or MSP's then your doing it wrong....gotta watch for those promo's people....

@whylekat The problem is you can't purchase 800 points for $10 anywhere. The amount of points you can purchase are not given out in amounts that can be divided by game purchase. You'll always have points left over that can't just be added easily with another points purchase for another game.

This method ensures that you'll constantly have points remaining on your account. I know several people, myself included, who just ended up spending those points on whatever to get rid of them.

@Muu This is why I very much prefer "points" to a cash system. I've bought tons of games on XBLA, but I've never once paid MSRP for Microsoft points. Opportunities to get 4000 MSP for $40 crop up often enough that I see a 400 point game or an 800 point game and I can see those as a $4 game or an $8 game. Spending $4 or $8 for your game is better than spending $5 or $10 for the same game.

@omgJOHN
I don't understand how you end up with leftover points, most games cost $15 or 1200msp if you want that game you get 400 points and then 800 points and then you end up with zero. It isn't that hard, I've never had left over points before.

@MystcLazrDragon I've never seen the option to spend the points in those denominations. It's always been 500 points and 1000 points.

@MystcLazrDragon I think you guys are getting confused because of regional pricing differences. In the states you buy points in increments of 400, so it syncs with the pricing of games. In Australia however - and probably EU - you buy microsoft points off the store in increments of 500 - so 500 points for $8, $1000 for $16 etc. So you have to buy 2000 points to get out clean - or fritter cash away on avatar crap.

@omgJOHN

Where do you live? In the USA cards come in 1600 ($20) or 4000 ($50) increments. If you add points to your account through the xbox itself or xbox.com, you can buy in increments of $5.

Right now I have something like 40 points (50c) that I can't spend on my account. On the other hand, I once got two $20 cards for $30 total. I'm fine with the points.

@omgJOHN

No, you know what the real "scam" is? Buying a $20 PSN card, and then not being able to buy 2 $10 PSN games with it because you're charged tax on the PSN purchase.

Points all the way.

@omgJOHN

That was the original pricing, but they've since changed it to 400, 800, 1600, 4000 and I want to say 8000 increments. It's much more managable, but you still end up with stray points when you get say, Rock Band 3-packs (440 points).

@Limimi
Oh damn, my apologies to the Aussies. If it's any consolation my avatar is hasn't ever gotten new clothes.

@Altairio No, the real scam is having to buy points at all. Like OMGJohn said, the PSN lets you buy a $7.32 for $7.32, by charging it directly to your credit card. Perhaps on the scale of 'which prepaid card is better value' MS Points win in the US, but on the scale of 'which payment system is better value' not having to buy cards, or points in specific increments wins outright.

And I just checked to make sure, on the Australian XBL you get 500 points for $8.25, 1000 points for $16.50 etc. On the US XBL you get 400 points for $4.99, 800 points for $9.99 and so on. I never realised just how much of a god damned rip off Xbox live is in Australia.

If you live in a country with crappy pricing like Australia though, you might want to note that you can sign up for a US account and use paypal to buy points, it's what I do.

@TheCodeNinja -That's not 100% accurate.

While that change did happen in the US, all (or at least most, I don't know for sure if it's all) other countries still use the same 500 point increments that have been around since launch for purchases on the console.

Retail point cards are also sold in different denominations elsewhere too. In my case, here in Canada, it's 1,400 points for $20 & 2,800 for $40. Nothing in in a multiple of 400 like in the US.

@Mcmax3000
Honestly everybody SHUT UP! Can you buy a $25 PSN Gift Card for $15? Can you get 2 $25 PSN Giftcards for $40? No you cant, because it is priced according to real currency. Retailers see literally zero to very little profit on it for that reason.

Because it is priced according to a real currency, no retailer in their right mind will discount them. MSP on the other hand, you see deals on all the time because it is not a real lift currency, hence it costs retailers less to purchase them allowing them to sell them at discounted prices.

Free Money!

Here is an example:
Microsoft Points - http://amzn.to/qmZnmR
PSN Cards - http://amzn.to/npttkt

As you can see, currently the 1600 is being sold for 30c less... keep in mind that there isnt any special deals going on now. Move over to the 4000 MSP Card and you can see it is almost $3.50 off. Move over to PSN Cards and everything is priced according to the cards value.

@omgJOHN A lot of what has been posted by omgJOHN is wrong and he should state his region when trying to address the system as a whole. Like many above have said already a lot of his information is incorrect for US buyers. I do honestly believe he mistaken because of how passionate he is in his writing. Be easy on him.

On Xbox you can buy points for
$5 = 400 Points
$10 = 800 Points
$20 = 1600 Points
$50 = 4000 Points

Only time I am left over with points is when there is DLC that is 7.50. It's never really an issue (for me personally) since I buy a ton of Rock Band songs.

@killer rin

I've seen deals as good as 50% off 1600 point cards, from Circuit City B&M. Of course, it is symptomatic of what killed Circuit City, but I enjoyed a lot of 50% off PLUS whatever the weekly deal was games and there are other, lesser deals, all the time.

PSN? I've never heard of a sale like that. Remotely.

@killer rin - I'm not sure why you were directing your reply towards me. I wasn't complaining. I personally don't have any issues with Microsoft points.

I was simply advising those that are saying that points can be purchased in multiples of 400 that they are not entirely correct and that the ability to do so is specific to one single region.

However, since you did direct your post at me, I'll point out to you as well that your argument is also region specific. I can tell you that here in Canada, I've never seen Microsoft points cards on sale & I certainly keep an eye out for such a thing since I buy so much on the XBL Marketplace.

So keep in mind that while you might be able to take advantage of such deals or might be able to purchase points in denominations that are consistent with Marketplace pricing, not everyone has that luxury so it doesn't make their argument any less valid.

PSN only lets you adds funds with a minimum of USD$5.
So technically, you could end up with spare change too.

Yeah, it's not as bad as having to purchase in multiples of 400/500 points.

But to make a huge fuss about it, being obsessive compulsive about having some "weird amount of points" in your account, points you are going to spend anyway eventually, seems like a waste of energy to me.

Since the MSP never expire having a balance is really a non-issue, unless you plan on buying one odd-priced game and then crawl into a spider hole somewhere never to return to XBL. However the system is beneficial for microsoft for a few reasons; 1. Interest accrued on unspent balances, with 35 million active xbox live users I would dare say there's tens of millions of dollars floating around in that account. 2. The same reason casinos use chips instead of cash, because it doesn't feel like spending when you're not spending "real" money. 3. Clueless parents, If a child asked their parent for $10 to download one game vs. 10 dollars to get 800 points (not knowing the exchange rate) in mom's mind 800>1. Microsoft does give indie developers a venue to sell their creations, and since it's come one come all and the developers set the price(to a point) ironically microsoft is promoting competition to make our XBLA games cheaper.

@superfrick
:( Just about to buy it and it's a LIE!!

But I did just purchase The Maw. Been waiting for a sale again and it finally happens! Love Twisted Pixel!!!

@vidguy

OH MY GOD THERE IS A FIRE.......sale.

ON THE BURNING!!!

@(Unverified) I didn't know xbox live was down.

@byaboy

ZING!

@byaboy

As a huge PlayStation fan all I have to say is:

LMFAO

Also, Section 8: Prejudice is a great buy at $10.

@Jawmuncher...Yup same here, I'm also waiting for late Dec, when their Summer of Arcade line up usually gets cut in half in price. I'm always intrigued by your avatar, is it Sagat, Big Boss, or someone else?

@Slight of Ham
Yep it's big boss.
Also I'm looking forward to the holiday XBLA sales as well.
Since like you said a lot of the summer titles go on sale.
I wanted to get Bastion but decided to wait.

Definitely, been waiting for Outland to go on sale for a while, perfect!

@Jawmuncher

Yeah I feel totally foolish having paid full priced for all the titles I own on this list. =/