Microsoft may move away from MS Points System

The Xbox 360 is slated to get a major dashboard update soon, and according to The Verge, Microsoft may finally ditch the old Microsoft Points system for transactions on the console’s online store. As reported by The Verge, you can still use Microsoft Points for your purchases, but the store itself defaults to using real money for transactions in the Windows 8 store. It is highly likely that Microsoft will also be using the system for the Xbox 360.

Microsoft Points have been controversial as the system never allowed you to buy only the exact required points. You could only buy the points in sets of 400, 800, etc. This could prove to be annoying with some things costing 200 points and you having 200 points left over and feeling compelled to buy more points so you could use the 200 points.

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Microsoft may finally be moving away from the archaic Microsoft Points system

Earlier this month, it was revealed that Microsoft will be launching its own Spotify-like music service for the Xbox 360. The service seems to be designed with Microsoft’s Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 in mind, as users will be able to store music from the service onto Microsoft’s cloud service – SkyDrive. The service will make its way to Xbox 360s in an upcoming dashboard update. The service will also get its own apps for iOS and Android soon after the release.

Recently, Microsoft started a rewards system for gamers with high Gamerscores on Xbox Live. The new rewards program is meant to reward gamers for their loyalty to Microsoft’s gaming console – the Xbox 360. The rewards come in three tiers and seem to be very miniscule. The first tier, called Contender, is for those with a Gamerscore between 3,000 and 9,999. This tier gets a ‘special gift’ during the gamer’s birthday month. The website notes that the ‘special gift’ will be valued at $0.25 (around Rs 13). The next tier, called Champion, is for those with a Gamerscore between 10,000 and 24,999. Gamers in this tier receive the ‘special gift’, along with a 1 percent rebate on purchases made on Xbox Live Arcade for every month. The third and final tier, called Legend, is for those with a Gamerscore of 25,000 and above. Gamers in this tier also get the ‘special gift’, along with a 2 percent rebate on purchases made on Xbox Live Arcade.

According to an earlier report, a supposed Xbox 720 “Durango” developer kit was posted on a developer forum and was introduced to the public for a price of $10,000. The developer kit resembles the traditional PC tower running a debug launcher, which caused many people to be cautious and sceptical about whether the prototype is authentic. EuroGamer’s Digital Foundry reached the source of the leak. After following up on the story with multiple developers, who are working on next-gen projects, they came to the conclusion that the hardware was real.