Hey, canadian friends, lets call out microsoft on their bullshit

Specifically on their 20% mark up on MS points when 1 USD=0.9925 CAND. This is abuse and it needs to stop. Someone find Don Mattrick's email address or get him on the horn. I believe he has the means to fix this. He's canadian goddamnit, he'll surely help his fellow countrymen right? Right???

Don't buy Microsoft Space Bucks. Simple.

I'm not your friend, buddy!

What the guy two posts above said. Vote with your wallet.

@Bones8677: Its not that "simple" there are plenty of good games for download that can only be bought with said "space bucks" if this is true then that is really shitty and Microsoft needs to stop it.

So glad I'll be done with Xbox after this gen.

@Bones8677: @Pr1mus: the walking dead is a very good game. It's not worth 300$. Bastion and Super Meat Boy at launch were exclusives and 20% more expensive in canada. Geometry Wars, Limbo, Braid, etc. If you wanted to play those when they came out you have to get them space bucks.

@Demoskinos said:

@Bones8677: Its not that "simple" there are plenty of good games for download that can only be bought with said "space bucks" if this is true then that is really shitty and Microsoft needs to stop it.

M$ is pretty much the only major company that didn't get the memo about the Canadian dollar being on par with the US dollar since like 2006-7. I doubt they're about to change.

Warner last year did sell MK9 for 70$. That's the only other example i can think of this gen at the moment. So i think people voting with their wallet is the only thing left that could change that.

It is true. Microsoft still uses the 500 point increments for point purchase in Canada as well. You cannot purchase 400 or 800 points with a Canadian Xbox Live account.

@pyrodactyl: Don Mattrick lives like 10 minutes away from me, give the word and his house will get egged (no it won't)

@laserbolts said:

So glad I'll be done with Xbox after this gen.

Yup, right there with you.

@pyrodactyl: Microsoft has refused to change this situation for 6 years now. Not buying is the only thing left to do. It's not like there's any shortage of great games on other platforms or at retail on 360. At some point you have to decide what is acceptable for you when it's become clear the situation isn't going to change. I don't think Microsoft will change anything about this until next gen. I totally agree, it's a shitty situation that only Microsoft is guilty of in Canada and has to stop but they seem pretty comfortable ripping people of and you don't change when you're comfortable.

@Tan said:

@laserbolts said:

So glad I'll be done with Xbox after this gen.

Yup, right there with you.

I'm not even from Canada, and if I had been told a year ago that I would be leaning towards the PS4 I would have laughed in your face.

But god damn if MS isn't fucking up everything they do, and it took Sony about 10 years, but the Playstation is finally looking decent again. Unless Sony really fucks up with their new console I have a feeling I'll be switching next gen... sad times.

@Tan said:

@laserbolts said:

So glad I'll be done with Xbox after this gen.

Yup, right there with you.

agreed, screw xbox live and microsoft's shitty products that constantly break. going PC, can't wait

@BisonHero said:

I'm not your friend, buddy!

I'm not your buddy, guy

Is this the monthly exchange rate thread? I get that people aren't taught basic economics in grade school, so there's no blame to be put on anyone, but it's just really unfortunate that some many people don't know that the exchange rate =/= the relative purchasing power of the currencies.

@Levio said:

Is this the monthly exchange rate thread? I get that people aren't taught basic economics in grade school, so there's no blame to be put on anyone, but it's just really unfortunate that some many people don't know that the exchange rate =/= the relative purchasing power of the currencies.

You might need to reread the OP more carefully.

don't buy microsoft points. i think theyre stupid to have. in the end when you purchase something you end up having points left over. the points don't end in anything good.

@Jay_Ray said:

@pyrodactyl: Don Mattrick lives like 10 minutes away from me, give the word and his house will get egged (no it won't)

Are you sure?

They should come suss out New Zealand first we pay about 90USD for a new release.

Man, that blows.

Perhaps this is something you should have considered when you chose the xbox as your primary gaming platform.

@Xeirus said:

@Tan said:

@laserbolts said:

So glad I'll be done with Xbox after this gen.

Yup, right there with you.

I'm not even from Canada, and if I had been told a year ago that I would be leaning towards the PS4 I would have laughed in your face.

But god damn if MS isn't fucking up everything they do, and it took Sony about 10 years, but the Playstation is finally looking decent again. Unless Sony really fucks up with their new console I have a feeling I'll be switching next gen... sad times.

Other than the scratched out I am totally with you all here. Can't believe how much I've come to dislike a console "service" so much. I've never been against any one console before but I gotta put my foot down now.

@kermoosh said:

@Tan said:

@laserbolts said:

So glad I'll be done with Xbox after this gen.

Yup, right there with you.

agreed, screw xbox live and microsoft's shitty products that constantly break. going PC, can't wait

So you are going from a Microsoft product to a Microsoft product I'm guessing you don't see the irony there

You should try Steam and live in Europe
Apparantly in LaLa-land where everyone is a goddamn idiot $49.99(US) = 49.99€  
Now if they were part of the real world that would actually be 38.73€. So that's even worse because that's real bucks and not spacebucks! 

And that is why i live in america.

People still use consoles when you can buy new releases on pc for $20, three months after launch day?

Is "Canadian friends" code for something? Something dirty? If it's not I'm gonna be disappointed.

@Levio said:

Is this the monthly exchange rate thread? I get that people aren't taught basic economics in grade school, so there's no blame to be put on anyone, but it's just really unfortunate that some many people don't know that the exchange rate =/= the relative purchasing power of the currencies.

Microsoft is the only gaming company doing this in Canada. Every other games and services on every platforms are the same price in Canada as they are in the US.

So yes there is a blame to be placed on Microsoft and in this specific case purchasing power has nothing to do with the issue at hand. Microsoft set their prices in 2005 and have since refused to adjust them while every other gaming company did around 2007 when the Canadian dollar reached parity with the US dollar.

Hell even Microsoft's own published retail games are the same price.

@Tan said:

@laserbolts said:

So glad I'll be done with Xbox after this gen.

Yup, right there with you.

I have a feeling PS4 and 720 will be even worse. If the rumors of extra DRM, Augmented reality crap and cracking down on used copies are true, I just will play on PC exclusively.

@verbalmedal said:

And that is why i live in america.

@darkdragonmage99 said:

@kermoosh said:

@Tan said:

@laserbolts said:

So glad I'll be done with Xbox after this gen.

Yup, right there with you.

agreed, screw xbox live and microsoft's shitty products that constantly break. going PC, can't wait

So you are going from a Microsoft product to a Microsoft product I'm guessing you don't see the irony there

yeah but i'll pretty much be steam or valve's bitch. and by products i meant the headsets, charge and plays, and controllers that always break. as well as the original 360's (the new black ones are fine)

@TheVeteran13 said:

@BisonHero said:

I'm not your friend, buddy!

I'm not your buddy, guy

I'm not your guy, bub.

@NickyDubz said:

@verbalmedal said:

And that is why i live in america.

Really? You moved to the US so you could save a couple dollars on some stupid live points? How dumb could you be?

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

They should come suss out New Zealand first we pay about 90USD for a new release.

Remember when Modern Warfare 2 standard edition for consoles was $139?

Boy, those were the days,

This is pretty much why I don't buy stuff on Xbox Live anymore.

@Tebbit said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

They should come suss out New Zealand first we pay about 90USD for a new release.

Remember when Modern Warfare 2 standard edition for consoles was $139?

Boy, those were the days,

Same with Fallout 3, but I got my moneys worth from that one.

@Tebbit said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

They should come suss out New Zealand first we pay about 90USD for a new release.

Remember when Modern Warfare 2 standard edition for consoles was $139?

Boy, those were the days,

Same with Fallout 3, but I got my moneys worth from that one.

@crusader8463 said:

@NickyDubz said:

@verbalmedal said:

And that is why i live in america.

Really? You moved to the US so you could save a couple dollars on some stupid live points? How dumb could you be?

It seemed like a good idea at the time, man.

Yup it's a bunch of bullshit. Even though 360 was just a curosity purchase I would have liked to try some of the odd exclusives I've missed out over the years but I'm not going to buy points with their marked up prices or for Gold when I have Playstation Plus, a fantastic service, and PSN charging real money with no price increase for Canadians.

Then don't support Microsoft with your Canadian dollars. Calling them out is pointless.

I like Microsoft Points because I can usually get them on sale. I find it less common with other card type things of the type but that's just my perception.

And I really don't care about the price difference that much. When I need to buy something I usually don't have to worry about a 200 point difference between the 1400 card and 1600 card they only sell in America.

Just vote with your wallet if you disagree.

Oh yeah, an INTERNET BOYCOTT. Because those have TOTALLY worked in the past.

Meanwhile, in Canada.....

"WHAT DO WE WANT?!" --- "CHEAPER MICROSOFT POINTS!!!!!!!!!"

"WHEN DO WE WANT IT?!" --- "Oh... you know... whenever works best for you, aye."

i understand your frustration, but you're speaking to a much deeper problem with how retail works in canada. it isn't as simple as "fuck microsoft." i'm not defending their business practices (fake currency is implicitly loathsome), but they have many companions across several industries- take the publishing, for example...books still have an american price, and a higher canadian price. sometimes you get the seemingly absurd situation where a book is printed in canada, and yet costs more there.

there's also higher taxes to consider, protectionist policies (telecom in canada), etc. at times, it seems canada gets a raw deal. but then consider the following- you have a higher average lifespan, national health care, and (on average) a higher quality of life. so it isn't so bad.

tl;dr- a lot of stuff is more expensive in canada, but you make it back in other areas.

Yeah the creep on MS points has really put a dent in my XBLA purchases.

They've taken a lot of games out of that fifteen dollar impulse-buy range and put them closer to the 25 dollar think-it-over-first range.

I chose a 360 over a PS3 because the UK PSN store doesn't get shit.

You should try Steam and live in EuropeApparantly in LaLa-land where everyone is a goddamn idiot $49.99(US) = 49.99€  Now if they were part of the real world that would actually be 38.73€. So that's even worse because that's real bucks and not spacebucks! 

@MariachiMacabre said:

@Bourbon_Warrior

@Tebbit said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

They should come suss out New Zealand first we pay about 90USD for a new release.

Remember when Modern Warfare 2 standard edition for consoles was $139?

Boy, those were the days,

Same with Fallout 3, but I got my moneys worth from that one.

What the fuck. That's bananas.

Yea its about $100USD but the average release is more like 80USD with Halo and AC3 as examples. But our minimum wage is $13.50 when converted to USD is $11, where as the minimum wage seems to average about $7.50 in America, but you guys get real cheap gas.

@pyrodactyl said:

@Bones8677: @Pr1mus: the walking dead is a very good game. It's not worth 300$. Bastion and Super Meat Boy at launch were exclusives and 20% more expensive in canada. Geometry Wars, Limbo, Braid, etc. If you wanted to play those when they came out you have to get them space bucks.

Just because you want to play them doesn't mean you have to play them the day they come out no matter the cost. I've voted with my dollar by not purchasing a 360 since I feel like paying Microsoft to access built in features of a product I've already purchased (multiplayer, hulu or netflix subscriptions, etc) is embezzlement. I've played Braid, Bastion, Super Meat Boy, Limbo, Castle Crashers and so on and I've done it at a reasonable price. Hell, with PS+ I only paid $12 for Limbo instead of the $15 that American 360 users paid. You have failed as a consumer if you aren't voting with your dollar.