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

@ZeForgotten said:

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! 

Steam is cheap if you're in Sweden. New PC games cost 499 SEK in stores but only 429 SEK right now if you buy a 50 euro game on Steam.  499 SEK is 75 USD 

@FluxWaveZ said:

@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.

Uh, I think they addressed pretty much the only solid statement of fact in the very short OP. Not much else to see or respond to. Levio is saying exchange rate isn't the only reason that prices change. Look at places like NZ where prices are much higher after you convert to USD. That wouldn't be true if it was all exchange rate, and unless there is some hidden line of text, that's all the OP talks about.

I've said it in other threads but it doesn't matter where you are you'll always feel completely screwed over if you look at the US offerings for any service. The prices for most things game related suck everywhere outside of the US and the fact XBLA games are priced in 400 point increments and Microsoft only let you buy them in 500 point increments is just a dick move. At this point I'm trying to avoid looking up US prices for things anymore while hoping Sony get their act together next generation so I can give Microsoft the middle finger for good.

@Trainer_Red said:

Meanwhile, in Canada.....

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

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

Scottish-Canadians are the worst.

I'd have to agree with OP. Canadian dollars have been weaving in-between parity with American ones for awhile now, where there was a clear US advantage when spacebucks first came into play. I don't believe there's any sort of issue with "export" fees for digital goods.

I'm not your friend, buddy!

This is one of the many reasons I stopped gaming on my 360 two years ago.

@Gladiator_Games said:

@BisonHero

I'm not your friend, buddy!

I'm not your buddy, pal guy!

Fixed

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???

I already got rid of my 360 so I can avoid Microsoft's terrible online platform from now on, and next gen.

@The_Laughing_Man said:

@pyrodactyl said:

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???

MS points stop at the end of the year. So shhhhhhh

From a quick google search, that appears to only be rumour, one that there's been no news on since January.

one more reason why I'm glad I switched to pc.

I got through the first 2 pages and then got bored with the conversation.

So, are there any loop holes? Are points cards purchased in the US only viable for US Xbox accounts? Could you start buying digital cards from the US for MS Points and redeeming them on your consoles powered by maple syrup and mounties? What if you approached the people that made the games - see if you could pay them directly for a code to get it? They can do that kind of thing, right?

Note: I don't have an Xbox or a PS3. Not because I think the service part of it is ridiculous, but because the shit breaks. That should have been reason enough for you to all avoid it.

It is pretty annoying.

@Sooty said:

I already got rid of my 360 so I can avoid Microsoft's terrible online platform from now on, and next gen.

Why is your name green, then?

@Terramagi said:

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

Sure they have, you don't see Chic-Fil-A or Papa John's in business anymore do you?

What happens if the Canadian dollar drops back down to being worth 60 cents American again? Would you be cool if they jacked up the price? The only thing more fucked up than using the virtual currency system is having a virtual currency system with a floating value based on how other countries economies are doing.

@Hunkulese said:

What happens if the Canadian dollar drops back down to being worth 60 cents American again? Would you be cool if they jacked up the price? The only thing more fucked up than using the virtual currency system is having a virtual currency system with a floating value based on how other countries economies are doing.

1- Looking at canadian vs us economy, this is very unlikely in the next 10 years

2-I'm sure if that happens they will jake up the price

@Toxeia said:

I got through the first 2 pages and then got bored with the conversation.

So, are there any loop holes? Are points cards purchased in the US only viable for US Xbox accounts? Could you start buying digital cards from the US for MS Points and redeeming them on your consoles powered by maple syrup and mounties? What if you approached the people that made the games - see if you could pay them directly for a code to get it? They can do that kind of thing, right?

Note: I don't have an Xbox or a PS3. Not because I think the service part of it is ridiculous, but because the shit breaks. That should have been reason enough for you to all avoid it.

Anyone knows if that card buying buisness is a valide option?

Why stop at Microsoft?? Our dollar is at par or above its American counterpart and yet we pay sometimes 30% more on the same product here at home.

Wait I thought when you buy 800 MS Points it was $10.99? Am I wrong on this?

@pyrodactyl said:

@Hunkulese said:

What happens if the Canadian dollar drops back down to being worth 60 cents American again? Would you be cool if they jacked up the price? The only thing more fucked up than using the virtual currency system is having a virtual currency system with a floating value based on how other countries economies are doing.

1- Looking at canadian vs us economy, this is very unlikely in the next 10 years

2-I'm sure if that happens they will jake up the price

@Toxeia said:

I got through the first 2 pages and then got bored with the conversation.

So, are there any loop holes? Are points cards purchased in the US only viable for US Xbox accounts? Could you start buying digital cards from the US for MS Points and redeeming them on your consoles powered by maple syrup and mounties? What if you approached the people that made the games - see if you could pay them directly for a code to get it? They can do that kind of thing, right?

Note: I don't have an Xbox or a PS3. Not because I think the service part of it is ridiculous, but because the shit breaks. That should have been reason enough for you to all avoid it.

Anyone knows if that card buying buisness is a valide option?

10 years ago no one thought the Canadian dollar would be worth more than the American dollar any time soon and no they wouldn't change the price. The Canadian MS points economy isn't tied to another country. You can always buy the same amount of points for the same amount of money and it has nothing to do with the value of our currency compared to another countries.

@Razorlution said:

Why stop at Microsoft?? Our dollar is at par or above its American counterpart and yet we pay sometimes 30% more on the same product here at home.

^ what this guy said. it's the canadian market in general, not just microsoft points.

Let me fix that for you: Hey the entire world, let's call Microsoft on their bullshit.

Hey this is a bit old but yeah I pretty much haven't bought stuff on XBLA precisely for this reason for the last few years. I literally only put money into points when I had friends over for Rock Bandin' and there were songs for DL they really wanted, because I was willing to accept the screwjob to make sure my friends had a good time. I'll happily buy acclaimed/interesting downloadables from Steam, PSN, whatever at full price, but I refuse to support MS's insistence on charging us in Canada those extra dollars.

Another thing not clear in the OP, and perhaps what really makes this so frustrating: it's not just that we get charged more for points, it's that in Canada you can't buy points in the same amounts as the US. For example, you can only buy 1400 point cards for Canadian accounts, while the equivalent US card is the 1600 pointer, or a 2800pt card in Canada for $40 vs. a 4000pt card in the US for $50. If you do the math, you'll realize that even if you buy only XBLA titles (or pretty much anything else you'd actually want to spend money on on Live) which happily divide into card amounts in the US, you'll still end up with those hated stupid odd leftover points with the amounts you can buy in Canada. Buying points online also only come in 500, 1000, 1500 etc. increments, whereas in the US that was sorted more than 2 years ago. I honestly don't think there's words for this beyond FUCK THAT.

I've voted with my dollars for a long time now, but unfortunately my vote doesn't really count. There might not be many others like me, but I really do wonder sometimes if MS ever considers that they might have been losing out on sales for years from dedicated players like me who would be gladly buying stuff on Live if they didn't feel like they were being shafted because their dollar was worth less 5 years ago.

@pyrodactyl: Actually it was fairly recently discovered (or MS quietly changed something) that US 4000 point cards (and ONLY 4000 point cards) work with pretty much any account.So if you can manage to track down a source for those, you're good, Unfortunately online sources for such things tend to be sketchy, at best.

@Razorlution said:

Why stop at Microsoft?? Our dollar is at par or above its American counterpart and yet we pay sometimes 30% more on the same product here at home.

There are many factors (costlier shipping & distribution, customs, tariffs, etc.) that contribute to this issue. Not saying several of them don't tend to be bullshit, but they're at least generally understandable. But for a purely digital, downloadable product, none of these factors are applicable (at least not for now). Also, even retail games (a few mysterious exceptions excluded) have cost exactly the same as their US counterparts upon release for several years now.