So for those who want to call me a fanboy know that I've owned a PS3 since Winter 2007 and still have spent half my gaming time on 360.

I have borrowed my friends X-box on many occasions since I got my PS3. I borrowed it to play Forza 3. (70 hours). I borrowed it to play Gears of War 2. I borrowed it to play Comic Jumper and a whole host of games I could not play on my PS3 and games that were better on 360. So I know a lot about the system. One thing I didn't know about though was actually purchasing games on Live to play. My friend and I have such similar tastes that most of the downloadable games I wanted to play he had already purchased for himself. On this occasion I wanted to purchase two games for myself. (We've swapped systems for a more extended period of time. He wants to play Infamous 2 and LA Noire). So, unlike PSN were you just put in your credit card and pay money from that card Microsoft makes you buy points. I already know from my conversations with 360 users the stupidity of it. Even the most crazy fanboy will admit the stupidity of that. What I didn't know was that you have no real opportunity to zero out the points. You can only buy points in certain increments. Imagine to my surprise were I was 180 points short on a purchase and the only way for me to get what I wanted was to pay $5.00 for 400 points. On PSN if a similar situation happened, which why would it since you don't have to buy points, it just takes the remaining amount from your credit card. That's not the worst of it though. When I went looking to see what I can buy for that remaining amount of points I saw it was all shit. Avatar clothes. Really? That's it? All I can do with that is buy Avatar clothing essentially? There isn't even DLC I can buy to zero out my points. I created a new account for this system. I purchased a month subscription to Live so I would get the full experience. These points cannot be transferred to my friends account and I can't zero them out.

Why doesn't Microsoft fix this and why don't you 360 users make more of an issue of this. It's fucking robbery.

it's how microsoft makes more money. you can buy some indie games like breath of death vii or save those remaining points for  some upcoming game.

Why doesn't Microsoft fix this and why don't you 360 users make more of an issue of this. It's fucking robbery.

very simple, once you make a purchase you're in their system.

For their part they do make it very easy to purchase things, it saves your credit card information, you choose how many points you want to buy just before you purchase the game then download it.

It feels a lot like steam to me, with a few more steps.

You're a little late to the party with the complaints.

It's free. That's one way.

Im pretty sure PSN also has something where you need to put like 2$ into your accounts wallet before you buy something.

Don't care. Because it means I have points cached up for the next purchase. They're not reset, or removed after some time, so it's not like I've lost it. They just remain invested. If you can call two bucks' worth of points an investment.

If you don't even own an xbox 360, then why is your name green?

If you don't even own an xbox 360, then why is your name green?

Ye Iv only got an X-box and I agree with you it so annoying wanted to buy a game for £15 but have to spend £20, but thats how they make a lot of their money so they would'nt change it. If it was like the way PSN does it I might but more games on XBLA.

I borrowed it to play Comic Jumper

This, together with having to pay to play online is why I prefer PSN. I don't understand why people defend it. I guess it's a psychological thing, like an abused wife blaming herself and defending her husband. "He's not that bad, he never uses his fists", a.k.a. "It's only X amount of dollars, stop whining".

This, together with having to pay to play online is why I prefer PSN. I don't understand why people defend it. I guess it's a psychological thing, like an abused wife blaming herself and defending her husband. "He's not that bad, he never uses his fists", a.k.a. "It's only X amount of dollars, stop whining".

@MysteriousBob said:

@hckling said:

This, together with having to pay to play online is why I prefer PSN. I don't understand why people defend it. I guess it's a psychological thing, like an abused wife blaming herself and defending her husband. "He's not that bad, he never uses his fists", a.k.a. "It's only X amount of dollars, stop whining".

The fact that XBL is a far better service and doesn't treat Europeans like dirt is part of the reason, kid.

But it's not perfect, is it pops? So why defend the obvious flaws?

@mikey87144 said:

It's fucking robbery.

Robbery: Voluntarily having your credit card charged for a pre-determined amount?

That said, it is a bit annoying but I'd still take XBL over PSN any day of the week.

Starting a thread with telling people not to call you a fanboy usually means that you're not going to explain your points very well and that your arguments are going to come across as biased and underdeveloped.

@Brendan said:

Starting a thread with telling people not to call you a fanboy usually means that you're not going to explain your points very well and that your arguments are going to come across as biased and underdeveloped.

Hammer. Nail. Head.

I don't really care about this problem. Sure it might be annoying, but I've come to terms with it a long time ago,

@Brendan said:

Starting a thread with telling people not to call you a fanboy usually means that you're not going to explain your points very well and that your arguments are going to come across as biased and underdeveloped.

You didn't read my post.

PSN is free, X-box live is $60 per year.
I like free better

It's free. That's one way.

Until PS3 has cross game chat and the party system it won't hold a candle to Xbox Live. There are things PSN does that I prefer (not many) but it doesn't change the fact it is missing two incredibly awesome features.
 
Oh and PSN has garbage download speeds. I hope nobody steps in and says it's a problem with my connection because it really isn't.
 
and my 360 coloured username is just because I prefer the colour, I do prefer the PS3 overall but I have to go where the better features are, Xbox Live just happens to be it.
 
Edit: Microsoft points and avatars are two things I absolutely hate about the Xbox brand

Oh s***, don't do that, the walls will start to collapse due to fanboy outcries...oh wait, i forgot, this is giantbomb.

I acutally like the points because I can buy them whereever they are cheap (mostly the UK) and usually get games cheaper that way.

VECTREX BEATS THE SHIT OUT OF THE MAGNAVOX ODESSEY FUUUCK

So basically what you're saying is that it's OK for Microsoft to take some of my money for nothing. I know it a miniscule amount but on the PS3 I don't have that problem. If it costs 7 bucks I pay just 7 bucks. There is a $5 minimum but if I have money left over it's just added to my next purchase.

you know what the best one is?

Steam

@mikey87144 said:

So basically what you're saying is that it's OK for Microsoft to take some of my money for nothing. I know it a miniscule amount but on the PS3 I don't have that problem. If it costs 7 bucks I pay just 7 bucks. There is a $5 minimum but if I have money left over it's just added to my next purchase.

Those points are also added to your next purchase. As someone who buys a lot of Rock Band songs, this is barely an issue for me. Sometimes I want a song and don't even have to add points.

As far as arcade games are concerned, they cost $5, $10, $15, or $20, and the point totals you can buy are $5, $10, $15, and $20.

There is a $5 minimum but if I have money left over it's just added to my next purchase.

So for those who want to call me a fanboy know that I've owned a PS3 since Winter 2007 and still have spent half my gaming time on 360.

I have borrowed my friends X-box on many occasions since I got my PS3. I borrowed it to play Forza 3. (70 hours). I borrowed it to play Gears of War 2. I borrowed it to play Comic Jumper and a whole host of games I could not play on my PS3 and games that were better on 360. So I know a lot about the system. One thing I didn't know about though was actually purchasing games on Live to play. My friend and I have such similar tastes that most of the downloadable games I wanted to play he had already purchased for himself. On this occasion I wanted to purchase two games for myself. (We've swapped systems for a more extended period of time. He wants to play Infamous 2 and LA Noire). So, unlike PSN were you just put in your credit card and pay money from that card Microsoft makes you buy points. I already know from my conversations with 360 users the stupidity of it. Even the most crazy fanboy will admit the stupidity of that. What I didn't know was that you have no real opportunity to zero out the points. You can only buy points in certain increments. Imagine to my surprise were I was 180 points short on a purchase and the only way for me to get what I wanted was to pay $5.00 for 400 points. On PSN if a similar situation happened, which why would it since you don't have to buy points, it just takes the remaining amount from your credit card. That's not the worst of it though. When I went looking to see what I can buy for that remaining amount of points I saw it was all shit. Avatar clothes. Really? That's it? All I can do with that is buy Avatar clothing essentially? There isn't even DLC I can buy to zero out my points. I created a new account for this system. I purchased a month subscription to Live so I would get the full experience. These points cannot be transferred to my friends account and I can't zero them out.

Why doesn't Microsoft fix this and why don't you 360 users make more of an issue of this. It's fucking robbery.

@mnzy said:

@mikey87144 said:

There is a $5 minimum but if I have money left over it's just added to my next purchase.

So tell me Sherlock, what's the difference?

1. It's actually $5, not the space bucks.

2. If I have $4.50 left in my account and something costs $7.00 then PSN just takes $2.50 from my credit card. On Live I have to buy 400 points. It doesn't just logically make up the difference. That's stupid. If I have the equivalent of $2 left in my account why should I then have to pay an additional $10 to buy something worth $8. Why not just take the equivalent of $6 bucks?

Why doesn't Microsoft fix this and why don't you 360 users make more of an issue of this. It's fucking robbery.

Both have their benefits and negatives. I think the errors from both offset the positives and negatives between them both and thus would declare them equal as far as I'm concerned. The biggest benefits of both is the free side of PSN, while the biggest element of XBL is the cross-game chat. If you want to go "there", then PS+ has a tremendous amount of benefits that make the cost per year worth it. Free games, content, whatever you like, while ponying up for the 360 Gold membership awards you nothing but what the PS3 has for free.

In my opinion, points are ridiculous as an obvious cashgrab, feels very exploitative. PSN has some wasteful things for sale but I enjoy that you're actually able to make separate purchases on items less than 50 cents, even if there's a minimum of funds allowed in your wallet. Being able to purchase lower-priced content allows you to not run into situations that are devised to have you be 60 or so points away from buying a game you want and have to buy the 400 points, with tax included. For my state at least, PSN doesn't charge tax on online purchases but 360 does.

Also, the download speeds on PSN being slow is not something I've experienced, in fact I find it just as fast as my 360 and I use wifi on my PS3.

I very much prefer the points, because unlike so many other things I can actually buy them in the UK for example and the exchange rate is correct. Without that, we Euros would pay much more like we do with all other games and hardware

I figured this would be about PS+ Cloud storage and automatic patching. Thats why I love my ps3 more than my 360.

There's no hyphen in Xbox! Stop it.

I heard that the reason so many companies do points is to save money. They're charged a fee every time you use your card. So if you buy $20 in points and make 4 transactions worth $5 each, that's 4 purchases but only 1 card swipe. It's win-win for them.

Xbox 360 has been out for years and your complaining about this now? A little late to the party. There's nothing you can do about it, its the way it is. Oh wait maybe complaining on Giantbomb will convince MS to not make as much money as possible. Between renting on Zune, dlc, and indie games i have actually zeroed out my account a few times now. Bottom line people don't complain because it won't change.

Total non-issue, let alone ancient history.

Microsoft points are stupid.

That said, you'd have to be incredibly fucking poor to actually care that your $2 is lingering. That doesn't even cover the cost of my morning coffee.

Microsoft points are stupid.

That said, you'd have to be incredibly fucking poor to actually care that your $2 is lingering. That doesn't even cover the cost of my morning coffee.