News
Bid Farewell To Microsoft Points After Next Xbox Update
I’m not fond of goodbyes, but this is one I can get behind. Starting with the next Xbox 360 update, Microsoft will be scrapping their annoying Microsoft Points faux currency in favor of real money. This means you won’t need to whip out a calculator to figure out the least amount of money you’ll have to spend to buy that $12.50 DLC. It also means we won’t have to see the ‘remaining balance of 40 (useless) points’ in our Xbox Live wallets.
Any points you already have will be converted to their real world equivalent when the next update rolls out later this year. They listened all right. I only wish their hearing was a bit better, since we’ve been asking for this since 2005. More after the jump.
From Microsoft’s Xbox Wire blog:
Earlier this year, we announced that we are bringing local currency to Xbox 360 and Xbox One consoles. This change was a direct result of customer feedback. You told us you want to be able to buy things using money instead of points, and we listened.
Our goal is to make this transition as easy as possible for you. After the next Xbox 360 system update, when you go to buy something or redeem a Microsoft Points card or code on your console with your Microsoft account, we’ll add to your account an amount of currency equal to or greater than the Xbox Marketplace value of your Microsoft Points, which will be retired.
Making a purchase will be faster and easier than ever. You will see item prices expressed in local currency; no need to calculate what an item costs! You will still be able to directly purchase content from Xbox stores using any current form of payment available in your region, including credit cards. And with a rollout starting in late 2013, you’ll also be able to buy new Xbox Gift Cards (denominated in your local currency) through our online retailers and in local retail stores. These gift cards can be added to your Microsoft account online and are another easy-to-use payment option for customers.
Don’t worry about your Microsoft Points Cards either. We’ll continue to accept purchased Microsoft Points Cards and codes until further notice, and we’ll add to your account an amount of local currency equal to or greater than the Marketplace value of those points. In addition, we know you’ve worked hard on your Microsoft Points earned through Xbox Live Rewards. These will remain in your Xbox Live account and transition to local currency with the rest of your Microsoft Points.
We’re excited to bring local currency to Xbox Live. It’s a decision based on your feedback, and another way we’re working to make Xbox Live the best community for gaming and entertainment today.
So that’s that. Soon, MSP will go the way of the Dodo bird. However, unlike that majestic feathered creatures, these won’t be missed.
Have a question? Feel free to ever-so-gently toss Adam an email, or follow him on Twitter and Bloody Disgusting.
All of us here at Bloody Disgusting are deeply saddened to learn that George A. Romero Foundation Founder and President Suzanne Desrocher-Romero has passed away.
GARF shared in a statement on socials, “It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of Suzanne Desrocher Romero. Suzanne passed away of natural causes on June 24 at her home in Toronto after a prolonged illness.”
The statement continues, “Suzanne was the fierce leader of the George A. Romero Estate and The George A. Romero Foundation. She worked tirelessly to preserve George’s legacy. Her work at the foundation will continue to inspire and live on for generations to come. The family asks for privacy at this time.”
Desrocher-Romero founded GARF in 2018, after her late husband’s passing in 2017, and has been a fierce advocate for his legacy and the arts. It was her mission to “strengthen horror as a serious field of global study,” and she was a tremendous fighter on behalf of Romero’s works and supporting new filmmakers inspired by his legacy.
It was Desrocher-Romero who spearheaded the recovery and restoration of The Amusement Park, and, as the person in charge of the George A. Romero estate, worked closely with author Daniel Kraus on completing unfinished novels like Pay the Piper and The Living Dead. She most recently celebrated the restoration of her favorite of Romero’s zombie films, Day of the Dead, and was hard at work producing the upcoming film Twilight of the Dead.
That passionate advocacy led to Suzanne Desrocher-Romero becoming family to Bloody Disgusting as well.
2023 marked the start of an ongoing partnership between Bloody FM and GARF on The Dead, a scripted audio series spanning multiple seasons that saw Desrocher-Romero working closely with the Bloody FM team and mentoring the series’s contributing writers with GARF. To say her loss will be felt internally is an understatement.
“Anytime George Romero is mentioned is good, because what we are doing is to provide a healthy legacy. We’re uplifting his legacy, we’re supporting the archive, and we’re also supporting the Horror Study Center. So, all of these three things are what the Foundation is striving to do. As far as I’m concerned, the more we say George Romero’s name, the better it is,” Desrocher-Romero recently told BD.
It’s the perfect encapsulation of her unwavering enthusiasm for supporting Romero’s legacy and the horror genre, and just a glimpse at how much she contributed to preserving it. She is, in short, an inspiration.
We send our deepest condolences to Suzanne Desrocher-Romero’s family, friends, and GARF.
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