XBOX 720....

[Ghengis_John]

Many gamers find Microsoft Points to be a cumbersome system that almost always results in unused points and "spare change" that can't be used on anything else. A straight money system has worked on the PlayStation and PC downloadable platforms for many years now, so why shouldn't Microsoft adopt a similar model?

My guess is this is IGN's staff editorializing here. It's worth noting that many gamers are stupid and buy the same madden game year after year. Anyone who bitches about MS points is an unperceptive buffoon. Cash never goes on sale. MS points do. The exchange allows retailers some leeway which means discounts for you and you can often pick up titles that are 15 dollars on pc or ps3 for 12 or even ten dollars just by looking out for ms point sales in stores on a regular basis.

Example:
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/28/this-week-target-has-1600-ms-points-for-15/

I'd personally mourn the loss of MS points for this reason :/.

 

[Ooofmatic]

I kinda wish MS points were transferable as "gifts" from one account to another. Then I could do online MS point "money matches". :P