Microsoft has confirmed Windows 8 will list paid-for apps, video and other content in local currency even for Xbox Live transactions made on a PC. But it is sticking with Microsoft Points for Xbox Live or when used on an Xbox 360.
That effectively means the same content will be listed in pounds and pence on a PC, but in the company's made-up currency on the Xbox 360. A user will be able to see exactly what they are paying for an Xbox movie rental, for example, if they buy it online through a Windows 8 computer, but not if they buy exactly the same film on the console itself.
Microsoft told The Verge: "Microsoft Points continue to be the currency for purchasing content for the Xbox 360 console."
The company didn't go into detail on why there will now be two separate systems of payment.
To be fair, Microsoft Points is now an established method of payment on Xbox Live through the console itself. Users understand it, and many can already do the conversion sums in their head. And what would Microsoft do with the untold thousands of pre-pay Points cards that are still in circulation if it decided to scrap the system?
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