XBox Points Rip-Off?

EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
edited December 2007 in Gaming
While shopping for Live Points I noticed it seemed overly expensive. I checked a few articles and it seems in the UK we're being charged around 50% more for XBox Live Points than the US (I knew the country field was locked for some reason). That's not funny. I'm sure they'll find some excuse to justify it, but anyway...

The question is, are the points region locked in any way? I.e. could I get a friend in the US to buy a point card and then use that code on my UK account? I was excited about the games through the arcade, but I'm not exactly over the moon about this latest underhanded technique to felch more money.

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2007
    $1 = €1. Technology companies can't be wrong.
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited December 2007
    Thrax wrote:
    $1 = €1. Technology companies can't be wrong.

    UK doesn't use Euros.

    $1.00 = €0.69 = £0.48 so basically it's even worse than it looks to anyone outside (if they go by the same line of thought).
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2007
    Semantics, Enverex.
  • broady81broady81 Member
    edited December 2007
    We get done out of everything Enverex, the Wii Virtual Console and Points System is exactly the same in this respect when compared to European, US and Japanese markets :sad2:
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited December 2007
    The question still stands though, can I use a US bought point card on a UK account?
  • ThelemechThelemech Victoria Icrontian
    edited December 2007
    I doubt it! ......but I have no idea what I'm talking about ... I do not work there :)
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited December 2007
    Thelemech wrote:
    I doubt it! ......but I have no idea what I'm talking about ... I do not work there :)

    Erm... ok then...

    Does anyone actually know? I'm dying to buy Worms and a few others but not keen to when I know I'm paying over the odds.
  • tmh88tmh88 Pittsburgh / Athens, OH
    edited December 2007
    Yes you can....I'm pretty sure. Each point card has a serial code or whatever you want to call it, which you enter into your xbox. The code has a programmed amount of points which it is worth. So I dont see why a card purchased in the US would be any different than one in the UK. Either way its just a code that you will be entering into your dashboard.
  • breakdown84breakdown84 Around town
    edited December 2007
    Yes me too, I'm pretty sure that it would work also. I honestly can't say I've tried(or live in the UK, for that matter:wink:) but it seems feasible, just too be safe, have your friend or whatever get you a cheap card(i.e. that doesn't have a lot of points on it) and try it out. Good luck!:)
  • Your-Amish-DaddyYour-Amish-Daddy The heart of Texas
    edited December 2007
    I betcha twenty quid that Microsoft is justifying by saying it takes more money to run servers in the British Isles than it does elsewhere. And if I'm not mistaken bandwidth does cost more because I think the price per megabit is twenty cents (like, 8-13 pence or something) higher than ours. Which would justify a minute hike in price. But Microsoft is all sixes and sevens when it comes to company policy and respect to the customer.
  • DeltaNovemberDeltaNovember
    edited December 2007
    I can confirm that you CANNOT use points cards from other countries with your account. I bought a US points card and it was not valid with my Canadian live account.

    You can create a dummy US acct and use the points card on that account and the games/items purchased should work on your main acct but if you were to ever get a new xbox you would have to be signed into the US acct to access the stuff you purchased with your US points. As far as I can tell purchases are tied to the xbox and the acct, you don't have to be online as long as it is on the same xbox but if you were to bring you HDD to a friends house you would have to be logged onto the live account that bought the game to play it.

    Hope that helps. All sorts of DRM and region crap these days :sad2:
  • NightwolfNightwolf Afghanistan Member
    edited December 2007
    Why don't you call Xbox?
  • Your-Amish-DaddyYour-Amish-Daddy The heart of Texas
    edited December 2007
    You mean Xbox live customer support? I didn't know you could call your Xbox. Does it have a hot voice?
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