Xbox LIVE is About to Change... Again

Is it good-bye to Billy Bucks? It appears that way, as Ars Technica reports of a meeting with Scott Austin of Microsoft to discuss Xbox LIVE, which seems, among other things, to be ditching the Microsoft Points system.

Not only will Microsoft be ditching the Billy Bucks, but they'll also make paying for games easier by allowing you to use your credit card to purchase games directly. "We're going to have 30 or more games launching in August, worldwide, in all markets. We'll also be adding new content in all of our markets weekly," Austin added, referencing the "Games on Demand" service announced after their press conference. Now, full games can be downloaded directly to one's console. 

Austin walked us through the process of buying a game through the service. "What you'll see here for the first time on the buy screen is we'll be showing the price in the local currency," he said, and there was something akin to a gasp in the room. "And we're going to allow people to purchase with a credit card." He points out that gamers will still have the choice to pay with Microsoft points, if they want. The ability to see the real price of the game, and then to be able to pay directly with your credit card instead of buying a block of points is a huge step forward.

The licensing model for the Games on Demand purchases will also mirror that of Arcade games. "We keep the license information on the Live servers, so the user who purchased it can roam to another console and play the game there." This also allows gamers to delete the entire game to free up hard drive space, and then redownload whenever they'd like. We're told to expect pricing on the games to be comparable to what you would see at retail. When asked about day and date releases with new games, there is no information. "We haven't determined that," Austin said. That's not a "no," so there is a possibility that new games will be released both as a physical and digital product.

As this addition could make finding quality games more difficult, they will also implement a five-star user ratings system to help separate the cream of the crop. And it begins this Summer.

Other coming additions are some themed wear for your Xbox LIVE Avatars, including shirts featuring images from Halo and Splinter Cell. And for four dollars/320 Billy Bucks, you can even give them a radio controlled Warthog from Halo. No idea what it's good for, but there it is.

In addition, you'll be able to earn stuff for your Avatars as a reward for playing games, as well as the already-implemented Achievements. "Microsoft has many ways of making you feel like you're earning things while playing the games," Ars says.

One can only wonder now if Nintendo will feel at all pressured to... naaaah.