The Psychology of Steam Wallet & Microsoft Points [Slashdot]

[DP ServBot]

Hugh Pickens writes "Ever bought something from Xbox Live Arcade? The first time, you may have been a bit bamboozled by the process because Microsoft doesn't just let you put $15 on your credit card to buy a new game; purchases are done in 'Microsoft Points' that you deposit into a virtual wallet and you use the points to buy stuff. 'Gamers possessed of equal parts suspicion and curiosity may wonder why our gaming overlords adopted such a strange system instead of just letting us pay real money for our purchases,' writes game psychologist James Madigan. He says the real reason for Microsoft Points is that sometimes you are going to have some points left over in your account. Leaving money on the table or in your Xbox Live account makes most of us a bit uncomfortable (PDF) because it feels wasteful. 'It's similar to overeating at a buffet or doubling your paper towel use after buying the 124 roll jumbo pack,' says Madigan. 'Even though you could just let those paper towels or Nintendo Points sit there until you have a good reason to use them, spending real money on something else seems wasteful.' And Microsoft isn't the only one – Sony and Nintendo have similar systems, and Valve has even rolled out a 'Steam Wallet' for in-game microtransactions."

Read more of this story (http://games.slashdot.org/story/11/05/10/0320256/The-Psychology-of-Steam-Wallet-amp-Microsoft-Points?utm_source=rss1.0&utm_medium=feed) at Slashdot.

[SpaceHarrier]

I have 200 Wii points that have been sitting there for months. Bugs the hell out of me.

[LaughingMAN.S9]

i had 900 points on my wii for well over 2 years b4 i finally just cashed it in on metal slug


i hate that fucking system with a passion, it ended up backfiring on nintendo at least with me because i vowed to never ever again buy anything from the wii store once i managed to clear that 900 points from wallet


psn for the most part lets me buy whatever the fuck i want to buy at cost with no money on the table


only time that ever happened to me was when i bought uno on a psn special for a dollar, leaving me with 3.99 left over, and nothing on the psn as far as i could tell costs 3.99

[Leo_A]

While I have no doubt that unspent money on our accounts was a major motivation behind Microsoft's points system, they missed another obvious reason for it.

It makes our purchases seem cheaper to us. That 8 in front of an 800 point purchase makes it mentally seem a bit cheaper to us than marking it with the true price of $10 or with a points total that better reflects the true dollar value.

[kedawa]

I just ran out of buns, but there are two wieners left.
What to do.

[Nz17]

I have 200 Wii points that have been sitting there for months. Bugs the hell out of me.

I know what you mean. I finally resorted to buying in-game DLC for Mega Man 10 just to clear the points away. Then again, the "DLC" was obviously in the game, it just needed to be activated.

Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, how I miss the days of the Dreamcast's DLC which was all free and there was no question if it was. Whether you were actually downloading extra data or just an unlock file, it was all free and clear. :)

[jcalder8]

It makes our purchases seem cheaper to us. That 8 in front of an 800 point purchase makes it mentally seem a bit cheaper to us than marking it with the true price of $10 or with a points total that better reflects the true dollar value.
I think this has a lot more to do with it. IMO very few Xbox users would be able to tell you how much 800 points with worth.

[megasdkirby]

I have 40 points left over, and it doesn't bother me as much as I find it useless to have only that amount on my account. I rather have zero balance than $0.50 balance, since cant buy anything with it.

[jonebone]

While I have no doubt that unspent money on our accounts was a major motivation behind Microsoft's points system, they missed another obvious reason for it.

It makes our purchases seem cheaper to us. That 8 in front of an 800 point purchase makes it mentally seem a bit cheaper to us than marking it with the true price of $10 or with a points total that better reflects the true dollar value.

QFT. I would say this is a much bigger issue than the left over points. Similar to how items are priced at $9.99 instead of $10 in the retail world.

[Swamperon]

It doesn't bother me if its in points or cash, I just wish the console companies, Nintendo in particular, would be a bit more flexible in their prices.

As much I generally dislike the iDevices, there's no denying seeing new and classic titles for £2 or less is tempting.

Example; Shining Force could be bought for £0.99 on an iPhone. On the Wii it's 800 points, which is about £5? Or more. Insane. Nintendo never have sales or offers etc. It's something that really needs to be fixed in the future, especially with the 3DS VC/Ware.

[Kitsune Sniper]

... But you can actually spend the remaining money in your Steam wallet.

In fact, the few times I've actually added money to it so I could buy a TF2 key (yeah yeah, I know), I've been able to use the remaining money on another purchase paid for with my PayPal account. So if say... I have $2 in my Steam Wallet, I can use those $2 as credit for any other purchase outside of the microtransaction stores.

This isn't much like the situation with the Wii / Live points at all. You CAN spend the money in your Steam wallet in any way you want within Steam since you use actual US Dollars (or Euros / Pounds), not funny money.

[PapaStu]

The left over MS points don't bug me as much as the PSN pricing. I recieved a $20 buck card, bought 2 $9.99 games. I now have in my wallet $.02 remaining. That irks me more than the points, as I know they'll eventually go away when i buy some DLC or on sale game. I won't be getting rid of that $0.02 anytime soon.

[megasdkirby]

The left over MS points don't bug me as much as the PSN pricing. I recieved a $20 buck card, bought 2 $9.99 games. I now have in my wallet $.02 remaining. That irks me more than the points, as I know they'll eventually go away when i buy some DLC or on sale game. I won't be getting rid of that $0.02 anytime soon.

The extra amount will go away if you use a credit card. Yes yes, I know about recent events, but at least that way you will consume whatever is left, as it first takes the balance that is left over, then use the credit card.

The one that really irks me is Nintendo...I have 100 points in my account for around two years..all because there is nothing priced at 100 points!