Microsoft Closes Xbox.com PC Marketplace

SmartAboutThings writes "Microsoft is definitely changing things in its gaming department: it has now announced in a support note on the Xbox site that it will be shutting down the Xbox.com PC Marketplace on August 22nd. This comes shortly after news that Microsoft hired former Steam boss Jason Holtman, whose mission at Redmond is to 'make Windows great for gaming.' The Microsoft Points system will be retired on August 22nd as well. The Games for Windows Live client software will not be affected, at least initially, letting you play previously purchased games."

Comments

Re:"letting you play previously purchased games."

[ackthpt]

The two are not the same.
Netflix you are renting X files for the next 30 days. You know this. No expectations that you can stop playing the £Y and movies will still magic onto your tellybox.

"Buy" a game from Steam/Xbox/Origin/what evs and you pay just the once and expect it to continue working.

One you are getting a service, the other you are getting a product.

I'm certain Starbucks follows this same model - you sit around in their extravagant little shoppe, renting coffee (you'll never own it, it'll be turned over to the Department of Public Works in due course) and feel like you are getting something more for your money. In reality shows they make a big show of producing some hot solution from blasting steam through a handful of ground south american beans.

You could just buy your coffee beans at the market and enjoy them at your leisure at home until such time as said beans turn rancid (you can keep them longer in the fridge.

I've yet to get into Netflix, largely because I watch stuff piecemeal on a portable DVD player I bought about 10 years ago (still works and dumb as a rock, so doesn't know the first thing about region coding, w00t!) Having big stack of DVDs around is handy, but I truly despise the advertising crap before movies, sometimes as many as 6 plugs for other movies (which is the strongest motivation I've ever had to rip my DVDs, so I can put the content I want to watch somewhere I can get to it easily, without all the delay and frustration).