Saturday, November 6, 2010

XBox Warning

I don't talk much about computer gaming stuff. But something came up with the XBox 360 that all of you should be aware of. Especially those of you with kids.

The basic issue is that the Xbox 360 support downloadable content purchased with Points you buy from Microsoft. If you bought an XBox last year you have the option of blocking purchases and still allow access to all other on-line services like Netflix, or multi-player games. This is typically a wise choice with children and teenagers who are still getting a grip that they just can't spend $$$ without earning it.

The problem is that Microsoft recently updated the console with a new operating system that support the Kinectic. In doing so it disabled the ability to block downloadable purchases. The update throws the gate wide open for any Live account to make purchases with the credit card associated with the account. The agents recommend that the only thing you can do is take off the credit card and use prepurchased cards to enable your access.

4 comments:

Tenkar said...

my kid has his own student Paypal debit card i drop part of his allowance in.

he got it when he was 16... he can'y hiy my paypal account with it, and cant spend more then he has... worked well so far and tteaches him how to budget

Airlifter said...

Great idea Tenkar. I have a new driver in the family who needs to buy gas, etc when she is out. A prepaid card is a great idea for that as well as for the xbox.

Robert said...

Thanks for the heads-up on this.

The Happy Whisk said...

Sorry to hear about this, Rob.