Starting on February 12, Xbox Live Gold and Silver users will start putting their Gamerscore to a use other than bragging rights. From then until April 12, 2007, gamers will have the opportunity to win prizes and Microsoft Points by increasing their achievement tally by 1,500 points. Depending on where your points are when you begin will determine what bracket of prizes you’re eligible for–the higher the score you start with, the better the prizes. The best possible prize will be 200 Microsoft Points and a copy of Fuzion Frenzy 2.
In an interview with Game Informer, Xbox’s Director of Global Marketing, Kim Janzik, outlined the contest–the "Old Spice Challenge"–which is a trial of sorts for Microsoft. He explains, "Overall, what we’re doing is creating a challenge where our gamers can go and be acknowledged and be rewarded for their accomplishments with various opportunities and prizes. Depending on where you are within your gaming performance and if you’re one of the first to complete the challenge, you’ll be eligible for those prizes."
He continues, "I think gamers like to show their rank within the community. I think they like to be acknowledged, frankly just within the community, and it is something where they can feel good about what they’ve done. That is gaming at its best, right? All the way back to the original 2D games, people were working to be on the arcade game high-score list. Achievements and Gamerscore are almost an evergreen score list across all the games on the platform. It’s just bringing that passion and that rank within the community to this platform and to this generation."
According to research and analysis from Microsoft, "80-90% [of Xbox 360 users] say they want to dial up recognition and rewards. This program is a trial to see if what [these users] are telling us can really come to life and extend that gaming accomplishment to the broader community."
Gamers have been clamoring for something like this since the beginning of the system’s lifespan, and Microsoft has listened. Let the games begin.
