Old Spice and Microsoft have teamed up to reward persistent gamers for their efforts.
Today Microsoft announced that beginning February 12th, gamers will have the chance to win some sweet swag for playing 360 games and earning achievements. Gamers will have two months to increase their Gamerscores by 1,500 points and will be rewarded according to this category listing:
-Gamers who have an annual Gamerscore between 0 and 4,999 at time of entry and add to their Gamerscore by 1,500 points will receive a game picture, dashboard theme, and Contra for Xbox LIVE Arcade.
-Gamers who have an annual Gamerscore between 5,000 and 9,999 and add to their Gamerscore by 1,500 points will receive everything in the first package along with 100 Microsoft Points and a contest T-shirt.
-Gamers who have an annual Gamerscore of 10,000 or above and add to their Gamerscore by 1,500 points will earn themselves the first package along with 200 Microsoft Points, a contest T-shirt, and a copy of Fusion Frenzy 2. 
Gamers must have a valid Windows Live ID linked to their gamertags and be a resident of the United States and District of Columbia. Gamers must also log on to www.xbox.com/rewards on February 12th to sign up for participation.
Unfortunately, as a resident of Canada, I can't participate in this contest but Microsoft has assured gamers around the world that future promotions will not be restricted to the 50 states.
This is a step in the right direction for Microsoft's Achievement program in my opinion as individual Gamerscores will no longer be just for bragging rights. What do you guys think about this? Winning free games for playing games has to be a good thing, right? Let me know.
Cheers.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
VIDEO GAMES: Microsoft Announces Gamerscore Rewards
Friday, February 2, 2007
VIDEO GAMES: Microsoft Lays Down Achievement Law
Microsoft releases new guidelines in an attempt to tighten up achievements.
Recently Realtime Worlds, the developer behind the upcoming Xbox 360 game Crackdown, announced that their free-roam game will ship with only 900 possible achievement points. Some gamers were upset, speculating that the additional 100 Gamerscore would only be available through a priced content download from the Xbox Live Marketplace and that they'd be milked for more cash if they wished to earn the game's complete Gamerscore.
Microsoft decided to take action and release a new set of guidelines in an attempt to bring order back their beloved achievements. Here they are:
1. All retail disc-based games must have a total of 1,000 possible Gamerscore points to be earned. Anyone who purchases the game will be able to earn all 1,000 points without any additional purchases. Although, publishers may release a portion of this gamerscore on the Xbox Live Marketplace but it must be a free download.
2. Publishers may release an additional 250 Gamerscore on top of the standard 1,000 via download from Xbox Live Marketplace. Gamers may be charged for this download, or it may be free, it's up to the game's publisher.
3. Xbox Live Arcade games are very similar but work with lower Gamerscore totals. For example, XBLA games will release with a maximum of 200 Gamerscore points. A possible 50 points can then be downloaded from the Marketplace if the publisher chooses to offer them.
I'm glad that Microsoft is tightening up their Gamerscore policy. With achievement unlocking being as popular as it is, it needed some more moderating. I also hear that they might be planning to reward gamers with higher Gamerscores, this could be a step in that direction.
Cheers.
