re you obsessed with your Gamerscore? Do you continue to play through a game, even though you beat it, to milk the game of every achievement point you can get? You played Open Season and Sneak King just to nab a few easy points, right? Well, finally, Microsoft is taking the wraps off the Xbox Live Rewards Program, and gamers will be able to pick up prizes just for increasing their Gamerscore or unlocking certain achievements.
The Xbox Live Rewards Program is kicking off with the Old Spice Challenge, and from Feb. 12 through April 12, 2007, gamers are tasked with increasing their Gamerscore by 1,500 points within a 60-day period. This challenge is a trial run—depending on how good the response is from this program, more rewards challenges may become available.
The Xbox Live Rewards Program is built on tiered levels. Depending on how high your Gamerscore is, you’ll be seeded in a certain level, and it’s open to both silver and gold memberships. Your Gamerscore at the beginning of the promotion—Feb. 12—will put you in a certain level, and by obtaining 1,500 Gamerscore points, you’ll be eligible to win specific prizes. The level breakdowns are as follows:
Level 1: 0 — 4,999 : Gamer Picture, Contra (Xbox Live Arcade), level bump to next level
Level 2: 5,000 — 9,999 : Level 1 package, 100 Microsoft Points, T-shirt, level bump to next level
Level 3: 10,000+ : Level 1 package, 200 Microsoft Points, T-Shirt and Fuzion Frenzy for Xbox 360.
More than $500,000 in prizes will be given away in the Old Spice Experience Challenge, but it’s on a first-come, first-serve basis. Basically, it’s going to be a race to earn 1,500 Gamerscore points once the promotion begins. Even if you score 1,500 points, you’re not guaranteed prizes outside of the digital prizes. However, if you are level 2 for this promotion and you successfully gain 1,500 in Gamerscore points during the specified time, you’ll start at level 3 automatically if there’s another promotion.
However, what’s exciting is that this is just the beginning. If successful, Microsoft plans on expanding this program to either specific games, Gamerscore challenges, or even an out-of-game challenge, where gamers could design game elements, such as decals for cars or skins for characters.
We recently sat down with Kim Janzik, Director of Global Marketing for Xbox to find out more about the Old Spice Challenge and the potential future of the Xbox Live Rewards program.
Game Informer: I guess first off, let’s talk about the Old Spice Challenge. When is it kicking off, and what can gamers on Xbox Live win?
Kim Janzik: We’re kicking off the program on Feb.12, and 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. It’s a two-month challenge, and it is a trial program. In that time, there are basically two things. One: Everyone that completes the challenge is eligible to win some digital awards, which include a dash theme, gamer picture—those are things they can kind of use to show their place in the community and their accomplishments. There are limited rewards—roughly 70,000 of them across the community, which include things like a Live Arcade game, a limited number of Microsoft Points, a retail Xbox 360 game and a promotional T-shirt. 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.
GI: Looking at the levels and how everything breaks down, say hypothetically I already have 10,000 Gamerscore points. I still have to get another 1,500 points within that 60-day period to qualify for the prizes, right?
Janzik: That’s correct.