Microsoft Challenges Players To Increase Gamerscore For Prizes

Officials from Microsoft have announced that the company has partnered with Old Spice for the Old Spice Experience Challenge, which charges players to increase their individual Xbox Live gamerscore by 1,500 points between February 12 and April 12, 2007. According to Microsoft, the 60 day contest will challenge players at least 13 years old to increase their Xbox Live gamerscores for various prizes, including digital downloads, to t-shirts and a copy of the recently released Xbox 360 party game Fusion Frenzy 2. While this particular contest is open only to residents within the United States and District of Columbia, Microsoft promises that future similar promotions will be global in scope. Sign ups for the contest will open online on February 12. Specifically, rewards will be broken up into three tiers, determined by a player's annual gamerscore at the time of contest entry. Those players with a gamerscore between 0-4,999 who elevate their score by 1,500 points during the contest will win a new gamer picture, dashboard theme, and Konami's Contra for Xbox Live Arcade. In addition, contest participants with an annual gamerscore between 5,000-9,999 will be able to win the previous tier's prizes, plus 100 Microsoft Points and a contest T-shirt. Contestants with a 10,000+ annual gamerscore will be able to win all of the previously mentioned prizes, in addition to another 100 Microsoft Points as well as a copy of Fusion Frenzy 2. In total, Microsoft notes that it is offering over $500,000 in rewards during the contest window. Achievement points are awarded to Xbox 360 players for completing predetermined game-specific challenges, such as defeating a certain number of zombies in Dead Rising or winning a given number of rounds in Dead or Alive 4. Most Xbox 360 titles feature several possible achievements offering a set number of points to add to a player's gamerscore, while similar achievements are available in titles purchased for Microsoft Xbox Live Arcade service.