Gamerscore matters. It finally happened. I’m astonished: Microsoft is actually doing something with our stagnant, accumulating achievements. My Xbox Live Rewards announced their new reward system for achieving such high Gamerscore.Gone are the days of soulless collection, meaningless progression, and frustrating nights of obtaining 100% in the hopes that someday these numbers will matter, and we’ll be crowned with a luminescent reward. Validation for our whoring, validation for our ego-stroking, all for some great reward of…a 2% rebate?
A 2% rebate on Live purchases for each month? That’s not all of the rewards, right? There’s got to be something else – something for my 1000/1000 games, something for getting an achievement for over 100 games, even something for spending too much on the Avatar clothing store!? Nope, for 25,000 Gamerscore, you attain a 2% rebate each month for the Microsoft Points you’ve spent, plus a “special” gift for your birthday month (probably a 3% rebate). There are also two lower tiers: 3000G gets you the “special” gift, and 10000G gives you that plus a 1% rebate. For the majority of us, for every 800MP ($10) you spend, you earn 16MP (20 cents), while Wayne Knight laughs maniacally in the distance.
