Let’s hope they roll it out worldwide…

Xbox 360 is teaming up with Old Spice to bring the first Rewards Challenge to Xbox Live. Gamers will be charged with increasing their gamerscore by 1,500 between February 12 and April 12, 2007. That’s 60 days to bring your overall gamerscore up by 1,500 for the chance to earn a bounty of rewards. In order to participate, you need to have a valid Windows Live™ ID with your Xbox LIVE® gamercard linked, be a legal resident of the 50 United States and District of Columbia (expect future challenges to be global in scope) and at least thirteen years-old.

Reward Package Qualifications

Level 1 (Gamers who have a gamerscore between 0-4,999 at time of entry): Game Picture, Dashboard theme, Contra for Xbox LIVE Arcade

Level 2 (5,000-9,999 gamerscore at time of entry): Level 1 Package, 100 Microsoft Points and a contest T-shirt

Level 3 (10,000+ gamerscore at time of entry): Level 1 Package, 200 Microsoft Points, contest T-shirt and Fusion Frenzy 2

In addition, Old Spice will give Level 1 and 2 the gift of experience by upgrading their Rewards Level for 2007.

Think you can do it? With more than $500,000 in total rewards, such as Microsoft Points and Xbox 360 games, it is time to tackle those unbeaten games and start unlocking Achievements, because this Spring the rewards go beyond just having an impressive gamerscore.

Be sure to log on to www.xbox.com/rewards on February 12 to sign up for participation. Reward quantities are limited so gamers who reach the set goal will be awarded on a first come, first served basis only.

Read more at the Gamerscore blog and check out xbox.com/rewards later on. It will be interesting to see what kind of impact this will have on online gaming in the long run. My guess is that rewards are here to stay, and a piece in the online console wars that we are bound to see between Xbox 360, PlayStation3 and perhaps Wii in the coming year.