What is Gamerscore and what are Achievements?

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I’ve been asked before: “what is gamer score” or “can I use gamer score points to buy games on the Xbox live arcade?” Unfortunately, no, these are not features of earning Gamerscore. Gamerscore points are designed as a way to track your gaming progress. To make purchases on the Xbox Live Marketplace, you will need to use Microsoft Points.

Gamerscore is awarded for completing specific Achievements in games. These Achievements, and their corresponding Gamerscore value, are decided upon by the developers of the game. I have always enjoyed the concept of Gamerscore and thought of it as a way to task your friends with accomplishing things that are both creative and challenging. These are the kinds of things we did when we were young and did not have online gaming. We would often challenge each other to complete tasks that are only based on situations in the game such as speed runs or accumlating the most points in a specific level. For example the game may reward you for doing a barrel roll in a car, or completing five touchdown passes in a single game, or completing a lap under a certain time – it is entirely up to the developer, and the genre of game.

As I had mentioned at the beginning, Gamerscore only a method by which you can track your game progress and compare it with friends. Gamerscore is not a feature which allows you to purchase games or downloadable content from the Xbox Live Marketplace. Although gamer score and Achievements are not redeemable for marketplace goods Xbox and Microsoft later introduced unlockable avatar awards, so you can get certain “gifts” for completing tasks – like Hats, T-Shirts, or Props for your avatar, depending on the game.