With Yvette van Rooyen taking over the reigns as Xbox 360 lead in South Africa a question popped in my mind regarding one question Mygaming had for her.
Q: You are well aware that there are thousands of local gamers currently using UK or US Xbox Live accounts. What will happen to their gamer score, demos, and bought games when local Xbox Live becomes a reality?
A: We are hoping that we will be able to migrate these accounts to local accounts, however we haven’t had confirmation yet on this – I am assuming that as soon as they give us a date they will give us a bit more insight into the extent of the service that will be provided.
With this I had a flashback to when New Zealand first got their Xbox Live service. They were in the same situation as South Africa. Most of the locals gamers purchased Australian Accounts and played Live.
Everyone was content until Microsoft announced that New Zealand would get their own Live Service.
First, everyone rejoiced that they would be getting their own service but then one after the other a question popped up from the gamers.
“Will I be able to migrate my gamertag/account?”
The statement Microsoft released was: “We do not have the system in place for transfers as it involves content and license transfers”
The result was that all the gamers had to purchase new accounts / gamertags and loose all Gamerscore. Content could still be played as this was on the local console and could be accessed.
Our problem, though, is much bigger. The time line from when Australia got the Live service until New Zealand got theirs was only a year or two but in South Africa it’s been much longer. The Xbox 360 was launched locally in September 2006 – so it has almost been a full 4 years.
Now my question is: “If Microsoft is not willing/able to migrate your account, will you be willing to let go of your gamertag and gamer score?”
This could be interesting as social gamers could see benefit in regards to local prices, local content etc. but Gamerscore Whores have a reputation to uphold with their scores.
…personally I love my gamer tag and would not be willing to let go.
You can read the full interview with Yvette van Rooyen over at Mygaming
Last Updated: June 4, 2010
flmboy
June 4, 2010 at 12:44
This interview can probably tide them over for the next few years… I will believe it when I see it.
ReAVeR
June 4, 2010 at 12:56
I agree. And quite honestly I couldn’t be arsed about local Live. I can do everything I want to do right now with my UK account.
RSA-Ace
June 4, 2010 at 13:07
As a person without an xbox – what are the advantages for having a local Xbox Live. I’m assuming it will still not run on local BW much like the PSN for SA.
The only thing I can think of is the stopping of blocked content. I’m pretty sure it will also be more expensive than what you are paying at the moment (and chances are you still won’t be able to transfer gamescore etc. – why would they focus time and effort on all the small countries when the major countries have already been sorted out).
pantsula
June 4, 2010 at 13:43
Love the Python quote !!!
Tose
June 4, 2010 at 14:04
Considering they now have the ability to do licence transfers between consoles, migrating may be a possibility. And with the ability to do paid gamertag changes, they should be able to keep their names either way.
Aequitas
June 4, 2010 at 14:05
without some sort of migration, I’d keep my UK account. But getting live locally would at least mean we get the pack in DLC codes that we should.
Krypty
June 4, 2010 at 14:47
What about if say DSTV launch their DSTV on Demand on Xbox Live like the SKY player in the UK, or HULU in US?
Nick de Bruyne
June 4, 2010 at 15:04
Aequitas makes a very good point. We have been losing out on DLC for games like Gears of War and so on, and having support here will fix that. Also, we will have actual local support for Xbox Live, which is actually a huge help when the right shit hits your Xbox Live fan.
Krypty
June 4, 2010 at 15:30
Yes, but only if you have a ZA account, otherwise they will route you back to US or UK and then you sit again with your finger…
bokka1
June 5, 2010 at 09:42
Xbox Live runs on local bandwidth currently.