Today, Amazon unveiled their new Amazon Xbox LIVE Store beta at http://www.amazon.com/xboxlive. The new store allows customers to purchase and gift select XBLA games as well as subscription cards and Microsoft Points cards. After buying a game or a card, the customer will be given a code that they can redeem on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

I think this is a great idea. Certainly it will offer a great deal of convenience to those who don't want their credit card tied to their Xbox LIVE account. It will also allow customers to bypass the inconvenient Microsoft Points system.

Amazon.com Launches Xbox LIVE Store, Offering Customers Convenient Digital Access to Xbox LIVE Arcade Games, Subscription Cards, and Points Cards 

Amazon is the First Retailer to Offer Codes for Downloading Xbox LIVE Games 

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today launched the Amazon Xbox LIVE® Store beta, www.amazon.com/xboxlive, offering customers the convenience to purchase and gift select Xbox LIVE games, subscription cards and Microsoft Points cards. Previously games were only available directly from the Xbox 360® console or xbox.com, making Amazon.com the first retailer to offer customers digital access to codes for downloading Xbox LIVE Arcade games. Customers can choose from fan-favorite titles including “Braid,” “Castle Crashers” and over 100 other games. 

“PC gamers have enjoyed the convenience of digital downloads on Amazon.com for some time. Now Amazon.com and Microsoft are bringing that same level of convenience to platform gamers by expanding the reach of the Xbox LIVE digital platform to millions of Amazon customers,” said Greg Hart, vice president of Video Games and Software for Amazon.com. “This is an exciting day for Amazon.com customers, and we will continue to drive innovation that will provide our customers with the widest selection of video game platform downloads.” 

Through the Xbox LIVE Store, Amazon.com customers can easily buy Xbox LIVE Arcade games, subscriptions and Microsoft Points cards for themselves or friends and family. Points can be used to buy games in the Xbox 360 online Marketplace. The Amazon.com Xbox LIVE Store works on a code-redemption system where customers who purchase an Xbox LIVE product will immediately be able to view their Xbox LIVE code after purchase as well as e-mail that code to themselves or the recipient of the gift. Additionally, this code will reside in the customer’s Your Games & Software Library so they can retrieve it at any time. This digital delivery mechanism eliminates both the waiting time for the customer as well as reduces the waste associated with shipping packaged games and points cards. Customers can leverage Amazon’s recommendation and personalization engine to learn about new games that they also may be interested in based on similar purchase histories of like-customers.