Redeeming Xbox codes has never been so easy – or so freaking awesome!

By published

Xbox Live’s Major Nelson posted a video on Vine, showcasing the Xbox One’s ability to easily input and redeem codes. The process is simple: give a voice command, scan a QR code, and start gaming. How long does the entire process take, you ask? As the spirit of Vine would hint – six seconds.

We have seen a lot of cool video demos of Xbox One, but somehow this simple six second Vine is one of our favorites. Maybe it is simply because it removes the dreaded process of painstakingly entering a twenty-five digit key code with a thumb stick.

Simply say “Xbox, use a code” and show the console your QR code printed on the back of your redeemable item and you are all set. Make sure to watch Major Nelson’s Vine, above, for the full effect.

Only a bit more than two weeks away from the Xbox One launch – who is excited?! 

Source: Vine; via Major Nelson's Blog

Michael Archambault
Michael Archambault
59 Comments
  • Wasn't really that hard before, was it? Or am I just a superior human being?
  • Yes it was hard before.
  • No, it wasn't. Just go to xbox.com on your phone, tablet, or PC, and type the code. You never had to do it on Xbox at all.
  • Well understood, BUT if you were at your console only, it was a thing of difficulty entering in your five by five. That is all Major Nelson is demonstrating here.
  • This is much less of a PITA than before. And I just copy/pasted the code from my 920 email to xbox.com in IE. I wouldn't call the old method hard, but it is certainly harder in comparison.
  • I wouldn't call it HARD as long as you don't lose your spot in the code...its certainly annoying and tedious and a lot of other things though. I know which method I'll be using when I get my hands on a console.
  • Buy a chat pad for your controller. Otherwise, QR codes are kind of a no-brainer.
  • Have a chat pad, but I like this new implementation better.
  • Or just plug in any USB keyboard :P
  • This makes me fell better about the $100 Kinect!
  • Things don't have to be hard to be made easy.
  • I always use Bing Vision to scan the text then paste it into the mobile redeem page. Pretty easy, but this will be much quicker for when you're in front of your Xbox.
  • Can't you do that in iTunes with the card redeemer? You know without the voice commands
  • Yes you can. I just hold up iTunes gift cards to the webcam on my MBP and it enters it for me. I welcome this addition to the Xbox.
  • Don't push to much on Kinetic side or game resolution goes below 720p. :)
  • *deleted*
  • Wow, awesome. I think I heard this beforehand too.
  • I'm so excited! I really hope at the midnight launch at my best buy store, they will have enough for everyone, because I can't wait till January.
  • I have mine on pre-order through Amazon so no waiting for me. It should arrive on launch day.
  • Well my amazon order was the standard edition, and won't come till January, so I rather get it midnight, and cancel the amazon order.
  • A camera that can scan QR codes? Wow, I'm so impressed.
  • It's not always about the technology itself, but how it is implemented into everyday routine. ;)
  • Do you ever say anything positive ever?
  • It's just pathetic wowing to old technology implementation. Like apple with facetime.
    They didn't find a innovative use for old technology... they are really doing something that phone do for years.
  • I don't know about iPhone, but my WP8 handset doesn't recognise "scan a code" as a command. That's the actual innovation here. Can Siri do this? What about Android? Sure, it's a minor innovation to develop a new instruction that the Xbone's Kinect listens for but little details that make using a machine just a bit easier are worth doing.
  • That's not the point. The point is that they took the effort to simplify the process in probably the simplest most effective way. While its not mind blowing, its just another layer of cake on an already massive cake.
  • My cameras don't do anything when I talk to them.
  • Wow! You used a keyboard again for typing. I am impressed.
    It's about the implementation, not the process or technology itself.
  • Cool, looks like the "search by camera" feature in Windows Phone 8. Love it!
  • Wow, they discovered QR codes!!
  • Wow you discovered sarcasm.
  • How many times do you have to repeat yourself before you discover no one cares what you think. :P
  • Mind = blown
  • Would have been great to watch this on vine, but we don't have it yet. I'm tired of 6sec with all its glitches I need vine.
  • I just tapped the fucken link and it played.
  •    That is pretty damn cool.
  • How awesome!!
  • Buy a chat pad for your controller. Cool, but QR codes are kind of a no-brainer. I can't wait. Have one preordered from Target.
  • I hate when ppl say "oh just BUY this". No, just spent X amount of dollars on this piece of hardware. I want features convenient out the box
  • I'm with you. It's like when someone releases a phone with 4GB of storage and someone else will say, "but it doesn't matter because there's microSD slot." Well, those microSD cards cost money that I'd rather not pay if I didn't have to.
  • A bit illogical when a 32 GB card is under $50, but if you buy a 32 GB phone it will be $200-300 more than a 4GB model (outright pricing, not artificial on-contract prices)
  • Go to your PC, get your USB keyboard, return to Xbox, plug in keyboard, start typing like a maniac
  • Mines coming from target too
  • So let's see... I can boot up my computer (9 secs), go to a site (5 secs), and type in a code (15 secs)... Or I can say Xbox Use a Code, hold it up, and go in 6 secs... Groundbreaking? No. Usefully cool? Yeah! Why the negativity?
  • Yeah, I will never own an Xbox One (or any other console), but even I can see the value in this. People just like to complain.
  • Very nice, I like it, can't wait to get the Xbox one
  • Not that bad doing it through PC. It's just copy and paste code.
  • If you are on the PC anyways just leave the xbox off and play there- graphics will most likely be better anyways. Thank me later for the 500$
  • I'm pretty sure that no one or a very small minority would choose console over PC for graphical reasons to begin with. Also if he already has the Xbox then he wont be saving anything by leaving it off and choosing to play on the PC anyways :P Not to mention many people who have chosen consoles don't have PC capable of running modern games at better graphics. While a decent gaming rig that runs most modern games OK doesn't necessarily cost more than 500-600usd (depending if you have stuff like mouse, keyboard, screen ready), but in 2 years you're gonna have to put that 200-300 usd to be able to run the games again in 2-3 years at the same performance. Whereas the console generation will last anywhere between 5-10 years and your console is guaranteed to run the newest games "just fine", sure not the graphics PC run them, but at least you dont play the infinite game of tag trying to keep up with the specs like you do on the PC. I've been mostly a PC gamer for the last decade, but I've changed as a gamer, I've got family now and frankly I'm just tired of the downsides of PC gaming, even with it's advantages.
  • I know quite a few people with crappy XP machines, or $400 laptops. Their PC is just for internet, maybe to type a document and do their taxes... their Xbox is for games.
  • Yeah, good luck copying and pasting from a printed card. You know, from a shop where many people buy XBL points, or from a DLC card in a game box
  • Bring this to WindowsPhone xbox app !
  • They will, right after they finish the ios and android versions, just like remote desktop client.
  • Well sometimes I don't like the other platforms getting things before us, but WP's market share is low right now and the need to generate revenue, so what better way that to target the masses which are located on IOS & Android? They also may convert some users who experience a feature or app Microsoft releases on one of the other platforms. I can tell you that a die hard Android fan who is a co-worker of mine called me over the weekend for instruction on how to use a windows phone....he got rid of his galaxy S4 for a Nokia 1020...He loves it!!!
  • They should allow us to redeem codes for Xbox from our windows phone or tablet since our Xbox account/avatar is linked
  • You can through xbox.com on any device you desire
  • I know quite a few people with crappy XP machines, or $400 laptops. Their PC is just for internet, maybe to type a document and do their taxes... their Xbox is for games.
  • Pretty cool.  Have always hated thumb sticking those codes.  Now if only Borderlands had a way to implement codes via the PC.
  • Its never been so convenient to dump your cash into virtual goods.