Minecraft is a system-seller for Xbox 360

Consumers are buying Xbox 360 consoles purely to play Minecraft says Graeme Taylor, store manager at indie retailer Game On.

Game On told MCV that the Xbox Live Arcade title, which has sat at the top of the XBLA charts now for almost a year, has helped the firm shift points cards too.

Over Christmas we sold between 10 and 15 Xbox 360s, bought purely for Minecraft,” said Taylor.

It shifts consoles, points cards and gold cards. It’s been a crazy thing and a very canny move by Microsoft.”

Taylor believes a portion of the title’s success on the console comes from some consumers still being wary of PC and online credit card transactions.

Some people are still suspicious of PC and parents are happier if their kids are playing it on Xbox. Parents seem to be wary of this ‘Minecraft website’. We’ve had to reassure people that it’s not a scam.

The points cards have also been really popular, and again, some parents feel more comfortable buying points cards because they’re not tied to card details.”