Earlier tonight on the 1 vs. 100, host Chris Cashman announced that prizes are finally going to be doled out a week from tonight (July 10th). That means if you are chosen to participate in the mob, selected to be “the one”, or get one of the top scores in the crowd, you’ll win Microsoft Points and Xbox Live Arcade games for real.

Cashman did point out, however, that the game will still remain in “beta”. I’d assume this is likely as more of a cautionary step, in case anything goes haywire on Microsoft’s end.

Either way, the most important reason for the game’s existence appears to now be added. Microsoft seemed to implement it just in time — after playing it regularly the first week or so it was in beta, I simply ceased to care after a while. Without the potential for free stuff, the trivia wasn’t really enough to keep me coming back to the game night after night.

Let’s just hope they don’t muck it up by charging a fee to play.