Since I received my 360 all those, two, years ago, I've found that playing the games for the sake of game-play has slowly begun to decline in popularity.

The culprits in question are the nit-picky little things on everyone’s mind as they peruse through a dungeon to find a certain magic rock (that grants no actual magic powers) or shoot 27,345 people in the face from (specifically) 83 yards away using only a handgun.

Achievements; what the hell makes them so addictive?



Personally I’ve found that gaining achievements is a self-gratifying quest. I’m the kind of person who can’t play a game (if you read last post) without getting 100% before completion. I’ve found myself playing other games on other systems, hoping I can hear the satisfying “BLOOP” when I’ve collected 50 gems or killed another Colossus. I’ve succumb to the disease, or as I like to call it; the Achiease.

So ask yourself this: are these tid-bits really necessary? What do they do exactly?

I perused the Xbox Live threads to find an answer, or pose another question. Why NOT make them do more than please ourselves and taunt our friends?



Instead of just gaining pointless points, why not be able to use the unlocked image as a gamer icon? Maybe some day, the accumulated gamer-points could be used to purchase small in game items/content. Chances are slim that these obnoxiously addictive trophies, which I just have to collect, will never do anything else but remind us of what we may never be able to accomplish in life…See: Gears of War: "Seriously…"

-JD