Achievement points: some people hate them, some people find them pointless, and people like me love them. I use to be that guy who played a game once, beat it, and proceed to turn it into GameStop for store credit. Ever since I’ve purchased my Xbox 360 back in December of 2005, I have not once turned in any title for the console and I don’t plan on doing so.
With the implementation of gamerscores and achievement points, many ask what does it mean to beat a game now? Well to beat a game remains the same; once you have completed the single player story line and have seen the credits role, I believe you have successfully beat the game. Completing a game is another story and one that I believe plays to the success of this new phenomenon called Achievement Points. In essence, achievement points have changed the way I play games and the way I ultimately decide which console I will buy games for. If a game comes out for all 3 consoles, chances are I’m going to buy it for the 360. This really sets the 360 apart from the PS3 in a remarkable way.
As stated earlier, I love the whole notion of a gamerscore and achievement points. The fact that I can, at anytime, log onto www.xbox.com or startup my Xbox 360 and see the progress I have made, the games I have beaten, and compare my achievements with the rest of world is amazing. I wish that Sony and Nintendo would have just flat out stole the idea and used it for their new consoles. I would love to see Zelda for the Wii with achievement points because I don’t think I’m ever going to play that game again now that I have beaten it.
Does you’re achievement points do anything for you as far as gaming goes? Well besides the fact that I can say I have more points than someone else, no. But for me, achievement points aren’t about anyone else. It’s more about me getting the most out of my games and for that, I thank you Achievement Points. Whoever thought of this over at Microsoft, you are a genius. Because of you I’m doing weird and crazy things in games that I never thought I would be doing.
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Damn you GPs.
See it's a thing of vaule. What have games always been about? Score, of course. What gave you the bragging rights to your friends? Who could get the highest score on _____.
Achivements points take a scoreing system to a whole new console friendly level.
Achievements have effectively wiped out me playing games on any other console because "no one will know." For some reason I have a hard time gaming these days without having anything to show for it...
Microsoft has always been monopolistic in nature.
Then i got my own 360 and became just like him.
Achievements are why i still have my copy of Bioshock. I have two left to get and they're hard ones.
Also, Blue Dragon is going to take me even longer than i first thought because the achievements are a bitch to get.
But goddamn i want them all.
To be honest, I feel a certain sense of freedom when playing games w/o achievements. There's no concern of "am I doing it right," or basically frustrating myself with shit games just to get some meaningless points. I find myself kind of enjoying the experience a little more without that albatross around my neck.
I love my achievement points. (that are higher than Ron's.)
MWHAHAHAHAHA
But I've had my achivement spell broken a bit. Been playing Puzzle Fighter loads recently, in spite of the fact I've unlocked nearly all the achivements. I still like em, but I'm not at the scarily obsessed level I was before.
And i agree that they add gaming hours... like i need more...
Well, that's a bit of a dramatizations, but achievements have consumed me. I mean, I find it hard to even play Fable even after buying it because it doesn't have achievements for me to get.
Hell, even my fiancee Sarah digs achievements a bit. Hell, she almost has 'em all in Oblivion.
I see your point there, with feeling a sense of freedom when playing games without achievement points. That's why I try my hardest to just play the game the first time through and then I check to see what the achievements are. Sadly, that never happens.
Bottom line : It helps the casual gamer alot. ALOT alot.
Cars.
This game is actually pretty solid and if I hadn't of forced myself to stick it out I probably wouldn't feel like that. It broadens your gaming taste in a small sense I think.
As for games like BioShock and Gears of War, no, you don't notice or care as much. But as MasterLedz was blogging about earlier I'm finding as I get older, responsibility is a bitch (yeah duh) and if you can't track your accolades and goings-on in the digital world, it just seems like a waste of time that you can't afford.
My girlfriend checks my progress damn near daily with 360 voice. At first I told her to stop stalking me via Live but if it gets her to leave me the hell alone when I'm playing games that works for me.
Imma stick with a console that won't involve taking out a mortgage though.
Yeah, I heard something of the matter but they said when Home launches this fall it won't have that support. Even worse, games that are already out won't support that trophy system. It would be awesome if Sony gives me, say a web page with all my trophies in it along with a room in Home but as of right now I'm not to excited about Home. The notion of meeting up with people at my "house" and just listening to music weirds me out.
I think they play to the basic need in most gamers to unlacok secrets that don't matter.
Yes that need and most gamers like to brag about meaningless shit. Now we just have a place to validate our bragging.
And no one's allowed to put their e-weenie in my trophy case. I don't need to know about phantom e-weenies on my trophies.
Planned before launch meant that they had a good year or so head start on stealing it from MS. I KEED!
The achievement unlocked sound. Think about how awesome it is everytime you do something great, and you hear that little sound validating you for moving forward in the game, or hitting milestones on multi-player.
MMMmmmmmm.....good.
Yeah just don't use it as a tone for incoming text messages. You'll start jumping up and down yelling "fuck yeah, what did I unlock??" then realize that you are in a meeting with the president of the company at the other side of the table. Not saying that happened but I'm just saying.
Download the MP3 of the Achievement Unlocked sound here. That is the actual sound clip used by the 360 sound staff. The link came from Major Nelson. Makes a great text message or voicemail ringtone. Enjoy!