Forget 1080p. Ignore surround sound. Never mind motion control, online play, and in-game voice chat. Those features pale in comparison to the little feature Microsoft introduced when they launched the Xbox360: Achievements. They're the best things to happen to video games since the analog stick, and I hate them.
No other "feature" makes me want to play (and beat!) games that I would otherwise ignore or, more likely, belittle. It's because of Achievements that I played Undertow, Dash of Destruction, and a few other games I'm embarrassed to mention. These games -- forgettable at best -- become a worthy endeavor when you approach them as a Gamerscore ATM.
Achievements are an insidious device developed solely to get you to play more. On the surface, that's not such a bad thing. The evil, however, runs deep. Have you ever noticed that, because of Achievements (or, Trophies . . . but that's another rant), you're willing to spend time with an average Xbox360 game instead of playing a phenominal Wii game?
Admit it. You've sat in front of your entertainment center, thinking about playing Madworld or King Kong. Madworld is clearly the better game, but King Kong wins your valuable gaming time. You can't earn Achievements with Madworld. Madworld's quality took a back seat to Kong's easy Achievements.
It's heroin with a score.
Achievements are viewable online, which is where the system really becomes devious. At any time, I can check my friends list and see how my Gamerscore compares. Is Commander Video catching up? If so, I'd better forgo my planned evening of Final Fantasy XII and jump on Transformers: The Game for a quick GS boost! Do I feel dirty for doing it? Yes. But, like a junky, I do it anyway and I'll do it again.
By making gamers focus more on the individual components of a game, Achievements have completely changed the way video games are played. Our expectations have changed, leaving us blind to the whole game. We tolerate poor games because even those have some value (measured in GS). We dissect the quality games, making them less impressive because we percieve them through the lens of Achievements.
Damn you, Microsoft, for creating a system that adds value to undeserving games and shame on me for so willingly buying into it.
2 comments:
I for one don't care so much about gamer score but rather the achievements themselves. I wish the actual achievements were more easily showcased, allowing us to show off some not-so-easy-to-achieve, achievements. My Hexic's Grand Pearl Poo Bah's achievement and my N-Plus's Complete All 50 Episodes are no easy tasks and I just wish they were better represented than a mere number.
Worldyum, it seems like what you're asking for is different levels of achievements, which is what you get (sorta) with the PS3 Trophies.
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