Recently, I’ve been playing a few more games on the 360 and the PC. One thing I’ve noticed though is that I’m less inclined to play any game that doesn’t give me achievement points. Stupid I know. However, I’m not the only one to pick up on this trend. Matt and Todd over at SAG (Short Attention Gamer) have both commented and said that of course the game should be the reward in itself, yet this is not the case for a lot of Xbox 360 gamers.
I have a Gamer Tag (blackvv – feel free to add me to your friends list) and I am surprised to admit that I actually care about the score that I get. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not about to run out and buy every EA game (well known for having much easier ways in which to earn your Gamer Score Points) – but I do actually want to see a score of over 5,000 if possible, as apparently that’s when you have ‘made it’.
Some games give you a real sense of achievement for getting the points. Forza 2 for instance is an excellent example of having to work for your points. The game requires you to complete each section in order to achieve the points that you need – you can’t just plod through it ad hoc. You can however hire a driver to win your races if you have half decent cars!
Even the official Xbox site has an ‘achievements annoymous’ section – quite worrying really! Carrie Gouskos has also written a feature about this strange addiction over at Gamespot. There are of course a few reasons why the points are popular.
Firstly, it’s quite like a game in and of itself. Can you really do the 25-metre jump and then go on to kill 10,000 zombies? Whatever the game, there might be a weird way in which to get some points. Second, you can see your progress through the game, and when matched with True Skill Points, is a great way to show off to your friends.
Overall, Gamerscore Points are a really good feature on Xbox Live and I can’t wait to get some more of them. Of course, I really want to earn them on some of the upcoming games such as Bioshock, Assassin’s Creed and Blue Dragon.