In the past ten years video games have changed a lot; during the next-gen of gaming achievements and trophies have eased their way into our obsessive compulsive gamer heads. So…what exactly is an achievement or a trophy? What do they do and we should we care? Honestly, they are two similar structures built out of different materials. They produce replay value by encouraging players to play in conventional and, sometimes, unconventional ways. Their biggest difference is presentation. Achievements hand out points. Trophies hand out…well trophies. Here at PlanetXbox360 we decided to take a closer to see what these really have to offer. We found out that achievements and trophies are due for an overhaul and when choosing a preference, it’s purely aesthetic.
Want to weigh in with your opinion? Click here to head over to the PlanetXbox360 forums and discuss/argue this article; defend your beliefs but make sure to keep it under control.
The Achievement was born in 2005 alongside the release of the Xbox 360. They have been mandatory since release. Whenever you complete a certain task, an achievement will pop up, awarding your gamertag a certain value of points. These points are added to a gamer score that is kept on your ID. Each game has roughly 40-50 achievements worth a total of 1000g. Their cumulative and plentiful nature means perfection artists won’t be the only one with high scores. However, if you play a game to completion, expect about 20-25% earned achievements. To earn the maximum amount of achievements you, will have to play the game over and over. This brings an issue to light for both achievements and trophies; most of them are meaningless chores. Some achievements are given for pushing the start button. Others require killing 100,000 enemies for pennies (50g really?). It is nice to be awarded for your accomplishments, but, these points do nothing but offer bragging rights for gamers and their mad skills. Microsoft has yet to implement awards for players with high scores.
The Trophy system released with the PS3 in 2006 and until now (January 2009) was not mandatory. Instead of offering points each deed merits the player a bronze, silver, gold or platinum trophy (imagine that). Each trophy represents how difficult the developers feel the task is. There are roughly 70 games, current and incoming, that support the trophy system compared to the 360’s entire library. Some released games are given patches (Fallout 3), but they don’t track your completed progress. You have to start over to earn the trophies. To top that off, the trophies for the multiplatform games have the same tasks as their Xbox 360 counterparts and exclusive titles still feel like achievement clones.
Your trophies are kept in your PSN tag and show how many of each color you’ve earned and assign you a level based on how many you have total. The biggest difference between the trophy and the achievement system lie within the platinum trophy. To earn the platinum trophy you must earn the rest of the trophies that game has to offer. It offers little incentive but it’s more alluring than 1000g. This isn’t enough to call the trophy system anything other than a clone. If the developers gave a little more thought into how many bronze silver and gold given it would feel like climbing a ladder to loftier goals. Yet, most of the games are plagued with throngs of bronze with a single digit count of gold and silver. It feels tacked on. The mandatory nature of achievements and trophies attribute to this. It feels like developers push them into their product. Just take a look at some of the achievements and trophies available now.
So where does this leave us? Picking a winner? There is no winner since they are almost identical. The trophy system offers gamers the allure of earning that platinum trophy and the achievement system lets gamers rack up their scores. It comes down to which console you put more game time into. However, there needs to be an overhaul. Developers need to put time and effort into choosing where and how to give out awards. It’s an insult when a list of achievements or trophies looks like a pit full of syringes or nice walk on the beach. Let the achievement and trophies flow while I am exploring rather than giving me 20g for putting the disc in upside down.
After making it entertaining to earn those achievements, why not award gamers? Microsoft and Sony should implement programs that award players for earning points and trophies. For every 1000g a player earns give them 100 Microsoft points. That is a little more than a dollar for each game. Not everyone gets all of them either! PSN Home is in an opportunistic position with the virtual apartment. They could let users decorate their personal space with their favorite trophies. Small rewards will give gamers incentive to pull out their wallets on release days.
Final Verdict: Achievements for Today - Trophies for Tomorrow
