Goals, productivity, tangible entertainment; this is the mix I shoot for in my everyday tasks. So when I embarked back into the world of gaming culture a few years back, it should come as no surprise that I happily embraced the new trend of games doling out rewards in the form of achievements and trophies.
“Wow, I can play videogames and still feel a sense of purpose through my gaming experiences,” I thought.
My plunge back into gaming started with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 2, and eventually led to the PS3. I found that the intensity that I attack everything else with spread into gaming as well. But within this new world of gaming I noticed it was mainly that one feature — namely unlockable achievements and trophies — that engrossed me from the first “achievement unlocked” ping that popped up onto my screen. By contrast, it’s been some years since I first waggled the white Wii controller furiously into the air, and the urge to do so is rare, simply because it lacks this new addiction.
On the Xbox 360 and PS3, games I had completed and put into the dust bin now have a second life. If I’m short on cash, I can open up the achievement list on games I already own and hunt for those missed points or trophies.
I’ve heard plenty of gamers complain about these added perk points, saying they change the “fun factor” of going through games. Instead of focusing on just the gameplay itself, players are searching and looking in every crevice for those missing points.
I understand that argument. Sure, proceeding through a game only thinking of the character’s progression or the story itself is noble. But adding a dual experience in the form of these points adds an even more friendly competitive nature to many games that are, to put it bluntly, too short. How many times have you played through a campaign and reached the final boss on the first night you popped that sucker into the tray?
I now have all the current consoles under my 50-inch LCD TV, all of which I couldn’t afford to buy. But I did. I bought them because I want my gaming experience to be as full as possible. And why not? Games take up a majority of my free time. I spend hours upon hours in my Ikea Poӓng chair, curled up next to these consoles, television, and laptop.
There is a notable exception though. In this room of points and trophies sits an elephant: my lonely Wii. My adorable glowing Wii awaits me nightly, wanting the respect it so deserves. I stare back with empathy — empathy for the console that helped my inner-child gamer unite with my adult one. A console that has made more money than I care to even look up at this point. A console that lacks that one missing ingredient that Microsoft and (eventually) Sony added into their consoles years ago: achievements.
The Wii lacks that one addictive ingredient that helps gamers pop previously completed games back in. Those points don’t make or break a console, mind you. And I’m not saying the Wii is a terrible way to spend your hours at night when the rest of the house is asleep. It’s just that when considering going back to a game I’ve finished or starting one I haven’t played yet, I usually look right past the Wii. I’d rather get some points, longing for that ping of pleasure for a task well done. It’s the pat on the back that brings that small feeling of productivity to the forefront of the experience.
I do value my Wii. Super Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid: Other M, and Zelda: Skyward Sword have been or will be played. But imagine if I were given points or trophies for getting all those stars in Galaxy? I’d dust off that cute li’l guy off and take him out for a few beers like we used to years ago before I knew something better was out there.
I once thought my first girlfriend was my soul mate, until I realized I had the option to look further into the dating pool. This expanded pool offered me not only tangibility, but also didn’t vomit on me after three wine coolers. It’s a pool that offered me points for bringing her flowers. Points that, to be honest, feel a little better than a gamerscore, but still….
This article also posted on Kombo.com.
The Guiltiest Gamer 
You are right on the money. Nintendo has a huge opportunity to make something fun, like Xbox’s achievements, even better (I’m not familiar with PS3 trophies). Perhaps awards, or ribbons, or badges that unlock more than just gamer points (but always including points). Maybe weapons, tricks, alternate endings, funny dance sequences with Mario and the gang. Maybe a tiered approach, like the Zynga games on Facebook. First ribbon is collect 10 coins, next is collect 100, then 1000, then 10,000. Have more than one kind of achievement.
I love Nintendo and I always buy the new Mario and Zelda games when they come out. I’m replaying Super Paper Mario right now, actually, all the while wishing there was a little more motivation to gather all the recipes, or buy Tiptron, or a host of other elements to the game that need achievement-type stimulation in order to one, realize them, and two, accomplish them.
The price of games alone should be sufficient to encourage the publishers to find ways to enable the player to restart after defeating the final boss, if only to nab those last few achievements. Which I do on Xbox, every single time.
Achievements are the best thing to come out of gaming in a long time. Do you remember when you would tell someone that you beat a game, and they would one up you by saying they beat it on a harder level? Now you have the ability to call them out on it.
I will admit that I am a hard core gamer with a chip on my shoulder and have no use for the Wii, but I cannot deny their sales numbers. I find that Nintendo is trying to differentiate themselves from XBOX and Playstation, and achievements are part of that. How often do you hear people complain about Video Games and children only to notice that they do not add Nintendo to the mix? They are different, family friendly, and I don’t think that Nintendo Gamers would appreciate achievements as much. Again, that being said it would not cost Nintendo tons of money to do this.
All in all I don’t think XBOX gets enough credit for this generation’s real game changer. I believe achievement fundamentally changed how people play games more than a Wii-mote. It took people two weeks to figure out you can sit on your couch and eliminate the need to move with your Wii-motes. On the other hand people are getting more and more addicted to achievements.
What did Playstation copy first? Achievements, that’s right.