Trophies? Achievements? Meh? A challenge in a game that doesn’t unlock anything? Un-fucking-precedented! UNFAIR! UNREAL!
But wait… you recieve a thingy. And this is good.
That’s right: I’m referring to the perks of purchasing either an XBox 360 (featuring Achievements) or a PS3 (featuring Trophies). Really, it’s all the same. Both systems have the same shtick. The thrill behind these doodads depends on your intentions. And there are likely at least one of them. But here are three of them (Read on, dear reader, these are insights into life itself, albeit obvious ones):
- Some of us humans are competitive. I, for one, wasn’t born with such a proclivity. But if you are, then trophies/achievements allow continuous bragging rights. And if the arbitrariness of it all seems absurd, keep in mind that this is nothing new. This is really just an advanced version of the high scores people would shoot for in arcades (remember those?). Except now, you have a picture to associate with your number, and a gamercard to post on your self-indulgent blog or your favorite social network.
- The second main intention is possibly the most overlooked by most gamers. That of challenging yourself. This is always how I’ve operated. All that matters to me (in any goal I pursue) is raising the bar (or score, hee) continually. Stretching myself.
- Third, exploring every nook and cranny of the (game) world in which you’ve been placed. Immersing yourself in it, pushing the world itself to see all that it can do. It’s funny. There’s a curious thing happening in gaming these days, in which gamers feel the need to play everything before them. And it’s understandable, yet somewhat shocking. There’s a great gaming podcast you may have heard of, 1up Yours, in which there’s a section called “Whatcha’ Been Playin’”. It’s a weekly podcast, and every week the people on the show are playing something new. And not only that, but they’re playing multiple new games. And, sure, they’re game journalists, but isn’t there still a heart piece hidden in their copy of Zelda? A hard mode on Bionic Commando: Rearmed that hasn’t been played? Again, trophies and achievements remind us that there are still ways to push the limits of our games.
Maybe, after reading this, you are unconvinced: thinking awards are arbitrary in nature. But I’ll be damned if I can’t get you to admit (possibly in the comments) that you’ve never smiled when receiving one.
We all know it’s true: T&A can only be a good thing. Hurrrr…
Not once.
Everyone is competitive. Don’t these games put a neat frame around that? T+A may be this generations top score, as you’ve mentioned and I definitely remember. Anyone who has gamed more than my parents has had a score they’ve protected or opted to top.
DX Ball: you may not remember. I remember. When there was a new score set by Alex, you would be working to beat it. First with the frustration, “I like how Alex spends the whole time I’m at school or work beating my DX Ball score.” Then you would eventually beat that score with what little precious time you had juggling college and an almost full time job.
Then one day, Alex trounced your latest top score by a lot. That was hard to see after you had labored to be the best, your friends behind you, supporting you. This time it was too much. There could be quite the montage made of your three friends leaning over your shoulder cheering you as the little circle deflected off the skinny rectangle to deflect off of the other disappearing rectangles of assorted colors. I can think of a few songs to accompany that montage of you trying to make it back to the top of the score list to become THE BEST! AROUND! Looking back, you may come to the conclusion that Alex’s score at number one and yours at number two inspired you to perform more to your full potential. It wasn’t until Alex had a better score, that you would top not only his, but your own. Yourself wasn’t a formidable enough opponent, was it? You should thank Alex, though it was cruel of him to go into the DX BALL program and write in a fictional score with his name next to it. You may have never pushed so hard to be a great DX Ball player.
Hopefully, with T + A and your new PS3 system, you can not only accomplish feats to compete against Yourself, but you can also rejoin the rest of humanity and have other players online inspire that inevitable competitive drive to “stretch” yourself. You may hate yourself for lowly fighting for arbitrary rewards, but you will be awesome at your next game just like you were awesome at DX Ball. Maybe you will even be the awesome-EST. Yours is to win. It will kill you. You’re just a human—with a wife! Congratulations, you beat me!
Not once.
By the way gamasutra.com should be right up your insight alley.
Holy shit, it worked.
Thanks, Matt. The old competitive drive truly is still there, but only rears it’s beautiful, lopsided head when close friends play with me. I’m ready.
“Holy shit, it worked.”
Told ya! I’m a Gamasutra fan, though the site tends to lean more towards game development, from my experience. There is a great Dragon Quest history on there, though, which I read thoroughly like a small, obedient child.
“Holy shit, it worked.”
Misconstrued, methinks.
Last I heard, you ain’t told me much, besides a slight console identity screwup. (Which, admittedly, was my fault. The 360.) Was surprised, rather, that the Reds finally let me through to comment.
My fragile persona was damaged by the slight brushoff of Gamasutra as too into the development side of things for much insight. Argued with myself while bike riding for days afterward–”Seeing things loved from a different perspective=insight! Doesn’t he value my opinion?!” Bitch I am. At once, a revelation: I lust for computer games, and you’ve always preferred consoles. Not as good a friend as I’d thought; forgetting suchsuchness, despite being able to peripherially second reminisce about Matteo’s statements above.
I never much liked Alex after all that, honestly.
Continue? [Y/N] N
Gamasutra’s great, it’s just not my thing. Matt made a mistake and told me you had a PS3.
…I did something wrong?
Lord how I wish Matt’s venomous, venomous lies were accurate.
You can do no wrong.
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