Achievement unlocked

I'm obsessed with Xbox Achievements. You know those things that pop up at the bottom of the screen when you do something and there's that satisfying BA-CLINK sound? They usually reward you with some points for killing a certain bad guy or beating the game or any number of things. That's what I'm talking about.

When I first got my Xbox 360 years ago I couldn't care less about them. I thought they were just silly, forcing you to do dumb things to just get a higher gamer score that you can show off to your friends. That was the old me.

I started working at EB Games and ended up working with a bunch of guys that were the complete opposite of the old me, they were "achievement whores". I thought they were silly, playing the games specifically to unlock more achievements which in turn increase your overall 360 gamer score. The gamer score is tied in with your xbox live online account and is on display for everyone to see. They saw mine and it was pitifully low compared to theirs. I guess I'm kind of a competitive guy by nature and this was my call to arms. I wasn't going to be the loser with the lowest score (or so I thought)!

It didn't take long for me to start playing games and doing the side missions, doing things you normally wouldn't in the game, or beating it on a harder difficulty. The funny thing is that I loved it. They made the games so much better in so many ways. It extended my time with the game, making me feel like I was getting more for my money. It made me do weird things that I normally wouldn't, which was either funny or awesome. It made me test myself and gave me more satisfaction beating the games and achieving more with it.

I was thinking more about it the other day while looking through my old games that I regret not getting more achievements in (damn you Rainbow Six: Vegas) and it occurred to me that this new gamer score idea isn't anything new really. Getting the high score is what games first used to be. It wasn't about beating the level because the levels would just go on until you die, it was all about the high score. The 360 gamer score is now just the extension of that old style of gaming. Despite how far games have come, its kind of funny how the old ideas manage to creep back in and make gaming that much more fun.

So if you haven't been working on achievements (or trophies on the PS3) go and try and get some because you might be surprised at how much fun it is.