Not being an XBox user, I’m wondering why everyone is all crazy about achievements.  A couple friends of mine just bought XBox’s to play GTA and I asked why they chose those over the PS3.  They said it was for XBox Live and the achievements. 

So you get points to complete in game tasks.  Then the points get displayed on a board for everyone to look at.  What’s the big deal?  Do you get anything other than just points?  I mean, some 15 year old punk who’s mom or dad who is still feeling sorry about putting him in the middle of a nasty divorce will just buy hime every game available.  Which means, he’ll be the #1 achievements badass.  And what does that prove? 

I’m not trying to start a fanboy argument (cause obviously, XBox Live is way way better than whatever PS3 calls their mess).  I’m just trying to figure out what is so darn special with XBox Live and achievements. 

I think we should let Evil address this question.... lol  j/k.

I have to admint.. as the owner of 360 and PS3....  when I buy a game I get the 360 version.

I am not into the achievements as much as others... but they have had a big influence on my gaming.  When you start getting them, you get a sense of "achievement"  I don’t even care what othes think of my gamercard... others do, and that is fine also.

But when I beat a game, the achievements are like marks of my success in the game.  How have they influenced me?  I have beaten more games now then on most other systems I have owned.  I used to buy every new game that came out.. which led me to play one for a day or two... then move onto the next game.  But now I want to get the achievements for the game, so I finish the game more often than not.. and I do sidequest that I normally would over look.. like in Condemned collecting all of the birds. 

I know alot of people see the achievements as a added "challenge" to get them all when they already love gaming .. this is an added bonus.

Also.. with companies like Gamefly (support the website by getting a free trial on the banner above hint hint) achievements are available to many who would not have access before.

Hope that helps...

Achievements for the most part take a lot of work and show what kind of gamer you are.  Every game (99% of them) has 1000 achievement points available for you to unlock.  Some achievements are easy and some are tough, likewise some games are easy to get all 1000 points and some are really tough.

Each person’s gamercard is a record of which games they’ve played and how many achievements they’ve unlocked viewable by everyone.  There’s also sites dedicated to leaderboards for most amount of total gamerscore or completion % (how many achievement points you have vs. how many are available on all the games you’ve played) 

I really got into achievements because there was a huge sense of accomplishment.  When I first joined VGA I set a goal to become the top gamerscore guy in the clan and after a few months I got there.  Then I set other goals to get my completion % really high and the like.  It’s a combination of personal goals and competition among other gamers.

For example I have 1000 gamerscore on F.E.A.R. which is a pretty tough task given you have to complete everything on the highest difficulty to unlock everything.  Every gamer has a gamercard regardless if you want one or not.  It’s your profile that you set up.  Lately I’ve been easing off the gamerscore by only playing games I want to play and trying to get all of the points available.  Before I used to play King Kong or sports games which have easy achievements, but that hasn’t been fun for me lately.

Anyways, that’s what the gamerscore system is.  ;)

Ok, thanks for the answesr.  I guess I never thought about how I dump games early.  But the achievements would help "coax" me into playing a game.  Though, I’m not sure that’s always a good thing.  There are some crappy games out there. 

I guess it’s sorta like when I was in college and we would take turns on a game trying to set records or out do each other.  However, we all lived on the same floor.  So with acheivements, you could do that with anyone, anywhere.  I get it now. 

yep yep...  and the funny thing is, some people don’t care at all about achievements. Rowdy J who is a member here has probabaly ever game released on the 360... he loves gaming, and collecting them, but doesn’t have the time to concentrate on achievements.  (although I know me and him compete against each other some, lol)

Wow, didn’t realize you posted here too Gamea.  We did it almost at the same time so I didn’t see your first resposne.  Yeah between what both of us say that’s what it is.

Some hate the achievement system because people obsess over it, others love it.  And some find a middle ground.  I recommend you try it out and see what the system motivates you to do.  ;)