Achievements are going to build Xbox 360 loyalty

[shipwreck]

By now just about everybody that owns a 360 seems to be hooked on the Achievement system built into the system. It adds a lot of replay value to your games and it is extremely addictive and gratifying to see those little messages pop up when you achieve something new. In addition to adding replay value to your games and giving you a fun little stats to compare with your friends, there is a much bigger stake in these achievements for Microsoft.

By releasing the X360 first and having this system in place I really think it gives Microsoft a leg up on games that are going to be coming out on multiple consoles. Xbox Live was already a determining factor for a lot of people in this last generation and I can already tell that a lot of people are going to be leaning towards the Xbox 360 version of games just because of the Achievements.

Those little pop-ups that give you instant gratification are going to slowly build a whole lot of brand loyalty for the Xbox. Freaking brilliant.

[BackInBlack]

Yes, it is satisfying. And since im here, how do i get my gamercard to appear on the forums here?

[shipwreck]

Yes, it is satisfying. And since im here, how do i get my gamercard to appear on the forums here?

This thread explains it:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75766

[BackInBlack]

This thread explains it:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75766

K, thanks.

[jkanownik]

The combination of the achievements and Live have hooked my Nintendo fangirl wife. She had zero interest in the 360 before we won it. Now the 360 is killing her poor Nintendogs.

[Draccius]

I completely agree. I really like having goals to work towards in the games and it is great to keep track of the ones you completed like that. Honestly, I have never been this satisfied with a console user experience - this machine is just fantastic in that respect.

[rg0019]

Yes, it has me hooked as well. As of right now, I dont have too many points or achievements, but everytime I see that pop-up, I'm thinking sweeeet...... It would be awesome if they incorporated the achievements into Halo 2 with some sort of patch.

[javeryh]

This feature definitely sounds like one of the best things about the console.

[RedvsBlue]

You forgot the greatest part of the achievements system... ITS FREE! All you need is a Silver account to do it and therefore anyone with a 360 can use the achieve ment system. At first I thought the Silver and Gold thing was lame but now I am really digging it.

[shadylane]

can't get it to work this sucks

[Gojtron]

Even though some games have ridiculously high/low values, they're an even maesuring stick to compare. I'm in the top 150 overall on score according to the rankings on mygamercard, top 100 in the zone. I guess it does reward those who have more money and time, but I guess that's what the hobby is anyways.

[$hady]

I don't care about the score so much but the keeping track of your accomplishments is very cool. At the same time it's a loser leaderboard and i'm ranked way to high! lol :roll: :oops::joystick:

[jrutz]

Excellent thread. Before with the Xbox vs PS2 debate it was all about graphics, with Live functionality a close second. Now it will be, hey why get the PS3 version, when it won't count toward my gamer score?

Wow. The Xbox 360 is full of trojan horses.

Jeremy

[the3rdkey]

My brother and I both bought a 360 at launch. Now we constantly are comparing our points. I love it and it was a great idea.

[doubledown]

I guess it's nice...I'm not blown away by it, but I like it. However, I don't really see myself going back through some games just to unlock all the achievements....like all the birds in Condemned. Also, the point system is a bit off in games. Madden has EASY points to get.

[deadite76]

At first I thought "This is kinda cool", but now I'm hooked as well! It adds a lot of replay for most games even though some are way to easy too achieve. The achievements also add more incentive to get some Xbox Live Arcade games!

[Draccius]

At first I thought "This is kinda cool", but now I'm hooked as well! It adds a lot of replay for most games even though some are way to easy too achieve. The achievements also add more incentive to get some Xbox Live Arcade games!

As if one needed an added incentive! ;) I heart Live Arcade.

[TheUnsane1]

The sega sports games are stupidly easy to max achievements on. I just hope come halo 3 it's not morons who are always like " no one with less then 12k gamer points please leave. " I really am hoping for hard achievements for DoA4

[ViolentLee]

You're right about 2K games (formerly Sega Sports). I pretty much tripled my total points with one 5 min/quarter game of NBA 2K6 with KG grabbing a triple-double and netting over 50 points. Then I played a game and shot nothing but 3s with the All-Star team and grabbed that accomplishment, too. All I have left are 140 points in one game and a 20-rebound game for Shaq, and I'll have maxed out my accomplishments for it. I hope they allow for downloads of new accomplishments.

A lot of EA games are super easy to get points, too -- likely to get people to actually play crap like NBA Live. Need For Speed: Most Wanted, EA's best 360 game, is actually one of the hardest to get a good point total with, though.

[psychobrawler]

Now what they need is to attach little prizes to the most difficult achievements. How cool would it be to be rewarded a nice little Legendary gamercard picture exclusively for those who beat Halo 3 on Legendary... Or a PGR3 champion logo for getting all platinums...

[Ebraum]

Hell, I keep switching games back & fourth, I hardly have any. I plan on playing through Condemned this weekend. Maybe that will earn me a few more. Don't see me getting 1000 kills in Perfect Dark any time soon.

[ryan838]

I like the achievements thing. I think its going to make me play my games more thoroughly. I have one question about them though. I downloaded some arcade games and didn't like them so I deleted them from my xbox but they still show up in "my games" under my profile. Is there a way to delete those games from my gamercard thing?

[Morpheus]

The sega sports games are stupidly easy to max achievements on. I just hope come halo 3 it's not morons who are always like " no one with less then 12k gamer points please leave. " I really am hoping for hard achievements for DoA4

I think I have a picture somewhere with all the DOA4 achievements. They weren't that hard to get from what I remember. Like win 10 versus games or beat so and so number of people in survival mode. Stuff like that.

Took the picture at Zero Hour. I was playing around with the units that had games that weren't out yet. They weren't on disc but saved on the harddrive. I saw the achievements for a bunch of games and a bunch of gamer pics I never saw before. I'll see if I can upload the pics later.

[takingchase]

eh, I don't really care about acheivments all that much. They should give out little prizes for getting so many, like once you reach 1,000 acheivment points you get 10 xbox live arcade points. Now that would be cool.

[ksuwild25]

Achievements are a nice idea, but I agree that there should be some sort of award system for exclusive gamer pictures, themes, downloads, or marketplace points.

Personally, achievements aren't much sway for me to buy a 360 version if a PS3 version of the same game has an extra game feature or better graphics. If multi-version games do come out and are completely the same, it will be whichever controller I like the most that will get this customer's purchase.

[gaelan]

PS3 Developer: *takes notes*

[FaintDeftone]

I was thinking the same thing. I doubt the PS3 will have any feature like this, and this will definitely make me purchase the 360 versions of games just for the achievements. I'll go rent games I'm not even that interested in just for the achievements. I love this feature. Hell if it wasn't for the achievements feature, I would have never bought Condemned due to it's short length. The list of achievements for that game is too impressive to pass up, so I dropped the 60 bucks down on it. It's kinda like a scavenger hunt, I love it! Hell I might even go buy King Kong just for achievment points (since I can't rent it, nobody around here has it for rent on 360).

[THE DARK KNIGHT]

Great thread

[Danimal]

Can I ask a couple dumb questions? (I don't own a 360 and have never been on Live)

1. Where do you find the list of accomplishments for each game? Do these need to be accomplished on Live, or can you get points from single player offline games as well?

2. When you're looking at someone else's point totals, is there any way to tell where and how they got their points? In other words, could I tell if you loaded up on points from easier 2K games, as opposed to something like a thousand kills in Perfect Dark?

As someone who is holding off on buying a 360 to save money toward a PS3, I think this feature does sound like a really brilliant idea by Microsoft, and it does make me feel like I'm going to be missing out on something cool.

[shipwreck]

Can I ask a couple dumb questions? (I don't own a 360 and have never been on Live)

1. Where do you find the list of accomplishments for each game? Do these need to be accomplished on Live, or can you get points from single player offline games as well?

You can find the list of achievements by hitting the "Guide" button on your controller. Then you can go into your Gamercard, select the game you are looking for and it will show the list of achievements and what you have or haven't completed. Selecting the achievements will usually show what you have to do to obtain that achievement, but some games have secret achievements, so they don't tell you what to do.

2. When you're looking at someone else's point totals, is there any way to tell where and how they got their points? In other words, could I tell if you loaded up on points from easier 2K games, as opposed to something like a thousand kills in Perfect Dark?

Yes, when you select a person on your friend list, you can view every game that they have played and the achievements they have gotten in those games. You can even directly compare your achievements to theirs. It's really quite slick.

[RedvsBlue]

I was thinking the same thing. I doubt the PS3 will have any feature like this, and this will definitely make me purchase the 360 versions of games just for the achievements. I'll go rent games I'm not even that interested in just for the achievements. I love this feature. Hell if it wasn't for the achievements feature, I would have never bought Condemned due to it's short length. The list of achievements for that game is too impressive to pass up, so I dropped the 60 bucks down on it. It's kinda like a scavenger hunt, I love it! Hell I might even go buy King Kong just for achievment points (since I can't rent it, nobody around here has it for rent on 360).

Well, since Sony has said that there won't be any central online service like Live for PS3, it would be nearly impossible to have a similar feature in the PS3. I have a feeling Sony may change their mind about the central service after seeing how big Live has gotten with the 360 launch. Think about it, now Microsoft, in addition to subscription fees, is making a killing in the marketplace feature too.


Yes, when you select a person on your friend list, you can view every game that they have played and the achievements they have gotten in those games. You can even directly compare your achievements to theirs. It's really quite slick.

Don't forget that you can look it up online at xbox.com.

[Danimal]

You can find the list of achievements by hitting the "Guide" button on your controller. Then you can go into your Gamercard, select the game you are looking for and it will show the list of achievements and what you have or haven't completed. Selecting the achievements will usually show what you have to do to obtain that achievement, but some games have secret achievements, so they don't tell you what to do.



Yes, when you select a person on your friend list, you can view every game that they have played and the achievements they have gotten in those games. You can even directly compare your achievements to theirs. It's really quite slick.
Thanks Shipwreck. It does sound like a fun thing to navigate around with, and just incredibly well designed. I think maybe it's a good thing for my wallet that they're all sold out everywhere right now.

[bugg33]

I was thinking the same thing. I doubt the PS3 will have any feature like this, and this will definitely make me purchase the 360 versions of games just for the achievements. I'll go rent games I'm not even that interested in just for the achievements. I love this feature. Hell if it wasn't for the achievements feature, I would have never bought Condemned due to it's short length. The list of achievements for that game is too impressive to pass up, so I dropped the 60 bucks down on it. It's kinda like a scavenger hunt, I love it! Hell I might even go buy King Kong just for achievment points (since I can't rent it, nobody around here has it for rent on 360).
You just made Bill Gates wet his pants.

[Trakan]

I was thinking the same thing. I doubt the PS3 will have any feature like this, and this will definitely make me purchase the 360 versions of games just for the achievements. I'll go rent games I'm not even that interested in just for the achievements. I love this feature. Hell if it wasn't for the achievements feature, I would have never bought Condemned due to it's short length. The list of achievements for that game is too impressive to pass up, so I dropped the 60 bucks down on it. It's kinda like a scavenger hunt, I love it! Hell I might even go buy King Kong just for achievment points (since I can't rent it, nobody around here has it for rent on 360).

I think the real question is, if the PS3 offers graphics better than the 360 like the Xbox does over the PS2 now, what's more important? The achievements or graphics?

Just something I was thinking about.

[gaelan]

I think the real question is, if the PS3 offers graphics better than the 360 like the Xbox does over the PS2 now, what's more important? The achievements or graphics?

Just something I was thinking about.

graphics are kinda getting as good as they can get imo. i think its going to come down to factors such as the nun chuk nintendo controller, achievement systems, and other "features" such as that. the graphics levels are pretty much topping out.

one feature such as the hdmi output that the ps3 will definitely be an upgrade from what the 360 offers, but i don't think it will be a deal breaker. did they squash the dual hdmi feature?


the time frame for launch has been something that me and my friends have been talking over. last i heard the ps3 is releasing spring 06 in JAPAN, so that usually means fall 06 in AMERICA. now that will give the 360 a solid 10+ months headstart. that's 10+ months for game development and 10+ months for johnny gamer to be assaulted by the "i have a 360 and its awesome" at school. not to mention the peer pressure of having to have one during the summer break in order to get laid by the cheerleaders. pair all that with the release of some successful franchise titles and i think its going to be really hard to resist the temptation of buying one...no matter how loyal you are to sony. i also find it hard to imagine being able to justify throwing down over a thousand bucks for two next gen gaming systems. people will have to take out insurance policies on their consoles at these prices.

[Mr.Answer]

Excellent thread. Before with the Xbox vs PS2 debate it was all about graphics, with Live functionality a close second. Now it will be, hey why get the PS3 version, when it won't count toward my gamer score?

Wow. The Xbox 360 is full of trojan horses.

Jeremy


Its full of trojan horses? I think I better get the dang thing out of my house now! I don't want little microsoft elves or something crawling out of the system at night to kill me.

I thought it was full of cool features but the trojan horse thing is causing me to freak out. ;)

[theredworm]

I'm hooked on achievments as well. I rented NBA 2k6 and maxed it out. I rented Condemned and have been enjoying it quite a bit. I'm also slowly working my way through CoD2 on Veteran, halfway done now.

[FaintDeftone]

I think the real question is, if the PS3 offers graphics better than the 360 like the Xbox does over the PS2 now, what's more important? The achievements or graphics?

Just something I was thinking about.

It really depends on how big of a graphical difference it is. Though since Kojima said that the MGS4 tech demo could easily be done on the 360, I'm starting to think that the PS3 won't look much better than the 360.

[themadbunny]

Man... I do enjoy the achievements. Made me slog through COD2 on veteran.

[RedvsBlue]

Man... I do enjoy the achievements. Made me slog through COD2 on veteran.


Yeah, I was going to try that too. Beat the first level/training with minimal problems then I got to level 2, the Nazis get fucking brutal on that level.

[themadbunny]

It gets worse. It's like banging your head against a brick wall. House to house fighting is no fun.

[Ace!]

Man I need some more Achievements :(

I am playing Madden right now and have to play 30 years :O

[Mr.Answer]

Man I need some more Achievements :(

I am playing Madden right now and have to play 30 years :O


Agreed, that achievement seems tacked on. Its like they got through the first acvievments and realized they still had 400 to go, heck lets just put them all into a 30 year franchise thing.

[daroga]

what's more important? The achievements or graphics?

Gameplay. If a game is fun to play, I'll play it a lot. The achievenments will come by themselves, or at least I can stand to play it a lot to get the points. If a game is a pretty pile of crap, I'm not going to play it, achievments or not. And as has been said, the graphical difference between the PS3 and 360 (and probably the Revolution for that matter) is going to be so inconsequental that's not going to be a deciding factor in the multiplatform titles anymore. Microsoft's certainly on to something good for themselves here.

[Ace!]

Agreed, that achievement seems tacked on. Its like they got through the first acvievments and realized they still had 400 to go, heck lets just put them all into a 30 year franchise thing.

Still trying to figure out what the RS card is? Anyone want to enlighten me, since I have no clue?

[Ace!]

Anyone want to tell me what this damn RS card is?????????OMFGHAXXOR

[theredworm]

Still trying to figure out what the RS card is? Anyone want to enlighten me, since I have no clue?


after a game click the right joystick at the postgame (I believe it's the right joystick) and it brings up more stats and get the achievement

that's what I remember doing to earn it

[jawman311]

Are your stats saved within microsofts database or your harddrive? Lets say i were to go to my friends house and played pdz there for a while on his 360, would the headshot kills i got at his house count towards the 1000 hs achievement (just an example)? Or, lets say i sell my 360 and buy a new one later - will my killcount start from scratch on my new 360?
Thanks

[RedvsBlue]

Are your stats saved within microsofts database or your harddrive? Lets say i were to go to my friends house and played pdz there for a while on his 360, would the headshot kills i got at his house count towards the 1000 hs achievement (just an example)? Or, lets say i sell my 360 and buy a new one later - will my killcount start from scratch on my new 360?
Thanks


Its tied to your live account on microsoft's server, hence the reason you can access the information on xbox.com.

[jawman311]

Its tied to your live account on microsoft's server, hence the reason you can access the information on xbox.com.

Does that mean if you beat PDZ on perfect agent, you can log into your account on a friends xbox and play dark agent on his xbox?