Achievements. The Xbox 360 brand of games will contain achievements obtainable throughout gameplay - some hard while some are difficult. This has been a running theme on Microsoft's next-generation platform and will continue to be a great motivator for gamers all over the world.
Why do people care about silly achievements? Not exactly sure but gamers seem to be drawn to scoring points for virtually no reason. Bragging rights? Or perhaps just because we're all driven to milestones and goals.
Goals in our life started early. We learned to crawl before we learned to walk but each and every one of us would figure it out on our own. We would strive to be mobile and find our favorite toys. Eventually, we would learn to run and swing and jump. All milestones of our life. Our parents teach us to do good in school and strive for great grades so that we can go to college, trade schools or get jobs in "the real world." Does it come as a surprise that we're drawn to the challenges of gaining achievement points?
Jade Raymond, the producer of Assassin's Creed was interviewed at IGN:
"While the PlayStation 3 and 360 versions of Assassin's Creed are virtually identical, Raymond did say that on the 360 the team is putting a special emphasis on achievements."
The Xbox 360 is getting "special emphasis" on this achievement system. That means developers are not just stuffing them into the game to make it "complete." Although, games like Madden 06 had achievements that were so easy a two year-old could do it (press the right-stick down in the middle of a game?) will we find a draw towards the 360 branding over the PS3 because of the milestones obtainable?
Oddly enough, it seems that most gamers would probably purchase a cross-platform game on the 360 over the PS3 (if the graphics are fairly equivalent) just for the added "milestones" achievement system, as long as the developer put in the effort to do it correctly.
Would you like to gain achievement points for taking out difficult marks or doing spectacular techniques in Assassin's Creed or just play the game "achievement free?"
If there is any concept or feature that should be stolen in the next-generation consoles, it should be the achievement system. To hell with accelerometers or "tilding" controllers, take the one feature that drives gamers to complete games and feel proud doing so. Take the achievement system, Sony, and you will find more gamers happy you did so.
[update_1] The Sony PlayStation 3 is said to have "entitlements" - a concept that was brought up by Dan Hsu on July 19ths EGM Live podcast. So far, it looks something like the achievement system but nothing has been really talked about yet on this feature.
