Better than a picture of Nick Cage from Leaving Las Vegas - Its time to come clean. I have an Achievement Point addiction. I've had it ever since the Xbox 360 came out. What the heck is it about the sights and sounds of earning an Achievement that make them so addicting? Its pretty simple, we're Americans, we like to be the best. We are an ultra-competitive country and want to be #1 in everything. We'll make a competition out of anything, even eating, so feeling good about having the high score in a game should come as no surprise.
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Back in the day gamers used to spend their time in arcades, earning high scores and putting their three initials on a scoreboard that did the bragging for them. Or better yet, a true arcade hound would slap his quarter on the glass and take all comers until he loses. Nowadays, unless you live in Japan, the arcade is dead. There is no place where players go to show how good of a gamer they are or brag about their mad skills (although I do love kicking ass every summer in Bubble Hockey at the arcade on Lake Winnipesaukee). With the dominance of the home console, gamers lost that connection to other gamers and we were left competing with ourselves. Sure friends could come over and you could battle them one-on-one in different games but unless you had the exact same game and were playing it for the same amount of time there was no true way, especially in a single player game, to compare skills. Eventually gamers got used to this and forgot all about how great it felt to be the high scorer. Then Achievement Points showed up and that primal need to be the best reared its head once more.
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But Achievements are a different animal than a high score and in many ways are much better. They're visible to so many more people so now you can brag to anyone you play against. Because points are assigned specifically for each game, a comparison of points between friends actually means something. When I compare my Halo 3 gamerscore to my brother's score I can rub it in his face that I have 35 more points than he does. Then we can settle who the better gamer is in an online match that we don't have to be in the same room or city or state to play. Even for people you don't compete against, once another gamer sees or knows your score it gives you a certain amount of cachet. Other players know you are a serious, die-hard gamer.
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Of course Achievement Points aren't without their critics. There are some people who think people who play just for points are worse than gamers who used to play just for a high score. Even worse, depending on the game, points are given out way too easily. I played Avatar a couple of weeks ago and earned 1000 points in less than 2 minutes. Not exactly a lot of skill involved there.
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But just like in the glory days of the arcade, players are drawn to earning high points because its part of the fun of playing a game, its that innate desire to be the best. As long as you're not obsessive compulsive about it (I wouldn't recommend buying games from fast food restaurants, that's a sign you might be going a bit too far) there's nothing wrong with padding your score. There's a sense of accomplishment when earning one, its like being rewarded for playing. It also extends the life of a title as many gamers are certain to go out of their way to earn points or play through a game a second time or more. Isn't getting as much enjoyment you can out of a game what players really want?
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When it comes right down to it, earning Achievement Points is just plain fun. They aren't for everyone but one of the best things about being a gamer is you have so many choices. No one can make you care about earning points, just like no one can make you play a certain type of game or play on a particular console. If you weren't one of those guys who was proud of having one of the highest scores on an arcade game Achievement Points probably won't mean much to you but if earning points is your bag, have fun with it. Its in your American DNA so don't fight it. And if you have a friend who is really into points but you're not? Keep an eye on them, just to be safe.
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