Achievements have all but taken over console and PC games over the past few years, but the one console maker that has yet to jump on board is Nintendo. And if the interview Kotaku did with Nintendo’s Bill Trinen is any indication, we won’t be seeing them hop on the bandwagon any time soon.
“When they create their games, [Nintendo’s designers] don’t tell you how to play their game in order to achieve some kind of mythical reward. Basically, the way the games are designed is they’re designed for you to explore the game yourself and have this sense of discovery.
To that end, I think that when you look specifically at games from EAD [the group long led by Mario and Donkey Kong creator Shigeru Miyamoto] and a lot of other games that Nintendo has developed a well, there are things you can do in the game that will result in some sort of reward or unexpected surprise.
In my mind, that really encourages the sense of exploration rather than the sense of ‘If I do that, I’m going to get some sort of artificial point or score that’s going to make me feel better that I got this.’ And that, to me, is I think more compelling.”
While Bill Trinen also said that Nintendo is “not opposed to Achievements,” he did confirm that the 3DS will be shipping without them.
I understand what he’s saying – doing a little more exploration and unlocking an in-game reward is a very fulfilling experience, but is there any reason that we can’t have an achievement system on top of that? I don’t personally think that achievements have to necessarily mean that you develop the game differently. That said, I love achievements/trophies and I’m very glad to see them being adopted by virtually everyone else in the gaming industry.
For me, I love having a sort of ‘report card’ that shows how much I’ve done overall and I constantly find myself playing through games a little further just to mop up those last few rewards. Especially if there’s only a few standing between me and a platinum trophy.
What do you think of the achievement/trophy systems that are currently in place?
Source: Kotaku
cc_star
Doesn’t interest me, if I could disable them on my PS3 I would.
I’m of the opinion they are an appeal to a group of people that Nintendo have no interest in. However, they should have adopted a system because it’s better to have that group on side than not to have them
skibadee
that sounds like your saying people who like trophies are not real gamers bit out of order.
R4U Eldave0
I love the achievements/trophy system that is used in games these days as I find myself playing a title more than once to mop up those last rewards, whereas I used to just play a game once, trade it in and get a new one.
Having said that, some trophy lists involve next to no skill and result in constant grinding (UT3 for example) so I suppose its a great system when its done correctly.
stueeeee
I do love the trophies, not just the little ping but just doing different things in the game and and i find myself paying more attention in-game as well. Thing like collectables (shards) really piss me of tho. Its a fun system if used properly. And I barely compare my trophy score with friends, but just do it for the sense of satisfaction/completion. On ps1 and 2 there was in game things u could do to get accolades, it just happens that now it’s a universal system for the console. Nintendo can carry on sticking to their guns If they want, (just like with friend codes) but I think they’ve lost a few hardcore gamers along the way.
aerobes
I like trophies but I’d like a little more control over them.
Stupid as it sounds, I’d like the ability to be able to delete lists, either with zero or low percentage to clean things up a bit.
I think they’re part of modern gaming and Nintendo would probably be better off embracing them to be honest.
Charmed_Fanatic
Im on the fence with trophies, some people buy easy games to platinum and brag, else where, i would not have played FF13 to the length i have [which i enjoyed] without going for the platinum
Pritchie101
To me Trophies are like a free DLC for the game you’re playing. It adds that little extra challenge.
blackninja
I’d rather get the artificial points AND the other crap he was talking about, which is what the majority of games do anyway.