Great PS3 Moments: The Day Trophies Appeared

nofi 66 Comments

It’s a week away from E3, and we’re expecting a couple of big things for the PS3 from Sony this year. To celebrate the fact that the Expo is on us once again, all week I’ll be coming up with great PS3 moments from the day the machine launched onwards.

Firstly, and one that’s certain to ring a few bells, is the day Trophies appeared.

[drop2]Unfortunately, because we’re poor and can’t afford to keep old content on the site, the images and comments around the post in question have long been removed, but the text remains – the My First Trophy post marked a big shift in what Sony were doing with the PlayStation 3 and I vividly remember that first ‘ping’.

“Sony, what have you done?” I wrote on the 2nd of July, 2008. “This is us now hammering through Super Stardust HD, again, because we now get Trophies!”

“You had to introduce the RPG element, the levelling system, the thing that’s going to make us stay up late, miss work, get into debt and lose our homes! It’s simple, but oh so clever, and we love you for it,” I added. I think it was very early in the morning.

It was perhaps a little over the top, but I adored what Sony did with Trophies – the levelling idea was really smart and compulsive, and it made me code up the web’s very first PS3 Trophy list. Sure, other sites do a lot more with them now, but it was so exciting at the time and even though I don’t have nearly as much time to game now, I still love that ‘ping’ sound.

The introduction of Trophies was a smart move from Sony – and even though the manual syncing is still a pain in the backside I still prefer the way it’s done over the Xbox 360’s numerical system – there’s a greater sense of achievement (if you’ll pardon the pun) every time you go up a level.

There have been many great PS3 moments, but I think perhaps this is the one that most here will connect with. Firmware 2.40 brought a few nice features (better upscaling, the ability to use some parts of the XMB whilst in-game and a neater PSN Store) but Trophies are great and took everyone by surprise.

Well, not everyone, but that’s a different article altogether.

More tomorrow.

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66 Comments

  1. Agreed, there’s something much more compulsive about trophies than achievements, although I was partial to achievements when I had my 360. I love the levelling system too. Currently sitting at level 15 at 99%…

    • If there’s one single trophy holding me back from the platinum then I will stay up til stupid o clock to get it before I can rest my head, trophies are very addictive and its far nicre to brag about your latest platinum than a 4-5 (6-7 depending on your addiction) digit number.

    • I agree. I’d rather get a bronze trophy than a “5G” achievement. :)

  2. Yes, this was a great day. I remember us all patching SSHD and waiting for hours since PSN had slowed right down.
    Whilst I’m not as bothered these days about trophies as I was a year or two ago, there’s still something that’s utterly brilliant about levelling up and aiming for the Platinum in each game.

    Almost four years ago… how time flies.

  3. I’m addicted to the trophy “popping” sound. Each time feels like the first. I love you trophy sound.

    • I wouldn’t mind a longer, more jazzy jingle for when a Platinum trophy pinged though, that would be awesome.

      • Lol agreed. Personally I’d love custom sound effects for notifications.
        *Platinum trophy pops* I AAAAAM THE ONE AND ONLY! :D

      • Agreed, the platinum trophy should be celebrated like the coca cola advert (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1NnyE6DDnQ) I want to know that somewhere inside my PS3 little sack folk are mining, refining, smelting, welding, polishing and whistling at lady sack people as they walk past before congregating for the celebration of the latest platinum trophy award ceremony

      • @philzy85 – Kinda makes me hope Sony announce a new transparent PS3 case design at e3 next week ;)

      • *Pling*

      • That video captures your idea perfectly.

        I’d settle for a little Patapon army carrying the Platinum across the screen from left to right, placing it in the (previously) empty grey box, before a louder-than-usual ping or jingle emanates.

  4. I’m no trophy whore and have 0 platinums but still enjoy that ping. My first trophy was Quantum of Solace – Get a one hit kill

    There’s a good thread in the forums regarding trophies – first, last, rarest etc.

  5. Additionally to the Levels, i think the Platinum Trophys are also much better than the numerical values of the Xbox… There is a big difference if i earned half the achievements in two games or every Trophy in one game… and the Platinums really reflect that, while the achievemnt points dont…

  6. I have the “trophy pop” noise as my text tone. Sad fact :)

  7. I remember the day as it was yesterday. I had been looking forward to this for a long time. I didn’t sleep very well that night. Was half a sleep checking to see if the firmware update had gone live. I believe it must have been 6AM I woke up to download it, on a day off. If I’m not mistaken, I had to wait for the Super Stardust Delta patch to go live to. That first ding was amazing. I’ve been chasing the dra… uh… ding ever since.

  8. Curiosity about Trophies made me go out & re-purchase Uncharted, since then I’ve barely given them a second thought, apart from when they broke the immersion in Journey (& a couple of other titles too) & reminded me I was playing a videogame & not just taking part in some amazing spell-binding experience.

    Re-played through first few levels of Dante’s Inferno to do the grinding needed to level up enough to Platinum it, ruined the game experience for me.

    Couldn’t tell you the slightest thing about my Trophies other than those few things..

    • Kinda the same feeling here. Trophies are of no interest to me. At best, they provide me with a smile if the trophy has a funny name. At worst, they break the immersion of the game.

    • I just avoid trying to get ‘grind’ trophies. Ratchet and Clank: ACIT had a very good and fun trophy list. So did the first Sly game. I just hate the ‘collectothon’ trophies which require wikies more than skill.

      • Couldn’t agree more with this. Challenging trophies are great, as are nice straightforward lists, but ones where I need to constantly follow a wiki are just annoying.

      • But don’t you always wonder what poor sod had to find them all first? ;)

      • GOW challenege mode anyone? Almost lost my controller doing those

      • @philzy85 – Oh god, the horror! GOW2 and 3 were ok but GOW1 had me pulling my hair out at points lol

    • I not hugely interested in trophies, though I do like them, but I don’t understand how you could “forget” that you’re playing a game and only remember when a trophy pops up. Unless you’re playing using some kind of VR goggles and simulated environment system from the distant future, surely you’re always aware that you are sitting in front of a TV and controlling the game with analogue sticks and buttons rather than actually being in the game world itself?

      I know a lot of people talk about immersion in games, so maybe it’s just something wrong with me, but while I understand finding a game’s world or narrative engrossing or feeling an emotional connection with the characters, I’ve always found the idea of people believing they are physically in a game somewhat odd, and even a little worrying, personally!

      • Plus you can turn the notifications off.

      • Notifications so you don’t get spammed by people signing-in & out and back in again when they sign in & boot-up a game, yes… Trophy notifications? No… not AFAIK anyway.

      • Then I stand corrected, I thought it was all notifications.

    • i got my first trophy playing uncharted 1.

      i remember just being like “huh?..what was that?” lol

      i’d never heard of trophies because i didn’t frequent forums/blogs at the time.

      plus GTAIV was the first game i played on the ps3 and that didn’t have trophies back then.

      imo that game was the worse GTA in the series so can’t be arsed to play the game again to at least get story trophies (i wouldn’t even attempt the plat that list is crazy lol).

    • Although I love trophy gathering I totally agree that they actually take away the greatness that games should have. Immersion was very high with the PS2 era as there was no online (not really) and no trophies, just you and the game and it is why everyone has much stronger feelings and attachments to old games than they do to this generation if you are like me and have been sucked into the trophy hype way too much. It means games are played for little more than the time to platinum.

      The best game I’ve played recently was Silent Hill 1 from PS+ on PS1 classics. It was so refreshing to not be worried about missing trophies or looking to see what the requirements for them are. Just full on you vs the game. Tis why I love Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction – its lack of trophies meant I was able to play the game just the same as from PS2 (it was in fact the first PS3 game I played – even though I had bought 6 other games to go with the consoles purchase including GTA IV).

      Trophies have added a great competitive and addictive side to gaming but they also take away from the experience that the game should offer.

  9. Just platinumed uncharted 1! thats all 3 out the way and ready for The Last of Us.

  10. I actually remember reading that article, I think it was one of the very first I found on TSA, that and information on the upcoming release of LittleBig Planet I believe.

    Thankfully four years on Trophies haven’t yet caused me to get into debt, though getting married has. Does that make trophies better than marriage?

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