achievements
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Turok rewards you for team-killing with achievement
Ask anyone: Killing your own teammates is just about the most fun you can have in a multiplayer game (except for walking around crouched and claiming you have scurvy, natch). Thankfully, Propaganda Games, the developers of the "we-swear-it's-not-crappy-anymore" Turok finally acknowledged this awesome pastime with the "Grab Bag" achievement. The 10-pointer is awarded to you if you "Kill at least 1 creature, 1 enemy, 1 teammate, and yourself in the same round of a public match." So keep that in mind the next time a team member shoots you in the face with an arrow before tripping on their own grenade. They're not awful. They're achieving.
Avatar: 2 minutes + B button = 1000 Gamerscore
If you're in the need for a quick Gamerscore boost, then look no further than the rental shelves and a child friendly game called Avatar The Last Airbender: The Burning Earth (that's one long title). This game is a Gamerscore whore's dream, because you can not only get all 1000 Gamerscore with little effort, but it literally takes less than two minutes to do so. We're serious, just look at the game's pitiful achievements. All you'll have to do is pretty much run into a corner, tap the B button about fifty times and in around two minutes you've got yourself 1000 Gamerscore. The hardest part will be surviving the game's awful cut-scenes, but you're a trained Gamerscore warrior, so we think you'll be fine.[Via Aeropause]
Xbox Originals won't have achievements
C'mon, you can tell us. You're an addict, aren't you? You've got a 40K gamerscore and you simply can't justify any gaming time if, well ... you aren't being compensated for it. Bad news then, junkie. The recently announced Xbox Originals (downloadable versions of original Xbox games) won't have achievements. It all makes sense if you think about it: these are unaltered disc images. If they didn't see fit to go in and remove things like demos or trailers that could actually crash your 360 if you select them, it stands to reason they weren't going to add achievements.Now, the good news. Your gamertag won't be permanently sullied with achievement-related proof that you were playing Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space. Seriously, what's wrong with you?[Via X3F]
Xbox Originals to be achievement'less
Our good friend Major Nelson had to be the bearer of bad news yesterday when he revealed that the upcoming downloadable Xbox Originals will NOT include achievements. Boo, hiss, boo! The reasoning is simple, the games are direct ports of the original games and so, aren't 360 enabled for achievements. We guess that's why they will still have problems. So, come December 4th when you'll be able to purchase Halo, Fable or Psychonauts, don't expect any achievements or anything enhanced for your 1200 Microsoft points. Hell, don't expect much at all ... just don't expect anything from anyone![Thanks, Boff]
We got 'em, Mass Effect achievements
Yummy, delicious, enjoyable. All these words can describe the list of achievements for upcoming hit Mass Effect. What's that? You haven't seen the leaked list of achievements? Wow ... poor thing you, we didn't know. Hmm, we should tell you about them.First off ... WARNING! Spoiler alert! Your treading on spoiler charted waters! The list of achievements available after the jump sort of tell a bit about the Mass Effect story, plot, etc., etc. But, if you are un-phased by such stuff, then click away. Though, In general, the achievements are pretty decent and range from weapon achievements, to story achievement to the Completionist achievement which you can earn for "completing the majority of the game" (nice and vague, we like that). Oh, and be sure to note that there's Gamerscore to be had if you "complete any romance subplot" ... we wonder what that's all about. Risque![Thanks, to everyone who sent this in]
Study: More Xbox 360 achievements = better reviews, more sales
A new study by Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR) suggests that the Xbox 360 achievement system (here called "accomplishments" for some reason) has an effect on the title's success. According to the press release, EEDAR found a "strong connection between a game title's diversity of Accomplishment types with that game's profitability -- pointing to the idea that the more diverse the Accomplishments available to the user, the more enjoyable the game, higher review scores, more units sold."We're hesitant to conclude that the number of achievements is a causality for gamer enjoyment, although we know of a few people who swear by their gamerscore (and a handful of games whose sales, but not necessarily reviews, were greatly increased because of their achievements). We wonder if the correlation is instead a sign that developers who spend more time ensuring the quality of their games also extend that hard-work towards the achievements, as well. If Valve's The Orange Box sells a bajillion copies, it's not necessarily because it has 99 ways to up your gamerscore.
X3F Achievements 101: The Way the World Ends
Welcome to another edition of the weekly Gamerscore whoring extravaganza, X3F Achievements 101. As usual, I'll discuss the latest in unlocking Achievements, or discuss any news that's especially pertinent to the Achievement obsessed. This week covers the painful to play, yet easy to complete Fuzion Frenzy 2, the near perfect list for Halo 3, and the just released Orange Box. All that and more is available after the break, so dive in.
Party Animals Achievements hide gamer in-jokes
We're not sure exactly where to file this story. We've got "sneaky developers" and "sneaky marketers." We're pretty sure it should go in one of those files. We're just not sure which. Microsoft has sent out a list of the achievements available in Viva Piñata: Party Animals, and they contain a few surprises for the older gamers out there. There are a few pop culture references in there, such as the "Coulda Been a Contender," "Do You Feel Lucky, Piñata?" and "Int'l Piñata of Mystery" achievements. What really surprised us, however, were the handful of gamer in-jokes. First up is the "Classic Gamer Reward" which states, "Enter the classic gamers code while on the START screen. For a hint, go right into your manual..." We can only assume it refers to the Konami Code. Then there is the "All Your Game Are Belong To Us" achievement. Then there is our favorite achievement, "So Awesome!," the text of which reads "You, the master of unlocking." A Penny Arcade reference and a Resident Evil reference in the same achievement? Wow. Considering Party Animals is aimed squarely at younger gamers, we're betting these achievements were tossed in to bring a smile to all the dedicated gaming parents out there.
Scene It? achievements have been seen
Searching through the deep, dark, dusty and ... drab'ish corners of Xbox.com, Morgon from MyGamerCard.net uncovered a list of all 42 Scene It? achievements. The list of Scene It? achievements (which are all viewable after the jump) is mostly made up of very elementary tasks like answering questions from specific categories, answering "X" amount of questions correctly, etc., etc. So, the game's achievements may not be all that exciting or original, but darn it, the game has a big button controller and we like controllers with big buttons. Any questions? Good. Scene It? achievement list after the jump.[Thanks, Morgon]
More player titles: denied
Well, after my little rant on the extreme lack of titles for players the other day, Blizzard has... not changed their mind at all. Zer asks, wisely I thought, for titles for PvE players, but Bornakk shuts him down, and then stomps all over the idea completely. Titles are rare, he says, and that's the way they like it.That boggles the mind. Titles are a form of achievement, and isn't that what this game is all about? As was mentioned in the comments on the last post, titles could be exactly like Xbox Live Achievements-- relatively meaningless badges of honor (or dishonor) that players would wear with pride. This is a super simple, super easy way to extend the game for players who have been playing for a long time. And Blizzard wants to keep these rare?It's their game, I guess, and obviously if they feel titles should be rare (though I can't for the life of me see why-- keeping content unattainable hasn't been working real well for them lately), then titles will stay rare. But especially at a time when new content is scarce and players are wondering why they should revisit the old content at all, new titles for achievements of any kind seem like an easy (and easily implemented) draw.
Achievement quest to be rewarded with Smash Bros
Jason Cipriano of MTV's Multiplayer blog is something of an achievement whore. Of course, we know a little something about achievement whoring around here, but Jason has come up with a very interesting challenge. See, Jason is a Smash Bros. fan (we have a soft spot for the series too) and very soon he will find his achievement whoring and the upcoming Wii title Super Smash Bros. Brawl at odds with each other. According to Jason, Smash Bros. will easily take precedence, but he doesn't want his gamerscore to suffer for it. To this end, Jason has decided that he will accumulate 10,000 more gamerscore points before he allows himself to play Super Smash Bros. Brawl. If he wants to do that before the game releases, he currently has about 11 weeks left to do it. Oh, and did we mention he already milked Fuzion Frenzy 2, MLB 2K6, and King Kong? Yeah, well he has. Best of luck Jason, you'll need it (if you want to play before next year anyway).
X3F Achievements 101: On the Road
This latest edition of X3F Achievements 101 is up for your perusal, and touches on the joys of traveling when having an Achievement streak to maintain, while at the same time exploring potential options to make it more viable, namely Live for Windows on Vista. I also talk about finishing up Shadowrun, commenter responses on "boosting", and my time with BioShock, as well as what quickies I've got lined up prior to the launch of Halo 3. All of this and more can be found after the break.
Time to vote on SSFIITHDR achievements
A while back, the Capcom crew asked the Street Fighter community to come up with achievement suggestions for upcoming XBLA game Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix. And now, after looking through all the suggestions and asking the development team which ones were feasible, they've narrowed it down to seven possible achievements and want you to vote on which one should make it into the game.All of the suggested achievements are somewhat difficult to obtain, but our favorites have to be "Win with every character in an Online Ranked Match" and the "Defeat Sagat with Ryu's fierce dragon punch (any mode)" achievement which is currently winning in the polls. Speaking of polls, you should vote on which SSFIITHDR achievement should make it into the game by registering and submitting your ballot over at the Capcom forums. And please, try not leaving any hanging paper chads.[Via Joystiq, Thanks Jonah Falcon]
Orange Box: 99 achievements, 1000 Gamerscore
We've talked about this very topic in our Fancast numerous times and wondered how Valve would divvy up the achievement load and how much Gamerscore the jam packed Orange Box would include. Well, we finally have our answer via our friend DaKing240 who dug up the achievement list for The Orange Box and it looks like it is being treated as one game.The Orange Box (which includes Half-Life Half-Life 2, Episodes 1 and 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2) will offer up the traditional 1000 Gamerscore and spread the achievements across all the included games / expansions with an impressive 99 achievement offering. And after doing a quick run through of the achievement list, it looks like the Half-Life franchise will be getting the majority of the unlockable goods with the other games still getting a respectable chunk of the Gamerscore. Go ahead, take a look at The Orange Box's achievements to see if you're up to the challenge of earning all 99 ... we dare you.
PGR 4 achievements race on in
Earlier today, Bizarre Creations decided to share Project Gotham Racing 4's achievements with everyone and give a little back story to how they were decided upon. Learning from their PGR 3 days, Bizarre opted to make PGR 4's achievements a little more varied, less focused on difficult to obtain achievements and more fun in general. Our favorites include "Buy an Achievement", "Back it Up!" and "Beat Bizarre" where you have to beat a member of the Bizarre Creations dev team in an online game or someone who has already done so. Also, there are a few secret achievements thrown in for good measure like the "3CZV657" achievement, DeLorean anyone? Complete list, explanation and attached Gamerscore for all of PGR 4's achievements is available after the jump.
Halo 3 achievements are pretty much confirmed
One of the only Halo 3 related nuggets-o-info not to be officially confirmed by Bungie yet have been the game's achievements which mysteriously popped up (and later updated) a few months ago. But then there was all this rampant fanboy hubbub around a new set of achievements making their way online, all secret and fueling a rumor that Bungie might have released the first set of Halo 3 achievements as red-herrings. But fanboys, we have video proof that the original set of leaked achievements were spot on and very final. The overly long video above was taken while Bungie's own Frankie was online playing the gold build of Halo 3 and shows an official Xbox 360 guide achievement comparison for Halo 3. And like we said, the achievements are identical to the leaked Halo 3 achievement we've seen before. That's it, we're officially calling the task of trying to find out Halo 3's achievements before release solved and complete.
X3F Achievements 101: Star Power, Summon, Strangle, & Sniping
While a little later than usual, there's another wonderful X3F Achievements 101 for you this week. A first for the column, a reader organized a gaming session in Shadowrun, and the latest downloadable content for Guitar Hero II threw some Achievements that are now easier to get, if you're willing to pay for the content. We're also testing out a new timeslot, posting the column at the tail end of the work week instead of at the beginning. So, continue on to another action packed Achievements 101.
Achievement lists for a bunch of retail and XBLA titles
Over at Xbox 360 Achievements, there are a slew of new Achievements listed for retail and arcade games alike. They have Two Worlds, Skate, which came straight from EA, Fatal Inertia, NHL 08, & Medal of Honor: Airborne. On the XBLA side of things, there is the cheaper of the two Arcade games that came out today, Space Giraffe, Fatal Fury Special and we're especially happy to see Sonic 2 make it there as well. A cool little reveal about Sonic 2 is that it will have online multiplayer, derived from the splitscreen multiplayer found in the Genesis version. So, those are plenty of lists for you to examine for your next target of 1000 or 200 Gamerscore. Retail: Read: Two Worlds Read: skate. Read: Fatal Inertia Read: NHL 08 Read: Medal of Honor: Airborne XBLA: Read: Space Giraffe Read: Fatal Fury Special Read: Sonic 2
Rockin' some Guitar Hero III achievements
Even though you are still diligently strumming away at Guitar Hero II, working on that "Start a Real Band Already Award" achievement, now you have a new set of achievements to look forward to with the release of Guitar Hero III. Over at Xbox360Achievements they've discovered and posted all 59 achievements for upcoming rocking game GH III and there are some doozies. A few notable achievements that stand out would be "Buy a Guitar Already", "Tone Deaf" and "Meet Your Maker" where you have to (somehow) beat one of the creators of GH III. It'll be another nearly impossible 1000 gamerscore coming from this third installment, but really ... would you have it any other way?[Thanks, SpaceGhostFlyer]
Silent Hill: Origins features "Accolades"
Anyone check out the leaked Silent Hill: Origins demo? If so, you may have noticed an inaccessible option labeled "Accolades" in one of the menus. Radio GTN believes this is actually the beginning of a PSP version of 360's "Achievements" system. It's obvious if you think about what an accolade is -- an award, basically.However, the more likely scenario: Silent Hill: Origins will have special tasks to complete that give you these accolades, which would unlock in-game awards. (Maybe something as simple as wallpaper for your PSP?) However, imagine the possibilities of PSP/PS3 connectivity: perhaps an unlockable T-shirt for your Home avatar?[via Digg]
