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Remaining Crackdown Achievements determined by observation
Realtime Worlds will be watching next week as you hit Crackdown's Pacific City for the first time, and for the weeks following. Shipping with only 900 Gamerscore points, the developer will decide how to implement the remaining 100 points by observing how players are interacting with their virtual sandbox. It's not like Realtime has installed cameras into the game world; no, the developer will apparently gather most of its information by monitoring the most popular Achievements. If players are focused on unlocking the juggling Achievements, Realtime would likely up the ante with a new juggling-based challenge. But activities without existing Achievement tie-ins -- like building towers out of stacked objects -- might be harder for Realtime to observe (unless there's an internal stat-tracker we're not aware of...).
Stuttering start for Microsoft Rewards program
The Xbox Rewards program remains deadlocked today, following yesterday's launch, which apparently drew more prospective registrants than anticipated. If you've yet to register -- perhaps planning to leisurely earn your 'rewards' during the allotted month -- you've likely already missed out. 'Cause guess what? All those rewards are limited to finite numbers; paltry numbers when compared to Xbox Live's user base.This isn't an 'Old Spice Challenge,' it's a Competition -- and no doubt there are enough registered players teens already racing to gobble up those prizes. If you're lucky, you might score (possibly another) copy of Contra, since 70,000 download codes will be handed out. But even the '100 Microsoft Points' prize (limited to 6,000 winners) could be gone by week's end. Bah, who wanted Fusion Frenzy 2 anyway?Hint: Try this link.
Fans to decide missing Crackdown points
Some time ago, we reported that Crackdown will ship with only 900 gamerscore points available. It was later revealed that Crackdown's missing 100 points would be made available via downloadable content. This week, Major Nelson's blogcast reveals the way in which those points will be doled out. During an interview with Aaron Greenberg, it was revealed that Realtime Worlds, developer of Crackdown, will be monitoring what people do while playing the game. They'll be keeping track of the most popular achievements to see what players are doing in Crackdown. Realtime Worlds will then create new achievements based on what they observe. For example, if everyone playing Crackdown is going for the rocket launcher juggling achievements, Realtime Worlds may add another achievement that expands on that. We love the idea of adding achievements based on how people play the game. It would be interesting to see other developers take this approach as well. Are there any Achievements you'd like to see added to Crackdown?[Via DarkZero. Thanks, SoonerBill]
Shivering Isles adds 250 Gamerscore points to Oblivion
It looks like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion will be the first to take advantage of Microsoft's recently-amended Achievement points policy and push past that 1000-point gate of old. Speaking to Gaming Bits, Oblivion developer Bethesda has confirmed that the upcoming expansion Shivering Isles will have 250 Gamerscore points, divided amongst 10 achievements, to unlock.According to the new Achievement point policy, up to 250 points can be added to a disc-based Xbox 360 title via premium downloadable content, which means Oblivion has maxed out its Gamerscore potential.Shivering Isles is set for release via Xbox Live this Spring; it will also be available for PC and PS3. No word on if it will be released before Microsoft's Xbox Rewards contest ending April 12, so plan on augmenting your Gamerscore elsewhere.
Shivering Isles to get 250 Gamerscore boost
Last week the policy for Gamerscore and Achievements was standardized to make sure that gamers got a full 1000 points per retail game, with downloadable content able to bring in an extra 250 points. In Episode 2 of our podcast we mentioned Shivering Isles being a fine example of giving Achievements on top of the game's original 1000. Well, now it's official, Oblivion's Shivering Isles expansion will have an additional 10 Achievements worth 250 Gamerscore bringing it to a total of 1250. This marks the first game to have more than 1000 available Gamerscore, and hopefully will set the proper standard for other developers to follow. So, with the promise of more Achievements, are you more interested in getting the Shivering Isles expansion, or does it even matter?[Via Digg]
Join 1,000 NBA Live players, boost your Gamerscore
The objective is simple: unlock NBA Live 07's "Online with 1,000 people" Xbox 360 Achievement. To do so, Achieve360Points.com is asking all would-be b-ballers to get online Saturday night (8-9 pm EST). You don't even need to play. Simply stream ESPN radio (via Xbox Live) and go about your business; making this arguably the easiest 100 Achievement points you'll ever earn.Needless to say, NBA Live 07 does not rank among the top titles played by Xbox Live users. The most difficult part of Saturday's task might be locating the game for cheap. Anyone wanna loan us a copy?Xbox 360 Fanboy astutely notes that Achieve360 has apparently hijacked the idea for this community effort from competitor Xbox360Achievements.org, which is hosting a similar initiative on the 25th; though digging around on Achieve360 turns up this evidence, which suggests the NBA Live feat was attempted (and failed) in late January. So props to both sites -- we hope to see both forthcoming efforts succeed!
Xbox 360 Achievements policy amended
Microsoft has revised its Xbox 360 Achievements rule book, agreeing to allow publishers to add an additional 250 Gamerscore points to disc-based games through add-on content. The content could be either free or paid. Xbox Live Arcade games can also receive a boost, as publishers are now allowed to add 50 additional points (to the required 200) via downloadable content, which could be similarly free or paid.Each disc-based game must include 1,000 points that are accessible for free (excluding price paid to obtain game), but not necessarily included on the game disc; Crackdown, for example, will only ship with 900 unlockable points, while the remaining 100 will arrive built into a free content update. Microsoft admits that there have been "inconsistencies" in the past, but hopes that the new, supposedly clear policy will regulate publisher's Achievements.
New gamerscore policy just makes sense
BIGVIP over at the Gamerscore Blog wrote up an article discussing what they've done for the gamerscore system on the 360. Microsoft has talked with developers and set clear rules pertaining to a game's gamerscore. All games here on out will be required to offer 1,000 gamerscore and all arcade games need 200. No part of the gamerscore can come from purchased XBLM content, but free downloadable content is fine. Also, any new expansion packs or new downloadable content can offer an additional 250 gamerscore for normal games and an additional 50 for arcade games.Most Xbox 360 games have stuck to the 1,000 gamerscore rule, but some have ventured away from it like Microsoft's yet to be released Crackdown. It only offers a 900 gamerscore ... come on Microsoft, can't you follow your own rules? But you'll be happy to know that they will offer an extra 100 gamerscore for Crackdown via a separate download or additional free content. And now to you, what do you think about this new standardization of the gamerscore?
Best of user created Achievements
We posted a link to an achievement generator yesterday and asked 360 Fanboy readers to submit their attempts. We received tons of submissions -- including a few duplicates -- and have gathered up some of the best. Keep in mind, we got a lot of them, so they aren't all listed here. If you'd like to see even more, you can always check out the comment thread on the original post. See our favorites after the break.
Rumor: Achievements Unlocking Rewards for Gamers?
Deacon Blade of Unscripted360 broke a very interesting story this morning. Apparently, he and some fellow MVPs came across at "torn document" that contained intriguing ideas for the future of the Xbox 360, and more importantly, its Achievement and gamerscore system. According to Deacon, Xbox is working alongside sponsors to initiate a program in February to reward gamers for their Achievements. Participation is free of charge, and the number of prizes are limited, although you will need to register to get in. We don't know if this will be limited to Xbox Live Gold subscribers, or open to Silver as well, but don't be surprised if only paying customers are eligible. Gamesaving was also brought up on the document as a "top priority", and will supposedly be taken care of.All in all, the release of this information seems a little fishy. It's very likely that Microsoft gave the go ahead for its high ranking community members to give a few tidbits of information without revealing much more than the concept. Deacon, and the others at the event probably know more than they're letting on regarding the program, and just want to leave people wanting more and thus building hype. Well, it's working. We're excited about this opportunity for casual and hardcore gamers alike to get free stuff for playing games, what about you? And how do you expect Microsoft to circumvent the current, albeit neutered, gamesaving from exploiting the idea of rewards?
Paperboy, Minigolf, and Root Beer achievements
Celebrating their one year anniversary, Achieve360Points.com posted the achievements for three upcoming XBLA titles. They've listed achievements for Paperboy, Minigolf Adventures, and Root Beer Tapper. Of course we'd all like to know when these new XBLA games are going to be released, but that's just asking a little much. We've always been huge fans of Paperboy with memories in or head of tossing papers through windows. But what's the draw to a game like Root Beer Tapper? Serving root beer to random bums on a lonely Friday night ... now that's living my friends.
Learn to rock and achieve in GHII
Today, Xbox 360 Achievements posted every last achievement for RedOctane's Guitar Hero II. And there's a lot of 'em. Our favorites have to be the Extra Credit Award, Long Road Ahead Award, and for all those rockers who don't give a damn about their fans, the Rock Snob Award. We cannot stress enough how much we enjoy achievements that are spread out in a game making you take in everything it has to offer. Don't you just love well thought out achievements?[Thanks, DaKing240]
Achievements for Worms, SOTN, and more!
X360A has come up with the achievements on 4 (count 'em 4) huge upcoming Live Arcade games. Achievements have been revealed for Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Alien Hominid HD, Catan, and yes, Worms. We can only assume Catan is the shortened title for Settlers of Catan. Catan's achievements are fairly basic, of the "get X many points" variety. The SOTN achievements have a spoiler in them, so read at your own risk. The Worms achievements are centered around online play and will more than likely be unlocked by regular play. The Alien Hominid HD achievements range from funny to difficult. Some of them are downright evil (beat the final boss without using a continue -- 30 pts). So evil that you have to pronounce it "E-ville." Hopefully this is a sign of these games releasing soon. We'll certainly welcome the fresh blood. Then again, how the hell will we pay for them all?
Gamerscore: rewards points for "nerd cred"
GameDaily has an interesting article up about Gamerscore. Speaking to Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg and CliffyB, GameDaily's Paul Hyman discusses the unexpectedly huge reception of Gamerscore from consumers. Greenberg -- who knows about cred -- admits that Gamerscore has become much bigger than the 360 team originally imagined it would, as Gamerscore has become a mark of pride among many 360 owners. The article notes the unusual nature of Gamerscore, in that the points cannot be redeemed in any way and are purely for bragging rights. As CliffyB puts it, "It's nerd cred, man!" We have to admit, Gamerscore has changed the way we play games. We spend more time with games than we would before (damn you, LEGO Star Wars II!) and in some cases play games we wouldn't have played otherwise. Even bad games have a bright side now: "at least I'll get some Achievements."We certainly aren't Gamerscore whores, but Achievements act as a nice incentive to play. In fact, Gamerscore even dissuades us from playing backwards compatible games (and games for other consoles) because it seems less productive. What about you, does Gamerscore dictate your playing habits?[Via Joystq]
Fuzion Frenzy 2 is a Gamerscore goldmine
Xbox 360 Achievements has uncovered the achievements for the upcoming Fuzion Frenzy 2, the sequel to the original Xbox party game. It's good news for Gamerscore whores, as the achievements look fairly simple and the point rewards are high. Seriously, there are only 2 achievements worth less than 50 points. There are 14 achievements in all. 2 of them are worth 25 points, 7 worth 50, 3 worth 100, and 2 worth 150. The achievements are rewarded for finishing the game as each character, winning online games, and unlocking minigames. It doesn't look like any of them are particularly difficult. Hell, only one of them requires you to win more than one online game. So, if you're a Gamerscore fanatic, Fuzion Frenzy looks like it could be your new best friend. That is unless we're completely wrong and the game is as tough as nails. Given that it's from the same people that gave the world Mario Party, we'd say the chances of that are slim.See also:Fuzion Frenzy 2 gameplay compilation 1Fuzion Frenzy 2 gameplay compilation 2
Achievement acquired dates are on the fritz
The other day when Xbox Live matchmaking went down it looks to have affected Achievement acquired dates too. Justin10925 posted on the Xbox.com forums an account of having all of his previous achievements show that they've been acquired a month after they actually were. After Justin10925 got flamed in the forums, we investigated our own achievement stash and lo and behold our Gears of War achievements are a month off. Achievements that were acquired back in November now show an acquired date of December ... doh! If you have an iron-clad memory and can recall specific days/months you acquired certain achievements then please check them. If things are a little wacky please comment, so we can build up evidence on this issue. We say investigate fanboys, investigate![Thanks, thw]
Vampire's Rain achieves secretivity
Loyal fanboy Zizzy was snooping around Achieve 360 Points and stumbled across the achievements for the upcoming Xbox 360 game Vampire's Rain. Not so newsworthy right? Wrong! It looks like all 20 achievements for the game are set at the secret status, none openly disclosed. We've yet to see a 360 game have every achievement set at secret (or so our memory recalls). This brings up an interesting topic. Do you prefer games that disclose the achievements so you know what to work towards, or is it more fun to discover those hidden buggers? Discussify ...[Thanks, Zizzy]
Star Trek Legacy rewards the red shirts
It's a rule in Star Trek, if you see a guy you've never seen before, and he's wearing a red shirt, he's going to die. Typically these unlucky crew members are brought along on away missions, where they will be eaten by a vicious monster or mangled by a robot or otherwise lethally harmed. In the spirit of the red-shirts, Star Trek: Legacy includes a special achievement: the Anonymous Red-Shirt award. The achievement -- 5 points -- is awarded for being the first player that is destroyed in a 4 person multiplayer game. The other achievements all have names that will probably make sense to die-hard Trek fans, too. The reviews for the game have been mixed so far, but it's nice to see some interesting achievements.[Thanks, un1qu3 n3wy0rk]
Wait ... what's up with GRAW's achievements?
After snooping around Xbox 360 Achievements we found one game's achievements to be rather interesting. Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter has been out for a long time and now it has just came to our attention that its achievement point totals are extremely odd. Take a look at the whole list of them, notice anything a little weird? If you look closely you'll notice that there are achievements that award you Gamerscore points listed at 2, 8, 16, 24, 28 and 32. We've never seen any games offer such odd Gamerscore point totals, usually they are in increments of five, never being as odd as these. Are we missing something here or are there other games out with such odd Gamerscore point totals attached to achievements? Microsoft, don't let them do this to our nice rounded multiples of five ... it's just not right.
Battlestations: Midway rewards mediocrity
A savvy tipster pointed out the above achievement from Battlestations: Midway today. In case you didn't notice, the game actually rewards players for being the worst player on the team. This isn't the first "shame" achievement -- Dead or Alive 4 had an achievement for consecutive losses. What's makes this different is that it is actually worth ten points, whereas the DOA achievement was worth zero, thus cementing the "shame" aspect. Of course, this achievement presents another problem: what if you're crazy good? What if your skillz are so unbelievably mad that you're never ever the worst player on your team? What the hell do you do then, suck on purpose? Frankly, we will not stand for this injustice.Seriously though, there are lots of achievements out there. What are some of the most creative you've seen? Best? Worst?[Thanks, un1qu3 n3wy0rk]
