Gamerscore more popular than Microsoft anticipated

by Blake Snow on Jan 4th 2007 4:55PM

GameDaily examines the non-rewards rewards program of Microsoft Achievement Points and the obsession with one's Gamerscore on Xbox Live. Said Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski on the phenomenon: "It's nerd cred, man! I mean, it's just a score. You may say it can't be used for anything, but gamers use them for pride. They're pride points ... I read that people are picking up the Burger King Xbox games just so they can score additional points. If that doesn't prove how well this program is working, nothing does."

Sounds like for Microsoft: "Achievement Unlocked." And several already know of the unhealthy obsession Gamespot editor Jeff Gerstmann has for his Gamerscore. He sits in a cold, dark cave babbling for hours (sometimes with intelligent and candid commentary) about Points. We once saw Jeff dry hump his Gamerscore. It was awkward to say the least.

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Tags: Xbox-360

Reader Comments (49)

I *sort of* use achievment points to judge how close to finished I am in a game.

-Still fighting for that 1,000,000 score in Geometry Wars

11k, fools!
http://card.mygamercard.net/agent+moo.png

I normally could care less about my score in anything. However, I read somewhere on the old intarweb that on average casual gamers have a score of 1000 or less. Since I've always considered myself far above casual (just for my old xbox I have 65+ games, that's hardly a casual library), I felt insulted and just had to get myself above 1000. GoW and COD3 got me to a nice 1200 so I can rest now for a few months :) Aw maybe the intarweb is right though, as I can't really see buying 65+ games for any system ever again.

Yes, I had an unhealthy obsession with getting my gamer score up to a respectable 10,000. It has somewhat fizzled out though as I've been spending my gaming time on the Wii or multiplayer Gears of War. Only three achievements left in that one, two of which are impossible on my favorite map and of course the illustrious/ridiculous 10,000 kill mark.

I'm currently quite happy with my 9,600 gamer points (gamertag = Unimental) and my 2,500 GoW kills.

I love the system. Makes you want to complete the whole game and on all the difficulty settings.

It gives great re-play value to games.

For those who have not experienced it firsthand, let me tell you: There is no finer feeling in the modern age of gaming than the *plink* of a hard-earned Achievement Unlocked. It's so brilliantly insidious.

I've never really put a whole lot of emphasis on my gamer score. However, I've noticed that when it comes to choosing between which games to devote my play time to, the gamerscore does influence me towards my 360 more often than I probably would otherwise.

Achievement points are pretty cool. I don't take them too seriously, but my friends and I like to get the different weapon achievements in Gears, so it's kind of a fun little competition.

I think both the Wii and PS3 should have added achievement points, it's just a little extra incentive for playing a game....nothing big....just gives you a nice sense of accomplishment, and comparing your different achievements to your friends is fun.

The only bad part is that almost every 360 game at Gamefly has a "short wait" because people are just renting the game to get points then giving them back. No other system has so many "short waits"....thank god I have a DS too.

I actually find the "Achievement Unlocked" notice to be a bit distracting in some games. It takes away from the immersion factor. This is more for games like Gears of War and Oblivion and less for geometry wars and the like.

The gamerscore adds replay value to games I might not have otherwise played as much, to complete or achieve certain goals.

You can also use it somewhat to gauge skill, preferences, or progress of other players. And you can also easily tell those that are either obsessed with gaming or their gamer score.

I can't imagine games NOT using them. And I'm disappointed whenever I encounter a game that does not have well thought out or many gamer points.

It's perhaps one of the better ideas in gaming.

http://card.mygamercard.net/QuePasa87.png

It's not my life or anything, but I think its fun to compete for the highest score with all my local friends that I know and although many think its a waste of time, others such as myself see it as a whole new dimension/challenge that is fun in itself. :D

I love achievement points. Even though I don't yet have Xbox Live so it's not even a bragging thing (especially given my meager 3600 or so gamer points) but it certainly motivates my playing habits - it's that little extra missing while playing a DS game or a computer game that I didn't even recognize until playing with a 360.

That said, some of the achievements are incredibly infeasible to get / not worth the effort.

Two of my friends are bickering (jokingly) about gamerscores right now! Definitely a good move by Microsoft. Personally, I'm staying out of the e-mail war between my friends...

...because I'm 600-1000 points ahead.

I never really cared about my gamerscore.
A had a friend who was very active after I finished a game and then would go idle again.
After awhile I realized he was watching my gamerscore and every time I passed his score he would play to pass mine.

What's funny is that I never use my 360 anymore except to pass him by a few hundred and then quit again.
I think he's going out of his mind to get some of my achievements (he's not very good at games).

I dont realy care much for scores, unless i get something for it!

Atleast give me a new gun, or a car or someshit.

@ grable

certain achievments are rewarded with a Gamer Pic in the likeness of the achievment

Ex: Gears completed on insane, 10,000 Kills in Gears

I'm actually getting over the whole gamerscore now. Most of my friends rent or burn games so it doesn't matter now and plus when I see someone with a high score I automatically think "wow, they have no life".

Like me!

A couple of my friends are over 20 000. Are they better gamers than me? No. Do they rent every game that comes out just to get points? Yes. It is more representative of income than anything else.

No one should take pride in geek points. Period. Napoleon Dynamite is a thing of the past and no matter how hard MTV tries, video games are still looked down on by very many people.

A person's gamerscore might matter if that person were a professional gamer but beyond that, its just a meter to see how much time someone might neglect the things in life that truly matter.

Oh and before you bitch, and it might be too late, I make cartoons for a living. I check up on video game news to entertain my interest in the industry but I never let it take over me.

I've found the Gamerscore thing to be a lot of fun particularly as more goals to achieve in my games. It doesn't add replay value to all the games (Marvel: Ultimate Alliance seemed to unlock nearly everything from one play through on normal), but for most games it definitely makes me want to go back for more.

And here's my more casual card:
http://card.mygamercard.net/MekTek+Zertoss.png

I love my nerd cred. Nothing will stop people from loving nerd cred. Thankfully I'm a cheap bastard who buys games every few months.

13, You do realize you are wasting your time nagging people on a video game blog, right? Why don't you spend some time on things that really matter?

Wooo I got almost 3000 gamerscore, and that's without caring. Who else can possibly be as good as myself?

I love them. They dont mean anything, but having a goal in a game other than to finish it is really great. Adds alot of value to a game when you dont feel like you're wasting your time going back and playing it again trying to accomplish different things.

As far as I'm concerned, Gamerscore = Pokemon. Gotta get 'em all! Is it a good business move? I suppose it wasn't a bad one. There's always going to be a subsect of gamers who drool over the ability to find every last secret and obtain every last coin/star/powerup/whatever in a game.

Just wait until Microsoft figures out a way to back-port Gamerscores into original Xbox games. Maybe a downloadable utility that monitors your play of an original game and watches for certain events/milestones.

now imagine ms gave free MS points for every 1k you got, you would see so many people buying more games or renting etc. they should give SOME incentive for them though, but yeah, they dont really have to.

64,000 points

But I'm an idiot.

http://card.mygamercard.net/toddisbored.png

=(

My Gamerscore: 23232

I love achievements. I've played games I would have nevet bothered with before and found many fun titles.

I really like the achievement points. I don't actively try to get every one but I enjoy getting the notice that I have unlocked it. I think it was one of the better ideas for gaming actually. Before having a 360 if you would have asked me if I cared I would have told you no but it really grows on you. I can't imagine playing a game without it now.

lies.. lies and slander

I don't know how much of a Playstation fanboy you are if all Number One, but that sounds like a serious case of sour grapes.

My god, you're telling people in a demograph that takes pride in what they do, not to take pride in what they do!

I've got a modest gamer score of around 2250 or so.

Does that mean I pay more attention to the things I should? Or perhaps there are many things I should be taking care of that are going by the wayside because I played a few games to get that score?

"We once saw Jeff dry hump his Gamerscore. It was awkward to say the least."

Best Joystiq line. Evar.

Gamerscore does make me play games a little longer than I normally would, I admit. Good way to sell more Xbox/360 games.

i could take or leave gamerscore. tho, it is a convenient way, coupled with number of games, to judge the depth to which my friends play games.

it's the achievements i can't live without.

m3mnoch.

Well, I juct clocked over 7000 last night and it felt pretty good.

I think the whole Achievements/Gamer Score is such a simplisticly brilliant idea and I do spend time looking to see how I can unlock more in the games I have...

Besides there's nothing like the old "Defeat 5 bosses while while wearing a leoperd skin tupe and rubbing your stomach and patting your head" Achievement to get you motivated...

I do care about my Gamerscore -- and I do go out of my way to do things the developer wanted to do - such as create my own avatar with a cam in Rainbow Six, or pick up COGs in Gears of War.

I have to say that MS has hit the gaming Nerve with the Acchivement system. I REALLY gives you that feeling you got when you got a high score in the arcade with your friends!! I for one LOVE and I think that it keeps the Haters/Fakers from making comments on the Forums about a game because now you can see what they have been playing (or not). Go MS and it's another feather for the cap!!

Wow... i feel really bad now with my pathetic 930 point gamerscore

"Achievement Unlocked" gave huge bragging rights during marathons of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.

If an online service gave me credit for beating the Emerald Weapon in FF7 without the Mime materia or the strongest summon, fetching 120 stars in Super Mario 64, etc., I know I would use it! It's like merit badges; you know you had one up against your friends when you've got proof you cooked a porcupine in the woods!

I honestly feel for the people out there who aren't earning points because they aren't playing every single game out there half-assed. Makes you wish lamers had something better to do, neh?

I couldn't care less about my Gamerscore, but I know what it is (just north of 4200). What I do care about are achievements. I find I get a LOT more play out of games because I am trying to complete some mission or unlock some unlockable. Where I would normally migrate to another game (and spend more money in the process), I now keep plugging away at games. I feel this gives me way more value than in the past and I see more of the game this way.

It's also a very good way to compare your prowess in one game vs. another gamer by comparing achievements in one title in isolation. I will never have a gamerscore that ranks amongst the highest on earth, but I can get solace in knowing I might have a gamerscore in my favorite game that ranks amongst the best.

sometimes just one achievement can be mind blowing for me

like the realistic difficulty achievement in r6 vegas, which i was jipped on cause of a dante's theatre glitch, it made me mad when the credits were all done rolling and that achievement did not pop up

i will attain that achievement tho, i just gotta go for the ladder right away

I don't care much about the gamer score, but I appreciate achievements.
I'll take a look at them and decide if it's something worth the time to get. Like going a minute without firing in Geometry Wars (I wish they had more offbeat ones like that, such as going a minute without moving).

Geometry Wars is actually a great example, as it gives clear, achievable goals to shoot for. Some games waste them, like King Kong which rewards you simply for playing, or they give you impossible ones.

Dead Rising was a good example of how to do it right, as it had many that involved doing things I otherwise wouldn't have bothered with, or even thought of.

Gears of War is another good one, a bit too much emphasis on playing online, but I like that it has one absurd achievement. More than one is a waste, but that one is kind of cool.

I have a friend(seriously not me), who has turned to ONLY playing 360 games mainly because the achievements. HE wont admit it, but I know its true. I'm betting there are others like this. So gamer just want that number to go up.

I personally think its a waste of space. There are some achievements in certain games that you can unlock for doing the most basic of things. Like in Rainbow6:Vegas, mapping your face to the character grants you one.

Dumb. Pointless for me.

However, IF, the points could be used to buy things online(like I thought they were at first), that would change everything. Microsoft should really do something like this.

As it is right now, that gamescore means nothing. And people that gloat about it are even dumber than the number itself. The certain achievements like beating a game on SuperHard and whatnot is what I would be proud of. Not a number that can increase by losing(in DeadorAlive), or Naming my character(in VivaPinata).

Stupid stuff. But hey, if it gets people playing

If there is suspected cheating already for those breaking the 100,000 barrier, then why on earth would Microsoft reward anyone with actual monetary awards for achievement points when there are obvious ways to boost?

They were surprised by this? Why do they think people put quarter after quarter into arcade and pinball machines? To have their initials up in lights. Yep, mostly pointless, but it's still a competition and that's what gamers like to do, compete.

Would that help explain the 360's high attach rates?

I admit that I feel good and happy when I see the "Achievement Unlocked" flash up on the screen! You really feel as if you've accomplished something. For once, when you finish a game or collect all the gold rings or whatever, you are actually rewarded in the form of gamerscore.
Achievements and gamerscore are an excellent incentive to actually complete games and all side quests/objectives etc.

who is that in the pic?
lol, nothing funnier than a fat dude in a shirt with prada plastered on the chest!

Gamerscore more popular than Microsoft anticipated

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