Sony to require Trophies in PS3 games next year
by Justin McElroy 
{ Nov 20th 2008 at 5:30PM }
You know the best thing about playing Little League? It wasn't the exercise or the camaraderie. Those were hard to come by for a fat little kid in left field, picking dandelions and praying that none of the C.M. Love Hardware Braves would have the brute force to muscle a ball to his corner of the stadium. No, the best part was the guarantee of a trophy, a shining reminder that, for a time at least, you were somebody, you were an athlete. After January 2009 arrives, games on the PS3 will have the same allure of Little League, with each required by Sony to offer trophies, according to VideoGamer.com.
As this news didn't take too much space to pass along to you, we'll take this opportunity to apologize for the deeply personal turn the first paragraph of this post took. Totally our mistake.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
sk8monroe81 @ Nov 20th 2008 5:35PM
thats good to know for the future, there needed to be a system that is the same for every game just like on the 360.
now we can complain about the last 2 years of games not having this i guess...
looks like sony is playing that slow catch up after all, slowly but surely...
el serpiente @ Nov 20th 2008 6:44PM
I'm sure you'll never run out of things to complain about, sk8rh8r.
Lionbacker @ Nov 20th 2008 5:36PM
Freakin' Finally!
Woohoo!!!
Titanium_Orchid @ Nov 20th 2008 5:37PM
Yay?
DiRT @ Nov 20th 2008 9:13PM
What a waste of time and energy over something so trivial.
Vol @ Nov 20th 2008 5:38PM
Welcome to 2005, Sony.
(this is twice I have said this today)
deaftly @ Nov 20th 2008 5:55PM
I voted you up twice today also
Vol @ Nov 20th 2008 6:02PM
Thank you, sir.
halo 3 sucks. @ Nov 20th 2008 5:39PM
Did you know that the Xbox 360 has Achievements in every game?
...The more you know.
ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ Nov 20th 2008 5:59PM
NO SHIT SHERLOCK.
Haggard @ Nov 20th 2008 6:52PM
I'm totally perplexed. Your name and fanboyism are incompatible!
Unless it's one of those ironic names.
Ignatius @ Nov 20th 2008 7:36PM
Or maybe he's a Nintendo fanboy?
Joel @ Nov 20th 2008 5:43PM
"These are the champions..."
Jakka ( The Order of Haters of Balance) @ Nov 20th 2008 5:45PM
"...my friend..."
Gaiden @ Nov 20th 2008 5:59PM
I think he was referring to the Champions League song, not the song by Queen; hence the "big-ears" trophy :)
Jakka ( The Order of Haters of Balance) @ Nov 20th 2008 5:44PM
Do I sense some old/repeated news here? It's kind of unusual for somebody who dislikes Sony ,as much as me, to know about this already...
Duke @ Nov 20th 2008 5:45PM
Its just a smart way to do it. Makes no sense to have a trophy system that only works for some titles and leaves gamers feeling slighted when their new game doesn't have them.
Noshino @ Nov 20th 2008 6:01PM
yah, but you can't force studios to implement trophies when they are far in development.
Anyway, I don't care about this, unless I get some kind of prize, a score means nothing
Duke @ Nov 20th 2008 6:04PM
Yeah, I know what you mean, but you have to admit that a system of trophies that isn't used in each game make it so any score is kinda worthless to those players that do care about that sort of thing. It has to be all or nothing, otherwise its kinda half-assed.
Duke @ Nov 20th 2008 6:06PM
[I see your yah and raise you one yeah.]
Noshino @ Nov 20th 2008 6:32PM
Oh, I know that, it must be all or nothing, but they can't have all games supported at once, so they have to see with developers and their schedules and decide an starting date.
Its like it is happening right now with Digital broadcasting, some stations have both analog and digital, some are only digital, and the government won't allow analog signal after Feb 17.
[I see your yeah and raise you one yeah ha.]
Titanium_Orchid @ Nov 20th 2008 7:08PM
well hoobidy joo!
I have nothing to add to this conversation
BlaqueBeird @ Nov 20th 2008 7:26PM
Wait wait, three yeahs and a ha? I fold.
Evan @ Nov 20th 2008 5:48PM
Trophies are an ePenis to stroke gamers' egos. I don't need Trophies, I play games for fun.
Burritoclock @ Nov 20th 2008 5:52PM
But you do point it out on the internet for accolades...
LeadBoxx @ Nov 20th 2008 5:58PM
I agree with ya, but it does add some replay to some games because there are some cool reasons to get achievements sometimes, so sometimes they are fun which is why I play games.
Premature ejaculation man @ Nov 20th 2008 6:01PM
Because there's only one definition of fun, and people can't have fun playing games and unlocking an achievement which they also may find fun?
****Gamerscore**** is the useless epeen, achievements are not.
Premature ejaculation man @ Nov 20th 2008 6:02PM
errr...Replace achievements and gamerscore with the PSN equivalent...
*goes to hide in a corner*
hehehehe
Noshino @ Nov 20th 2008 6:13PM
"Because there's only one definition of fun, and people can't have fun playing games and unlocking an achievement which they also may find fun?"
But...often times you are not unlocking anything, I have always wondered that, why doesn't it just say "You Achieved...."
"****Gamerscore**** is the useless epeen, achievements are not.""
Achievements and Gamerscore are directly connected, and yes, it is an useless epeen as well, like I mentioned above, often times you are not actually unlocking anything, just completing certain actions
"Replace achievements and gamerscore with the PSN equivalent..."
They are pointless as well, but I'm hoping that they do unlock some sort of items for Home, as it has been shown before
Vcize @ Nov 20th 2008 6:45PM
Without achievements tens of thousands of Crackdown owners would have never climbed to the top of the Agency tower and jumped down into the bay below. As such, tens of thousands of Crackdown owners would've missed out on a freaking awesome gameplay experience.
It's good to hear that you're too cool for achievements though. Shame that you're not cool enough to not brag about being too cool for them.
Noshino @ Nov 20th 2008 6:55PM
"Without achievements tens of thousands of Crackdown owners would have never climbed to the top of the Agency tower and jumped down into the bay below. As such, tens of thousands of Crackdown owners would've missed out on a freaking awesome gameplay experience."
Once again, you don't need a number/score to experience that, if they wanted the players to experience that on the first place, they could have very well designed a mission around that
"It's good to hear that you're too cool for achievements though. Shame that you're not cool enough to not brag about being too cool for them."
What? what does that have to do with this? So now because I disagree with a "feature" I'm pretty much sending the message that I'm too cool for that?
Instead of doing this, both Sony and Microsoft should have pushed the studios to just give you some kind of in-game reward, something that studios like Naughty Dog still do. Anyway, at least it seems Sony will reward those "accomplishments" with items for Home as seen in previews, hopefully Microsoft does the same now that they have the avatars
j.howlett @ Nov 20th 2008 8:22PM
i use to run everywhere in the ps2 gta games just to have a longer distance traveled on foot than the vehicles, i also use to try to get to the top of places
Evan @ Nov 20th 2008 9:36PM
Hey, I love completing tasks to unlock new game-modes, weapons, cars, costumes, etc. But now they've turned those things into "downloadable content" and make you pay for it, and the activities that we used to do to get that content for free just gives us "trophies".
Vidikron @ Nov 21st 2008 12:43AM
I agree with Vcize. Achievements/Trophies really do add gameplay for most people. I don't consider myself a gamerscore whore, but I will browse an achievement list and see if any look like fun.
And, Noshino, I get your pioint about there being no point to them and how you could do things like climb the tallest building in Crackdown and jump into the pool below. But the fact remains many people either wouldn't have even thought to do something like that or simply wouldn't have bothered. Yes, the acheivement itself may seem completely trivial, but at least it's SOMETHING. Without them you basically end up with nothing after pulling whatever stunt the achievement required.
I'm sure there are others out there like you that don't care, but I'd wager that most gamers actually do enjoy them. And the best part is the people that don't care don't have to bother. Outside of few poorly thought out multiplayer achievments, it's a near perfect system that most people enjoy and the remaing don't have to even think about.
SlimPickinz96 @ Nov 21st 2008 9:03AM
That is, until achievements/gamerscore can be used towards rewards, just a matter of time (360 wise).
As for the Ps3 it does add a bit of replay value with a twist, for upcoming games using the feature. I think thats what what Vcize was getting at when talking about CrackDown.
As for me, i will pass on shooting 2 billion pigeons in GTA4, but other quirky achievements im up for, which may even cause me to pop in a game i've stopped playing for a while in order to do it.
jumpshot @ Nov 21st 2008 12:22PM
@Noshino
I agree with you, but there's still some fun to having achievements. I like looking over what I've done for a sense of accomplishment, or trying to figure out what some achievements mean and finding them is also fun. To me. But as you said, it would be even better if getting them would unlock things in game or give you store discounts etc.
btw, I think Vcize was aiming that more at Evan.
BxGT @ Nov 20th 2008 5:52PM
There gonna confuse the hell out of the casual gamers.
ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ Nov 20th 2008 6:02PM
How is it going to confuse them? It's not a mandatory requirement and casual gamers love getting rewarded for minimal effort.
BxGT @ Nov 20th 2008 6:04PM
Now its gonna be like 60 percent of the games have trophies, they didn't know wtf they were to begin with know they have to research which games have it and which games don't.
Jaclo @ Nov 20th 2008 6:41PM
Why would a casual gamer buy a PS3? Of the three systems, the PS3 is the most "core."
tuaamin13 @ Nov 20th 2008 6:29PM
No, it won't.
New games have new feature. Old games don't. Buy an old game and discover there's a trophy patch, woohoo, but it's definitely not something you look for. Anyhow, if some cared that much about trophies they can spend 30 seconds on google typing the game title + trophies
BxGT @ Nov 20th 2008 6:33PM
I'm talking about casual gamers here, the people that buy a game because of the pretty box art.
Noshino @ Nov 20th 2008 6:38PM
"the people that buy a game because of the pretty box art"
didn't you hear that Wii Music didn't sell well?
BxGT @ Nov 20th 2008 6:39PM
No but wii fit did sell more than fallout 3.
Noshino @ Nov 20th 2008 6:47PM
Cmon man, Wii fit made into many well seen talk shows (with the exception of Oprah), of course its going to sell like hotcakes
Arnon @ Nov 20th 2008 8:48PM
I don't look at the PS3 as the most hardcore console right now..
Hardcore in my mind revolves around how competitive the system is for people.. Meaning, how well people can compete against each other on the console. In my opinion, the 360 is the most hardcore because it revolves around competition. It's been featured in MLG and many other gaming tourney's. It also completely revolves around online play, which to me, is the epitome of competition. And also is mainly bought solely for gaming purposes.
I look at the three systems like this:
Wii - Best casual console
PS3 - Best Entertainment system
360 - Best hardcore gaming console
And lawdy lawd, don't think of me as some 360 fanboy.. it's just how I look at the word 'hardcore'.
Sackolantern PSN ID: johnnynumber5 @ Nov 20th 2008 9:37PM
@Arnon
"And lawdy lawd, don't think of me as some 360 fanboy.. it's just how I look at the word 'hardcore'."
We didn't need to read your definition of hardcore to know what kind of fanboy you are. We already knew.
Arnon @ Nov 20th 2008 9:39PM
I'm a fanboy of... gaming? k
Arnon @ Nov 20th 2008 9:42PM
In fact, now that I think about it, I doubt the majority of people even know what 'fanboy' means, and just call people that because they prefer something more than something else.
ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ Nov 20th 2008 6:01PM
Seems like trophies/achievements are going to be one of the long-lasting innovations that Microsoft has brought to gaming.
Is it a good thing or a bad thing? I don't know how much extra work it is to implement trophies into games, but it seems like people are enjoying them.