Nuvian
July 6th, 2008, 10:39 AM
Curious blog entry title perhaps, but it is my theory of where the new PlayStation Trophy system is going and where Xbox Achievements need to go.
I think Achievements were a brilliant idea. They entice gamers to play games longer, to play games differently and, until now, may have enticed those with both a PS3 and an Xbox 360 to take the 360 version of multi-platform releases.
Thing is, pioneers aren't guaranteed success. There are numerous cases where the pioneer opened the door only to have a more refined version from a later contender to win over the customers. In fact, Microsoft has won many battles using this exact tactic.
http://blog.spouting-tech.com/thepensivegamer/WindowsLiveWriter/ps3_gamercard.jpg And so here we are with Sony introducing the Trophy system. In essence it is the same thing as Achievements BUT there is an additional novel idea in there. Users have a level. The more they earn trophies the more they level. The harder the trophy the more the trophy contributes to the next level. That just might be enough to sway a multi-platform choice.
But I highly doubt Sony is going to let the leveling stop there. Sony has stated they want Home to be more gamer focused. Like a massively multi-player game I fully expect that a user's level will carry weight in Home. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if it granted users certain benefits. Maybe users get more emotes at lower levels, increasing to clothes, furniture and maybe even bigger houses or access to exclusive 'clubs'. This is on top of how game makers can have the trophies appear/react in Home.
The idea of giving away virtual goods is brilliant since the goods are inexpensive to create but will garner an amazing amount of loyalty from Sony's customers as people become more attached to things that are seemingly more tangible than a number. Home becomes the embodiment of a gamer's success.
This is good for Sony and good for those developing for Sony's platforms. When Sony first released details of Home I wasn't terribly interested, but with their increasingly gamer focused features I could see myself being much more interested.
While the idea of leveling by playing a lot of different games is hardcore focused, the hardcore are influencers. I do think Microsoft needs to react in some capacity. One benefit Microsoft has is that 360 games have always required Achievements. Not only can Microsoft use the nearly 3 years of data to see what users achieved, but if they do turn Gamerscore into some greater meaning, a lot of people gain the benefit instantly.
Source (http://blog.spouting-tech.com/thepensivegamer/2008/07/virtual-earning.html)
Will be interesting to see how it is combined with HOME, maybe each level opens up access to different stuff for home? like cloth's for your character, stuff for your home, better apartements?
I think Achievements were a brilliant idea. They entice gamers to play games longer, to play games differently and, until now, may have enticed those with both a PS3 and an Xbox 360 to take the 360 version of multi-platform releases.
Thing is, pioneers aren't guaranteed success. There are numerous cases where the pioneer opened the door only to have a more refined version from a later contender to win over the customers. In fact, Microsoft has won many battles using this exact tactic.
http://blog.spouting-tech.com/thepensivegamer/WindowsLiveWriter/ps3_gamercard.jpg And so here we are with Sony introducing the Trophy system. In essence it is the same thing as Achievements BUT there is an additional novel idea in there. Users have a level. The more they earn trophies the more they level. The harder the trophy the more the trophy contributes to the next level. That just might be enough to sway a multi-platform choice.
But I highly doubt Sony is going to let the leveling stop there. Sony has stated they want Home to be more gamer focused. Like a massively multi-player game I fully expect that a user's level will carry weight in Home. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if it granted users certain benefits. Maybe users get more emotes at lower levels, increasing to clothes, furniture and maybe even bigger houses or access to exclusive 'clubs'. This is on top of how game makers can have the trophies appear/react in Home.
The idea of giving away virtual goods is brilliant since the goods are inexpensive to create but will garner an amazing amount of loyalty from Sony's customers as people become more attached to things that are seemingly more tangible than a number. Home becomes the embodiment of a gamer's success.
This is good for Sony and good for those developing for Sony's platforms. When Sony first released details of Home I wasn't terribly interested, but with their increasingly gamer focused features I could see myself being much more interested.
While the idea of leveling by playing a lot of different games is hardcore focused, the hardcore are influencers. I do think Microsoft needs to react in some capacity. One benefit Microsoft has is that 360 games have always required Achievements. Not only can Microsoft use the nearly 3 years of data to see what users achieved, but if they do turn Gamerscore into some greater meaning, a lot of people gain the benefit instantly.
Source (http://blog.spouting-tech.com/thepensivegamer/2008/07/virtual-earning.html)
Will be interesting to see how it is combined with HOME, maybe each level opens up access to different stuff for home? like cloth's for your character, stuff for your home, better apartements?