Topic: Do you want Nintendo to use achievements as means of substituting replay value?

Achievements can't substitute replay value. The game already has to have replay value. There are people that try to unlock achievements, but at the end of a day, it's just a number. If the achievements are keeping you from having fun with the game, or playing it how you want, it's better to just leave them alone and not bother. That's besides that some game achievements would require a substantial amount of time that hardly anyone would want to spend in order to get 75 points or whatever, and it wouldn't even be fun. The achievements and goals that unlock stuff are the most worthwhile, but that's about where it ends, IMO.

Uhm, what? I don't think your options even make sense. Why can't you have "achievements" AND still maintain replayability? ...

Anyway, I was actually thinking of how cool it would be for Nintendo to implement "achievements." They could just call them "coins," and it would be another fun layer of something to add to your profile that could be shown off through Miiverse and the increasing presence of online game like MArio Kart 8 and Smash Brothers.

I mean, what's the harm, honestly? It's not taking anything away from the gameplay, and it's adding yet another way for people to personalize their accounts.

@rallydefault
I'm fine with the achievements that unlock stuff. The matter is that some of them are pointless, dumb, or ridiculous. Getting 1,000,000 headshots in that game that will get a new entry next year. If I want to see that I got 100 headshots without dying, I'll go look at my game record. That's why the ones that unlock stuff are most important.

I'd be fine if Nintendo gave game coins, similar to uPlay. The score is what bugs me, because most of time, I decided NOT to unlock that achievement, so those points are worthless, anyway. That's just my opinion.

Meh, if they're just, there...then no, they're kinda pointless. But when a game like Smash Bros. does it where you can unlock stuff, then that's fine.

It would be fine if the game has replay value of its own while having achievements. I don't like the scenario where achievements exist just to make you feel that you have not fully completed the game.

Xenoblade would be a good example for both. Near the endgame, the game has tons and tons of sidequests which helps out in fulfilling achievements at the same time such as killing enemies or talking to a certain no, of people, doing a certain no. of quests, etc. Plus some unique achievements as well.

Although it tends to have some of the other "bad" achievement types as well such as being wiped out (the whole party dies) more than 50 times or revive a party member 100+ times, which are just plain tedious and a bore. Why would I want an achievement for being bad in the game, that too tons of times!? Plus those achievements are extremely hard to get when you do a NG+ and have the party at the high level you beat the game at.

I normally don't care about getting achievements/trophies. Most achievements are very uninspired and some stretch the gameplay or playtime far beyond the realms of fun. Ocasionally an achievement will come along that encourages you to play a game in a slightly different way or that challenges your perceptions of the gameplay. The achievements for the Orange Box were excellent in this regard, including using only a single bullet in Episode 1 to carrying a garden gnome with you for almost the whole of Episode 2.

As for being a substitute for replay value, I think a game has to have replay value to begin with. An achievement for playing a game multiple times for non-stackable difficulty achievements isn't necessarily replayable but it's potentially very tedious. I've played BioShock Infinite three times now (the difficulty trophies were stackable as it happens) and got all the original achievements. I would have replayed it anyway because I love the game, but probably wouldn't have played it on 1999 mode if there wasn't an achievement for doing so. The flipside is that I experienced a side of the game I would have normally missed out on.

Should Nintendo have trophies? I don't really care. I'm replaying A Link Between Worlds on hero mode just for fun, but I 'spose a digital marker informing the world that I've done so wouldn't hurt, either.

I have a bit of a reputation on the previous site I worked for, as being a bit of an Achievement junkie. I still am, only I try and be a little more selective due to less time to play games these days.

I love Achievements/Trophies that set out things to do in the game that are a little off the beaten track. What I hate, are grindy "Do this x number of times". They're usually a complete waste of time.

Replay value is dumb. Give me achievements!

If a game developer wants achievements, then they'll put achievements in their games. Nintendo doesn't have to do anything.

I know Double Dragon Neon wouldn't have been half as awesome without that trophy in the end

Guys...

Nintendo games have been featuring achievements long before anyone called them that.

Metroid, anyone? Red coins, anyone? Special Stages, anyone? 1-Ups through shell-hopping, anyone? Halloween Super Mario World theme, anyone? Basically, the whole of (Super) Sim City, anyone? Frickin' Pokémastery anyone? The list goes on...

Replay value vs. achievements? Kind of a false dichotomy, historically speaking.

The real question is: how do you PRESENT achievements? How do you tie them in? Can you convey a sense of meaning or do they appear to be arbitrary afterthoughts?

Not as a substitute, as a complement. They certainly give more meaning to some of the otherwise pointless challenges in the game, but they should not be the end all be all of replay value. They can come up with other ways to keep players coming back.

I like how the title of this thread implies achievements and replay value can't coexist in any way.

Yea, I mean, if some of you guys really despise achievements that much, who is out there forcing you to get them? Just ignore them. Leave them for the people who enjoy that kind of thing. Having played Nintendo's games for about 25 years, I'm pretty certain they wouldn't suddenly sacrifice their classic replay value if they did decide to insert achievements. And on that note, I'm pretty certain that games aren't designed around achievements. You'd have to ask a game developer, but I get the feeling that most achievements are thought up after the game has already been crafted and is being test-run. Maybe somebody finishes a section and says, "Hey, that was cool. How about if we give an achievements for doing it this way..."

Some of you are acting like achievements ruin games. I see no feasible way that could be true.

I know in games like Hyrule Warriors, Nintendoland and Wii Sports U have achievements. I can only assume that you mean the type of achievement that is like Sony and Microsoft where you can show off the games you own your accomplishments in them to the world and prove you are a hardcore gamer to everyone while being modest.

In any case the topic makes it sound like the only way a game have replay value is if it have achievements. It would be better if increase and not substitute was used instead.

Here's an idea.

Who cares how people play/enjoy their games?

Play the way you want to play.

I think people are misinterpreting the purpose of achievements. Just because a few diehard completionists allow achievements to rule their playtime, doesn't mean that's what they're for, nor is it why the majority of gamers want them.

Achievements are nice because it lets your friends see what you've been playing and how good you are at it. That's the bottom-line. It's bragging rights to your friends, and visa versa. I don't go chasing achievements, in fact I don't even think about them when I play. But I love the jingle when I get one.

Yes, I absolutely want Nintendo to have achievements. Not to "pad play time" or any nonsense like that, but to allow your gaming friends to see what you've been playing and what you've been doing and how good you've been doing it. Most of the games have the achievements anyways, they're just on a per game basis rather than on a system level.

When I bought Bayonetta 2, none of my friends knew I bought it or that I was playing it, unless they went to Miiverse and happened to see one of my posts, or happened to see me in the friends list while I was playing. And all those achievements I accomplished within the game are not known to anyone. Nor are others' accomplishments known to me.

I like turning on my PS4 or X1 and seeing recent activities, such as Gamer X played Dragon Age for the first time, or Gamer Y earned 7 trophies in Far Cry 4. That's awesome right there. When I turn on my Wii U, I don't see a recent activities list. No one is earning achievements I can view.

So Idk, people can say what they will, but I think people are entirely misjudging the purpose of achievements. It's not like it would be any different anyways because like I said, all our games have achievements already, they're just not on a system level where others can view them. I want my friends to see when I buy a game, and accomplish certain things in a game, or beat a game. Not to "prove how hardcore I am", but because gaming is something we enjoy talking about with friends, and it's fun to share the experience with friends. That's why Miiverse is great. It makes the experience social. You don't post to Miiverse to prove how hardcore you are, you do it because it's fun to share the experience. That's what achievements are for. Sharing the experience.

What really bothers me with this type of thing is say you buy a game new or used several years after release or heck slightly later than most people. If and when people stop playing that game it becomes very hard to get the online parts of the achievements. I know this may sound petty but I would rather not buy a game than have it sit on my account forever with a 99% completed achievement list with no way of removing it.

I like collecting things in games and going back to do tricky things stunts etc and if a developer was to introduce some reward system or trophy system like in "Bayonetta" or "The Wonderful 101" fine I'm happy with that. Nintendo however should in my opinion avoid forcing this on it's users furthermore they have more important areas that should be focusing on.

Edie x

Pretty much this. They should have stamps in all games. Achievements are usually stupid and sometimes act as spoilers too.