Lichtspeer Developer Suggests That Nintendo Has Switch Achievements in the Works

Of course they do. When it comes to anything modern they are 5 to 10 years behind the times!

Cloud system will be next in a couple years.

Never saw the draw of them.

Just let us turn em off, like the PS4, and we are good.

Oh, and tie them to MyNintendo. Not just bragging rights that way.

I personally don't care, nor do I care if people like them. But I don't know understand how anyone could claim they're necessary, nor that Nintendo is a decade behind the times. They add exactly nothing to gameplay, and they don't add legitimate replayability. Want to see all the endings? You can do that anyway. Want to fill out the bestiary? You can do that anyway. Want to know when you've killed 1,000 goombas? Well, then, I'm not sure what your motives for playing are, but you can do that anyway, and deserve the hassle it would be to count.

PS trophies can provide amusing challenges as well as motivation and checklist help when you're aiming to complete the game anyway. So if Nintendo goes for them, why not. Although "making them optional"? How? Such achievement systems are already optional by definition - and if XBox ones throw in some coins to spend on stuff, PS trophies are usually just there unless the developers themselves tie in something unlockable (like in Enter the Gungeon). If one doesn't care, they're not difficult to ignore.

Ah ha! I was waiting for this to show up. Surprised you posted the SM64O thing first, ha ha.

I'm not crazy about achievements, but they could be neat things to have in Mario games, if Nintendo adds in some wild, secret, and hard to get ones.

If they allowed you to get platinum points in my Nintendo for getting achievements, that would be awesome.

While it would be great to have, would be annoying if they updated BOTW to include achievements and we'd have to start over to get them....

Why have genuine replayability and content when we can have achievements?

I don't care with Achievement or Throphies.
If I want Trophies, I can directly buy those Mario Kart Trophies as my collection.

@shaneoh you can --and should--have both.

Will it be tied to the phone app lol??

I wouldn't mind one. I just hope that for games already released, you don't have to redo things to earn them.

Nintendo 12 years behind as usual

Personally I don't really care for achievements but if people like to collect them then what's the harm? I don't understand the logic of some people, it's a free and totally harmless optional social feature. I agree that they are kind of shallow and you should not need incentive to play a game but if the community is passionate about them then more power to you.

Say your prayers Lichtspeer. The Nintendo Ninja's are coming for you.

I really hope this is true, achievements for me are like collectables, they're fun to look at. They don't serve much purpose other than digital proof you worked toward 100% or did something rare.

I can't say I care much about achievements, but they are popular and probably help keep some people buying and playing games. If you like them, great. If you don't like them, ignore them.

And everyone in Avengers Infinity Wars dies too

Nice, about time. Someone will conquer the sh*t out of the games. But I wouldn't mind seeing something pop up for achieving a goal for the little I play.

I like achievements. I hope it happens.

Sounds good to me. Now we await Reggie's announcement of how they are this all new, never before seen concept in gaming! Haha!!

I love achievements... Really hope this is true, and launches alongside Mario O.

@BLP_Software PS4 let's you turn trophies off though.

I wouldn't put it past Nintendo to NOT release that sort of feature because of a leak like this.

But at the same time, I also wouldn't be surprised to see this be another part of the mythical "full online services"

@Captain_Gonru You know you're getting old when...

I don't have much use for them myself, but I sure do wish Ntinedo would have a system just so people could shut up about it. I mean it does seem a bit unfair for people who care about these things - and trust me, a lot of people do - if people are buying 3rd party games and they get to see trophies and achievements for those games on PS4 and X1 but not on Switch.

One of my favorite things about Wii and Wii U is the log of how long and how often I've played each game. I don't think Switch has that yet. IF they are waiting to tie it into some type of overall system so much the better. 3DS has a nice log to but I never played on it enough to use it all that much. When they took it away on Wii I was greatly annoyed.

So just do it and be done with it. But yes, make those pop-up screens optional, they can get annoying at times. Though I don't mind the occasionally oddly named one, I like a weird sense of humor.

I don't understand the draw of achievements, unless you need a forced reason to revisit a game you didnt like enough to keep playing in the 1st place.

My opinions aside though, people seem to like them and options are good as long as I can ignore it.....and at this point in my life I ignore pretty well.

@BLP_Software I don't care about achievements. I love how South Park ridiculed them a few times. However, tying them to My Nintendo would give them value. Genius idea.

I don't care about trophies or achievements, never had even when I had a PS3/PS Vita. But I don't see the harm in them either. They could be there for the people who want them and the rest can easily ignore them.

Although if Nintendo does have an achievements system in mind, I hope it is tied to MyNintendo so we can get something useful (really?) out of it.

Edited: If that developer was right and let it slip (either or purpose or not)... he's going to get a good spanking...

Couldn't be more indifferent about this. Probably good on a marketing level.

If i'm being honest I don't care about achievements at all, but I still hope this is true so that people complaining about the lack of them can stop.

Only thing I ever found amusing about achievements was the silly little titles they had. Otherwise, I don't really care about them. But I'm sure there are those out there who would be excited about this and feel the need to completely 100% a game.

Edit: I like the idea of whatever system possibly being tied to My Nintendo. I also hope the system isn't littered dumb, needless objectives

Optional? Since when are achievements NOT optional?

I'd love it if it's true but it sounds like they made an assumption instead of outright having inside knowledge. And with that, I wouldn't ever assume Nintendo will do something its competitors do. Nintendo is too hipster to do the mainstream stuff, even if it literally doesn't take anything away from the experience.

Don't really care about achievements. That being said, if they tied it to MyNintendo like they did with their mobile games (speaking of which, they've been pretty quiet on that front) that would be pretty cool. Well, if they made the rewards part actually decent and not a dumpster fire.

i'd love if this were true. for people who don't care, i hope you can turn the notifications off for them. but i would love this.

I mentioned this last time but I'll say it again. Achievements do NOT ruin games. They are OPTIONAL goals that can greatly extend the life of the game for those who enjoy it. Brawl and Smash 4 are not worse games for having OPTIONAL challenges that players can EASILY IGNORE if they so choose. I got a heck of a lot more playtime out of Smash for 3DS by doing all the challenges and getting all the trophies. My problem with some of you people is that some of you might not like the idea of challenges/achievements and therefore feel like no one should enjoy them at all which is an idea I find to be downright stupid.

I work at a sandwich shop and I absolutely DESPISE ranch. That does not mean that I lie to customers and say we don't have any or throw out all of the ranch bottles/containers simply because I don't like it.

I guess it's something a lot of 3rd party games like COD and FIFA Have built in, so I'm guessing it makes it easier for ports. But I don't think our 1st party Mario's and Zelda's need them.

@Oat I'll say it again as well. Achievements DO NOT add anything to gameplay. If you like them, that is fine, but their omission DOES NOT mean that Nintendo is BEHIND THE TIMES. They are NOT NECESSARY, and often only ARTIFICIALLY provide replayability, because if the game doesn't provide an incentive to complete those tasks, then it is POOR DESIGN to INCENTIVIZE IT via ACHIEVEMENT alone. Besides, everything that achievements track you can DO ANYWAY. If you want to stomp on 1,000 goombas YOU CAN, even if you DON'T GET AN ACHIEVEMENT. It is BOOKKEEPING and NOTHING ELSE, and while it is CERTAINLY HELPFUL, it adds NOTHING TO THE ACTUAL GAME.

As long as content isn't locked behind cough "achievements", then let the fools have their achievements. I never understood why people get so excited about them (as opposed to, oh, I don't know, new content, innovation etc.). It's such a stupid way to extend the life of the game (at least where the helplessly compulsive are concerned).

I really wish Nintendo would stop piggybacking on the fickle trends of the competition. If I wanted conventional, I would have bought a Sony system instead. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, conformity doesn't suit you, Nintendo.

Overwatch achievements are the perfect example of why achievements shouldn't be on Nintendo systems.

I don't get why people get so mad over the mention of achievements. I personally like them because they're an easy way to track my progress in a game. I don't actively seek them out, but if I want to go for 100% in a game, achievements make tracking my progress a heck of a lot easier. I'd love to see an achievement system comes to the Switch; anyone who doesn't like them could just easily ignore them.

I don't see the problem with trophies/achievements are just fun things you can do.

stomped on your first goomba
stomped on 10 goombas
collected 10,000 coins in total

Besides you're most likely going to do them anyway as you progress through the game so why not feel a bit of pride when that notification pops up that shows you did something.

Basically this thread

I like achievements I only get the common ones though lol but I like the sound the PS4 makes when I get a trophy. It'd be cool if the Switch Achievements gave you points that went towards MyNintendo, which would be great if it wasnt s$&t.

Isn't it too late ? People have completed a bunch of switch games by now, not least breath of the wild. If they wanted the achievements would they have to go back and play again? Unless it would retroactively unlock all the achievements you'd already achieved but that seems...not 100% possible

90% of achievements are badly designed, plus they exist in a vacuum with no feedback into the game itself. Even most well designed achievements, I'd rather have as in-game challenges with actual setup and/or context.

Maybe if Nintendo has some unique spin on the concept, I'll be more interested.

@PorllM Sony didn't have trophies for the first year or two of PS3, so I don't think it's too late.

One quick search of the Internet to see the number of dedicated Trophy/Achievement websites shows that this is something that there's clearly interest in, and Nintendo know how much it costs to say no to something popular. For everyone else, there'll likely be the option to simply turn off the notifications as with Xbox and Playstation. For me personally, I hope this turns out to be true. I enjoy Nintendo games and I enjoy a good trophy hunt. Win-win.

@Gerbwmu

Sometimes you find a game you really like and want something that's more of a challenge than just choosing between mostly 3 bog standard difficulty levels. Like clearing a level with 90% accuracy, finish the game without dying, beat a level in under 30 seconds.

They encourage new ways to play games and for you to get better at them.

Sometimes their are really good games hidden away because you figured out a method that beats them, achievement can bring out the best in them.

Achievements would be great, though I doubt Nintendo will do this. I'm guessing that developer was second guessing Nintendo, which is never wise given how unpredictable Nintendo are.

I don't know why some people get so mad at the possibility of achievements. As long as they can be hidden, it makes no sense for people to object to having the option available.

@chriscare But in my opinion, it's much more satisfying if these challenges are in-game, so that they can have an actual context, unlock bonus features, and such.

I honestly don't think this indie would know much about Nintendo's plans.

@PanurgeJr You could argue that sprinkles are pointless on a cake but to some people that might be the extra thing that might make them enjoy the cake that much more. So even though achievements might not add anything to a game mechanically, it's still something easy to implement that others might enjoy so I don't really see the harm imo. I'll agree to disagree on this one

Tbf, I enjoyed the achievement medals in. HYRULE WARRIORS.

@BinaryFragger lol I don't know about ppl in the past hating on those things. But I hate achievements that box popping up in the corner to let me know I just completed level one.... I know that I just spent the last few minutes watching an fmv letting me know I just completed said level!
I've always preferrred the in game menus to understand how much a game has been completed.
As for showing off to friends what I have finished etc, yawn I'm still waiting for that info to load, now I'm not interested anymore.... literally don't understand this achievements/trophies obsession.

So, when Nintendo does it, will they go with what they did in the epic Hyrule Warriors (and other games) and call them "medals?" Because they seem to make sense for a unique name.

I don't see why people always make a fuss about these. Nintendo ALWAYS has those things, they just use different names for it. Think of the "achievement" wall from Super smash bros Wii u. Or the "medal" section from Hyrule warriors. The list goes on and on!

As long as I can turn off the stupid notifications for them (you've taken 10,000 in game 'make believe doesn't matter to anything gameplay related' steps, wtf why is that even a thing?!!) and they don't interfere with me enjoying the game, and they don't replace actual real achievements such as additional content/secret levels that have existed since day 1, but just didn't have a stupid marketing process for them, then I'm ok with naff achievements being a thing with Nintendo now. If they do then it looks like the mass unwashed population have finally infected my life long hobby. Thanks for that.

Meh to achievements unless they can do it in a fun Nintendo way

Personally, I think Hestu's Gift is enough of an achievement itself.

Ha. They were a developer of Switch games until they broke NDA. (jk)

@Henmii the issue isn't really achievements, it's making a systemwide achievement tracking system.

games which don't have a need or reason for it will get achievements shoehorned in, as the system will put pressure on developers to include it.

achievement systems/tracking will become less creative.
developers will just use the built in system instead of building their own unique way like the photo puzzles in SSB4 and kid icarus, or the gold stars in mario games.

and when developers do bother to make their own creative achievement system you'll end up with the confusion of 2 reward systems at the same time.
"that achievement just now, did i just unlock something ingame? or did that go on my public profile?"

While they are in no way necessary having them would make alot of games that much more fun, I know I personally would be very happy to have them on the Switch.

@thedicemaster Exactly. I think it would be pretty cool if there was an OS level API that the developer could use for exporting some of the game data in a less rigid way. Then the game could have well integrated challenges and stuff like that, but also let the OS know about some of the player's progress. Different games could have different ways of presenting progress and "achievements". I don't know exactly how it would work, but something like that would be a lot more fun than the current achievements/trophies, imo.

I really like this rumour. Hope its true!

THANK YOU

@SwitchVogel I feel like this is most of the threads are like this :v

Achievements like xbox ps4 is like goggle play achievements are a waste and the wii u tried this with ubisoft with U points a waste of time

What happened to the days of goldeneye or perfect hard challenges that give tou in game cheats and content not a stupid award system oh look at me im a level 12 on xbox gold live crap pass yeah me. See stupid lol

Achievements can be done right or wrong in my opinion. They're fine if tied to stuff you're probably already going to want to do for gameplay reasons, such as collect all the moons in Mario Odyssey, beat all the shrines in Breath of the Wild, or get perfect scores in Kingdom Battle. When they're used to artificially increase a game's lenght in inane ways, however, they tend to annoy the hell out of me.

Example: I recently played Night in the Woods on my PS4, and was getting fairly into the game's achievement system... Until I realized that to get a lot of them you'd have to beat the game twice, and to get a platinum you'd have to beat it THREE times at the very least (more than that if you screw up some sections). That made me frustrated for getting into them and seeking them out in the first place, which didn't ruin my experience with the game, but was annoying nonetheless.

So well, if Nintendo wants to implement them, that's fine, but I hope 1) they're well designed in most games, at least first-party ones, and 2) they can be turned off if the player so chooses.

While achievements don't really take anything away (except maybe some dignity), they can add a player base that plays shovelware to inflate gamerscores, poorly-implemented achievements such as the participation awards for completing the tutorial, complete BS RNG-based cheevos and stuff that won't be possible after online service ends, and potentially invading the overall experience depending on what may still be present even after disabling intrusive notifications and whatnot.

It's like cigarettes. We don't have to smoke them, but we'll end up choking on their fumes regardless, possibly be sweeping their butts off the ground, and having to request being seated in no-smoking sections, to eat burgers with nasty pickle juice on the buns and cake that might have bits of sprinkles on the side. Tolerable, but shameful.

I personally prefer it when devs put in their own achievements linked to unlocks, but I know some people swear by achievements at system level.

@SwitchVogel Erm, don't you know you're forced to collect trophies and witness the notifications popping up? The DS4 excretes a glue that fixes your hand to the controller until you've collected them all, so trophies are bad. True story.

Have never cared about achievements on any of my Xbox or PlayStation consoles and don't much care if they come to Switch, either. I certainly don't mind them being there but I wouldn't be excited either.

Achievements would be a cool add, I can't understand people against them as they take nothing away from a gaming system, only add.

This however, isn't true I'd bet. Ive seen the name of these people's game everywhere in the last couple days because of this "accidental slip".

@hiptanaka
Well yea, but that's not gonna happen is it. You might get it in first party games, but third party ones have to include achiements for other platforms. They're not just gonna add that content in for switch, they'll either tweak the code for nintendo achievements, or they wont have them at all.

@Angelic_Lapras_King you may not need to start again. Depends on what the achievements criteria are and whether they planned ahead and have been tracking all along.

They added the tracker post release and when that went live people had their exploration history pre filled up to around 100 hours from memory.

That will be a nice surprise! Like a log book if games and memories!!!

@PorllM If I works like the other systems it analyzes your save and then unlocks based upon that so they could theoretically do it. I can't imagine them doing it though.

I don't care about achievements personally, but unfortunately, I've read the whole 'would-buy-Switch-if-it-had-achievements'-line one too many times, to not think that this might be a good idea for Nintendo in the long run.
Achievements 95% of the time are utterly pointless (some devs actually put some thought into them and turned them into a bit of an additional 'challenge mode'), but if they help break down an argument against an excellent system like the Switch, and if they help turn the system into the success Nintendo deserves (and frankly needs), well, then I am all for it.

I honestly wouldn't mind as trophies do add more replay ability for your games.

@MailOrderNinja I think you're right and that would be doable, but it would severely limit the type of achievements they could actually do. For example if that update with achievements came out today and was reading your BoTW save file, it could give you achievements like "Defeat Ganon" "Collect 900 Korok Seeds" no problem because all of these would be recorded in your save file. But it couldn't do more unique creative ones like "kill 15 enemies with a flaming stick" or "make a bokoblin fly away on a raft" because your save file will have no record of this even if you've done it. Maybe I'm overthinking this haha.

Ever since the Wii, WiiU and 3DS having game-specific achievements, May as well just add them anyway to end this overarching argument. And an option to turn them off.

I trust that if Nintendo implements them they will be unique and fun. Please not the lame screenshot method that PS4 has, and something different than XB1. Maybe when you choose a user their earned accomplishments show up in a 3D trophy room that can be arranged. Just something different. I feel Switch is the odd duck for Nintendo recently. I miss all the fun Nintendo stuff that is not present on Switch. Downloading Eshop title screen, fun music, game stats app, ability to alter menu screen, etc.... It has no Nintendo charm and no no sophisticated looks to compete with Microsoft and Sony.

I don't like an achievement system so that I can complete a game in an arbitrary manner. I like it though when I can compare with other gamers and see how we are similar by the games we played and what we did in them.

@BLP_Software Can you please stop spreading misinformation? You can easly disable the trophies notfications on ps4. And if you're talking about trophies appearing in your profile, you can just ignore them.

@chriscare I don't know. Many devs take the time to add HD rumble support and stuff like that for Switch. Buy yeah, devs that don't really care won't add it, but I'd be fine with that.

If this is true I hope they make them non intrusive/or that you can turn them off. For those of us that don't care about e-peen.

@PorllM Right, it would be limited to what the game already tracks.

I don't care at all about achievements or trophies on the Switch and particularly I'd prefer they to stay out of Nintendo.

@Moeblob I was mistaken. I dont intentionally spread misinformation.

@PorllM there were games that had trophy support patched in later to do exactly what you suggest, albeit you'd probably have to go back and do it, assuming the game isn't already tracking stats like that under the hood.

I guess I fall in the lines of a Nintendo fanboy, but I'm not going to say on here that achievements and trophies are unneeded or unwelcomed on Nintendo systems because of ignorance and fanboy/fangirl logic .

I personally enjoy achievements, they add more value to the game your playing buy completing challenges that the developers believe that are fun. Achievements have open up many game play possibilities which I didn't know were possible if it wasn't for achievements.

I think they're great. A sort of new way to keep and compare high scores, like way back in the day.

Bring 'em!!

@thedicemaster,

Yeah, you may be right. If that happens, then that doesn't sound so hot.

If they give us the option of turning them off, sure. I'm not interested in them, but if anyone else want them...

This absolutely has to happen. I don't see the point in turning them off, if you don't care about them that's fine, you do you. Achievements add another level of gameplay. I love collecting them on Xbox and have since day 1 on 360. Retroactive ones would be nice, but I won't count on it. Bonus points for being able to collect achievements for the planned NES games.

"Tomorrow on GameXplain: Nintendo announces Lichtspeer for the Switch has been canceled. When reached for further comments, Reggie simply answered 'Oops'."
(Youtube comment on the related GameXplain video summing up what we're all thinking)

And talking about GameXplain video comments, let me rephrase mine:

"I never cared about achievements, nor did I get what their appeal was supposed to be. I have an Xbox One and whenever I get an achievement I'm like "oh, neat, okay", but their presence has never been a system seller to me, nor their absence is a deal breaker. Can any achievement fan explain the appeal to me?"