Topic: Wii Needs Achievements

http://wii.ign.com/articles/105/1053791p1.html
Found this while surfing the interwebz _{lol. Had to say it at least once} Thought it looked interesting enough to make a topic about.
So, do you think the Wii needs achievements? I think it'd be nice to have, but I don't think it's absolutely imparitive (hope I spelled that right) to have.

Wii "Needs" Achievements?

Absolutely not necessary.

IGN "Wants" Achievements?

Yes.

I think it would make a games life longer to some people. It isn't "needed" though.

I think the whole Achievement structure on games is a lazy way of extending short games with pointless challenges

I remember reading an article where Miyamoto said that he wasn't a big fan of achievements, and I agree with some of his points. They're fun to get, and I enjoy it, but it shouldn't be used in the place of game unlockables (which it is in many cases). Nintendo games are great because I feel the need to replay them because they are so fun to play through, but I haven't had this feeling with every game that supports achievements. In some games, after you've acquired all the achievements, then that's it. There's no further reason to play the game. I think that's the main issue that Miyamoto himself probably has with them.

Now, with all that said and done, Uncharted 2 got achievements (trophies) right. Not only do you earn a trophy for completing certain tasks, but you also unlock things within the game for doing so. That's how it should be done.

Again, I don't hate achievements. Some of them are fun to get. But I don't care whether or not their ever included within a Nintendo game because I'll be replayin' through those games anyway.

No Wii don't.

Needs? No. I'd like to see a similar system myself, but they're a fun little extra not a must-have.

They would be greatly appreciated.

Asking if they're needed is a foolish question though.

Agreed with irken004. IGN is basically saying "TEH WII NEDS TEH ACHEEVMINTS!1!!1" just to satisfy their own want for them, not because the Wii actually needs achievements. As for me, I'm not really into the whole "MI GIT MOR POINTZ THIN U HAHAHA1!!!1!" thing to begin with. While it is nice to have something to aim for after you beat the game, why reward me with useless "Gamer Points" that contribute nothing to the game that I played for so long just to get that one thing? And worst of all, why would someone rank someone else based on how many "extra things" that person has gotten? I may be horrible at that new racer, but I might be the master of Tetris that would totally destroy your %#$ any day of the week. WHY?!?!

I want achievements. Nintendo said that there will always be some sort of feedback system to tell the player how they are doing. Achievements would fit in perfectly with that.

The minute the IGN reviewer drew up an analogy between Achievements and penises, I stopped reading.

What a tool.

Out of all the things the Wii would be better off for having this is very low on the list I think.

I have noticed that when there is a system in a game that records my quality of play I become selfish with that game. In Mario Kart DS I became reluctant when people wanted to borrow my copy of the game because it might "ruin my win-loss record". When I stood back for a second I realised how ridiculous that sounded. Why was I letting my record control everyone's enjoyment?

On the other end of the spectrum we have something New Super Mario Bros Wii or Guitar Hero. The vast majority of the positive experiences I have had with those sort of games have been competitive but very unpretentious. When friends of family come over I sometimes turn on the Wii and magic happens. No barriers, no scores, nothing. That has been the most fun I have had in gaming over the last 5 years or so.

Is there a place for keeping record of what and how you play your games? I think there is but I don't think achievements are a solution. I think this sort of record keeping would have more value if we looked at it in the same way similar services for music (rate your music, last.fm etc) have worked. I don't see why we need to brag about how awesome we are because that would just leave gaming with the same "immature" image it has always had. Having said that, this sort of data does have value if you want to find out what other games you might like.... something that Nintendo are already doing on the (yet to see EU release version) Nintendo Channel. The recommendation engine sort of thing

Telling me what my friends are playing has value, telling me what similar people to me are playing has value but telling everyone that I have a good "gamer score" because I spent hours collecting all the extras in some game I didn't enjoy doesn't have value. This might be just my opinion however.

"The fact that a gamer in my household was playing a crappy game just to get credit for it is a testament to the need for this feature on Wii."

Okay, correct me if I'm wrong, but...the reason the Wii "needs" achievements is so that people will play crappy games? Am I missing something here?

@grenworthshero
I agree entirely. The last thing the Wii needs is more people being compelled to buy the shovelware.

Yep, absolutely agree. Achievements/trophies/whatever are possibly my most hated "feature" in gaming in recent years. It nearly ruined Batman: Arkham Asylum for me, because they were so pointless, yet so intrusive.

@grenworthshero

I agree. I guess the "real" argument was that it would also lead to more people trying GOOD 3rd party games, because achievements would act as word of mouth advertising. Although this argument also assumes gamers don't socialize and just, you know, TELL their friends about good games. It basically reinforces every bad stereotype about gamers. Nintendo doesn't make games so that people can prove their online "penis" is bigger than their friends. They make games that are fun to play, and Miyamoto brazenly expects third parties to live up to a standard that shouldn't be ridiculous - to make games that are fun and worth playing for their own sake. It's only in this age of DLC where even the biggest games can launch completely unplayable and be patched later that this standard has become unreasonable.

Nintendo gives its customers some credit of being socially functional people who care about their experience with a game over grinding pointlessly just to up a meaningless online score to show they're better then their friends they never talk to. I actually see this article as a reason why Ninty went with the Blue Ocean strategy. They wanted to make good games, not cater to 10-25 year old antisocial males who were only interested in swearing at strangers in Halo. There is just so much ignorance in this article it hurts, and if I owned a PS360 and actually enjoyed getting achievements, I'd be tempted to sell it, just because I wouldn't want to be associated with the sort of stereotypes the author assumes in this article.

Yeah, they want the Wii to get an achievement system so developers who can't be arsed to make good games can lump their entire score quota into "do something easy" and a bunch of tools will buy the game for quick and easy points. It's BRILLIANT! Because the one thing the Wii needs more than anything is more developers churning out lazy crap.

Spot on! I can't beleive games that last 5-10 hours garner scores of 9 and 5h1t, it's a ****ing joke! I hate short games so much! Most of the crap released on teh rival consoles is 5-10 hours of graphical set pieces, interspersed with cut scenes, they need achievements to cover up the fact the game was severely lacking in content.

I don't need or want achievements, it's nothing new anyway, I have been excelling at games and unlocking bonus content for years. NSMBW is the latest, coin star thingies for the win. Would I want to go through the whole game as mini-Mario, just to get a dumb badge? Would I ****!

"I'm not a big fan of using the carrots to motivate peop... Miyamoto said.

Be real here. If the Wii had acheivements and PS360 did not. We would be bragging about what a sweet and superior feature they are...... you know it.

Well I think achievements are great and really would love to see it more. Like in Wii Sports Resort, it's a real challenge to get all the stamps. I enjoyed flying through all the islands to find that one white balloon. Or skydive to get as many points as possible. It's just fun and definetly not a bad way to extend a game, if there is a proper bonus after finishing all achievements. I haven's finished all achievements with Wii Sports Resort, but I hope there's something special.

Take a game like Wario Land Shake It for the Wii. You can breeze through the game, but the extra missions (achievements in my book) are really challenging. So I really want to see more achievements in games.