In video gaming parlance, an achievement, also sometimes known as a trophy or challenge, is a meta-goal defined outside of a game's parameters. Unlike the systems of quests or levels that usually define the goals of a video game and have a direct effect on further gameplay, the management of achievements usually takes place outside the confines of the game environment and architecture.
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Achievements are included within games to extend the title's longevity and provide players with the impetus to more than simply complete the game but find all of its secrets. They are effectively arbitrary challenges laid out by the developer to be met by the player. These achievements may coincide with the inherent goals of the game itself, such as completing a level, with secondary goals such as finding secret power-ups or levels, or may also be independent of the game's primary or secondary goals, such as playing a certain number of times, viewing a video, beating a certain number of online opponents or completing a level in a certain amount of time. Certain achievements may refer to other achievements - many games have one achievement that require the player to have gained every other achievement.
Unlike secrets, which traditionally provided some kind of direct benefit to the player in the form of easier gameplay (such as the warp pipe in Super Mario Bros.) or additional gameplay features (such as hidden weapons or levels in first-person shooters like Doom) even though they might have criteria similar to achievements in order to unlock, the narrative-independent nature of achievements allows them to be fulfilled without needing to provide the player with any benefit or additional feature. In addition, the achievements used in gaming are usually visible outside the game environment (for example, on the Internet) and form part of the online profile for the player (Gamertag for Microsoft's Live Anywhere network, for both Xbox 360 titles and Games for Windows - Live supported PC Games, PSN ID for PlayStation Network (PSN)) or a particular character (Achievement Points in World of Warcraft). The motivation for the player to gain achievements lies in maximizing their own general cross-title score (known as Gamerscore on LIVE and Trophy Level on PSN) and obtaining recognition for their performance due to the publication of their achievement/trophy profiles.
Some implementations use a system of achievements that do provide direct benefits to the gameplay, although the award is usually not congruent with the achievement itself. One example of such an implementation are "challenges" found in the later Call of Duty titles. Challenges here may include a certain number of headshots or kills and are rewarded not only with the completion of the achievement but also a bonus item that can be equipped.
Although individual games on various platforms had implemented systems of achievements, the original implementation of the achievements system as popularized is widely considered to be Microsoft's Xbox 360 Gamerscore system, introduced in 2005. Microsoft extended Gamerscore support to the Games for Windows - LIVE scheme in 2007 by including support for achievements in Halo 2. In 2008, Sony and Valve followed suit by offering PSN trophies for the PlayStation 3 and Steam Achievements for some PC titles respectively. To date, Nintendo has not developed any kind of central achievements system for the Wii or Nintendo DS, but a few selected games such as Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Wii Sports Resort do implement their own systems of achievements. There is also no trophy support for the PlayStation Portable, even though the device does have PSN connection capability. However, at least three games on the PlayStation Portable has a similar system, that being Silent Hill: Origins, Modnation Racers and Pinball Heroes. Though one PlayStation Portable game, Little Big Planet on the back of the box it says trophies but it was a typo that Sony confirmed that there was no trophy system on Little Big Planet and on the PlayStation Portable. It is confirmed that there will be a trophy system that will be in the new Sony handheld video game system successor to the PlayStation Portable, the PlayStation Vita as well as for all PlayStation Vita games that will be coming out at the end of 2011 in Japan and early 2012 for North America and Europe.
A number of mainly Windows-based games, such as TAGAP: The Apocalyptic Game About Penguins and World of Warcraft, implement their own system of achievements, which may or may not be publicized on the internet.
Microsoft's mobile OS, Windows Phone 7, includes Xbox Live support, including achievements.
Apple has added Game Center on the iOS mobile platform for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch which has achievements.
The game E-Motion on the Amiga from 1990 was one of the earliest games that had some form of achievements, although the game calls them a "secret bonus". The game had 5 secret achievements, for example completing a level without rotating to the right or completely failing certain levels.[1]
Kongregate, a Flash games hosting site, features Badges, which earn the user points, similar to the Xbox 360's Gamerscore and PlayStation 3's trophy system. Much like PSN trophies, points work towards increasing a player's level. The site FAQ explains, "Your level will automatically rise as you earn points. We're still working out the details of what kind of privileges and potential prizes that points and levels could be used to unlock." [2]
The advent of achievement-driven gaming is satirized in the Flash game Achievement Unlocked. Originally hosted on Armor Games, it has also been featured on Kongregate, a site which also features an achievement system. The game is a simple platformer; it takes place on a single non-scrolling screen, and has only the simplest controls i.e. walking and jumping. It has no clearly-defined victory condition aside from earning all 100 achievements, from the trivial (move left, click the play field) to the complex (find and travel to three locations in order, touch every square), though an optional challenge lies in earning all the achievements from a fresh play through in as little time as possible. The game spawned a sequel, Achievement Unlocked 2.