Displaying Achievements With Xbox 360 Achievements

Video games have been gaining in terms of popularity in the mainstream media for many years now. They now reach many different demographics instead of just previously adolescent males. The first gamers have grown up, had children, and now people from a variety of age groups play games.

Also, women have made strong gains in the numbers that play video games, as have senior citizens. All in all, video games now touch every social and cultural group, and people look for more persistence. After all, they want to have something to show for their gaming time, and Microsoft has answered their call in its online service Xbox Live with a feature called Xbox 360 Achievements.

Display of Pride

Xbox 360 Achievements also encompass a variety of objectives and goals in a game. For example, Halo 3 has a variety of achievements that players can complete offline in single player and a bunch online for multiplayer gameplay. Completing each of the nine campaign missions on normal, heroic, or legendary difficulties will finish an achievement. Also, earning a sergeant rating, becoming an officer, or being the MVP in a match (all online) will also complete Xbox 360 Achievements. Each game has a set number of achievements that players can complete, and then the players receive a number of points for each achievement that they complete.

Perhaps the best part of Xbox 360 Achievements is that anyone can view players' achievements and total scores. These allow gamers to display what they have accomplished in games, and because many of the achievements are genuinely difficult or nearly impossible to complete (there are of course a fair amount of less difficult ones to complete), these achievements can be viewed as a source of the player's skill. Achievements can most be likened to a baseball player's averages and statistics, for example.

With millions of players utilizing Xbox Live's great services, Xbox 360 Achievements may soon set the standard for extra online features for games across all consoles. For example, Call of Duty 4 was released not only on the Xbox 360 but also on the PC.

The Xbox 360 Achievements differ from what the PC version calls "ranks and challenges," but the idea of online persistence and being able to display your achievements carried over. As this trend continues, more and more games will come with achievements of some sort for players to complete. Another example would be Lord of the Rings Online where players complete "deeds" to improve their character's statistics and abilities. Xbox 360 Achievements allow players to take pride in their accomplishments worldwide.