I'm just starting to get into the 360 achievement system. It's a great way to get players to explore every aspect of a game, and it adds lots of replay value. That said, it can also being really frustrating. I'm playing eternal sonata right now, and the majority of the achievements are only available during your second playthrough of the game. Do I really want to spend hours beating an RPG, and then just turn it around and play it again? Notparticularly. There are achievements I've seen in other games that are impossible to get without a walkthrough or extensive pre-planning. I like the idea of going out of my way to explore different aspects of the game, but I don't like the developer telling me how to play in order to unlock something. In the end I ignore those annoying achiements, but it feels like a waste. The achievement system in Fallout, for example, really helped make the game more fun and actually improved my experience playing the game. Why can't more games be like that?

Just my $.02