after reading gamakarmicas recent blog (found here) about the world of achievements , i started to think about how achievements have affected my choice in games and the way i play these games.

In particular my recent purchase of fight night round 3 ,sure its a great game but i've never been an avid boxing fan and i never really liked fighting games but after seeing a friend play it i found my self wanting this game. so i eventually got it ,played it and it is now back in its packet tucked away amongst my collection of games.

only now in reflection do i realise that the main appeal of this game may have been its easy achievements,this along with many early EA games for the 360 have very few achievements many of which can be gained in one play through.is it possible that subconsciously I'm picked this game for a little gamerscore boost?.my friend did get 3 or 4 while i was there ,each over 100g

well yes achievements appeal to me in the way that a dog needs a treat for doing something good , when a game fails to deliver on achievements as promised here's looking at you mercenaries 2 i feel cheated,when achievements are too easy i don't feel like i achieved anything. i like my achievements to be well thought out so i do get a majority of them in my first playthrough but i can then extend the life of my game by going back to get the more difficult of them. At the same time looking at your gamerscore and comparing it too your friends gives you that sense of 1upmanship that you felt in an old ****arcade when your name was up there on the bad dudes vs dragon ninja leaderboard.

this leads me too conclude is that i am indeed buying games for this little boost to my score just to get that smug little smile when i realise i'm now 400 points above my mate again .