PlayStation Trophies? No Thanks, I’m Happy With My Gamercard And Achievements

I was really excited about Sony’s PlayStation Trophies feature. After a long time, Sony had something to contend with Microsoft’s well established Gamercard Achievements. But the latest developments have made it somewhat less appealing to many, and thank you Sony, but I would rather stick with my Gamercard Achievements.

Sure, it sounded cool at first. The ability to view actual trophies for special feats you accomplished is really rewarding, instead of a dumb generic number. But don’t we already have this in the Xbox world? The major drawback of Gamerscore is that it’s numeric based, which kills some of its appeal. But Xbox gamers could already view individual achievements in their games blade, much like the trophies in PSN.

Maybe a numerical system isn’t so bad after all? Achievements aren’t just some dumb numbers, a numerical score is much easier to compare than individual trophies. It is a standard index and you can quickly gauge the reputation and skills of another player just by comparing your gamerscore with theirs. You don’t want to say something like I have 5 platinum trophies, 20 gold trophies and a bunch of other silver and bronze ones. Instead, a single gamerscore of 15,000 gets that point across much more easily and  gives you a better idea of who you will be dealing with.

Another drawback, as Kotaku says, is that the system will not scan older saves and award you trophies based on your progress. This means that you will essentially have to go back through and play the game all over again in order to earn your much-deserved Sony achievement points, which I’m sure many won’t do. It isn’t something surprising, considering that PSN trophies are just an afterthought after Xbox Live’s huge gamercard success.

Not all of your PS3 library will be compatible with Trophies either, unless it’s patched. Killer titles such as Call of Duty 4, Devil May Cry 4, GRID, Ratchet and Clank Future and Resistance won’t even add support for PSN Trophies. Ouch indeed, that’s a long list of triple A games. For the full list, visit the sixthaxis. Its a real blow to get the Trophies steam rolling.

Trophies add another replay element to Play Station games much like Achievements did with the Xbox 360. It’s really important as you have a further incentive to actually explore the game world and finish the whole game. In the end, both Trophies and Achievements will have a strong loyal fanbase following. It isn’t like one system will be doomed and the other one will get all the glory. But as for me, the next time I go out shopping, I’ll buy Devil May Cry 4 for the 360. What about you?