The need for Achievements?

Achievements. Everybody has them these days. Microsoft, Sony, World of Warccraft, Credit Cards. They are goddamn everywhere. And why not? It's obviously great to get some form of recognition for your work, they add extra value to games. But Nintendo doesn't use them and while its not opposed to it, seems to have no real plans to implement them anytime soon. Now granted, achievements should never be the reason you buy a game, that throws you into achievement whore territory. And while I rarely go out of my way to get some of the more challenging and ridiculous achievements, knowing that I get some sort of reward for doing something extra will usually get at least a few extra hours out of me, especially if it manages to be fun. Nintendo's philosophy seems to pretty much be that playing the game and exploring for extra content should be its own reward, i.e. if you get all the stars in Super Mario Galaxy, that's reward enough, you don't need a special reward saying so. And there's really nothing wrong with this philosophy, after all some sort of uniform reward system didn't really exist until the Xbox came along in the first place.

So then is there a right answer to this question? Well, why there is certainly nothing inherently wrong with Nintendo's philosophy the bottom line it is a feature that both Microsoft and Sony offer that Nintendo doesn't, so it may be a difference maker in what platform cross console games are bought on not too mention what console you may buy. Nintendo's not opposed to it, so even if it is too late for the Wii (and really, it probably is), they could implement it into the 3DS without much issue and whatever the eventual successor to the Wii will be. This is a company that claims it listens to its audience, and this is something all gamers, casual or hardcore, do want.

That's really all I got for today, so until next time here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Skateland