Achievements: Earned or Entitled?

Often you'll come across the following type of comments in a discussion about a particular game's achievements/trophies (I'm primarily a 360 gamer, so forgive me if/when I fail to mention trophies when I mention achievements):

Gamer A: “WHAT?!? Beat the game on the hardest difficulty without dying (or any other difficult feat)? What kind of stupid achievement is THAT? How do they expect me to earn that? That's fucking STUPID! Most people won't get that! Why would they make an achievement that's so hard to unlock?"

Gamer B: “Well, shouldn't the people who do that get rewarded for it? I mean, if someone develops the skills/takes the time to do it, why shouldn't they be rewarded? They did something awesome! They actually achieved something.”

Sine Mora: Gorgeous New Grasshopper Manufacture Downloadable Shmup

Check Out This Game:



Damn. 


Gorgeous take on the old school, with a twist (no lives, you are timed, and each enemy killed adds time to the clock).

Achievements: Earned or Entitled?

Often you'll come across the following type of comments in a discussion about a particular game's achievements/trophies (I'm primarily a 360 gamer, so forgive me if/when I fail to mention trophies when I mention achievements):

Gamer A: “WHAT?!? Beat the game on the hardest difficulty without dying (or any other difficult feat)? What kind of stupid achievement is THAT? How do they expect me to earn that? That's fucking STUPID! Most people won't get that! Why would they make an achievement that's so hard to unlock?"

Gamer B: “Well, shouldn't the people who do that get rewarded for it? I mean, if someone develops the skills/takes the time to do it, why shouldn't they be rewarded? They did something awesome! They actually achieved something.”

Score Rush Xbox Live Indie Game Review

Score Rush XBLI Review

Score Rush, developed by two man development studio Xona Games, (edit: who I interviewed a few months after this review was written) is a mixture of two classic gameplay styles (2D Bullet Hell Shmup and Twin Stick Shmup) wrapped in a 4 player co-operative, neon coloured, $1 shell. Imagine, if you will, a mixture of Ikaruga and Robotron 2084; or, more relevant to today's gamer, and more accurate with respect to the game's visual style, Ikaruga and Geometry Wars.

Note: if you are familiar with shmup games, skip ahead to the 7th paragraph of this review (not including this one).