Theory

[Evo]

I only just discovered that those annoying achievements in XBox 360 games are actually mandatory.

I don't know whether the little "beep" and "Achievement Unlocked:..." box are compulsory, but they are there in all the games I have played, though you can turn off the notification if you turn off all system notifications. No options - typical of a console...

My problem with this is that it is going to infect my PS3, with games submitted from 2009 requiring "trophies".

As far as I can find out, there is no way to turn them off on a PS3. I don't like them, but if they were only in the background I would not mind so much. I just object to them having to pop up in the middle of a game.

Does anyone else feel that these intrusive beeps and pop ups are annoying? Does anyone actually feel that they add to your game experience? When I tried looking up ways of disabling them, there was a lot of replies in threads about the trophies that basically said they love them, and wouldn't even think of getting rid of them, and that they make the games worth playing. I think this is really weird.

[Worm]

The pop-ups don't bother me, but the concept gets a huge eye-roll. It's just more of the same: players want to be tricked into thinking they're doing something impressive.

I don't mind them when the achievements are for challenges that don't involve grinding or collecting trinkets, such as Half-Life 2: Episode One's achievement for completing the game without firing more than one bullet. Still, the proper way to do it would be to add an actual "no bullets" difficulty level that removes those weapons from the game.

For those that can't get enough achievement-collecting, there's this:
http://armorgames.com/play/2893/achievement-unlocked

[bullethell]

The first games I saw an achievement box were Portal and Half Life 2: Episode 2 on steam. Well, I didn't enjoy HL2:EP2's achievements. I remember an achievement that required to kill every little bug inside the cave chapters, it was irritating. As Worm said achievements should not involve any kind of grinding. The only achievement I found at least funny was the one that you have to send a green gnome to space. But the time and effort required to complete it just to unlock a box with a silly gnome on it discouraged me of doing it.

In contrast, Portal's achievements were challenging and I fully enjoyed them. I haven't unlocked all of them but the ones I have completed so far were good challenges. However, note that Portals' achievements are connected to game's challenges modes so even without the boxes you could just finish the modes and feel happy. Achievement boxes just categorize the modes and reward your process.

[Volteccer_Jack]

I rather liked some of Megaman 9's achievements. Defeating each boss in under 10 seconds, clearing the game in less than one hour, clearing a stage while jumping less than 50 times.

I don't mind those, although I think it's fantastically lazy of the designers to just put in a blinky noise rather than some kind of actual reward. The ones that piss me off are games that throw out achievements for every little retarded thing you do. Gears 2 actually has an "Achievement" for completing the tutorial. How the FUCK is that an achievement?