When I first got my Xbox 360 some three or four years ago and began racking up Achievement points, I cared very much about my Gamerscore. In fact, I was able to hit 10,000 points on the dot, and from that moment I knew that I’d always have the internal goal to hit such milestones perfectly. Chalk it up to some light OCD or strange compulsions or me continuing to focus on the things that matter the least, but there’s something so nice about a big solid number like that. I continued on slowly, but steadfast, earning 20,000 Gamerscore and 30,000 Gamerscore a year apart from one another.
Unfortunately, I was unable to get 40,000 Gamerscore perfectly. Yeah, I know. Boo. Big boo. A big boo-hoo doodie doo. We can blame Fable III, as it suddenly awarded me an Achievement worth 85 Gamerscore points, which I was not banking on, putting me well over 40,000 in one fell beep. And so the tradition broke. I was saddened, but not completely sad. My love for Achievements and desire to unlock many of them has certainly withered, but I set a new–if less lofty–goal for getting 41,000 Gamerscore, and hit the mark last night. No, really. Check it out:
The free games Doritos Crash Course 2 and Magic the Gathering 2013 helped me get there. For DCC2, just some light grinding got me two Achievements, and they just hand you a bunch in MtG2013 for playing the first few parts of the campaign. So it wasn’t exactly a challenge, but that’s okay.
And I still plan to go for 50,000 Gamerscore because chances are very low that I’ll be moving into the next generation of gaming consoles this year. If I do, it’ll probably be with the PlayStation 4, but I have plenty of games in my collection still to plan and unlock Achievements in. Like Dead Rising 2, Assassin’s Creed II, and many others I’ve yet to even touch.
But for now, let’s just bask in the unconventional glory that is 41,000 Gamerscore.
Grinding Down 
My interest in achievements has dropped precipitously in the last few years.
When I had friends to compete with during the early days it was a lot of fun to rack up the ol’ Gamerscore, but as life moved on and people as well…the luster was gone.
I see them as an extra layer of challenge now and less a metric to my success. I really like it when they go out of bounds, like in Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, and actually make you think. I’m playing through the game a second time to find them, none of them are story related.
Trying to reach those “perfect” scores, though? You might need to seek psychiatric help… 🙂
Heh, at least I’m not going after 1 million Gamerscore! 😛
Heard really good things about Brothers, too. Might have to check it out soon.
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