Think back to the original reveal of the Xbox One. Many of you will remember some of the more negative aspects of that E3 presentation, and many of those promised features ended up being cut or rethought due to backlash. But there was one thing I remember about that day that I still thought was a good promise.
Microsoft promised to make achievements even better. I loved achievements then and now, so I was excited to see what that promise meant. As we know now, you can dissolve that promise into two easy categories. One was that all Xbox One games would have a base gamerscore of 1000, there would be no 200 gamerscore games just because they were arcade-only or the like. As of right now, the only way to have an Xbox One game with 200 gamerscore is if you're playing a backwards compatible Xbox 360 title.
The second was that apps would now have achievements as well.
And I really loved that idea.
After I finally bought my Xbox One in the later end of 2014, I found that the thing was a well-rounded home entertainment system. I don't mean like the Nintendo Entertainment System, I'm not so old timer or huge Nintendo fan who thinks "Entertainment System" is synonymous with "Video Game Console", I mean the things you usually call an entertainment system. Playing DVDs, streaming videos, and playing games all-in-one; and the focus was on making that feel more fluid and connected than ever before. It's funny how I was complaining about Microsoft talking about sports and video so much at that now infamous E3 conference, because now I see they were just trying to tell gamers that this time they wanted to focus on everything it did instead of just making it a games console that happens to play movies.
They also decided to have you earn achievements for doing so, and to me, this added an incentive to do so. Apps are free, the only payments are if the app is for a service you are paying for such as Netflix, so you could simply earn more achievements in things you probably would have downloaded anyway just to see what they were like or if you wanted the most out of the service you would be paying for even if you didn't download the free app. One of my favorite things was going on my Xbox account and looking at my App Achievements alongside my regular ones.
Sure, they offered no gamerscore, but they made me feel like I was actually doing something besides watching a YouTube video. Some of the Achievements were even in-depth, such as watching a combined total of a set amount of hours for a specific type of video. Let's also not forget that Xbox One Achievements are full-size pictures, and you can use them as background images if you want. I'll be honest, that is something I actually did with a few of my YouTube Achievements
And I'm legitimately happy to admit that just a day or so ago, I used my Xbox One to upload a YouTube video, and now have every single YouTube Achievement. I am not joking:
But a little over a year ago, I could no longer see those Achievements with my other Achievements on my online account. If I looked at my Achievements on my Xbox One itself, they weren't listed there either. The only way to see App Achievements was by doing the method you see above in the picture.
Related to that, recently I tried the free trail for Amazon Prime. I downloaded the app, and checked the Achievement list. I did a few things to pop an Achievement, but one never popped. As if they know the Achievements exist, but they no longer register when the correct action is done. That or I got an error, and by checking online and reading people's comments on Xbox forums, apparently either is just as likely.
And related to that, I am now paying for the streaming service VRV. It has no App Achievements, and from personal experience to before I had VRV, Crunchyroll has no Xbox App Achievements either.
App Achievements didn't catch on all that well, and you know, and if I look back I guess I can understand not everyone wanting them. I do slightly understand not programming any new ones in, however, I really wish I had the option to look at all of my achievements at once, including ones from Apps. I loved these, and I know I'm not alone from above stated forums. I know some hated them, so I think it would be cool to just have the option not to see or earn them if someone doesn't want them. Some people wanting to hate them should not completely override the people who really liked them, a compromise should be possible.
If you did hate them though, allow me to just ask you a few questions. Just to see something, and to get a full view of what you think:
- Do you sometimes look at your friends Achievement lists and go "Ugh, they really played Doritos Crash Course?" or maybe "Ugh, they really played Frozen Free Fall Snowball Fight?" Or any other free game you think they only played for the achievements?
- Do you think it's weird and/or stupid that mobile games on Windows Phones also have achievements?
- Do you think it's weird and/or stupid that Solitaire on Windows computers now also has Achievements?
- Have you ever played a game you thought was "just okay" but decided to get all of the achievements anyway? The same counts for PlayStation trophies.
If you have a problem with every single one of these questions and the App Achievements, I do have to ask what Achievements ever did to you. I mean, they're just fake rewards for video game players, let people have their fun if they're not hurting anyone. If you don't like them, fine, that's your business, I'm just asking if it's necessary to have a problem with every single thing I mentioned, and if so, if it's that big a thing to have a problem with.
If you don't like App Achievements, but at least a few of those questions were completely okay with you, let me know. It'd be interesting to hear your reasons. I do mean that. I am fine with all of the above questions, and I do find it interesting to hear other sides of the argument. Differences make us as a species more interesting after all, despite what the more close-minded may claim.
Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to download the Xbox Video App and see if the Achievements still work for it.
(And I may as well share the video I uploaded for the Achievement. Funny story, I also got an Achievement worth actual gamerscore because it's from SUPER HOT, and saving footage in that game gives you an Achievement.)