The main problem I have with yesterday’s video is that I’m pretty sure the scenarios he gets into at the end are right. Â For the most part, I have remained neutral on Xbox achievements. Â I like getting them, but rarely do I ever spend time playing a game in a manner I do not enjoy just for an achievement. Â For example, there is one in the game Assassin’s Creed for watching all the “glitches” and while playing I did try to hit my button when I noticed a glitch but at the end of the game I didn’t have that achievement because I had obviously missed one. Â There is also one for getting all the flags, and while I loved noticing and finding flags while playing, when I got to the end I didn’t have them all. Â I loved playing the game, it was fun, but when I finished I did not go back and try to finish off these achievements. Â I know some people who cannot leave a game until they’ve gotten every single one.
On the other hand, I have a credit card with a rewards program and I use the card at every single opportunity in order to not miss out on the free points which turn into free gifts later. Â So for me, the dividing line appears to be virtual rewards versus real rewards. Â If Xbox achievements came with Xbox Live points that I could use to buy items from the Marketplace, I’d probably spend more time trying to get them all.
After watching the video, I thought to myself, “You know, sometimes I do forget to brush my teeth. Would I remember it every day if I earned points for doing it?” Â I do brush my teeth with fair regularity, enough that I don’t have cavities or other teeth issues (partly, I suspect, this is due to habits I formed while having braces on my teeth for almost 5 years, the manner in which I eat and the amount of licking, probing and sucking I do throughout the day keeps food particles from settling between my teeth and in my gums), but if brushing every day earned me some “free stuff” then I have to admit, I probably would do it every day.
Do I want to see point systems and rewards on everything? Â Not really. Â But I do expect it to come. Â I just hope that the power to manipulate behavior with games is handled with some care as it invades more aspects of life.