A reader imagines his own gaming accomplishments as Xbox style Achievements, from playing for 24 hours straight to upgrading a PC.
Moving from GameCube to Xbox 360, the whole concept of Achievements was new to me. When the various Achievement notifications popped up in different games unexpectedly I was pleasantly surprised and delighted (I know, little things please little minds!).
There have been certain points in real-life where thinking back to them, I’ve thought, ‘If this was a game, I would have got an achievement for that…’
Off the blocks – 5G: Complete any game
I’m sure everyone that considers themself a gamer has done this at least once in their life! The first game I completed was probably Super Mario Land on Game Boy.
Perfectionist – 10G: Complete any game 100%
Something that is likely becoming more difficult and time-consuming these days due to the enormity of games, especially open world ones. The Legend Of Zelda: Link’s Awakening was my first 100%. It took multiple playthroughs but I eventually found every heart piece, the secret boomerang weapon, and every secret sea shell.
DIY Sunday – 25G: Successfully mod or upgrade a PC, laptop, or gaming device
This is the one that inspired this feature. One of the first games I played when I got my Xbox 360 was Deus Ex: Human Revolution. There were a few different Achievements you attained when you upgraded the various skill trees and this had me so engrossed.
Around this time, I had a laptop that was struggling with 1GB of RAM. I could not afford a new one at this point, but doing research I found I could upgrade it to 2GB. I had never done any kind of internal tinkering of a machine, so the day the RAM arrived in the post and I switched it for the old one, was quite nerve racking. As I powered it up and the BIOS displayed it had registered the new RAM, I swear I heard the Achievement chime sound and the notification flashed before my eyes!
Tinker, Tailor, Solder, Spray – 50G: Successfully build a PC or make a major mod or repair to a PC, laptop, or gaming device (if you fixed the Red Ring of Death that counts too!)
I bought a Nintendo DS from a private seller on eBay, but it arrived with the hinges broken. It wasn’t worth sending back and I came to a deal with the seller where he partially refunded me because I still wanted to keep the game it came with.
The screen still worked so, returning to eBay, I was encouraged by the multitude of sellers who had replacement cases and figured that changing the case must be doable. And after many YouTube videos I finally had enough confidence to attempt it.
Having performed the operation, I was distraught when I powered it up and one screen flashed and the other stayed blank. I feared I had somehow damaged it beyond repair, but looking up more guides it turned out I hadn’t pushed one of the screen ribbon cables in properly. Taking the whole thing apart once more and pushing EVERY cable in firmly, I started it up again and was elated when it came to life as normal and have never been so happy to see the word ‘Nintendo’ appear on a screen!
The Great Persuader – 50G: Get a non-gamer to enjoy a game they thought they wouldn’t
I bought Mario Power Tennis on the GameCube with my younger sister in mind. She wasn’t much of a gamer, but would occasionally watch me. She scoffed at the thought of a tennis game and just didn’t want to play it. After endlessly trying, I finally got her to give it a go. She took a single stroke of the ball and said, ‘I like this game!’ I may as well have glued the disc into the console as that was all she wanted to play whenever we got the GameCube out.
Hesitant Evil – 50G: Play and love a game that you thought you wouldn’t
Walking around GAME with my sister, who was now into gaming a bit more, she suddenly said, ‘Let’s get this!’ She was holding the box of Left 4 Dead 2. Having had a (literally) horrific time with Resident Evil on GameCube some years earlier, I had side-lined most games that contained zombies or anything that looked scary (yep, call me a wimp!). Reluctantly, I bought it on condition that since she wanted it, I would only play it with her (of course, I didn’t let on my trepidation). In the end, I was really glad she chose it as I never would have. It wasn’t even that scary and turned out to be one of the best co-op games on Xbox 360.
Jack Bauer – 100G: Have a gaming session that lasts for 24 hours, only stopping for quick food and toilet breaks
I still can’t believe I did this and it wasn’t actually planned.
Back when I was a teenager, we had one CRT TV in the house on a wheelie trolley. Early Saturday mornings, around 5am, I used to wheel the TV into my room and play my Nintendo 64 until my mum came and got it around 9 or 10. But on this occasion she didn’t come and I just continued playing. All of a sudden it’s around 3pm and I go and get some cereal and check in with everyone. No one wanted the TV so I went back to playing. Next thing I know it’s about 9pm and I make a sandwich with the intention of playing for two more hours then going to bed. While playing I notice the dawn breaking through the curtains. Checking the time I’m amazed to see it’s around 5:30am. That day I proved without a doubt that time does indeed fly when you’re having fun!
You found a secret! – 100G: Discover a rare gaming item
Where would us bargain hunters be without charity shops, eh? Although most are probably now wiser to the various wares they have making it harder to find rare gems at low prices.
Some years ago, browsing through the old DVDs in my local charity shop, I came across a DVD titled Metal Gear Solid 2: The Trailer. I didn’t know much about the whole franchise but suspected this would be worth more than the pound the shop was selling it for. The only issue was it had some cracks in the centre of the disc but even with those
[Source”timesofindia”]