Can someone help explain exacty how the trophy system works?
I have read other forums where people are really into this and get angry over games which do not support trophies?
What aside from bragging rights do these serve?
I'm new to the Ps3 but I can't understand all the excitement over trophies...if the system is that trophies translates into PSN credit then that would be the only thing that makes sense to me...

They are just as useless as Xbox Gamerscore...nothing but bragging rights unfortunately.

It's mostly bragging rights, but it also gives you an extra incentive to playthrough a game more 'completely', as it encourages you to go after some items/tasks that you may not have bothered with (again, bragging rights, I guess). To me, it helps you get more game for your buck. It's a pretty damn good feeling when you get every trophy/achievement point that is offered.

Disclaimer - I own a PS3 but don't play games on it. The above commentary is based on the comparative "360 Achievement Points".

Nerd cred.

This. I couldn't care less about the "bragging rights" or the size of anyone's e-penis. It gives you a little more for your money, but skipping a game because of a lack of trophies/achievements is just stupid.

The one thing that I suppose Trophies have over Gamerscore is that the trophies are stratified, with some easy to achieve and others potentially very difficult. You can't "pad" your score with easy points as easily (you can acquire 1000 points easily with 4 or five games played briefly, but you won't get a platinum trophy so easily). The flip side is that your Gamerscore is much easier for others to see and "appreciate" since it's attacted to your gamertag, rather than the trophy collection which has to be synced to be seen.

I was wondering about this. I want to say in the stickied PS3 thread people were talking about not playing a game that they don't get trophies for because something about it creates a file on your system or something. I totally didn't understand and just chalked it up to extreme nerdism.

I really couldn't care less about other people's trophy collections, or the size of my e-penis (), but working towards little markers in a game undoubtedly extends the life. Yep, it's nothing more than a ding and a little gold, silver, or bronze graphic, but it's a lot of fun getting to that point.

Having the trophies in games that I enjoy gives me that little incentive to do things that I might not do during the playthrough. Some of them are really challenging but satisfying when you pull them off and others are really time consuming but make you get more out of your game.

What's really odd is that I pay no attention to "trophies" whatsoever on the PS3 but will take the time to read over and possibly score some extra achievements on the 360 even though they are basically the same thing.

I guess it is because the 360 started it...but even then I don't play certain games or put myself thru gamer hell for some points/achievements. I just read what achievements a game has and if i get it, great. If it takes me an extra three hours to get it, fuck that.

For me, it helps to extend the game, as others have said. Some of the smaller games I downloaded, I've beat. Normally, that would pretty much be the end of that game, but with trophies I have several reasons to play the game again. Some games I don't bother with, others I'll play over and over again until I either get all of the trophies, or I give up.

I wouldn't avoid a game that didn't have trophies, as that isn't the most important aspect to me. Some games I completely ignore the trophies.

While I enjoy getting the achievement points, some games get TONS of gameplay even though the points aren't going to happen. Take NHL10 for example, I'm playing through a second season and I believe the chance of me getting another point is pretty small, yet I play the game all the time. The same goes for CoDWaW & CoDMW2, online Deathmatch & the zombies don't really get you the points. Halo 3 only gave me 300 points I believe, but I played the shit out of the multiplayer and barely touched the campaign.

Then there are games (for me) like Assassin's Creed & Dead Space...I loved the games so much that I kept going trying to get the points because I didn't want the game to end, and even if I got 1k/1k it still may have got some time. That's when you know a game is good, when you do it all because you don't want it to end.

I have found the trophies and achievements to be a lot of fun. It gives you reasons to try things in games you might not even think of and it adds some play time if I feel like messing with them. I don't like the trophies as much on PSN though. They put a big chuck of the trophy value in the platinum one and it is highly unlikely I would get those in most games. Burnout Paradise is my sole platinum trophy. I prefer the way Xbox does it by spreading the value more evenly and also having the first page with all your 100% games for those rare games I can finish the achievements on. It is a cool reward since it also lists arcade games I have 100% on.

The platinum is the same thing as 100% for achievements, I don't see how it is any worse.

I laughed at achievements/trophies until I had them. I like them now, because I see that they have some utility beyond bragging rights. They really do add some value to games and extend the ones you really love.

I spent half the day today looking for my 350th blast shard in Infamous.

And I'm pretty sure all PS3 games have trophies now. Only the early games don't have them, and many of those have been patched to add them.

Was it the one that was about 5 of those pier/logs out from the shore? The one you couldn't see on the map when you clicked it unless you were already out off the shore a bit? Anyways, Assassins Creed 2 was one I really enjoyed and got the Platinum and I'm the impossible mode away from platinuming Dead Space. Fallout 3 and Borderlands were natural Plats as they were both hard to stop playing so why not? Now I'm working on The Saboteur and see myself getting the Platinum in the next few weeks and then I'll wrap up Dead Space.

I rarely ever 100% a game. Borderlands and Burnout are rare exceptions. The Xbox achievement points spread the points pretty evenly. In many cases you beat the game and hit most of the side stuff and you get most of the 1000 points added to your score even if you don't get everything and you can move your gamer score up pretty quickly.

It is tougher on the PS3 because they lock a chunk of the points up in the platinum. It is an extra achievement that requires you to get all the other ones and it is worth a lot. You miss a couple of the trophies and you lose a big chunk of experience locked in the platinum.

At the end of the day it doesn't matter much as these things are just there for something extra to do. I'm just saying I find the Xbox point system much more rewarding since it gives you more of the points without having to complete everything. I also find the Xbox page with that shows every game you have received 100% on a better reward when compared to a generic listing of platinum, gold, silver and bronze trophies. The experience system of the PS3 is kind of cool, but the syncing thing also makes the PS3 system a bit less appealing.

Heavy Rain is one game that will not have Trophy support. The developer feels like it would ruin the whole experience and remind the player that you're playing a game.

I just thought of a pet peeve I have with trophies/achievements. I don't like it when games give out trophies every step of the way while you're playing through a game. I'm playing Assassin's Creed II now and I keep getting them everytime I finish a memory sequence, and while it's not as bad as Resident Evil 5 (where you got them at the end of every last chapter segment), it seems like it misses the point. To me, it's about giving gamers a little something extra to work for. I have no problem with getting trophies for beating a game or beating it on a certain difficulty level, but giving them out constantly just for playing through the game is overkill.

Actually Heavy Rain will have trophy support, but will be different from other games where it won't notify you when you earn one, since developers said it would ruin the mood of the atmosphere.

http://kotaku.com/5426839/heavy-rain...vement-problem

It's mandatory for games to have trophies starting Jan. 2009.

That's interesting since the developers want people to have different experiences and not really replay the game, I wonder if the trophies might run counter to that...

Thanks for clearing this up for me. Based on what I've read I'll chalk up the ps3 trophy system to "extreme nerdism" and "e-penises"
For me, beating the game is good enough but I respect those that value it if that's there thing, I just thought I was maybe missing something...it would be cool if the trophies could be traded in for something along the line of PSN credit - not sure how they'd work out the details but that would be more of an "incentive" to me. The only game I've played more of after beating would be the ratchet & clank games and only if I beat the game before upgrading/buying all of the weapons in the game, and really only to see the difference in firepower. I got a ps3 on black Friday and have about 10-12 games and have plenty to work with without trying to get all those trophies...just beat 'Tools of Desruction' should I move on to 'A Crack in Time' or mix it up and play 'Drakes Fortune' or 'Fall of Man' next?

Uncharted