What do people here think about them? Originally a high-profile aspect of the xbox 360, they're now present in varying forms in Wii, PS3 and PC games.

The Microsoft side is still the only one to keep an overall track of which ones you have gained, though Home on the PS3 is meant to be adding similar functionality.

I was very sceptical of them until I got my 360. After a month or so I realised I liked having a record of what I'd been playing, what I'd done, and when. I've collected all the playable characters in Lego Star Wars and I got a neat little icon and some points for it. Achievements which are implimented well encourage you to explore every last aspect of the game. I enjoy exploring game worlds and it's nice to get something for doing so.

Achievements which are well placed give you an idea of how close you are to completing the game. I've got 2 1/2 tracks of achievements left to get in Oblivion now, and I own exactly 2/3 of the total achievements. The end is gradually coming into sight.

Some of my sceptisim does remain. They're useless. I collected all the characters and got a useless icon and some useless points for it. Is that really any better than getting nothing at all? Quite a lot can be gained by doing nothing noteworthy. Finishing level 1 on ultra easy is an achievement? Anything which requires you to play for a certain amount of time is rubbish. Certain games are too stingy. You'll collect about 70 points worth of achievements for finishing Blue Dragon, a 3 disc 40 hour JRPG. Then there's the addicts, the ones who rent rubbish easy games to grab the points so they can have a high gamerscore and behave obnoxiously to anyone with a smaller total.

One day I will get the full 1100 for Bioshock. One day ...