We're less than a month away from seeing Microsoft's vision of the future of gaming. That's right, the next Xbox and its new functions will be shown off to the world for the first time on May 21st. That's not stopping various sources from leaking info (unverified) about what Xbox enthusiasts should be expecting from this next-gen piece of hardware.
A source close to Polygon has revealed some interesting details on the overhauled Achievement system. As of right now, the Xbox 360 has a set amount of achievements per game, and the only way to increase that is by way of DLC. The Next Xbox is rumored to allow developers to add Achievements to their game without relying on DLC to do so. The reasoning behind this is to encourage players to dive back into the game and possibly experience something that they haven't before. It could also tweak player behavior and encourage different playstyles. For example, encouraging players to play through a game with a certain weapon (one that they possibly haven't touched) and get a certain amount of kills with it.
Then there are possibilities of broader Achievements that are more tied down to the community that's currently playing a certain game, such as contributing kills to a larger number that's tallied together.
Going even further, companies could even support cross-title Achievements. For example, 2K could have a big achievement for beating both Borderlands and Borderlands 2. Lastly, cross-platform Achievements with the Xbox 360 could exist as well, by playing a prequel to the game on the current-gen system, or even by using a companion app.
Achievements have certainly become an obsession for a lot of gamers, so seeing these rumored improvements to the Achievement system are certainly welcome. It could certainly breed an entirely new generation of Achievement whores Hunters.
[Polygon]
