In the early days of home gaming, when kids had mastered their favorite game, they would move on to making up challenges, such as completing games a certain way or trying to get the highest score. As games evolved, they began to include rewards for doing things like completing hidden challenges or getting all collectibles. This eventually led to Microsoft figuring out a way to curate these milestones and give players new ones. With the release of the Xbox 360, achievements were born. While a big addition to gaming at the time, over the years it's become stagnated. It's time for this tradition to evolve, and Sony and Nintendo have the right idea.

Players like to be rewarded. Whether it's completing a quest in an RPG, crushing a timed challenge or defeating tough enemies, it feels good to get something out of a game along with the feeling of accomplishment. It's part of the game loop, so why should achievements be any different? Only a handful give players something on their own, unrelated to the in-game rewards if there are any. However, there are two programs, one still on the way, that show how players can be rewarded for their dedication.

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Nintendo Switch Online Missions and Rewards

Nintendo kicked it off first with Switch Online's Missions and Rewards. While Nintendo retains its tradition of not including achievements for its consoles, it did introduce something similar for Online subscribers. Each week, players can find new missions to complete across various titles, sometimes just for doing something as simple as backing up save data. Completing them rewards platinum points, which players can use to buy icons, frames and backgrounds to create custom user icons. Points can also be used to get other digital items and enter sweepstakes through the Nintendo website. The missions are fairly simple and often try to get players to try new games, but they can also include in-game challenges.

Sony is in the process of creating something similar with PlayStation Stars, a free loyalty program launching later this year for users. According to the site, its challenges will have more varying goals like the world first for platinum trophies to completing tasks in certain games. Like Switch Online's Missions, it will net players' points, which can be used in the PlayStation Store but will also give players digital collectibles. The site and blog post on the PlayStation website refer to digital figurines, which implies a place to view them or show them off, similar to viewing others' achievements. It's a fun new way to reward players for playing games and overcoming challenges.

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Playstation Trophies for Evil Within

Both of these programs show that it's possible for players to be rewarded outside a pop-up announcing they've completed something. The idea that players can receive digital goods or points in exchange for weekly or monthly tasks can easily be applied to achievements. It would make receiving achievements more exciting and push players to get those especially hard ones for a little something special that few others have. It's an obvious next step in the system. It also has the potential to allow developers to add little extras to a game by tying simple in-game goodies to achievements they've created.

This could be a leap forward for a system that, even though gaming as a whole has grown and changed several times over, has largely remained the same for the last 17 years. With the push to connect players more, using digital spaces and finding new ways to show off achievements could be great additions. It will be interesting to see where Nintendo and Sony's player programs take things.