Xbox Originals won't have achievements

by Christopher Grant { Nov 16th 2007 at 12:20PM }

C'mon, you can tell us. You're an addict, aren't you? You've got a 40K gamerscore and you simply can't justify any gaming time if, well ... you aren't being compensated for it. Bad news then, junkie. The recently announced Xbox Originals (downloadable versions of original Xbox games) won't have achievements. It all makes sense if you think about it: these are unaltered disc images. If they didn't see fit to go in and remove things like demos or trailers that could actually crash your 360 if you select them, it stands to reason they weren't going to add achievements.

Now, the good news. Your gamertag won't be permanently sullied with achievement-related proof that you were playing Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space. Seriously, what's wrong with you?

[Via X3F]

Tags: Achievements, Gamerscore, Xbox-Originals

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Ten Dolla Bill @ Nov 16th 2007 12:24PM

This was announced 2 days ago. Way to stay on top of things boys!

xXFenixKnight13Xx @ Nov 16th 2007 12:35PM

Joystiq is Laggy

HotShotX @ Nov 16th 2007 12:36PM

It's official: The Xbox 360 is just two Xboxes duct taped together.

~HotShotX

Rususeruru @ Nov 16th 2007 12:37PM

1.5 Xboxes... 2 Xboxes would have had WAY more storage at launch!

Jason @ Nov 16th 2007 12:46PM

Original XBOX hard drive was 8GB, then later they bumped it up to 10GB.

Neither of those two numbers added to itself is greater than 20.

Warlord @ Nov 16th 2007 1:15PM

Last I checked, any positive number added to itself is larger than NOTHING.

TheCassidy @ Nov 16th 2007 12:34PM

The greatest achievement would be to actually buy a retail copy of the game for $10.

Of the list shown, there isn't one title that is hard to find. Give us Panzer Dragoon and we might have a winner, but so far this just seems really contrived to capture the nostalgia market that Nintendo and Sony have cornered...of course they have classic games that are 10-20 years old and actually warrant nostalgia, but whatever...

Rususeruru @ Nov 16th 2007 12:36PM

Maybe for you... but my quest to find a retail copy of Psychonauts for Xbox has been miserable! Though I do second the motion for Panzer Dragoon.

TheCassidy @ Nov 16th 2007 12:40PM

Really? I just a about 10 copies of it last night for $15 at the grocery store. Must not have sold well in my area.

At least you get to play it now, you're in for a treat.

FidliousWong @ Nov 16th 2007 12:41PM

Panzer locks up randomly. Nothing is worse than working your way through that game, hedging the bets that hopefully it won't crash this time. I finally hooked back up the xbox when I beat the level 3 boss only to have the explosion kill the game again.

WiNG @ Nov 16th 2007 12:42PM

Having trouble finding Psychonauts cheap? Really?

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=psychonauts+xbox&category0=

Yeah, not too hard. eBay for the fucking win.

Vidikron (FU) @ Nov 16th 2007 2:19PM

Don't underestimate the convenience of playing games from the hard drive. Sure, you could likely find these game for $10 or so dollars if you look... but it might be the extra

LaughingTarget @ Nov 16th 2007 5:01PM

Psychonauts is also on Steam, if you have the PC.

danny. (fdf.) @ Nov 16th 2007 12:34PM

Kind of excited to get psychonauts themes and pics though, as dumb as that sounds.

TheCassidy @ Nov 16th 2007 12:37PM

Actually not dumb at all. Too bad the game tanked at retail. If it gets enough action as a download maybe we'll get Psychonauts 2.

Obie @ Nov 16th 2007 12:39PM

13 Gb hard drive + no achievements and new online modes = GTFO my 360!

RC @ Nov 16th 2007 12:40PM

So the games are buggy, have no achievements and cost $15. Sounds great.

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Nov 16th 2007 12:44PM

luckily I'm not an achievement whore so I really couldn't give a crap.

Defiantly dling Psychonauts though.

NATO_Duke @ Nov 16th 2007 12:48PM

"Defiantly dling Psychonauts though."

Damn straight!

Andy S. @ Nov 16th 2007 2:24PM

Defiantly?

And what or whom, pray tell, are you downloading Psychonauts in defiance *of*?

NATO_Duke @ Nov 16th 2007 3:09PM

I thought that was a funny typo too.

colin @ Nov 16th 2007 5:48PM

i think i have called him out on it before too

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Nov 17th 2007 1:09AM

sigh,

god I need to learn how to spell.

Emperor Samoth @ Nov 16th 2007 12:44PM

Old news. Also, the games are less reliable than purchasing the actual disc and playing it on your BackCompat Xbox 360. I'm guessing framerates, resolution and sound issues.

Blast Processing Megadrive @ Nov 16th 2007 1:16PM

Less reliable that discs? Where was that stated?

dan stabbingworth @ Nov 16th 2007 2:22PM

That makes no sense. All you'll be doing is downloading the iso and playing it through the 360s BC.

NATO_Duke @ Nov 16th 2007 12:47PM

Oh man this is so weak! I am done with the 360! How dare they. Sony FTW!!! Wii forever!!!!!

Oh, damn...no achievement there either. I'm just gonna sit down now.

(Honestly, did anyone think these would have achievements?)

Andy S. @ Nov 16th 2007 3:09PM

I think most of us were doubtful, but hopeful. After all, that's the only way this is even close to sensible. I mean, really. I can pick up a used copy of any of these games for reasonably cheap, and when I decide that I'm done with the game, I can sell it. When all is said and done, net cost of the game is going to be anywhere from $0-$10.

Or I can download the game for $15, but I can't ever sell it, nor can I trade it to someone else, nor can I even GIVE IT AWAY. Net cost is always $15, which makes downloading Xbox Originals anywhere from five to fifteen dollars more expensive than just picking up a used copy of the game.

So really, if the downloadable Xbox Originals don't have any features that distinguish them from the retail copies, aside from taking up far more of the 360's already limited HD space, what's the point?

Gangsta Smurf @ Nov 16th 2007 12:49PM

Okay. What the fuck is the reason to purchase these things? They're buggy, glitched, and now offer no replay value to those who've already beat them.

Way to stiff us, Microsoft.

mike @ Nov 16th 2007 12:55PM

yeah this sucks, But wii owners have been stupidly buying direct ports off Virtual console. i guess microsoft saw this and realized there is a few crazies out there that actually want this kind of service.

TheCassidy @ Nov 16th 2007 1:01PM

@ mike.

Play SM64 on an emu or on an N64 hooked up to an LCD TV with the S-VHS cable.

Now go play it as a DL on the VC.

What works better for you?

Nintendo at least has the heritage a back catalog of great games that many people didn't get the chance to legally play until the Wii.

Obie @ Nov 16th 2007 1:01PM

The difference is that you can't plug SNES and NES games into the Wii. The 360 is backwards compatible with discs that are still on store shelves ( for cheap!), so who would download a game and fill up the tiny HD with an overpriced glitchy ROM???

Vidikron (FU) @ Nov 16th 2007 2:26PM

@Obie

The games from the discs are going to have the same glitches except the demos and extra videos will work. Hard drive space is an issue, but it is very convenient to be able to play games straight from the HDD without having to use discs. If I already owned the disc I wouldn't rebuy these games, but I haven't played the games before I would be interested.

I really don't know why people are griping so much about this, it seems like a great service. My only complaint is I think they should remove the links in the menus to the demos and videos instead of allowing the game to crash. That just seems lazy... but other than that I don't see the problem. if you want to use the disc, just buy one... why complain when you have the option to go either way?

Gangsta Smurf @ Nov 16th 2007 2:43PM

To purchase an aged rehash with all its flaws and no corrections seems absolutely absurd to me. It's great for people who missed out on certain games (I get to try Psychonauts now) but... meh.

Nate @ Nov 16th 2007 12:50PM

I guess I don't know why anyone would expect them to have achievements. They're not going to go back and edit the code, for god's sake. Do you know how much time and effort that would take? Not to mention the fact that they don't HAVE the code for anything but first party games. They're purely giving the disc images for use with an emulator, that's all.

Epidemic Jay @ Nov 16th 2007 12:53PM

No one should be complaining right now... 360 has so many new games that just overloaded onto it in the past couple of months that should have you playing well into next year. Mass Effect, Call of Duty 4, Halo 3, Assassin's Creed, NFS: Pro Street, PGR4, and so much more. Just the fact the Xbox 1 games are coming out barely even matters to me. It's a new generation, I want to play new games not old ones.

NATO_Duke @ Nov 16th 2007 1:27PM

Just a quick point - people dont need to list all the games coming out, or presently out, on the 360. I think that list is engrained in all out heads by now. It doesn't touch on the issue at hand. It rarely does.

WiNG @ Nov 16th 2007 12:56PM

I don't know why anyone expected there to be achievements on these games.

Achievement unlocked: "Paying double what it would cost to buy the disc brand new."

mccomber @ Nov 16th 2007 1:14PM

Step 1: Make old xbox games easily found as actual discs available for download.
Step 2:
Step 3: Profit.
Did anyone expect MS (or anyone else really) to do anything other than the bare minimum to bring these games out as downloads? Any work to make them bug-free or add achievements... well, that just would have cost them more money.

The only one I'd buy as a download instead of finding a used disc is Psychonauts, basically to show support for the game that I know will be counted. I loaned my ps2 copy to a friend who in turn loaned it to one of their friends... I guess at least other people actually played the game, just wish they would have also bought a copy when they realized how bloody brilliant it was.

dan stabbingworth @ Nov 16th 2007 2:26PM

They know enough uninformed people will download copies from this service to make it profitable. It's just like the VC in that there is almost zero overhead. The difference is VC games are often rare or outrageously expensive to buy actual carts of.

T3H WICKERMAN (FDF) @ Nov 16th 2007 1:21PM

40k...ha nubs.

Mage @ Nov 16th 2007 1:31PM

Am I the only one who thought Blinx 2 was a good game?!

Wait. Don't point those guns at me.

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Nov 16th 2007 1:44PM

*gun pointed at mage*

Run.

xXFenixKnight13Xx @ Nov 16th 2007 1:45PM

That would be correct.

Tejan Arora @ Nov 16th 2007 1:53PM

Harshan loves Blinx 1 and 2. I remember when he tried to buy every copy at EB back in the day so no one else could have it.

Sieged Eagle @ Nov 16th 2007 2:15PM

I personally hope that Silent Hill 2 manages to become a downloadable XBO game. This game is legendary, the atmosphere and the foes are creepy, and if you play it at night, it becomes one of the games that can unexpectingly scare the hell out of you. I love it because of that and many other reasons.