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Like many others this morning, I was eager to get my Playstation 3 up and running so I could download the latest update enabling me to unlock “trophies” and the in-game XMB.

My instant thoughts were - how the hell have I survived without the in-game XMB? As I was discussing with my friend the other day, this really should have been available from the start. He pointed out there was more to the update than just “changing a line of code”, a point which I appreciated but simply reiterated: “it should have been there from the start”. Oh well, it’s in place now and it’s so handy — skipping into messages to friends, checking what everyone else is playing but mainly, seeing what I need to do to unlock my next trophy.

I’ve never been a fan of XBOX 360’s Gamerscore - while I see the purpose I don’t neccessarily understand the popularity. There are people out there who buy games just to unlock achievements. Too far? I think so. It’s detracting from the actual gaming experience and forcing you to comply to a number of set achievements so you can show off your digital-penis-size — i.e. your Gamerscore.

Trophies are likely to suffer from the same problem - “look this game offers easy achievements, I’ll buy it” - but even if that’s what you want to do, I think Sony have missed the mark with them. Gamercards are so popular because you can show them in blogs and forums. It’s like saying - “hey, look what a nerd I am!” - and that’s what makes them popular.

As far as I’m aware you can’t do anything like this with Playstation Trophies until Sony get the message and update the setup; again.