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I’m having a blast with PopCap Games’s Plants vs. Zombies. It’s been universally eulogized, and for all the right reasons, and like PopCap’s other games, it doesn’t require a supercharged system. Those of you that own the $10 Steam version will be pleased to know that an update has been issued to add 12 achievements to the game- and they aren’t so easy to obtain.

Hit the jump for the achievements.

Source: Destructoid
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Sony have confirmed to Videogamer that trophy support will be mandatory from January 2009- meaning that every game will have to support trophies, Sony’s answer to the Xbox’s achievement system. While many games have already been patched, plenty remain without trophies in this year’s lineup; it seems this won’t ever be the case again on the PS3. Following up a rumour that the system would require trophies, a Sony spokesperson told Videogamer that “Yes, from Jan 09 all games must have trophies.”

It seems a little too draconian, if you ask me. A game developer shouldn’t be forced into doing anything; I expect what we’ll see now is a slew of games with poorly thought-out trophies, and of course the inevitable trophy whores, buying crap games just to get easy trophies. We saw it with the 360, we’ll see it with the PS3. Nevertheless, it’s nice to see that trophies will be included with the good games as well as the bad ones- it’s not all bad news. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

Left 4 Dead surprises me everyday with the amount of sheer awesome that’s being generated by the game’s hype machine. If you kill every zombie in the infected town of Willamete, you get an achievement. Doesn’t sound so bad, right? I mean, when the zombie apocalypse comes around that’s kind of the plan. You know, to kill everyone. Want to know more? Of course you do. Read more…

A new Gears of War 2 game footage video has made its way onto the web, further confirming in my opinion that the sequel will be better than the original and revealing a few new features as well.

In addition to the meat shield ability which lets you use your enemy’s body to absorb bullets fired in your direction, the video highlights what appears to be a new feature allowing you to reposition in game items and create cover on the fly. Specifically, Marcus flips a table onto its side during a fire fight with the Locust. Pretty cool.

Another new addition in Gears 2 is what looks like in-game achievement status update system. You can see an example of this at the 42 second mark in the clip.

If you don’t mind seeing a few spoilers in the way of cut scenes, have at the video after the jump. Read more…

Gears of War 2 hits shelves in a little over two months now. With the release date quickly approaching, the full achievement list has now been revealed, as well as the rewards for the previously revealed linked achievements.

Check them out after the break. Read more…

For dedicated achievement whores who are strapped for cash but don’t want to sell their entire game collection, there’s a new option-– sell the time you spend playing them. Read more…

Why choose when you don’t have to?

After perusing the recently revealed Fable II achievement list, one of the many that really jumped out at me was The Swinger — 5 points if you “take part in a orgy, responsibly”. I’m assuming this means group sex while wearing a condom and remembering to feed your dog. Read more…

Mega Man is hard. No doubt about that. Mega Man 9, supposedly, is going to be the hardest one since the classic NES titles of yore, which is pretty fitting considering the game’s neo-retro graphical style. Back in the day when you downed Quick Man without taking a hit, all you could do was tell your friends, and hope they believed you.

Now, with these recently released Mega Man 9 Achievements, you can have concrete proof of your bona fide Mega mastery. Good luck getting them though, because well, they’re almost all completely insane, from “Gamer’s Day”, which tasks you with beating the game 5 times in a single day, to “Peacekeeper”, which requires you to beat the game while defeating “as few enemies as possible” – nice of Capcom not to give us a specific number. Hit the jump for the full list. Read more…

Oh boy… If World of WarCraft wasn’t already a massive drain on your free time, then Wrath of the Lich King will make things significantly worse.  Not only will the expansion add Death Knights and an entire new continent, but it’s also bringing with it Achievements, which you earn by doing a myriad of quest-related and pointless things alike.  With examples like Town Crier, which I assume involves /yelling a lot, and another one for giving out 10 hugs, I expect my fellow denizens of the World of WarCraft are about to get a whole lot more annoying. Read more…

Anyone who’s been following the news (or rumors, as Microsoft would have you believe) knows that I have not been having much luck with my 360. From the general Xbox Live problems that many people are experiencing to the disappearing achievements that I supposedly made up, things are not working the way they should. Microsoft apparently didn’t appreciate my whistle-blowing, however, because they’ve decided to shut me up by having my 360 clipped. Read more…