Metroid Prime 3's token feature a small taste of achievements
by Jared Rea 
{ Aug 20th 2007 at 2:25PM }
It's not the system-wide accomplishment tracking that we've grown to love on the Xbox 360 (some more so than others), but according to a GoNintendo tipster, Nintendo fans will get a taste of the sweet life on August 27th when Metroid Prime 3 finally lands on the Wii with bonus content for in-game tokens.
So how does it work? The tokens are doled out in four tiers: red, blue, green and gold. Red tokens are gained by scanning enemies and items, blue for scanning lore and completing side quests, green ones you receive from friends and gold is achieved by destroying bosses on various difficulties.
According to the tipster, tokens can be traded in for bonus content in-game, but are also used to track progress amongst your friends. Vouchers for those friends can be found and then sent in the form of green tokens as well. We've seen these tokens in recent videos of Metroid Prime 3, but we may have a wait ahead of us to find out exactly how they function.
So how does it work? The tokens are doled out in four tiers: red, blue, green and gold. Red tokens are gained by scanning enemies and items, blue for scanning lore and completing side quests, green ones you receive from friends and gold is achieved by destroying bosses on various difficulties.
According to the tipster, tokens can be traded in for bonus content in-game, but are also used to track progress amongst your friends. Vouchers for those friends can be found and then sent in the form of green tokens as well. We've seen these tokens in recent videos of Metroid Prime 3, but we may have a wait ahead of us to find out exactly how they function.
Get a WordPress.com Blog
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
DarthDavid @ Aug 20th 2007 2:29PM
Cool can't wait dudes!
Shagittarius @ Aug 20th 2007 2:34PM
Nintendo continues to innovate! Watch everyone is gonna copy them now.
mr nimblewick @ Aug 20th 2007 2:44PM
Nice opinion. Very new and exciting.
Ska Oreo @ Aug 20th 2007 3:18PM
I know. Someone hating on Nintendo. It's unheard of!!!
ExMcloud @ Aug 20th 2007 3:33PM
LOL...Nice Sarcasm...But seriously damn is Nintendo and Sony in cahoots.....This is like the 3rd time we heard about a system taking something from another console..
Stevo @ Aug 20th 2007 2:40PM
I love Achievements :)
spunkyMP4 @ Aug 20th 2007 9:03PM
Me too.
blooh @ Aug 20th 2007 2:40PM
i wonder why nobody ever mentions the spyro games when talking about stuff like this. they did skill points back on the ps1, and they unlocked bonus endings and whatnot
James @ Aug 20th 2007 2:42PM
So it's Achievements with a point? Thank god for that. I never used to go to arcades to gather them points tickets for kicks, I'd take them to the counter and get my winnings.
Good call. I don't bother with them on my 360 because they're so shallow.
JL @ Aug 20th 2007 3:19PM
Yeah, Im in the I-dont-care crowd. I just want to beat the game. Achievements are stupid to me. My achievement is the game complete screen.
Stevo @ Aug 20th 2007 3:48PM
For some games, Achievements are pretty lame. But I find that they often give that extra bit of motivation to explore the depths of a game beyond what I'd do otherwise--especially sports games.
Shagittarius @ Aug 20th 2007 3:59PM
The only achievement I care about is the one that shows I beat the game. I like it as sort of a history marker.
mr nimblewick @ Aug 20th 2007 2:43PM
This type of thing has been in games for a long time. The letting friends see how far you are is new, but I've seen the rest done even outside of the 360.
Patrick @ Aug 20th 2007 10:12PM
but was it standardized and required?
Shig @ Aug 20th 2007 2:45PM
These "friend voucher" coupons are piquing my interest the most.
Captain Jody Anthony XVIII @ Aug 20th 2007 2:52PM
my favorite type of 'achievements' or whatever has to be the battle trophies from Star Ocean: Till The End of Time. some of those were tough as hell to get! Still never did beat luther with the lead pipe...
HolyChachi @ Aug 20th 2007 3:06PM
wii is going down faster than jenna jamesons weight....
samfish @ Aug 20th 2007 3:08PM
Huh?
James @ Aug 20th 2007 3:09PM
NDP says hi.
Captain Jody Anthony XVIII @ Aug 20th 2007 3:19PM
probably been holding onto this one since before the wii launch
Dale @ Aug 20th 2007 3:35PM
You mean her weight is healthy and stable compared to her anorexic, skanky competition?
bender @ Aug 20th 2007 3:08PM
Well this makes my day if this turns out to be good. This is probably a better use for WiiConnenct24 than for multiplayer for a game like Metroid Prime 3.
WiNG @ Aug 20th 2007 3:08PM
Achievement unlocked: Performing an action with both hands.
Man that has to be a bummer, having that cannon on there so often.
T-bone and Razor @ Aug 20th 2007 3:09PM
I always assumed, until i saw Zero Suit Samus, that she didn't have a left forearm at all
go figure
T-bone and Razor @ Aug 20th 2007 3:18PM
err, a right forearm
damn that still confuses me
shivr @ Aug 20th 2007 6:07PM
actually, if you're using x-ray visor in prime and you happen to catch a glimpse of the upper portion of the cannon arm, you can see the bones in the right hand :3
At least I think thats what I saw >_>
Crono @ Aug 20th 2007 3:21PM
Looks like nintendo is slowly but surely getting the message that MS online strategy is the best and most robust, and is the benchmark to aim for.
T-bone and Razor @ Aug 20th 2007 3:36PM
Like i said in my comment below, its Retro Studios (Texas based) that realizes this, not the bigwigs in Kyoto who could make more sweeping changes for the better
tmacairjordan87 @ Aug 20th 2007 3:24PM
so when sony and microsoft copy something it's bad but when nintendo copies something it's mostly accepted as a good thing? there's no double standard there at all...
ExMcloud @ Aug 20th 2007 3:36PM
No its not good at all! Seriously! but Nintendo innovates so much people dont get as mad when they copy cuz they dont do it to often
Sloar @ Aug 20th 2007 3:37PM
Yep. I used to think that Microsoft or Sony had the most blinded fanboys. If you try to detach from the whole situation, you can't deny that Nintendo has the most blind fanboys. Not that I'm trying to start a flamewar or anything, but if you look at Nintendo's decisions starting with the end of the SNES until the launching of the Wii, I'm surprised they're still in the game. They've pulled some bonehead moves and people still get all giddy about them. That's the prime example of fanboy bias.
ExMcloud @ Aug 20th 2007 3:45PM
Yes they have made many stupid moves that I don't agree with...But you can't argue with their innovative ideas and games....Right?
cc123 @ Aug 20th 2007 3:45PM
It's actually worse than that. In a couple of years I wouldn't be surprised if the Nintendo people were accusing MS and Sony of stealing the achievement system Nintendo invented.
ThornedVenom @ Aug 20th 2007 3:49PM
It all depends on how you break the news: if the article was "Metroid Prime to have achievements like 360 games", there'd be a war. Here, it's "Metroid Prime 3's token feature a small taste of achievements", therefore is perceived as good since it's as if they were sharing the wealth.
I personally don't really care because not only is imitation the highest form of flattery, but also the best way to learn so that you could innovate even further by yourself.
T-bone and Razor @ Aug 20th 2007 5:01PM
What you have to realize is that we Nintendo fanboys have been enslaved to Nintendo as a publisher/developer, more than as a console manufacturer, i mean we've cried foul for Nintendo's stupidity a lot
proof:
http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com/2006/04/27/confirmed-revolution-now-called-wii/
that's an example of one of nintendo's less significant failings, and you still see a lot of flak
By and by, we love Nintendo the way Capcom fans love Capcom, at least that's my take on it
TWiNKiE @ Aug 20th 2007 5:23PM
Maybe it's because, using the gamercard/gamertag example, Sony basically used that same idea, but just changed the name very slightly.
Nintendo, on the other hand, expanded from achievements, since now it isn't just for show, but for bonus content. And also, they didn't copy the name.
cc123 @ Aug 20th 2007 5:35PM
@Twinkie
Because the concept of hitting goals to open bonus content never existed before? Sony also mentioned that the achievement points in their implementation were going to be used for something. Harrison didn't go into detail he just alluded to them being more than points.
And how the hell can you say using gamer profiles is copying but achievements isn't?
Mark my words: in a few years Nintendo fanboys will swear it was Nitntendo that invented this whole concept and the other companies just copied them.
TWiNKiE @ Aug 20th 2007 8:54PM
I didn't mean that the achievements idea wasn't there before the 360, because it was. (remember the trophies for Smash?) I'm just saying that it is an idea that Nintendo just now expanded.
And I don't think that Sony copied the gamertag/gamercard thing, since those are basically profiles, and profiles have existed before dirt. I just used that as a reference because "people" think that they stole the idea, mainly because of the extreme resemblance.
mmxzero @ Aug 20th 2007 3:26PM
Now there's some decent motivation for people who didn't bother to scan in Prime 1 and 2. I don't know why you wouldn't though, there's a lot of interesting info to get scanning.
Almack64 @ Aug 20th 2007 3:54PM
I agree, for me scanning everything was one of the greatest parts of the game. I love how they allowed people who wanted that level of details to have it while at the same time making it not an essential element so that people who don't like that kind of thing didn't need to be bothered.
megaStryke @ Aug 20th 2007 3:26PM
God damn achievements are like a plague.
(Oh yeah, by the way, I don't like achievements.)
Vidikron @ Aug 20th 2007 3:39PM
Do they affect you negatively in some way?
steve @ Aug 20th 2007 4:04PM
yea, he must get some penis shrinkage when an achievement pops up.
megaStryke @ Aug 20th 2007 4:07PM
Achievements raped me when I was a child, okay, you inconsiderate prick?
Word of the street. @ Aug 20th 2007 4:53PM
Me neither in some cases, I like achievements like the Dead Rising/Forza 2/Darkness ones that require to have skill in the game or a guide or something and make you play the game in a different way but Achievements like the Gears of war/PDZ ones that need you to keep playing the game until you kill 10,000 yuck. You don’t need skill whatsoever to get 10,000 kills just time, the skill there is the amount of time you need to get the achievement, the most skilled player can get in 3 months by playing it diary in prolonged periods of time, and what you get after those 10,000 kills? a Picture you could easily buy in the xbox market place and a achievement that only you care.
The only way to get that achievement right is by cheating but guess what now is patched so no more free achievements. Is not that achievement are important but they are nice but what Epic did was just evil, you have to play in ranked matches to get the achievements. I like to play in Local matches with my friends but I can’t get the achievements if I play Local, In the Immortal words of the angry video game nerd “what a ****load of f**k” if they did so no one could cheat the achievements guess what you can, they are ways to do it but is not worth it.
Achievements should be all about fun, rewarding the faithful and the skillful not the couch potato and the cheaters. I love achievements but there is a difference between being skilful and just being sitting there in front of the TV.
BTW I believe Nintendo kind of copy it from MS but thinking about achievements are nothing new, just a way of making you do stuff in game without giving you nothing or more stuff in exchange like Media, Videos, Weapons ETC.
For Example Killzone Liberation gives you a bunch of cool stuff by getting some task right.
T-bone and Razor @ Aug 20th 2007 3:33PM
Well, i wouldn't mind if Nintendo cloned Xbox Live, straight out and shamelessly. As a consumer, all i want is to enjoy myself, originality is moot when it comes to pandering to the consumers.
Of course, i doubt this will happen. There is a lot of difference in philosophy between Nintendo's Western Developers (who have made most of the best competitive online Nintendo games, like Metroid Prime Hunters and Mario Strikers Charged) and Nintendo Co. Ltd, who makes most (if not all) of the big calls about overall strategy
hvnlysoldr @ Aug 20th 2007 3:37PM
Hello. Loved Swat Kats. http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa81/hvnlysoldr/bd1e4b10.jpg
Dale @ Aug 20th 2007 3:37PM
I think we would all be much happier if adding friends on the Wii was as simple as it is on the Xbox 360. I will definitely use the latter more for online.
steve @ Aug 20th 2007 4:09PM
totally agree. The argument is mainly for the fans to, well, argue about.
Honsetly, everyone is just copying off of everyone else. But when a successful copy happens, it is better done than the last. If you think of it, the idea of making a video game console applies here. Everyone has been copying off the Magnavox Odyssey since 1972!
hvnlysoldr @ Aug 20th 2007 3:40PM
Like when Fracktail in Super Paper Mario spouted Wii Shop spinning, the opening has an Easter Egg/fan stuff. While trying to boot up the awakening there's a line of program that reads "BIOS Version 3.0 Wii Format" The firmware to play Metroid. Duh Duh Dunn.