Is Achievements/Trophies the greatest thing to happen to games this gen?

[Mr Khan]

maverick40 said:

Mr Khan said:

maverick40 said:

NintendoPie said:
I would reserve that for Sales going up on all sides. (Except Sony of course...) It's always a good thing to do better than your last generation and Nintendo + Microsoft both did just that.

What has that got to do with anything? It is nearly impossible to top the ps2 no matter what company you are. It wasn't hard for nintendo or microsoft to do better than last generation in sales seen as the ps2 made a fool out of both of them.
Plus you wouldnt know what it is like to get an xbox achievement or a ps3 trophy.

OT: They are not the greatest thing to happen to gaming but they are a great step. I get so much longevity out of games now thanks to trophies because I am more of a single player gamer.   

Presuming NintendoPie has played video games, he knows an experience better than getting an xbox achievement or a ps3 trophy. He has experienced unlocking something of actual damn substance at some point.

Unlocking something of substance is a matter of personal opinion to be honest. Getting a platinum trophy can have just as much substance as unlocking luigi in Super mario galaxy. 

Luigi is a character you can use, and as such enhances the gameplay experience. A trophy is ???

Now before i get too far into my rant, i must point out that my only problem with them is you get jack shit for doing them (and they are not a goal in and of themselves. That is a categorically invalid argument). If, say, Microsoft were to sell things, trivial things, for Gamerscore (not that you would lose GS for buying stuff, just lose the ability to use that amount of GS to buy stuff in the future), that would be a separate matter. What burns me is that people just accept them for what they are, rather than demand what they should be. Rewards in video games should have some underlying substance to them, however trivial, like the fat penguin in Super Mario 64.