The Joys of Trophy Hunting!

In February 2012 I hooked up my brand new mint ps3 to the TV & started playing one of the greatest games ever made: Uncharted 2 (Courtesy of Mr. FullPawar who lent me the game) fully intent on burning through the story mode as fast as I can, while enjoying the story but not sparing a second thought on collectibles or trying different weapons or anything but in the middle of the game I heard a sound "plink!", turns out without even knowing I had earned a PSN trophy, a bronze one called 'Cadet Fortune Hunter', I wasn't sure what to make of it first it was a digital accomplishment more like a Facebook 'like' not anything real, right?

Little did I know that little trophy will completely change the way I played games suddenly what used to be a sprint from starting a game till completing its story mode became a project, a project that gave me a whole lot more satisfaction than just seeing the end credits roll, getting that elusive Platinum became the driving factor of me spending hours upon hours more on a game than I previously did. I now play games multiple times on different difficulties, play multiple playthroughs to get different endings, jump from rooftops to rooftops to collect feathers for Ezio's mother to make a bloody pillow!, play hundreds of fights to unlock some gear for my character, and more to get the sweet "plink" sound and have the Platinum in my collection.

I have been asked by friends and other gamers ''what will you get by getting the platinum, it doesn't mean anything'', well it doesn't mean that I have to hundred percent every single game or that I don't play to just have fun, what changed through trophies was that now I had a whole lot of things to do which I previously didn't care about, getting more satisfaction of knowing that I have accomplished as much as I can in the game that I have spent my money on, getting trophies besides stroking my gaming ego(if there is such a thing) has enabled my to gain a sense of satisfaction that was altogether was missing and I didn't even know about it..

To people who think trophy hunting is meaningless as their are no actual rewards, to them I ask what does it mean to get a thousand likes on your photo or a hundred comments on your status, what do they give? Why do people shit themselves when they don't get enough of whatever shares, likes, comments, etc. that they are looking for. The answer can be simple or complicated depending on the person looking for the answer or looking for the "like", the point is I don't know what a digital stamp of approval, or trophy provides to people neither do I care, all I care about is that it makes me feel happy and satisfied and that is all that matters in my book.

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Find me on PSN @batgalactico or Tweet to @vivekattree7