PS3’s Trophies System Explained

Playstation 3 gamers have been waiting a while for trophy functionality, like Xbox Live’s accomplishments system, but the wait is finally almost over. On the official blog, they’ve just posted a video explaining everything you need to know about the new system, top to bottom.

Essentially, it’s not far different from the Xbox Live accomplishments, but it seems more intuitive (and not so slow to navigate). You can accrue different trophies in supported games, and they will automatically be added to your profile. As you earn more, they will combine with your overall trophies: bronze, silver, gold and platinum. The more you have, well, the better the person you are, of course!

In all seriousness, it looks like a great system, one that’s a bit better designed than the accomplishments on Xbox Live, but the biggest downfall is the fact that it’s only for certain games going forward, and it appears very few previously-launched games will add the functionality in. It would be possible with the help of a patch, but whether or not developers will care enough to release such a thing is yet to be seen.

No launch date announced for the new firmware that adds this functionality, but it should be very, very soon.

Super Stardust HD, a PLAYSTATION Network-exclusive released in June 2007, will be the first game to leverage Trophies and will offer a variety of trophies. Trophy support in Super Stardust HD will be available for first-time users who purchase the game soon after firmware v2.40 is released, while those who previously purchased and downloaded the title will be prompted to install a free patch.

Source: Playstation Blog