Smaller titles can get away with less trophies, as is the case with PSN downloadables, and they can be as simple as finishing a level, if the developer is not keen on finding interesting aspects of gameplay. Also, by making use of trophies, developers can channel players into a certain game mechanic that might go unnoticed if not reminded by a trophy, it can be a gameplay element, it can be a part of a level that has taken a lot of effort for the developers. So it can be nice for developers too..

I don’t think it’s a matter of not putting the game on ps3 because of trophies, it is that the resources to do it will have to be paid for somehow. Almost certainly by reducing resources elsewhere. QA time, art, are probably the most hit.

On the flip-side, since so many seem to love the damn things, it will probably soon get to the point that people wont get a game without them, so the mandatory requirement isn’t really changing anything, and developers will be forced to do it by economics anyway.

Speaking of economics … I suspect after the orgy of christmas spending – which will probably break records again, there could be some seriously lean times coming up. And the game industry wont be immune to it – might even be one of the first casualties (after the US car makers).

This is like politicians forcing landlords to provide hot water to residential tenants: sure, many people are happy because they want hot water, but other tenants are upset because landlords are forced to take some low-priced properties off the market and convert them into higher end rentals or office space.

I disagree that developers were being lazy on this issue; most but not all developers seem to be eagerly adopting trophies. Developer compliance doesn’t generally seem to be a problem. There are just a small number of holdouts.

And for those that love trophies, great! You are in the majority. But it’s probably not a big deal if a few of the smaller or more unique titles don’t support trophies and you have a 90% inclusion rate.

I agree they shouldn’t be forced but developers on the PS3 plaftform have been lazy. The amount of times i have read the eurogamer face offs and seen lazy port after lazy port makes me frustrated. i hope this gives developers a kick up the ass and give us PS3 gamers some better quality games at last.

That said, I see your point, but don’t agree. Fact is, there are lots of gamers out there for whom trophies are a big deal. Often gamers buy the 360 version of a game just because it has Achievements. Does Sony want to leave that money and marketshare on the table, especially when developers are already creating Achievements for the 360 versions and it’s easy enough to port them over to the PS3? I don’t think so. Does Sony want a bifurcated market of games with Trophies and games without? No. Sony should have implemented Trophies ages ago.

On a related note, what is Sony going to do about mandated Home support? What good is the ability to get together with friends in Home, if a game doesn’t support Home game launching? (In case you didn’t know, you can get together with friends in Home, set up a Warhawk game from within Home (which includes map, game type, etc), and then you’ll all be whisked away to the same match in Warhawk, together as a party. Great stuff!)