Eating cookies in the sandbox

Ahhh, don't you just love it when a game eats up your free time without a blink?

I was originally going to post about Tim Shafer's Brütal Legend, and about innovation, as I had finally gotten around to completing the game.  (Well, 97% complete, as I still have a bunch of dragon statues to free, should I actually devote the time to do so.) Then something happened....

I broke down and bought Rockstar's acclaimed western sandbox shooter, Red Dead Redemption, and the next thing I knew it was August 2nd, I was done the story, and I was at 93.1% completion.  Remember what I said about cookies for gameplay, RDR has this in spades. Not only does it have achievements up the wazoo, it also has avatar awards.  I'd like to say this was a new one for me, but XBLA Perfect Dark had them, as well as Halo 3:ODST via Halo Waypoint.  Suffice it to say, they've found a new cookie for me, as I had to unlock those avatar awards once I discovered the first one.

The first award is the sombrero, which you get the first time you shoot someone's hat off.  I then went to figure out the other hidden ones, which are two t-shirts hidden in chests.  There are more, but they're achieved once you finish some of the community challenges.  Which reminds me about something I like about Rockstar, and Microsoft, and their sense of community.

I think it was Halo Waypoint that first caught my attention, as it's an app/site that tracks your career through all the 360 native Halo games... though wish it would register if you've played either 1 or 2 on the system, as the OS and my dashboard recognizes that I've played them, but that's getting off topic.

Anywho, Rockstar's Social Club is in some ways like Waypoint, a central focus for the game experience, but does things differently.  Waypoint is a media hub for all things Halo, and is an app, like Facebook or Twitter, on your 360's dashboard.  It's less social, and more promotional, whereas the Social Club publishes the achievements of other Social Club members, and promotes the actual feel of community.  Even though I'm not engaged in multiplayer, I feel as though I'm a part of something larger, and that my personal gameplay extends toward something greater.  There's even a stat-feed that lists what certain people are doing as the game goes on.  In fact, an upcoming social challenge on the site will tabulate the in-game money raised through various activities, and the use that amount towards a target goal, which if it's met, all Social Club members will win a small prize (an avatar t-shirt.)

In short, the Social Club makes the individual game something social.  Not the same sort of social as multiplayer, but a feeling of social membership just the same.  I like this. It's a good cookie, a positive one, and one that should be used by more developers.  Halo Waypoint is a good first attempt, but Microsoft and 343 Industries should take a good look at it, and how Rockstar implements it as it's the right way to go.

Oh, and for the record, I'm at 44 hours and counting.  I need to unlock the rest of the outfits, and finish the hunting ambient challenges.  This is possibly the first time that I've wanted to get 100%, and be bothered to play-out the minutiae to get that.  This says a lot to me about the quality of the game, and says a lot about Rockstar.