Trophy locked

Trophies sell games, of that there is very little doubt. Licensed pap such as Hannah Montana: The Movie and Trivial Pursuit have enjoyed cynically long retail legs due to their mind-numbingly easy platinum trophies. That ability to drive sales should not be discredited, and FuturLab’s James Marsden believes the lack of digital rewards in Sony’s PlayStation Minis line is responsible for turning most engaged gamers off the cross-compatible platform.

Speaking with TheSixthAxis, Marsden explained:

Lack of trophies in Minis is probably the single biggest turn-off for most gamers. At least that’s the impression we get from feedback on our games.

FuturLab's Velocity ran away with our recent game of the month vote, but despite achieving critical acclaim from all over the web, it's forced to stand out amongst a growing library of feature-rich PSN experiences. Marsden believes the lack of network compatibility in Minis is also a deterrent.

He continued:

The second most asked for feature of Minis is networking ability. Also demos – if all three of these things were included in Minis, it would make sales rocket.

Marsden concluded that MotorStorm RC is an ideal example of where the Minis platform should go, as “it suits a portable device and is able to use the connected features to its advantage”.

We think the developer’s got a very valid point, and we hope the upcoming PlayStation Mobile learns heavily from the mistakes of the Minis format. Would you buy more of the bite-sized titles if they included trophies and online leaderboards?

[source thesixthaxis.com]