I was reading an excellent article over at The Psychology of Games blog about achievements and loss aversion and it got me thinking about gamers and their (almost unhealthy) attachment to video game achievements and gamerscore. I can’t boast about possessing a large gamerscore on either my Xbox 360 or my PS3.

The reality is that as a games journalist, I do get to see a lot of games and eventually, I do get to play them but very rarely will I ever have the time to complete an entire game. I have completed some but it’s a ‘few and far between’ moment rather than an expectation. Also, a lot of the games I get to see are pre-retail which means they are beta versions of the game before the retail or promo copies are released. As much as I’d love to have a better gamerscore, it’s just not possible for me.

So what is the appeal of gamerscore and why does it have such a powerful grip on gamers? Is gamerscore treated much like a status symbol – if you have a large gamerscore you’re obviously bad ass and thus should expect homage from your peers and anyone you meet online? Surely it’s more than just a number that tells the world you obviously play alot of video games. Or is it?

I’d love to have more time to improve my gamerscore only because it would mean that I’ve been able to spend more time with the games I own rather than having to rush through them. I don’t spend a lot of my time on XBL or PSN these days to warrant using my gamerscore as a status symbol amongst my gaming buddies, but there was a time when I actually did feel the pressure of not having a substantial gamerscore.

The appeal for some gamers however seems to go beyond what most would consider ‘healthy’ and ends up becoming something of an obsession rather than a healthy way to compete with others online. Last year I heard through various friends and gamers that Microsoft were banning people due to abuse of the profile editor. So I did some research on this and it wasn’t hard to find guides like this one which explain (in great detail I might add), how to hack your Xbox 360 to obtain a better gamerscore. Yep, it’s actually old news now. But imagine it. You’re so fixated with your gamescore that you decide to hack your Xbox HDD (and break the terms and conditions of your contract with Microsoft Xbox 360 in the process) just to keep up. Some people are even selling consoles on Ebay with the lure of using a high gamerscore to attract buyers!

It happens. It’s a reality. I know because I’ve seen it happen. It’s sad that people have to resort to cheating just to feel acceptance. But it’s not all on the gamer – I think some responsibility should be placed on the manufacturers for making it so easy to do this. I am sure Microsoft Xbox 360 are putting measures in place to stop this sort of behaviour but you’re dealing with an online environment. Nobody can be everywhere all of the time and gamers are a smart group of people well, usually…

So the next time you want to scoff at your kids/brother/cousin’s gamerscore, think twice about the affect it will have when you do.