Achievements and trophies

Achievements and trophies are systems for measuring a player's progress in completing a game, employed by Microsoft's Xbox Live (achievements) and Sony's PlayStation Network They are typically awarded to players for making specific accomplishments or reaching certain milestones in games.

The first game in the Fallout series to feature achievements and trophies was Fallout 3.

Achievements
Achievements are Microsoft's implementation of the system, initially introduced for the Xbox 360. Unlocking achievements contributes to a player's "Gamerscore" (G) in his or her Xbox Live profile. Usually, retail games offer up to 1,000G spread over a variable number of achievements. Game developers also have the option of adding up to 250 points via downloadable content every quarter after the first year of release (for a total of 1,750 points).

Trophies
Trophies are is Sony's version of an achievement tracking system and was introduced in the PlayStation 3 system software 2.40 update in July 2008. There are four different types of trophies: bronze, silver, gold and platinum.

A gold, silver or bronze trophy is normally awarded based on the difficulty of the accomplishment. with each trophy contributing to a "level" system linked to a player's PlayStation Network profile. Gold trophies contribute more experience level advancement than silver, and silver contributes more experience than bronze.

A platinum trophy is awarded to the player once they unlock all other trophies in a game. However, smaller games such as certain PlayStation Network titles, lack a platinum trophy. Trophies are displayed on a player's PlayStation Network profile screen, which also shows their level.