How Achievement snapping can save Gamerscore on Xbox One

Love it or hate it, there’s no denying that the introduction all those years ago of Achievements and the linked Gamerscore to the Xbox 360 brought a new dimension to gaming. It was the first time you could really see how you compared to friends across the board and at the same time, breathed new life into those completed games that would usually just sit in the corner collecting dust.

Both the cheevos and the score collected became obsessions for many around the world, whether that would be from those who loved them, or indeed from those who found them to be a complete waste of space.

But when the Xbox One launched the magic of achievements dropped right off the cliff. Hidden away in a completely separate app, the idea was a good one but the execution was poor. No longer could you find out the details of the recently popped award within a second or two, instead requiring a long press of the Xbox button and then sitting patiently whilst the app would load. It may only have taken a five seconds or so, but it felt (and still does) feel like a lifetime. Checking them out would interrupt the flow of gaming and for the most part, I’d not even bother with them any more.

That however is all changing. The snap mode on Xbox One has been a bit of a success, especially with the latest July update that is rolling out now to preview members. Not only can you now snap the usual essentials of TV, Machinima and the Game DVR but the newest update lets you throw the Achievements app into the sidebar. Showing a real time account of how close you are to unlocking the latest achievements is a joy and no longer requires you to wait around whilst the latest details load. You can order the list to your own liking by pinning certain achievements that you’re currently working on and also get help via Internet Explorer on those ones you’re really struggling with. This helpful feature is something I used to use on a near daily basis via the Spark 360 Android app on my phone and so the same idea directly on Xbox One is a good one.

Within seconds of the latest July preview hitting your console, it will instantly breath new life into your achievement hunting and should hopefully put that all that gamerscore gathering back to the forefront of gaming. You may not like the whole ‘score, cheevo hunting and bragging’ thing, but there’s no denying the fact that the latest Xbox One update has brought the big guns back out to play again.

The July update is rolling out to preview members right about now and should be with all others in the first week or two of July.