by: Ben Silverman
Achievement points have been with Xbox 360 gamers since the console debuted in 2006. It's a simple idea: pack every game made for the system -- including retail releases, smaller downloadable titles and expanded content -- with a number of specific challenges. Accomplishing these nets you points which are cumulatively tracked as your overall Gamerscore. It's been hailed as a game-changing feature, one so addictive and brilliant, it's been copied by everyone from Sony (Trophies) to Apple (the newly released Game Center).
And no one has achieved more than Stallion83.
The 27 year-old Tennessee man already made a mark on his favorite hobby when he was officially recognized by Guinness World Records for having the highest Xbox 360 Gamerscore in the world. But where most players would hang up their controllers after such an accomplishment, Stallion83 is just getting started.
His goal? To reach 1 million points. And as of October 25th, he's officially halfway there, cracking the awe-inspiring 500,000 point mark while playing a Wallace and Gromit game -- not exactly the hardest game around, but hey, it counts.
"The toughest achievements for me would have to be some of the ones found in the Guitar Hero games," he told Y! Games. "I still haven't managed to become a master at it, not even close. Once I crank it up to expert difficulty, I know the game is laughing at me. I just need to put the practice in."
Practice? That's a scary thought. Each Xbox 360 retail game maxes out at 1000 Achievement points, while smaller downloadable titles typically yield 200. To reach 500,000, Stallion83 has played an absolutely insane 683 games and pretty much mastered most of them. (To put that number in perspective, a quick scan of my Xbox Live friends list -- many of whom are game journalists who play daily -- shows most players hovering between 25,000 and 60,000, with a few above 80,000.)
So does he play constantly?
"It really depends on what I am playing and how much I am enjoying a certain game," he said. "If it is a game I really enjoy, I can play it for a long, long stretch of time. However, I do not play non-stop like some people would imagine. I have just stuck with it for almost four years now -- consistency is key. Some days I will play for 8 hours, other days it may be 10 minutes."
Some might consider his 1 million point mission -- which is chronicled on his blog -- to be a bit obsessive. But Stallion83 points out that that what he does is really no different from anything else and that his friends and family have been quite supportive.
"Nobody has given me a hard time over it, because it's what I enjoy doing," he said. "I love Xbox Live and gaming. In the world we live in, everybody does something that they love. Whether it is watching TV, tending to their garden (real or fake), making sure their 1966 Ford Mustang is spotless, or reading their favorite authors. Me, I like to play games."
