Xbox One offers new kind of group achievement titled “Challenge”

Written by Brandon Hofer on August 01, 2013

News: Major Nelson reveals that Xbox One will offer a new type of achievement in the form of a Challenge.

Xbox One is coming out later this year and Major Nelson has just put up a post detailing some of the things that he is excited about regarding Microsoft’s new console. One of the more interesting things he highlighted in his post was how Microsoft will be approaching achievements with Xbox One.

With Xbox One Microsoft is introducing a new type of achievement, called a Challenge. This is where players and and friends can work to accomplish time-based objectives resulting in “winning cool free stuff.” He went on to say that developers can also now continue to grow and expand achievements over time giving giving you more opportunities to raise your gamerscore without being tied solely to the achievements that are on your game disc (or digital download). He also noted that your gamerscore will in fact carry over from Xbox 360 to Xbox One in case you were curious.

What do you think about this new idea? For me, group achievements sound like they could be amazing and could be another innovative step that achievements were back in 2005. Imagine developers using something like this in a game like Battlefield 4 where maybe you have to clear a building in a certain amount of time to complete the Challenge. For those people who care about achievements and try to get every one they can, this could be a potentially huge thing and another way to show off to your friends that you have both individual achievements as well as gamerscore from group challenges.

According to Major Nelson, Xbox One will also have a new matchmaking system called Smart Match. With Smart Match you no longer have to sit and wait for a game to match you with other players. What you do is put in your match request and then leave to do something else whether it is do something else on Xbox One or go answer the phone that is ringing. Once a match is found for you then Xbox One will notify you so that you can instantaneously re-enter the game and be good to go. Major also claims that Smart Match will put you with players like yourself, ideally making your multiplayer experience more tailored to your style.

There will also be a new enhanced reputation and enforcement system that should compliment Smart Match’s reputation system. They have apparently updated their proprietary algorithms for monitoring game behavior on Xbox Live, expanded scoring elements, engaged their enforcement team and created requirements for games to take reputation into account. The new system is built on a model that accounts for how you behave and whether you positively or negatively affect others. Major says their goal is to create a safe and fun place for gamers without BS from trolls and spammers.

Xbox One will also feature a Game DVR and Upload Studio where you can create and add video clips with your friends on Xbox Live. The way it works is that Game DVR lets you record your favorite highlights. You can then use Upload Studio to customize and show off your big victories, including adding your own voiceovers by using Kinect. There will be a number of custom skins to choose from to make your video clip stand out from everyone else and you will have features like slow motion and other editing tools at your disposal.
What do you think about these additions to Xbox One? Some have been talked about briefly in the past and other details are just coming out. Are you planning on picking up an Xbox One later this year?