A Dirty Little Secret

Fallout 3, Games for Windows Live, and discovering that unlocking achievements can be fun are the topics of this editorial on The Escapist.

As a fan of both Bethesda and the Fallout franchise, there was only one thing on my mind when I brought home Fallout 3: Playing the game. The last thing I was interested in was wasting time on some half-assed Xbox-style online nonsense from Microsoft. Games for Windows? I had my game, I had Windows and I had absolutely zero interest in whatever online fiddle-faddle it was that had Xbox 360 owners in such a giggling tizzy. Thus, it wasn’t until I had around 120 hours sunk into the game – I really like Fallout 3 – that I decided to dig into this “Live” business and see what it was all about.

I was caught off-guard at first by the fact that everything was Xbox-centric. Despite playing on a PC, I was given an Xbox Live login and an Xbox Live Gamerscore and when I logged into my profile, I ended up at Xbox.com. It was confusing, but I persevered – no console nonsense is going to outwit me – and before long I had an account, with my reputation, my zone and Fallout 3, my single, solitary Live game. It wasn’t much, but once my many achievements were recognized as Achievements, I could deliver the virtual flip-off to everyone who bought the 360 or PS3 version of the game, laugh about the release of the PC-exclusive content editor and the deluge of free new material that’s sure to follow, and be on my way.