PS3 trophies mandatory in 2009

Much as Microsoft is currently grappling with technical snafus associated with the New Xbox Experience, Sony faced its own minor debacle during the implementation of the long-anticipated trophy system for PlayStation 3 games. System lockups aside, confusion abounded over which games would feature the new award system.

At fault for the mystery was that unlike Microsoft's mandatory approach to gamerscore achievements, Sony left the option to implement trophies up to the discretion of both internal and third-party developers. At that time, Sony's director of PlayStation Network Eric Lempel told GameSpot that, eventually, all new PS3 games would include trophies.

[UPDATE] The eventually in question is apparently coming sooner rather than later. A Sony representative confirmed for GameSpot that trophy support will be mandatory in all PS3 games submitted for certification beginning next year. "Trophies will be mandatory for titles submitted after January 1, 2009," said the rep. "Of course, many teams have already started to incorporate trophies and have added support for older titles."

Currently, a number of development houses have revisited their previously released titles to implement the award system, including Naughty Dog (Uncharted: Drake's Fortune), Rockstar (Grand Theft Auto IV), and Criterion (Burnout Paradise). However, these rewards are not awarded retroactively, requiring a fresh play-through to secure the achievements.