The achievements list has now been released for Project Gotham Racing 4, and it features one of the most unusual achievements I’ve seen

Simply beat one of the PGR4 team (Bizarre Creations), or more boringly, someone else that has, and you win yourself 10G shiny achievement points. See the more boring achievements here.

We play to discover. Well, most of our life revolves around discovery; each new piece of information - every new discovery - has the potential to determine our immediate or distant future. However, it applies as much in games as it does in life, and whilst discoveries are necessary in order to formulate immediate solutions to immediate problems, they also play a vital part in enhancing the longevity of a game. In play, these discoveries are often a consequence of a flexible means of interaction within the gamepay environment - if a game offers spin-jumps, diving attacks, long jumps, ground stomps and whatever else from the offset, it’s likely that you won’t discover their usefulness until you are forced to use them in challenging situations. First give the player all the tools he needs to beat even the hardest enemy, and then let the player discover how the tools work under various circumstances.

It’s not just gameplay that revolves around a theme of discovery - it’s an obvious component of story and plot devices. Okay, a lot of the time developers simply shoehorn in lazy double-cross “twists”, but when a story gets it right, the discovery can be powerful enough to turn your emotions, motives, or determination on its head. The Half-Life games, Phoenix Wright games, Beyond Good and Evil, (some of) the Final Fantasy games - all fine titles, all examples of stories where new discoveries are implemented with care and attention: simply shoving plot twists into every five minutes does not immediately turn a story into gold.

Discoveries are in many of my favourite games - Street Fighter III 3rd isn’t an 80-hour epic adventure, but I keep coming back to it because I keep finding out new techniques, and new opponents force me to try out new play styles. Space Giraffe is expertly judged in terms of pacing and the introduction of new elements, and it gives you plenty of flexibility to discover your own tactics and techniques. Guitar Hero II sees me fail a song one day, then try sliding down the fretboard instead of trying to tap the individual buttons, discovering a useful new technique.

By now you’re doubtless wondering if my definition is so wooly that discoveries can be found in any game, but remember that these examples help to redeem a game that might otherwise be run-of-the-mill. If a new use for an item is found and you think “what’s the point of that? I might as well stick to the standard attack”, the effect of the discovery has failed. I remember playing this rubbish FPS - it might have been Red Faction - and it took me a while to realise that, as well as beating people with your electric baton thing, you can also stun them, a bit like the prod charger in Deus Ex. However, out of those two options, I preferred neither, sticking to my guns. So, whilst they might not make or break a game, discoveries help to give games variety and longevity, encouraging play for play’s sake and helping you come back for more.

Revival by Soulsavers (featuring Mark Lanegan)

Young Folks by Peter Bjorn and John

Members of the DM team have been hammering Forza Motorsport 2 in a quest to finish the final achievements. And they’ve also noticed an interesting graphical glitch

If you’re racing on Maple Valley Reverse (the only time we’ve seen it), keep an eye on the track as you cross the bridge back over the hairpin section. If you’re far enough ahead to be on the bridge as cars pass underneath you’ll see strange dark patches fly across the track, from side to side. The reason?

It’s the shadows of the cars driving along the track underneath…