Gears of War 3 Beta

I had three nights and roughly 50 games on the new Gears Beta now. The first two nights I played it was absolutely brilliant.It is slightly faster than Gears 2 and more polished. Few new weapons and moves made it sufficiently different to look fresh and not just extension of Gears 2. However last night I tried for hours to get a good connection but every game was horrible. I think because of the way the game plays, if players are out of sync at all it makes it unbearably annoying. If you compare it with Halo Reach, Black Ops or Battlefield Bad Company 2, you can still play the game even though players are not in total sync because the game is close combat, or as fast, or using the cover system as heavily as Gears does.

Exclusive Beta Unlockables:

• Flaming Hammerburst GOT IT!
  Complete one match by Sunday, April 24 to permanently unlock.
• Flaming Lancer GOT IT!
  Complete one match during the week of April 25 to permanently unlock.
• Flaming Sawed-Off Shotgun
  Complete one match during the week of May 2 to permanently unlock.
• Flaming Gnasher Shotgun
  Complete one match during the week of May 9 to permanently unlock.
• Beta Tester Medal -- Wear it proudly, Gear. GOT IT!
  Complete one match in the Beta to permanently unlock.
• Thrashball Cole -- Unlock Thrashball Cole to play as Augustus Cole as he was before Emergence Day -- a legendary Thrashball athlete known for his ferocious, flamboyant style.
  Complete 50 matches in any game type to unlock for the Beta period.
  To permanently unlock, complete 10 matches as Thrashball Cole during the Beta period. GOT IT!
• Gold-Plated Retro Lancer -- Before the chainsaw bayonet was deployed at the beginning of the Locust-Human War, the original Lancer assault rifle had a large fixed blade.
  Complete 90 matches in any game type to unlock for the Beta period.
  To permanently unlock, score 100 kills with the Gold-Plated Retro Lancer during the Beta period.

The sense of achievement

"You've got mail" film is one of my favourite. It's not brilliant but it has got enough great parts in it to make it very likeable. There are some great lines in it like:

The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don't know what the hell they're doing or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall. Decaf. Cappuccino.

Innovations on  Microsoft's part are aplenty. To me, when it comes to Xbox 360 , nothing compares to introduction of game achievements. I think it is the genius idea that Microsoft should be very thankful for because in large part it got Microsoft where it is today in the gaming console market. I'm sure Sony would have been way ahead if they thought of introducing achievements for PS3 games instead of game trophies.

So why I'm wondering gamers like myself are so hooked in getting these achievements. Why is it that we get a smile in our face when we see that pop-up message appear: Achievement unlocked? Is it because deep down inside we're still like kids that like to be praised or just get a recognition for anything? Or is it because we went though some failings like almost everyone does and we somehow find solace in playing, escaping to another world, and get the sense that we "did it!" or "I can do this"?