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The Orange Box," released on the PlayStation 3 in 2007, features five games: "Portal," "Half-Life 2," "Half-Life 2 Episode One," Half-Life 2 Episode Two" and "Team Fortress 2." A newer PlayStation 3 user may notice the absence of trophies in the game and think his copy is defective, as most games include trophies. However, there is a reason why "The Orange Box" does not support the PlayStation 3's trophy system.
Trophies
The trophy system works much like the achievement system for the Xbox 360; extra tasks can be completed to earn recognition on your system profile. For example, a task may ask you to defeat 30 enemies without dying. Upon achieving this task, you are awarded a trophy that is displayed when your profile is viewed. Trophies come in four different ranks: bronze, silver, gold and platinum. The difficulty of the trophy determines the rank of the trophy, with platinum trophies being achieved only when every other trophy in a game is earned. For many gamers, trophies are a way to show off their gaming accomplishments as proof of the tasks they have completed.
Viewing and Earning Trophies
Trophies can only be earned while playing the game associated with them. For example, to earn "Uncharted 2" trophies you must currently be playing "Uncharted 2." To view all of the trophies available for a game, select "Trophies" under the "Game" menu, followed by the game you wish to view. You must have inserted the game into your PlayStation 3 and played it at least once to view the trophies associated with it. To earn a trophy, complete the requirement listed next to it in-game. When a trophy is earned, it takes roughly five to eight seconds for the notification of an earned trophy to appear onscreen; do not be alarmed when it does not instantly appear.
Which Games Have Trophies
The PlayStation 3, launched in 2006, did not initially contain the trophy system. This was added in firmware update 2.40 on July 2, 2008. All PlayStation 3 games, whether they were retail releases or downloadable titles, were required to include trophies beginning in January 2009. PlayStation Classics, downloadable PlayStation 1 games available from the PlayStation Network, do not include trophies and are exempt from this rule. For games released prior to 2009, it was up to developers if they wanted to add trophy support to their previously released games via a patch. One example of this is how developer Naughty Dog added trophies to "Uncharted," originally released in 2007. However, this was not required and not all developers added trophy support to their back catalog.
The Orange Box and Trophies
Unfortunately, "The Orange Box" was released for the PlayStation 3 in 2007, two years before PlayStation 3 games were required to include trophy support. As of the time of this publication, Valve and Electronic Arts, the developer and publisher of "The Orange Box," have not added trophy support to the game, making it impossible to earn trophies while playing. It is unlikely that "The Orange Box" will ever receive trophy support due to the amount of time that has passed. However, as trophies are only used as proof of accomplishments, you can still fully enjoy all of the features "The Orange Box" has to offer as you are not missing any vital in-game content.
Tags: trophy support, include trophies, PlayStation games, trophy system, added trophy, added trophy support, associated with