One of the most exciting things about Achievements — I mean, besides earning them — is seeing game developers come up with new, creative ones. After all, getting Gamerscore is good, but notching points in a way that makes you laugh, smile, or feel a true sense of accomplishment is even better. It makes each “tpok!” that much sweeter.

So in this column and next, we’d like to honor some clever Achievements that advanced the artform or stood out for being uniquely fun. If you crave Gamerscore and you’ve been playing Xbox 360 games for a while, you’ll probably remember some (or even all) of these. Either way, please join us in toasting each and every one. To the game designers who crafted them, we offer a hearty “Well done!”

Need for Speed: Carbon (2006) — Viral Achievements

Some folks cite Small Arms as having the first viral Achievement — maybe because the makers of that XBLA shoot-’em-up publically discussed the one in their game (“Six Degrees of Small Arms”) months before either product shipped. But because Carbon released a month before Small Arms, we’re giving the NFS game credit for debuting the viral Achievement — an Achievement that’s earned only by playing one of the game’s developers or another gamer who already has it. Carbon actually had three viral Achievements (each attached to a different racing mode), and then a fourth gained by obtaining the other three, for a total of 50 points. These fast-spreading Achievements are a cool idea used by many games since (including Grand Theft Auto IV, Brütal Legend, Blur, and Shadowrun [see below]), but all hail: they started here.

Dead Rising (2006) — “Zombie Genocider” (20G)

Like the next Achievement, this one rewarded slaughter on an epic scale — so very tempting when your “victims” were undead brain-munchers. “Zombie Genocider” dared you to annihilate the number of ghouls equivalent to the entire population of Willamette (53,594), the town where the game takes place. Lawnmower-butchering, queen-smashing, and especially car-ramming helped you rack up body counts; whatever tools you used, though, the grim carnage was the perfect embodiment of Dead Rising’s zombie-slaying glee.

Gears of War (2006) — “Seriously…” (50G)

Any big fan of Gears multiplayer will remember earning (or trying to earn) this Achievement for notching 10,000 kills in ranked versus matches. You had to put in MANY hours of work to get it, and it became a badge of honor for the folks who’d succeeded. Another sign of its influence: several subsequent games paid tribute to it with similar Achievements, including The Club’s “No, Seriously” (for killing 10,001 people in ranked multiplayer), Battlefield: Bad Company’s “Beans Bullets Bandages” (for getting 10,002 kills), Gears of War 2’s “Seriously 2.0” (for snuffing 100,000 enemies — thankfully, in any mode this time), and Gears of War 3’s “Seriously 3.0” (reach level 100 and earn every Onyx medal). If you have all four of those Achievements, you are officially a gaming superstar.