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Collectibles in games: good idea or cheap, game extending, gimmick?

Back in the day collectibles were just a bit of harmless fun, something to provide the player with an excuse for scouring the landscape and seeing hidden bits that they might have otherwise missed. However, with the advent of achievements they seem to have become something a little more sinister, at least in the eyes of some gamers.

Now do not get me wrong, collectibles can still be a valuable addition to a game if done correctly. The audio diaries in Bioshock help fill in the back story and give some superb insight into the characters around you, plus they are not so ludicrously hidden so that players would have a headache finding them.

Heck even before achievements and the like, I would track down hidden items within games and find all the secret areas just for kicks. Though only as long as it was within the confines of the game and still enjoyable.

On the flip side you have something like Crackdown with 800 orbs scattered around the city, sure they may help your abilities up to a point, but tracking them all down takes something away from the rest of the game. Sure no one is making you do it but, lets be honest, many gamers have a sense of OCD about these things. You may be getting more game for your buck, but is it time well spent?

The topic really came to mind as this week as I was trying to finish up Borderlands. The last DLC is made up of a bunch of collectible tasks, all of which are made that much worse by the fact the items you are trying to find are only random drops from a certain type of enemy. Not to mention the fact that the drop rate of said items is ludicrously low. Considering the fact you can complete the DLC in a couple of hours it seems odd that you could be spending up to ten times that just trying to scrabble together the last few bits and bobs. It seems like the tasks were purely put in to cover up for the shortness of the general content, and it grates.

It seems that most games nowadays have some kind of collectible tucked away, varying from the ridiculous to the sublime, and I think developers need to make them feel a lot more organic and even necessary to the game. I don't mind tracking down objects that will move the story forward, power up my character or at least help complete an objective - but having a few items scattered here there and everywhere for no pertinent reason is just a ploy to try and artificially lengthen a game. I've certainly yet to meet anybody that enjoys tracking down pointless objects for hours on end.

Obviously no one if forced to do these things, but if you have shelled out money for a game then you want to see everything it has to offer and, let's not kid ourselves, there is something amazingly alluring when you grab something and 1 of 10 etc pops up on screen. What will happen if you find them all? Only one way to find out.....

Collecting things is a powerful motivator (as the over hyped Pokemon series has shown us) but it is also one that needs to be taken more seriously and used a lot more carefully. Integrate collectibles from the get go, don't just add them in as an afterthought.