the buzz log

A lot of folks will tell you that video games are an unfulfilling waste of time. Obviously, these haters have never heard of "achievements."

Achievements are the Xbox 360's way of rewarding gamers. Each time a player "unlocks" a part of the game by doing something good, he or she earns achievement points. These points then appear on the gamer's online profile, letting other gamers know that he or she is worthy of the community's respect and awe.

What do achievement points get you? Nothing but bragging rights, baby. But their lack of monetary value hasn't stopped folks from searching for ways to acquire them. Week after week, gamers hit the Search box for clues on how to score points in their favorite games. Lately, folks seem particularly obsessed with nailing down achievements for first person shooters like "Halo 3," "Bioshock, " and "Call of Duty 4."

Even titles that haven't been released draw interest from hard core gamers. For example, lookups on "grand theft auto 4 achievements" are already on the rise despite the game's April release date. Obsess much, guys?

Below, we rank the top 20 Xbox 360 achievement searches from the past week. If you dream it (and put in a good 10 hours on the couch), you can achieve it.