If you have an Xbox 360, you probably care about achievements at least a little bit. Some of us like them because they give that extra incentive for completing game goals and add replay value, others are just plain achievement whores, and that’s all fine and good. Then there are the people who care so much about their Gamerscores that they are willing to cheat in order to earn certain achievements. According to Xbox Live’s Major Nelson, a group of gamers using an unauthorized hack have found a way to unlock certain Gears of War 2 achievements, and he is none too happy about it.

“As you know, we are committed to keeping Xbox LIVE a safe and fair place to play for the more than 17 million active members. As part of our regular safety monitoring we have pinpointed a group of players who have unlocked specific Gears of War 2 Achievements through an unauthorized hack. Deliberate cheats like these are in direct violation of the Xbox LIVE Terms of Use and will not be tolerated. As I post this, we’ve begun taking steps to reset the Gamerscores of the offending players.  As I have mentioned in the past, this is something we do occasionally to keep the service free of cheating in order to maintain a fair and level playing field for everyone. If you play fair and earn your achievements without glitching or cheating, you have nothing to worry about.”

This isn’t the first time cheating Gamerscores have been reset and probably won’t be the last, but I have to say that I completely support Major Nelson and the rest of the Xbox Live team in this. If you cheat, you deserve to have your Gamerscore reset, end of story. Achievements are supposed to display something you skillfully pulled off in a video game, and if you’re so desperate to have a higher Gamerscore than your friends that you’re willing to go through any means to get it, you need to get out more. Furthermore, people who cheat make gaming less fun for all of the honest people on Xbox Live, so maybe these reset Gamerscores will help us identify which jackasses to stay away from.