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Carjackings overthrow duty as GTA5 takes top spot on Xbox Live
Grand Theft Auto 5 has beaten Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for the title of most-played game on Xbox 360, according to a recent blog post by Xbox Live Director of Programming Larry Hryb, aka Major Nelson. Note that this doesn't necessarily mean more people are playing GTA Online, the multiplayer component of GTA 5, as Major Nelson's data tracks how many unique users are signed onto Xbox Live while playing a game, regardless of whether or not they're using online features. Not everyone has moved onto the newest of the new though, as the top ten list also includes GTA 4, as well as Modern Warfare 3 and the original Black Ops. Meanwhile, Minecraft is still holding onto third, surrounded by guns, criminals and sports.
Black Ops 2 topples Halo 4 on Xbox Live
Even after saving the entire galaxy (twice!), Master Chief just can't stay on top. After briefly dethroning Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on Xbox Live during its launch week, Halo 4 is now the second most played game behind Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, according to Major Nelson. It's not too surprising, given the traditional Xbox Live dominance of Activision's annual shooter.Perhaps more interesting is seeing Hitman: Absolution (appropriately) sneak into the top 20, assassinate Halo 3 and take over its spot at number 19. Meanwhile, Minecraft looms in third place, waiting to reclaim its former glory once again.
Minecraft overtakes Modern Warfare 3 for most played on Xbox Live
If you've yet to truly grasp the power of Minecraft, let this just sink in: Minecraft is now more popular than Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on Xbox Live. According to the latest Xbox Live activity report from Major Nelson, Minecraft was the most popular game on the service for the week of October 15.That puts it above Modern Warfare 3, which now sits at number 2. It also makes it more popular than several other huge names, including FIFA 13, Black Ops, Halo: Reach and Battlefield 3. The only other Arcade game to even break the top twenty is the recently launched Happy Wars, Xbox Live Arcade's first free-to-play game.If you took a break from Minecraft to read this post, feel free to return to chopping down trees, building roller coasters or whatever you were doing.
Castlevania: Harmony of Despair whips up a first place finish on XBLA charts
Though the game received some middling reviews, it seems Xbox Live Marketplace browsers couldn't resist the appeal of Castlevania: Harmony of Despair's retro charms -- or its status as a Summer of Arcade title. The multiplayer monster slayer placed first on the Arcade purchases charts for the week of August 2, though it only claimed the number 15 spot for overall online activity. To see how the rest of the Summer of Arcade contenders did, just check out the lists posted after the jump.
Limbo tops weekly Xbox Live Arcade sales charts
Major Nelson's weekly dispatch of Xbox Live Arcade sales and activity rankings had an unlikely frontrunner: Playdead's $15 art house platformer, Limbo. The title took first place in the Arcade sales category, and tenth place in overall Live activity, beating out fellow recent XBLA releases Hydro Thunder: Hurricane, Deadliest Warrior and DeathSpank. It could not, however, do anything to stop Baby Maker Extreme from exerting its dominance on the Top Indie Games category. Perhaps nothing ever will. Click past the jump to see all the XBLA rankings for the week of July 26.
Xbox Live Top 20: The power of a deal
Major Nelson has released the usual breakdown of Xbox Live activity for last week, February 8-15. On the retail side of things, Modern Warfare 2 still dominates with Halo 3 maintaining second. The Aliens vs Predator demo takes third place, knocking the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 to fifth while Call of Duty: World at War maintains its fourth place position. So, in other words, not very exciting. The Xbox Live Arcade activity, however, is much more interesting. One look at the list and it's clear how much power the Deal of the Week can have on sales. In the next most recent activity listing (January 25 - February 1), Marvel vs Capcom rested in the number ten slot while TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled wasn't even in the top 20. Last week, thanks to both games being heavily discounted, Marvel vs Capcom jumped to number two while Turtles in Time Re-Shelled shot directly to number one. Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao, discounted as well, also broke back into the top twenty, landing in the thirteenth slot. Whether the turtles will keep the top spot remains to be seen. With Battlefield 1943 knocked down to $10 this week, we're guessing they might be headed back into the sewer.
Microsoft reveals the top Xbox Live games of 2009
Now that the new year is in full swing, Microsoft has decided to take a look back at the top games of 2009. Specifically, Major Nelson has released a breakdown of the most popular games on Xbox Live during 2009. The overall top twenty list seems pretty standard with Halo 3 at the top, followed by Call of Duty 4. What's amazing, though, is that after releasing in November, Modern Warfare 2 managed to snag third place for the entire year. So, pretty popular game, then. On the downloadable front, Battlefield 1943 takes top XBLA honors, followed by Castle Crashers and Trials HD. Indie Games are topped by I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1N IT!!!1 (it is just a dollar), followed by Avatar Drop and RC-AirSim. Unsurprisingly, the top original Xbox game is still Halo 2, while Star Wars: Battlefront 2 and the original Fable take second and third place, respectively. Head over to Major Nelson for the full list.
Mechs stand tall among Japan's top ten XBLA games
Microsoft has posted Japan's top ten Xbox Live Arcade games of 2009. It's unclear whether it's a list organized by sales or critical response, but the top title is Virtual-On: Oratorio Tangram -- you know, the classic robot fighter from ... no? Just play along then. The rest of the list, scrawled down by Siliconera, features many titles that found a lot more success in the west. Battlefield 1943, Castle Crashers, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and Trials HD (another surprise) take spots two through five, respectively. Check out our XBLA in Brief on Virtual-On after the break if you'd like to know what all the Japanese fuss is about. %Gallery-46149%
Xbox Live Top Ten: Call of Duty holds 3 of top 5 slots
You know what we want for Christmas? A more interesting Xbox Live Activity top ten to write about. Just as it did the week of Nov. 9, the Call of Duty franchise has held up three of the top five slots this week, with Halo 3 in second place and Grand Theft Auto IV taking the spot formerly held by the Left 4 Dead 2 demo. As hard as we might wish for a shakeup in the new year, we're not sure what title's going to be the one to do it. Surely we won't see four CoD games in the top five in 2010. Surely.
Xbox Live Top 10: People apparently played CoD4, World at War
Seriously, guys? Everyone on the planet runs out and buys Modern Warfare 2 and you're still playing Call of Duty 4 and World at War? We can understand you folks who chose to play Halo 3 -- the whole Modern Warfare 2 experience may not be your idea of a good time -- but Major Nelson's Xbox Live activity chart for the week of November 9 simply vexes us. In less puzzling news, the XBLA activity is along the lines of something we're used to seeing. Trials HD remains atop the list, followed by Castle Crashers and South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play. Konami's Zombie Apocalypse also managed to survive the gauntlet and make its way onto the list and, combined with the recent release of Left 4 Dead 2, we feel mankind is finally starting to reach acceptable levels of preparation for the inevitable future of a world plagued by the undead.
Xbox Live Top 10: Halo 3, Trials HD continue to dominate
Surprising no one, Major Nelson's weekly list of most-played games on Xbox Live showcases Halo 3 and a double dose of Call of Duty on the top of the charts, with Modern Warfare and World at War grabbing second and third, respectively. XBLA top-seller Trials HD continues to lead the downloadable space, beating out newcomers Tower Bloxx Deluxe and Panzer General: Allied Assault.The most notable item on the list is Gearbox Software's Borderlands, debuting at (a disappointing) ninth on the list. Perhaps evidence that inventory shortages may in fact muck up the wheels of a critically acclaimed game's launch. Color us surprised ... then trace us with sarcasm.
Xbox Live Top 10: Lucidity's success is unclear
While our Live Top 10 posts are usually reserved for the endless slap fight between the Halo and Call of Duty franchises -- Halo 3 remains on top, if you must know -- our attention was drawn directly to Xbox Live Arcade this week. Major Nelson reports that South Park: Let's Go Tower Defense Play rests at the top of the most purchased XBLA games for the week, while Lucidity -- which debuted the same week to mixed reviews -- failed to make the top ten at all. It's not a direct measurement of the title's early success, but it certainly doesn't bode well for LucasArts' original puzzle platformer. Based on the apparent success of South Park we have a suggestion for Lucidity 2: More cursing.
Xbox Live Top 10: Halo 3, Trials HD, Forza 3 demo
As our more astute readers likely gathered from this very post's headline, another week has gone, so it's about time we checked in with Major Nelson to see what made his list of the most-played games on Xbox Live. Unsurprisingly, Bungie's dynamic duo of Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST managed to do well, taking the first and third spots, respectively -- Call of Duty 4 was in the second slot, while Forza 3's demo managed to get some play time on folks' boxes, taking a tight turn into the seventh place spot. On the XBLA side, Trials HD did backflips to the top of the list, beating out recent releases Zombie Apocalypse and Bust-A-Move Live!. The remainder of the XBLA list saw favorites Battlefield 1943 and Shadow Complex rounding out the bottom end of the top five.
Xbox Live Top 10 is calm before the ODSTorm
The Xbox Live charts have been fairly stable for a couple of weeks. Halo 3 managed to snag the top spot from World at War two weeks ago, and the top six have remained unchanged since then. For the week ending September 14, the top slots are Halo 3, Call of Duty: World at War, Call of Duty 4, Gears of War 2, Madden NFL 10 and GTAIV from first to sixth place, respectively. Meanwhile, the bottom four merely shuffle places this week, with the FIFA 10 demo stealing seventh place from FIFA 09, knocking it to eighth. Finally, Left 4 Dead shambles into ninth, leaving the Caped Crusader's jaunt through Arkham in tenth. It's all business as usual now, but we get the feeling that something is getting ready to drop into the top 10.
Xbox Live Top 10 dominated by Shadow Complex, CoD: World at War
Major Nelson has revealed the latest figures for Xbox Live activity, which once again sees Call of Duty: World at War being the most played Xbox 360 Live title. That's not to say it's all business as usual, as the Lost Planet 2 co-op demo managed to claw its way onto the list, along with a new Xbox Live Arcade pair, Shadow Complex and Trials HD.Both titles made it onto the top two spots on XBLA's most played list, with Chair's Metroid-inspired adventure making its debut in first place. The remainder is comprised of usual suspects Battlefield 1943, Marvel vs Capcom 2 and 'Splosion Man.
Xbox Live Top 10: There can be only 1 (17)
Major Nelson's latest battle report comes as a bit of a surprise as Halo 3 was the most-played retail game of last week. With all of the new Gears of War 2 content, we were sure that game would be at the top, but Epic's title only managed to claw its way to fourth place yet again. It was bested by the usual double dose of Call of Duty action in Call of Duty 4 and Call of Duty: World at War.On the XBLA side, the frenetic tag-based combat of Marvel vs Capcom 2 was too much for the competition. Capcom's brawler enjoyed top placement, finally bumping down Battlefield 1943 to second place. Coming in at third was none other than 'Splosion Man, Twisted Pixel's excellent follow-up to previous Arcade hit, The Maw.
Xbox Live Top 10: Stickin' with the Chief
It's time we checked in with the most popular games on Xbox Live from last week. Major Nelson's figures confirm our suspicions: Halo 3 once again dominated the competition, marking the third week in a row Master Chief's extra-terrestrial murder sim has been in the top spot. In tow were the usual suspects, including Call of Duty: World at War and Gears of War 2.On the XBLA side, DICE's Battlefield 1943 emerged victorious, as many, many men and women enlisted in the new Arcade title, waging war across the islands of the Pacific. It would seem that despite major hiccups in its release, gamers just put their heads down and pushed through. We totally get it. The frustration of playing the game's menu-based QTE (see: trying to get into a match) is nothing compared to the sheer ecstasy of flying a plane into someone.
Xbox Live Top 10: Halo, can anyone hear me?
Xbox Live sure can, Master Chief, as your game Halo 3 was once again the most played title on Xbox Live. For the week ending June 29, many gamers took to the floating rings in space for some first-person combat, knocking down the duo of Call of Duty: World at War and Call of Duty 4 to second and third place, respectively. The rest of the list posted by Major Nelson is pretty run-of-the-mill, save for what came in last place: Rock Band 2. We can't remember the last time Rock Band 2 populated this list. So, good for you, little game-that-could! On the XBLA side, it's all about the Worms 2. Explosive sheep were quite the draw, as the sequel to Team17's fragfest managed to beat out another popular XBLA title, Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalker. We guess Magic: The Gathering is all tapped out. Get it? Hello? Where are you going?
Xbox Live Top 10: The Chief is back
And the mighty Xbox Live tug-of-war continues this week as Major Nelson reports that Halo 3 has once again wrangled the top spot from Call of Duty: World at War. We'd like to say there were some other -- more interesting -- changes this week, but the rest of the list remains almost completely unchanged. The only other difference is that Fallout 3 replaced Prototype at ninth place, knocking the latter to tenth.Don't worry, though, we've got a new Halo game and a new Call of Duty game on the way in just a few months. Then we can at least see different iterations of the same series occupying the top two slots. That's something to look forward to, right?[Image: Pwn or Die]
Xbox Live Top 10: World remains at war
Dearest Lorraine,Microsoft's Major Nelson has brought us another annual status report on enemy movements throughout Xbox Live, and it's not pretty. Conflict has surrounded us, as the enemy, Call of Duty: World at War, has spread like wildfire, becoming the most-played game last week. We tried to flank it with our platoons of Halo 3 and Gears of War 2, but, alas, the enemy had reinforcements in Call of Duty 4. Hope has diminished, and one only needs walk by the injured tent to feel the full force of the enemy's cruelty.Lorraine, I know not if I will return home. I have managed to live longer than most, but, I feel there's that one bullet out there with my name on it, relentlessly pursuing its new home. Please, take care of my Gamertag when I am gone (I think my Gold subscription ends next month, so look into that), and be sure to earn as many Achievements for me as you can. I suggest you start with Avatar: The Last Airbender.Yours Truly,Gus
