Video Game Buttons Blog

January 2, 2007

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Microsoft has announced the year’s top most-played Xbox 360 games for 2006, with Epic’s Gears of War taking the top position, and UNO sitting atop Xbox Arcade Live sales.

The top Xbox 360 titles, compiled by number of unique GamerTags that have played the game, was topped Epic’s hit shooter Gears of War, followed by console pack-in puzzler Hexic HD, Call of Duty 2, Ghost Recon 3, and Bethesda’s RPG Oblivion.

UNO also found itself at the top of the most-purchased Xbox Live Arcade titles, followed by Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting, Geometry Wars Evolved, Marble Blast Ultra, and PAC-MAN.

While the Live Arcade list was dominated primarily by classic arcade and PC ports, Arcade originals like Bankshot Billiards 2, Texas Hold ‘em, Small Arms, Cloning Clyde, and LUMINES LIVE! filled out the bottom half of the top 20.

Sports and shooters dominated the original Xbox titles being played over Xbox Live, topped by Microsoft’s hit Halo 2, followed by EA’s Battlefield 2: MC, Star Wars: Battlefront 2, Madden NFL 2006, and Valve’s Counter-Strike.

Gears of War has sold more than 1 million copies in the USA and an estimated 2 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling game for the Xbox 360 video game system.

GameSpot named Gears of War the game of the year, along with best shooter game, best multiplayer game and best graphics (technical). Last month, it lost game of the year to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion at the Spike TV Game Awards but won studio of the year (for Epic Games), best graphics, best shooter, and best multiplayer game.
“Gears of War is certainly one of the best games of the year,” says Geoff Keighley, video game journalist and host of Spike TV’s Game Head. “It’s beautiful, engrossing and features very polished gameplay. It’s the kind of game you want to show off to the friends. I dare say it’s one of the first true next-generation games on the market.”

More important, Gears of War provided a boost for Microsoft’s game system at a time when much of the industry attention was focused on the launch of the competing Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii systems.

“It’s no doubt sold a lot of Xbox 360s and has made existing 360 owners feel very good about their investment,” says John Davison, editorial director of Ziff Davis Media’s game group, including Electronic Gaming Monthly. “It came at exactly the right time and has proved to be a great counter to the launch of the PS3.”

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