Gears of War: Most Played for Xbox 360
January 2, 2007
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.”
Top 10 video games of 2006
1 Madden NFL 07 (PS2)
2 New Super Mario Bros. (NDS)
3 Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)
4 Gears of War (360)
5 Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter (360)
6 Final Fantasy XII (PS2)
7 Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (PS2)
8 NCAA Football 07 (PS2)
9 Madden NFL 07 (360)
10 Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! (NDS)
Nielsen Gets into Gaming
October 19, 2006
Nielsen Media Research announced yesterday plans to launch GamePlay Metrics, which is designed to give the video game industry a precise system of electronic measurements to standardize the burgeoning market for the buying and selling of ads in its video games – an industry first. GamePlay Metrics also will track the activities of gamers across other media platforms, including television and the Internet, and provide advertisers with data about the playing habits and tastes of gamers. Forecasters expect the emerging market for in-game ads to reach $1 billion to $3 billion by 2010, a fraction of the $60+ billion spent on television advertising.
“The value of an entertainment medium is directly proportional to how well it is measured,” Jeff Herrmann, vice president of Nielsen’s newly created wireless and interactive division, said in a statement. “A reliable and accurate standard of measurement for video gaming will drive advertising investment in this medium.” Nielsen spokeswoman Karen Gyimesi said the new video game service will build on the ratings sample the company already has in place for television, with some preliminary gaming data being made available in early 2007; the full service, Gyimesi said, would probably not be up and running until the middle of next year.
No “Gears of War” for Germany
The notoriously strict german Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (USK) has decided not to age rate Epic’s highly-anticipated Gears of War for Xbox 360, Microsoft reports. The lack of an official USK rating means that Microsoft is not allowed to advertise the game, and shops are not allowed to display it openly.
The game will, however, be available “under the counter;” by now, committed German gamers are used to importing uncensored versions of games from cooler European countries. The USK has refused to give Gears an age rating (after several submissions from Microsoft) because of what it claims to be extreme violence.
Microsoft, after consulting Epic and the USK, says that a watered-down version of the shooter game is “not possible” without fundamentally changing the core gameplay. Such changes also would not have been compatible with other international versions on Xbox Live. Gears of War is the second major Xbox 360 exclusive to be denied a rating in Germany this year, after Capcom’s Dead Rising.
Z Rating Hurts Dead Rising in Japan
September 29, 2006
Many Japanese retail stores are electing not to display copies of Capcom’s Dead Rising, which carries a Z rating. As a result of recent changes to the rating system for video games used in Japan, sales of Z-rated games (intended only for those at least 18 years of age) are being strictly 
enforced.
Prior to the change, the ratings were used simply to inform the consumer of a game’s intended audience. Dead Rising is one of the first Z-rated games to be released after the changes made to the video game rating system, and despite the removal of decapitation and dismemberment from the game, the Z rating has been a major detriment. Though retailers may carry the game, they have largely ignored it and kept it off the shelves, fearing the repercussions of selling it to a minor. Neither Capcom nor retailers have offered comment on the self-imposed censorship of this hit game.
America’s Most Rented
August 25, 2006
Here is the latest top-rated title list, courtesy of Rentrak Home Video Essentials:
1. NCAA Football 07 (PS2)
2. Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (PS2)
3. Dead Rising (Xbox 360)
4. FlatOut 2 (PS2)
5. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (PS2)
6. NCAA Football 07 (Xbox)
7. NCAA Football 07 (Xbox 360)
8. Cars (PS2)
9. FlatOut 2 (Xbox 360)
10. Need for Speed: Most Wanted (PS2)
America’s Most Rented
August 14, 2006
Here is the latest top-rated title list, courtesy of Rentrak Home Video Essentials:
- NCAA Football ‘07 (PS2)
- Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (PS2)
- Cars (PS2)
- NCAA Football ‘07 (Xbox)
- NCAA Football ‘07 (Xbox 360)
- Prey (Xbox 360)
- Need for Speed: Most Wanted (PS2)
- Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)
- Chromehounds (Xbox 360)
- Monster House (PS2)
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