Microsoft has released a list of its 10 most popular downloadable games through XBOX Live Arcade. Arcade offers XBox 360 owners the privilege of paying for a variety of shareware titles which they then proceed to download through the service.
Microsoft has not offered exact download figures for the titles in the Top 10 it has produced a list which has Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved at its apex. The game is a remake of the mini-game by Bizarre Creations that first appeared on the XBox game, Project Gotham Racing 2. Since XBox Live Arcade on X360 launched in November, 2005 Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved has received 200,000 trial downloads while users have paid for the full game 45,000 times.
Retro titles complete the Top 3 with Gauntlet and Smash TV while the Top 10 includes a variety of games as well as some of the more expensive ones. Most games available cost between 400-800 MS Points and USD 1 gets you 80 of those points. Oddly enough Number 6 on the top 10 is Bankshot Billiards 2 a game that costs 1200 MS Points or USD 15.
The popularity of the XBox Live Arcade service with gamers and developers alike has led to some exciting efforts and it can only be positive if new developers are allowed to deliver their content to a wider audience, we just hope that creators get a fair share of the proceeds with no excessive demands placed on them.
The full Top 10 announced by Microsoft is as follows:
1. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
2. Gauntlet
3. Smash TV
4. Bejeweled II
5. Zuma
6. Bankshot Billiards 2
7. Outpost Kaloki X
8. Mutant Storm Reloaded
9. Joust
10. Wik: Fable of Souls