By the Numbers: Xbox 360 vs Giant Bomb 2011

About seven months ago, I posted a blog called "By the Numbers" that looked the statistics produced by Giant Bomb's Xbox achievement tracker. Since then, I've done a few other stat-based blogs, but I think now would be a good time to go back to the original idea. Let's look at the achievement tracker based on the year of 2011 as a whole. What were the most played games? What were the least played games? What were the most completed games? Or what if we take a glance at how a Quick Look might affect how people decide what to buy?

By my count, there were 185 games released for Xbox 360 this year. I'm probably missed a few, but tracking down that info is harder than you think. Either way, we've got a pretty good population of data to make some accurate observations. I decided to only look at Xbox because not everyone on the site has access to the PSN tracker yet, and if I were to add in Steam stats, it would skew the results since I'm already not including all platforms. So, including just the Xbox stats makes it easier in several ways (i.e. I don't have to do a whole bunch of math).

Also note that, unless otherwise specified, these charts include both retail releases and XBLA releases.

Anyway, on to the numbers...

Top 10 Most Played Games

By total number of unique users on Giant Bomb.

1. Gears of War 3 -- 11,633
2. L.A. Noire -- 9495
3. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim -- 8539
4. Bastion -- 8359
5. Batman: Arkham City -- 7465
6. Portal 2 -- 7095
7. Mortal Kombat -- 6918
8. Dead Space 2 -- 6375
9. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 -- 6347
10. Bulletstorm -- 6174

Top 10 Least Played Games

1. Yoostar on MTV -- 4
2. Kung Fu High Impact -- 5
3. Self Defense Training Camp -- 6
4. MotionSports Adrenaline -- 11
5. Blackwater -- 12
6. Xotic -- 12
7. WRC 11: World Rally Championship -- 15
8. WSC Real 11: World Snooker Championship -- 17
9. Hulk Hogan's Main Event -- 17
10. SBK 2011: Superbike World Championship -- 18

Top 10 Most Completed Games

This is based on the percentage of achievements earned by those who played the game.

1. NCIS -- 89.4%
2. Rango -- 74.0%
3. Battle: Los Angeles -- 67.3%
4. Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters -- 62.7%
5. Captain America: Super Soldier -- 61.6%
6. Transformers: Dark of the Moon -- 53.5%
7. X-Men Destiny -- 52.6%
8. Rio -- 52.0%
9. Torchlight -- 51.3%
10. Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 -- 50.6%

Top 10 Least Completed Games

1. Leedmees -- 2.1%
2. MotionSports Adrenaline -- 2.7%
3. Self Defense Training Camp - 3.9%
4. Just Dance 3 -- 4.0%
5. Dungeon Defenders -- 4.4%
6. Hard Corps: Uprising -- 5.0%
7. GoldenEye 007 Reloaded -- 5.1%
8. BloodRayne: Betrayal -- 5.2%
9. Deadliest Warrior: Legends -- 5.4%
10. Michael Jackson: The Experience -- 5.4%

Top 10 Highest Average Number of Achievements

Regardless of percentage completed or value per achievement, these are the games that had the most achievements unlocked per user. Are these achievements just easy to get? Or are they a result of the dedication of the game's fans?

1. Rango -- 36.7
2. Captain America: Super Soldier -- 34.1
3. Dragon Age II -- 31.5
4. X-Men Destiny -- 29.3
5. Dead Space 2 -- 28.6
6. Shadows of the Damned -- 28.5
7. Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters -- 27.9
8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 -- 27.8
9. Rio -- 27.6
10. Portal 2 -- 25.4

Top 10 Lowest Average Number of Achievements

Are these achievements just hard to obtain? Or are the games terrible and you just quit playing them?

1. MotionSports Adrenaline -- 2.7
2. Michael Jackson: The Experience -- 2.9
3. Self Defense Training Camp -- 3.0
4. Just Dance 3 -- 3.2
5. GoldenEye 007 Reloaded -- 4.2
6. Yoostar on MTV -- 4.5
7. Kinect: Disneyland Adventures -- 4.7
8. UFC Personal Trainer -- 4.7
9. Thor: God of Thunder -- 4.9
10. The Sims 3: Pets -- 4.9

Top 10 Most Played XBLA Games

1. Bastion -- 8359
2. Trenched Iron Brigade -- 3948
3. Torchlight -- 3401
4. From Dust -- 2823
5. Stacking -- 2701
6. Outland -- 2595
7. Crimson Alliance -- 2538
8. ilomilo -- 2486
9. Ms. 'Splosion Man -- 2107
10. Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet -- 2044

Top 10 Least Played XBLA Games

1. Xotic -- 12
2. Lucha Fury -- 28
3. Rotastic -- 31
4. Star Raiders -- 34
5. Leedmees -- 37
6. SkyDrift -- 39
7. Boulder Dash XL -- 44
8. BurgerTime: World Tour -- 46
9. Voltron: Defender of the Universe -- 59
10. Yar's Revenge -- 67

Top 10 Most Played Games Not Reviewed by Giant Bomb

1. Bastion -- 8359
2. Dragon Age II -- 4716
3. Dark Souls -- 3408
4. Torchlight -- 3401
5. Crimson Alliance -- 2538
6. ilomilo -- 2486
7. FIFA Soccer 12 -- 1719
8. Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 -- 1386
9. Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes -- 1381
10. Fight Night Champion -- 1199

Top 10 Least Played Games Reviewed by Giant Bomb

1. Blackwater -- 12
2. Lucha Fury -- 28
3. BurgerTime: World Tour -- 46
4. Dead Block -- 113
5. Just Dance 3 -- 124
6. Bodycount -- 197
7. Spider-Man: Edge of Time -- 205
8. Need for Speed: The Run -- 291
9. Swarm -- 323
10. Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure -- 374

Top 10 Most Played Games That Did Not Get a Quick Look

1. Homefront -- 2555
2. FIFA Soccer 12 -- 1719
3. Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 -- 1386
4. Two Worlds II -- 943
5. NHL 12 -- 725
6. NCAA Football 12 -- 709
7. Operation Flashpoint: Red River -- 465
8. Top Spin 4 -- 410
9. Major League Baseball 2K11 -- 333
10. Transformers: Dark of the Moon -- 329

Top 10 Least Played Games That Got a Quick Look

1. 

   Yoostar on MTV -- 4
2. Self Defense Training Camp -- 6
3. MotionSports Adrenaline -- 11
4. Hulk Hogan's Main Event -- 17
5. Rotastic -- 31
6. Star Raiders -- 34
7. Raving Rabbids: Alive & Kicking -- 44
8. Boulder Dash XL -- 44
9. The Adventures of Tintin: The Game -- 51
10. NCIS -- 54

Miscellaneous Other Stuff

...

...

And here's the raw data (forgot to include this originally)...

Some very interesting results. Glad Trenched Brigade got on a list, because that game is awesome!

This is pretty neat.

when I look back at it....yeah Gears of War 3 is fucking amazing....imma play it right now!

I'm not sure ilomilo should be included in two of the lists because some people (myself included) actually got to play the game last year through that website that gave away codes for the demo (and could purchase the full game through it), but I guess technically the game was "officially" released this year. That's your call to make though.

Other than that, really awesome data, it's interesting to see what games GB users did (and didn't) play.

@SMTDante89: As per ilomilo, yeah, I thought about it. But I went with the official 360 release date on it. If you're curious, if I were to remove it, Fruit Ninja Kinect would jump in at #10.

Hooray! I'm one of the 12 people who played the least played XBLA game on the list! I didn't enjoy it.

trenched is way better than iron brigade. dont know why people would play it.

On the Top Ten Most Played Games Not Reviewed By Giantbomb, Torchlight and ilomilo were reviewed by Brad and Ryan reviewed You Don't Know Jack.

Oh, God, do I love raw data.

Cool stuff. I was looking at # of players the other day and got depressed by Ms Splosion Man barely having 2k. Bastion is a monster, the XBLA games that make it big is always bewildering to me. I would have thought that Skyrim would be higher than Gears by now.

The Crimson Alliance number is meaningless because it includes the trial version of the game.

@TopSteer said:

On the Top Ten Most Played Games Not Reviewed By Giantbomb, Torchlight and ilomilo were reviewed by Brad and Ryan reviewed You Don't Know Jack.

Brad reviewed the PC version two years ago, so I didn't include it as this was for the XBLA version. But you got me on YDKJ. I fixed it, so now Fight Night Champion jumps in at #10.

Numbers! For science!

Gosh, I would have LOVED IT to see Bastion over Skyrim. So close...

I love these types of posts.

More people should play Xotic

@Marino: Yeah, I completely forgot about Torchlight having a PC review. Apparently I'm wrong about ilomilo too, I was sure Brad reviewed it. I could've sworn I seen Brad's avatar and the review score on the page. I think I'm going crazy.

@ez123 said:

The Crimson Alliance number is meaningless because it includes the trial version of the game.

I debated whether or not to include it because of this, but decided to go ahead and leave it on there.

If I took it out of the XBLA chart, Fruit Ninja Kinect would be #10. If I took it out of the Not Reviewed chart, Warhammer 40K: Kill Team would take the #10 spot.

You are a crazy person for compiling all this. Interesting stuff though, great job Marino.

Did GB seriously not review DA2, or just not the 360 version? Shitty thing about the achievement stats is that it's pretty clear it's really just a "top 10 easy achievements" list, but what can ya do.

Funny to see more players for L.A. Noire than Skyrim. PS3 must get a shitload of the Skyrimmers.

Damn, more people here played L.A. Noire on the 360 than Skyrim. And a lot of Bulletstorm as well.

Did GB seriously not review DA2, or just not the 360 version? Shitty thing about the achievement stats is that it's pretty clear it's really just a "top 10 easy achievements" list, but what can ya do.

Funny to see more players for L.A. Noire than Skyrim. PS3 must get a shitload of the Skyrimmers.

@Marino said:

@MideonNViscera

Did GB seriously not review DA2, or just not the 360 version? Shitty thing about the achievement stats is that it's pretty clear it's really just a "top 10 easy achievements" list, but what can ya do.

Funny to see more players for L.A. Noire than Skyrim. PS3 must get a shitload of the Skyrimmers.

There's a reason they didn't review DA2, but I'm not gonna get into it. As for Skyrim, I'm betting a ton were on PC. Probably not near as many on PS3.

haha I guess I can draw my own conclusions on that one.

I have determined two immutable laws as a result of reading all this :

1) you guys are f---ing crazy

and

2) I Love You.

Cool stuff good job Dan Marino.

@Marino Sorry to be nit-picky, but Rugby World Cup 2011 was a full retail release, rather than an XBLA one, not that it really matters except its made it onto the least played XBLA list. But this is a brilliant piece of work, nonetheless.

This needs some sort of crazy graph.

@Diometrics said:

@Marino Sorry to be nit-picky, but Rugby World Cup 2011 was a full retail release, rather than an XBLA one, not that it really matters except its made it onto the least played XBLA list. But this is a brilliant piece of work, nonetheless.

Good catch. I've fixed it. Now Yar's Revenge is the #10 least played XBLA game.

Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 represent!

@dudeglove said:

This needs some sort of crazy graph.

What criteria would you want to see?

@Marino: Line graph over time? Probably way too much damn work. Either that or wacky pie chart. Or just take all that info you posted and get someone like buzz_clik to make a pretty infographic out of it (not that it isn't pretty already).

Rayman origins stat is the saddest one. I didn't buy it either though... Maybe in 10 years there will be a time for Rayman.

Just mindblowing. You're a beautiful madman, Marino.

Casuals rule..

I've added another category, which I don't know why wasn't included originally.

But, there's now a list for the Top 10 Most Played Games That Did NOT Get a Quick Look. Showin' some love for all those sports games.

These are awesome stats!

I'm one of those people that played LA Noire and not Skyrim. Kind of wish I hadn't played it...

guess a lot of people suck at NHL 12

Considering From Dust was panned, it sure does get played a lot.

I love you

IT'S FULL OF NUMBERS!

Interesting data. I actually own and have played Xotic on Steam. It's not half bad. Maybe they just marketed it poorly for the XBLA version (or not at all would be my guess).

Great blog. That "Top 10 Least Played Games Reviewed by Giant Bomb" list makes me sad... So much wasted effort.

@mandude said:

Considering From Dust was panned, it sure does get played a lot.

Now you know why every developer wants in on the Summer of Arcade.

damn and to think i played cursed crusader just to get on a list and still lost.

Awesome numbers man, great work.

I am 11,000 of the people playing Gears Of War 3.

@Sweep said:

I am 11,000 of the people playing Gears Of War 3.

I knew people that used to quad-box EverQuest, but what you're doing takes true skill.

This is some obscenely interesting stuff right here. Thanks for taking the time to compile this!

I do love me some raw data.

Blows me away that LA Noire beat Skyrim. And Batman.

I guess it's because LA Noire had problems on the PS3, and 360 was the only other platform (at launch) so it got the bulk of the players. Whereas many people got the PC version of Skyrim, and the PS3 version of Batman was OK, so the 360 wouldn't dominate as much for those games.

Oh man, I love numbers. You're slightly crazy for doing all of this. And I can admit that I didn't know what some of those least played titles even were. Madness.