Seven years ago today, on May 12, 2005, we were first introduced to the Xbox 360. Thanks to MTV, Elijah Wood, and The Killers, we learned everything we needed to know about Microsoft's new console in a thirty minute television show prior to E3 2005. There was a lot of talk about inhaling, creating and selling t-shirts in Tony Hawk, microtransactions, blades, and Gamer Zones. But, the most important thing that we learned about from J Allard that night, although we probably didn't know it then, was achievements. Love 'em or hate 'em, achievements have changed the way many of us play games.

At the end of 2011, I posted a blog chock full of achievement data pertaining to every Xbox 360 game released last year. So, what's the next step? How about every Xbox 360 game ever released? About 1500 games. I know...that's insane. Well...too late, because I've already compiled it all. The data you will find below was accumulated over the course of three days (May 3-5). Enough talkin', let's get to it.

Basics

To start off, here's some simple, somewhat boring info on average players per game, average completion rate, and average number of achievements unlocked.

Top 50 Most Played Games

Here's the most obvious category to include. Of nearly seven years of playing Xbox 360 games, these are the ones that are most played by Giant Bomb users. Not too many surprises, but would you have guessed Mirror's Edge would be in the top 50? Will anything ever topple Halo 3's reign at the top? Will four more people play Hexic to take over the #2 spot?

Top 50 Least Played Games

The #1 least played game is a bit of a cop out, but the game does have achievements, and some people did get their hands on it. No Giant Bomb users have, though. Well, one user did get PS3 copy, but we're not here to talk about trophies. I think the major takeaway here is to look at all those Kinect games!

Top 25 Most Played XBLA Games

It's not exactly fair to the XBLA games to always lump them in with the retail games. How 'bout them Doritos?

1. Hexic HD -- 28,953
2. Shadow Complex -- 19,010
3. Game Room -- 17,887
4. Castle Crashers -- 17,462
5. Uno -- 15,932
6. Geometry Wars Retro Evolved -- 15,793
7. Aegis Wing -- 13,803
8. Braid -- 13,627
9. Dash of Destruction -- 13,414
10. Splosion Man -- 13,220
11. Limbo -- 13,160
12. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night -- 12,560
13. Undertow -- 11,774
14. Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 -- 11,501
15. Dead Rising 2: Case Zero -- 11,294
16. Worms -- 11,036
17. Trials HD -- 10,778
18. Doom -- 10,617
19. Pac-Man Championship Edition -- 10,616
20. TMNT 1989 Arcade -- 10,559
21. Battlefield 1943 -- 10,194
22. Doritos Crash Course -- 10,139
23. Bastion -- 9945
24. 1 vs 100 -- 9822
25. Carcassone -- 9685

Top 25 Least Played XBLA Games

Tell the truth. How many of these games did you even know existed? They're right there on your dashboard! ...under like seven menus.

1. MLB Bobblehead Battle -- 12
2. Xotic -- 15
3. Deep Black: Episode 1 -- 17
4. Asteroids Deluxe -- 19
5. Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour -- 21
6. Dance! It's Your Stage -- 21
7. NBA Unrivaled -- 25
8. Fret Nice -- 26
9. Defenders of Ardania -- 28
10. Puzzlegeddon -- 29
11. Yo Ho Kablammo! -- 30
12. Lucha Fury -- 32
13. Days of Thunder: Arcade -- 34
14. Rhythm Party -- 34
15. Dream Chronicles -- 35
16. Rock Band Track Pack: Country Volume 2 -- 35
17. Inferno Pool -- 37
18. Rotastic -- 37
19. Star Raiders -- 38
20. Double D Dodgeball -- 40
21. Rainbow Islands: Towering Adventure -- 42
22. Wrecked: Revenge Revisited -- 43
23. Haunted House -- 46
24. Boulder Dash-XL -- 48
25. Frogger 2 -- 49

Top 10 Most Played Kinect Games

Oh, Kinect. If it isn't clear from this list that Giant Bomb users aren't crazy (krazy?) about Kinect, wait til you see the next list.

1. Kinect Adventures! -- 7776
2. Dance Central -- 4698
3. Kinect Sports -- 3186
4. Kinect Fun Labs: Kinect Me -- 3065
5. Fruit Ninja Kinect -- 2756
6. Kinect Fun Labs: Googly Eyes -- 2286
7. Your Shape: Fitness Evolved -- 2138
8. Dance Central 2 -- 1781
9. Gunstringer, The -- 1660
10. Kinectimals -- 1336

Top 10 Least Played Kinect Games

Yikes. Eight titles with single digit user counts. That's gotta be tough to do.

1. Country Dance All Stars -- 2
2. Victorious: Time to Shine -- 3
3. Just Dance Kids -- 4
4. Motion Explosion! -- 5
5. Big League Sports -- 7
6. SpongeBob Surf & Skate Roadtrip -- 7
7. Cabela's Big Game Hunter: Hunting Party -- 8
8. Winter Stars -- 8
9. Self Defense Training Camp -- 10
10. Let's Cheer! -- 11

Top 10 Most Completed Games

This isn't just about finishing the game. This is about S-ranking the achievements. Are these games just super easy to get achievements for? Or are they so enthralling that players have to get every single one? Probably the former.

1. Megamind: Ultimate Showdown -- 95.4%
2. Backyard Football 2010 -- 92.8%
3. NCIS -- 90.9%
4. Avatar: The Burning Earth -- 87.6%
5. Backyard Sports: Rookie Rush -- 87.5%
6. Walking Dead, The -- 85.0%
7. Truth or Lies -- 84.7%
8. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian -- 81.4%
9. Hannah Montana: The Movie -- 81.1%
10. Kinect Fun Labs: Kinect Rush Snapshot -- 79.2%

Top 10 Least Completed Games

There's 13 games here, but that's to include ties. DOAX2 is notoriously difficult in terms of achievements. And, although I haven't played the XBLA version, I'm sure Ecco the Dolphin is still ridiculously hard.

1. NBA Elite 11 -- 0.0%
2. Screwjumper! -- 0.7%
3. Exit -- 0.9%
4. Battlestar Galactica -- 1.3%
5. Novadrome -- 1.4%
6. Street Trace: NYC -- 1.5%
7. Wing Commander Arena -- 1.6%
8. Tour de France 2011 -- 1.7%
9. Speedball 2 -- 1.8%
10. Minute to Win It -- 2.0%
11. Tony Hawk: Shred -- 2.0%
12. Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 -- 2.0%
13. Ecco the Dolphin -- 2.0%

Top 20 Highest Average Number of Achievements (Retail)

I have no explanation for this eclectic mix of titles. Backyard Sports? Really?!

1. Backyard Sports: Rookie Rush -- 40.1
2. Mass Effect 2 -- 37.4
3. Rango -- 36.1
4. Mass Effect 3 -- 35.8
5. Captain America: Super Soldier -- 34.6
6. NASCAR Unleashed -- 34.1
7. Penguins of Madagascar: Dr. Blowhole Returns Again, The -- 34.1
8. Happy Feet Two -- 32.5
9. Borderlands -- 32.5
10. Dragon Age II -- 31.4
11. Assassin's Creed II -- 30.9
12. X-Men: Destiny -- 30.0
13. Backyard Sports: Sandlot Sluggers -- 29.8
14. Saints Row: The Third -- 29.6
15. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood -- 29.6
16. Generator Rex: Agent of Providence -- 29.3
17. Shadows of the Damned -- 28.9
18. Orange Box, The -- 28.9
19. Dead Space 2 -- 28.6
20. Madden NFL 12 -- 28.1

Top 20 Lowest Average Number of Achievements (Retail)

Unlike the list above, this one is at least explainable. As mentioned previously, no Giant Bomb users have put their mitts on a 360 copy of NBA Elite 11. And Tiger Woods 06 was a launch title that had legitimately broken achievements. There were several that simply did not work. Not just difficult to obtain, but literally impossible. And DOAX2 is just...well...not right.

1. NBA Elite 11 -- 0.0
2. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 -- 0.4
3. Earth Defense Force 2017 -- 0.7
4. Dead or Alive Xtreme 2 -- 0.8
5. FIFA 07 -- 0.9
6. World Championship Poker: All-In -- 1.0
7. Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII -- 1.0
8. Quake II -- 1.1
9. Supremacy MMA -- 1.3
10. Zoids Assault -- 1.3
11. Brunswick Pro Bowling -- 1.4
12. Monster Madness: Battle for Suburbia -- 1.4
13. Rapala Tournament Fishing -- 1.5
14. Sonic the Hedgehog -- 1.5
15. Battle vs. Chess -- 1.6
16. Minute to Win It -- 1.6
17. Fighters Uncaged -- 1.9
18. MotionSports -- 1.9
19. Sonic Free Riders -- 1.9
20. Vampire Rain -- 1.9

Top 20 Highest Average Number of Achievements (XBLA)

Until just a few weeks ago, XBLA titles could only have a maximum of twelve achievements (not counting DLC). So, for Costume Quest and Full House Poker to have an average of over twelve is quite impressive.

1. Costume Quest -- 12.9
2. Full House Poker -- 12.8
3. Fable Heroes -- 11.9
4. Iron Brigade -- 10.2
5. Pac-Man Championship Edition DX -- 9.7
6. Section 8: Prejudice -- 9.3
7. Battle: Los Angeles -- 9.1
8. Daytona USA -- 8.8
9. Stacking -- 8.8
10. Bloodforge -- 8.2
11. Wallace & Gromit: Episode 3 - Muzzled! -- 8.2
12. Toy Soldiers: Cold War -- 8.2
13. Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 -- 8.1
14. After Burner Climax -- 8.1
15. Wallace & Gromit: Episode 2 - The Last Resort -- 7.8
16. KrissX -- 7.7
17. Wallace & Gromit: Episode 4 - The Bogey Man -- 7.7
18. Altered Beast -- 7.7
19. Dash of Destruction -- 7.7
20. Asteroids Deluxe -- 7.6

Top 20 Lowest Average Number of Achievements (XBLA)

Looks like a bunch of classic games were bought for nostalgia purposes, then never actually played very much. Pretty sure we're all guilty of that at some point.

1. Screwjumper! -- 0.1
2. Novadrome -- 0.1
3. Cyberball 2072 -- 0.2
4. Street Trace: NYC -- 0.2
5. Ecco the Dolphin -- 0.2
6. Battlestar Galactica -- 0.2
7. Wing Commander Arena -- 0.2
8. Exit -- 0.2
9. Speedball 2 -- 0.3
10. GEON -- 0.3
11. Missile Command -- 0.3
12. Battlezone -- 0.4
13. Tempest -- 0.4
14. Shrek n Roll -- 0.4
15. Yie Ar Kung-Fu -- 0.4
16. Centipede & Millipede -- 0.4
17. Gyruss -- 0.4
18. Rush'n Attack -- 0.4
19. Space Giraffe -- 0.4
20. Bejeweled 2 -- 0.4

Top 25 Most Played Franchises (Total Players)

By "total players" I mean if you take all the games in a particular franchise and simply add their player counts together. If you're shouting at me about that not being a fair way to determine the most popular franchise, calm down and scroll on down to the next category.

1. Call of Duty -- 114,756
2. Halo -- 88,584
3. Tom Clancy's -- 75,071
4. Gears of War -- 69,685
5. Assassin's Creed -- 63,432
6. Mass Effect -- 59,292
7. Guitar Hero -- 59,147
8. Rock Band -- 52,899
9. Battlefield -- 45,393
10. Fable -- 42,434
11. Dead Rising -- 41,877
12. Street Fighter -- 38,841
13. LEGO -- 38,439
14. BioShock -- 36,839
15. Fallout -- 32,568
16. Madden NFL -- 31,861
17. Left 4 Dead -- 31,852
18. Elder Scrolls, The -- 31,597
19. Hexic -- 31,496
20. Star Wars -- 30,307
21. Saints Row -- 29,963
22. Forza Motorsport -- 28,217
23. Pac-Man -- 27,539
24. Batman: Arkham -- 27,343
25. Geometry Wars -- 27,294

Top 25 Most Played Franchises (Average per Game)

Here I have taken the total player count (as seen above) and divided it by the number of games that franchise has had on Xbox 360. So, while Call of Duty has the highest player count, it's actually the 10th most played franchise on average.

1. Gears of War -- 23,228.3
2. Mass Effect -- 19,764.0
3. BioShock -- 18,419.5
4. Halo -- 17,716.8
5. Fallout -- 16,284.0
6. Left 4 Dead -- 15,926.0
7. Assassin's Creed -- 15,858.0
8. Elder Scrolls, The -- 15,798.5
9. Hexic -- 15,748.0
10. Call of Duty -- 14,344.5
11. Batman: Arkham -- 13,671.5
12. Geometry Wars -- 13,647.0
13. Crackdown -- 13,507.5
14. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas -- 12,673.5
15. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell -- 11,881.5
16. Doritos -- 11,776.5
17. Fable -- 10,608.5
18. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon -- 10,177.0
19. Saints Row -- 9987.7
20. Forza Motorsport -- 9405.7
21. Marvel Ultimate Alliance -- 9288.5
22. Battlefield -- 9078.6
23. Dragon Age -- 8959.0
24. Dead Space -- 8652.7
25. Uno -- 8635.0

Top 25 Most Played New IP

Out of all the completely new titles that have debuted during this longer-than-normal generation, these are the ones that knocked it out of the park in their first at-bat in the big leagues. Five of them are XBLA games!

1. Gears of War -- 28,956
2. Mass Effect -- 28,019
3. BioShock -- 24,722
4. Assassin's Creed -- 24,589
5. Dead Rising -- 20,556
6. Crackdown -- 20,383
7. Borderlands -- 19,915
8. Shadow Complex -- 19,010
9. Left 4 Dead -- 18,636
10. Castle Crashers -- 17,462
11. Dead Space -- 17,030
12. Rock Band -- 16,045
13. Alan Wake -- 15,861
14. Aegis Wing -- 13,803
15. Braid -- 13,627
16. Dash of Destruction -- 13,414
17. 'Splosion Man -- 13,220
18. Limbo -- 13,160
19. Mirror's Edge -- 13,069
20. Viva Piñata -- 13,011
21. Dragon Age: Origins -- 12,810
22. Undertow -- 11,774
23. Saints Row -- 11,603
24. Bayonetta -- 11,584
25. Brütal Legend -- 11,528

Most Played Launch Titles

The Xbox 360 launched in North America on November 22, 2005 with nineteen retail titles (20 including Quake II, which was on the Quake 4 disc). Here's how they stack up against each other in terms of most players.

1. Call of Duty 2 -- 11,915
2. Perfect Dark Zero -- 11,186
3. Project Gotham Racing 3 -- 10,187
4. Condemned: Criminal Origins -- 9604
5. Kameo: Elements of Power -- 8493
6. Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie -- 5972
7. Need for Speed: Most Wanted -- 5494
8. Gun -- 4001
9. Quake 4 -- 3969
10. Madden NFL 06 -- 3702
11. Amped 3 -- 3461
12. NBA 2K6 -- 2996
13. Tony Hawk's American Wasteland -- 2100
14. Ridge Racer 6 -- 1995
15. NHL 2K6 -- 1866
16. NBA Live 06 -- 1797
17. Quake II -- 1380
18. College Hoops 2K6 -- 1376
19. FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup -- 1331
20. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 -- 1023

Top Played Games Released Between Christmas & New Year's Day

This random category was inspired by one of my favorite concept pages that maybe shouldn't exist.

1. Dead or Alive 4 -- 8970
2. New Rally X -- 2947
3. Dead Rising: Case West -- 2082
4. Raskulls -- 1770
5. Divinity II: Ego Draconis -- 399
6. MicroBot -- 255
7. SpongeBob SquarePants: Underpants Slam -- 187
8. All Zombies Must Die! -- 176

Top 10 Most Played Nolan North Games

It's no secret that Mr. North appears in more than a few games each year. Does his presence have anything do with the game's sales? That's hard to say for sure, but this is a pretty impressive list of games. And, if you're yelling at your monitor that I forgot Arkham City, I didn't. North's portrayal of The Penguin only garnered 9172 players on Xbox 360.

1. Halo 3 -- 30,796
2. Gears of War 2 -- 27,459
3. Fable II -- 27,205
4. Assassin's Creed -- 24,589
5. Assassin's Creed II -- 20,966
6. Halo 3 ODST -- 20,759
7. Shadow Complex -- 19,010
8. Call of Duty: World at War -- 16,157
9. Call of Duty: Black Ops -- 14,536
10. Marvel Ultimate Alliance -- 13,046

Top 5 Most Used Apps

Alright, I know they don't have achievements, but the site still tracks the number of users.

1. Halo Waypoint -- 19,752
2. Rock Band Music Store -- 6252
3. Destination Arcade -- 5591
4. ESPN3 -- 2856
5. Kinect Beta -- 215

Top 10 Most Played of 2005

And thus begins the portion of this data porn where we look at each year's biggest winners and losers. In the early days of Xbox 360, the game played most is the game that no one paid for.

1. Hexic HD -- 28,953
2. Geometry Wars Retro Evolved -- 15,793
3. Call of Duty 2 -- 11,915
4. Perfect Dark Zero -- 11,186
5. Project Gotham Racing 3 -- 10,187
6. Condemned: Criminal Origins -- 9604
7. Dead or Alive 4 -- 8970
8. Kameo: Elements of Power -- 8493
9. Zuma -- 6192
10. Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie -- 5972

Top 10 Least Played of 2005

Apparently those Hardwood games didn't catch your attention on those blades.

1. Hardwood Spades -- 987
2. Hardwood Hearts -- 988
3. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 -- 1023
4. FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup -- 1331
5. College Hoops 2K6 -- 1376
6. Quake II -- 1380
7. NBA Live 06 -- 1797
8. Hardwood Backgammon -- 1847
9. NHL 2K6 -- 1866
10. Ridge Racer 6 -- 1995

Top 10 Most Played of 2006

Looking back at it, 2006 was a pretty awesome year. Some heavy hitters and great new IP as well.

1. Gears of War -- 28,956
2. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, The -- 20,773
3. Dead Rising -- 20,556
4. Uno -- 15,932
5. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas -- 14,017
6. Marvel Ultimate Alliance -- 13,046
7. Guitar Hero II -- 13,033
8. Viva Piñata -- 13,011
9. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter -- 12,287
10. Saints Row -- 11,603

Top 10 Least Played of 2006

Including some of these European football games may be cheating a bit, but I didn't want to discriminate. Giant Bombers clearly don't like pimpin' rides or tunin' imports though.

1. World Championship Poker: All-In -- 80
2. LMA Manager 2007 -- 95
3. Rapala Tournament Fishing -- 175
4. Football Manager 2007 -- 192
5. Football Manager 2006 -- 239
6. Bomberman: Act Zero -- 340
7. Pimp My Ride -- 349
8. Import Tuner Challenge -- 368
9. Cabela's African Safari -- 554
10. Bionicle Heroes -- 604

Top 10 Most Played of 2007

Hail to the king. The launch of Halo 3 was truly an event. It's no surprise that it's the most played Xbox 360 game on Giant Bomb. But, a little game from Edmonton...Alberta, Canada nearly eclipsed it on it's first try. And Guitar Hero III just barely squeaked by Rock Band.

1. Halo 3 -- 30796
2. Mass Effect -- 28019
3. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare -- 25719
4. BioShock -- 24722
5. Assassin's Creed -- 24589
6. Orange Box, The -- 20504
7. Crackdown -- 20383
8. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock -- 16300
9. Rock Band -- 16045
10. Forza Motorsport 2 -- 13823

Top 10 Least Played of 2007

So, we're not big fans of managing soccer, shooting animals, monster trucks, Hot Wheels, or whatever the fuck snooker is. Good to know!

1. Championship Manager 2007 -- 39
2. America's Army: True Soldiers -- 130
3. Smash Court Tennis 3 -- 157
4. Cabela's Trophy Bucks -- 157
5. SpongeBob SquarePants: Underpants Slam -- 187
6. Monster Jam -- 189
7. History Channel: Battle for the Pacific -- 209
8. World Snooker Championship 2007 -- 211
9. Hot Wheels: Beat That! -- 215
10. Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal -- 232

Top 10 Most Played of 2008

A mere 700 players or so are all that separate Gears of War 2 from Giant Bomb's 2008 Game of the Year, GTA4.

1. Grand Theft Auto IV -- 28,213
2. Gears of War 2 -- 27,459
3. Fable II -- 27,205
4. Fallout 3 -- 23,104
5. Left 4 Dead -- 18,636
6. Castle Crashers -- 17,462
7. Dead Space -- 17,030
8. Call of Duty: World at War -- 16,157
9. Burnout Paradise -- 15,099
10. Rock Band 2 -- 14,029

Top 10 Least Played of 2008

I'm gonna be completely honest. I only knew three of these games even existed.

1. Puzzlegeddon -- 29
2. Winter Sports 2: The Next Challenge -- 33
3. Double D Dodgeball -- 40
4. Frogger 2 -- 49
5. Crazy Mouse -- 49
6. Merv Griffin's Crosswords -- 56
7. Summer Athletics -- 65
8. Shotest Shogi -- 71
9. Crash Time: Autobahn Pursuit -- 72
10. Football Manager 2008 -- 74

Top 10 Most Played of 2009

Mother fuckin' 'Splosion Man, guys. That's the power of Summer of Arcade.

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 -- 24,693
2. Assassin's Creed II -- 20,966
3. Halo 3: ODST -- 20,759
4. Borderlands -- 19,915
5. Shadow Complex -- 19,010
6. Batman: Arkham Asylum -- 18,171
7. Resident Evil 5 -- 17,452
8. 'Splosion Man -- 13,220
9. Left 4 Dead 2 -- 13,216
10. Dragon Age: Origins -- 12,810

Top 10 Least Played of 2009

If you weren't aware, more people need to play Crash Time.

1. Summer Athletics 2009 -- 25
2. NBA Unrivaled -- 25
3. Yo Ho Kablammo! -- 30
4. Inferno Pool -- 37
5. Rainbow Islands: Towering Adventure -- 42
6. Indianapolis 500 Evolution -- 42
7. Crash Time III: Highway Nights -- 50
8. Crash Time II: Burning Wheels -- 52
9. SBK-09 Superbike World Championship -- 54
10. Tour de France 2009 -- 59

Top 10 Most Played of 2010

This is the closest race in these yearly battles. Less than 1000 players separate #1 from #3, and it was #3 that won Giant Bomb's 2010 Game of the Year. Ironically, it was #4 that provided some of the most content on the site.

1. Halo Reach -- 22,902
2. Red Dead Redemption -- 22,426
3. Mass Effect 2 -- 22,006
4. Game Room -- 17,887
5. Alan Wake -- 15,861
6. Call of Duty: Black Ops -- 14,536
7. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction -- 13,297
8. Limbo -- 13,160
9. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood -- 12,696
10. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 -- 12,429

Top 10 Least Played of 2010

The only Xbox 360 game in existence that no one on Giant Bomb has played. Then, some Kinect junk, chess, game shows, and...fuckin' darts. Darts, guys. Darts.

1. NBA Elite 11 -- 0
2. Just Dance Kids -- 4
3. Get Fit with Mel B -- 10
4. X Factor, The -- 13
5. Battle vs. Chess -- 14
6. Bass Pro Shops: The Hunt -- 16
7. Minute to Win It -- 17
8. Asteroids Deluxe -- 19
9. Bakugan: Defenders of the Core -- 19
10. PDC World Championship Darts: Pro Tour -- 20

Top 10 Most Played of 2011

A few things have changed since my 2011 stats blog. Most notably, Saints Row: The Third has jumped into the top 10. I think the fact that @Ryan was repeatedly telling everyone and their mother to play it has actually worked.

1. Gears of War 3 -- 13,270
2. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, The -- 10,824
3. L.A. Noire -- 10,454
4. Bastion -- 9945
5. Batman: Arkham City -- 9172
6. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 -- 8387
7. Portal 2 -- 7781
8. Mortal Kombat -- 7539
9. Saints Row: The Third -- 7302
10. Bulletstorm -- 6931

Top 10 Least Played of 2011

Oh, geez....look at all those Kinect games.

1. Victorious: Time to Shine -- 3
2. Motion Explosion! -- 5
3. Rapala for Kinect -- 6
4. Karaoke Revolution: Glee Volume 3 -- 6
5. Winter Sports 2011 -- 7
6. SpongeBob Surf & Skate Roadtrip -- 7
7. Big League Sports -- 7
8. Crash Time 4: The Syndicate -- 8
9. Cabela's Big Game Hunter: Hunting Party -- 8
10. Winter Stars -- 8

Top 10 Most Played of 2012

It's not even half over yet, but if any game is going to catch Mass Effect 3 in 2012, it's gonna be pretty tough. And how about those two XBLA in the top 3?

1. Mass Effect 3 -- 9267
2. Fez -- 5984
3. Trials Evolution -- 5397
4. SSX -- 2751
5. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning -- 2441
6. Walking Dead, The -- 1811
7. Syndicate -- 1671
8. Darkness II, The -- 1575
9. Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, The -- 1445
10. Alan Wake's American Nightmare -- 1390

Top 10 Least Played of 2012

Anyone want to take bets on how many players Country Dance All Stars has at the end of the year? Will it break out of single digits?

1. Country Dance All Stars -- 2
2. Summer Stars 2012 -- 3
3. Mud: FIM Motocross World Championship -- 6
4. Onechanbara Z: Kagura -- 7
5. Top Gun: Hard Lock -- 17
6. Deep Black: Episode 1 -- 17
7. Defenders of Ardania -- 28
8. Rhythm Party -- 34
9. Zumba Fitness Rush -- 42
10. Birds of Steel -- 43

Random Facts

If you follow me on Twitter (@MarinoV1), you've probably seen most of these. They are just random observations I made while gathering all the data for this project. Some are interesting. Some are pretty dumb. But, here they are. I hope you enjoyed all this data porn.

• The only time the Giant Bomb Game of the Year was the most played game that year was 2008's Grand Theft Auto IV.
• Currently, 93 games have over 10,000 players. Both Bastion and Guitar Hero World Tour need 45 more to be #94.
• 19 of the top 50 most played games were new IP's. 4 of the top 50 were sequels to those new IP's.
• Based on avg # of players per game, the Doritos franchise is more popular than Fable, Forza, Ghost Recon, Battlefield, and Dragon Age.
• Only 14% of players who completed Mass Effect 3 did it without picking up Javik.
• People like trucks. 70.72% of people who played Dead Island killed at least 50 zombies with a vehicle.
• No GB users have gotten their hands on an Xbox 360 version of NBA Elite 11. One did on PS3 though.
• 215 Giant Bomb members participated in the Kinect Beta in Fall 2010.
• Released on the same day, 57 more people have played Scott Pilgrim than have played Monday Night Combat.
• 63.91% of those who played LIMBO completed it, but only 2.27% did it without dying more than 5 times.
• Asteroids is probably one of the most popular games ever. Not Asteroids Deluxe though. 19 players.
• Of the 28,018 who played the 1st Mass Effect, 23.1% never completed Eden Prime (the 1st mission).
• Only 18.6% didn't finish the first mission in ME2. That's improvement!
• Dragon Age Romance - Morrigan 32.77% - Leliana 21.39% - Zevran 19% - Alistair 13.54% - EVERYONE 8.52%.
• Of the 13,000+ users that played Forza 2, only 1.23% can claim they earned 1,000,000 online credits.
• Nearly 20,000 played Borderlands, but over 4000 of them never saw level 5.
• It's been 2.5 years, but Madden 10 still has more players than Wolfenstein. @snide still wins.
• 186 people are completely insane for accomplishing a "Hardcore" run in 'Splosion Man.
• Nearly 10,000 played 1 vs 100, but only 15.71% answered 500+ questions before it shut down.
• Despite being the site's first ever 1-star review, 5336 people still played Fable II Pub Games.
• Barely 50% that played Braid completely figured it out. But only 1.59% completed the speed run.
• Of the 28,213 who played GTA4 only 41 (0.14%) won a match of each of the multiplayer game types.
• 25% of the 15,000+ who played Burnout Paradise never won a race.
• 38 people earned an 'A' rank on every challenge in Sneak King.
• 8 people have collected every item in Dead or Alive Xtreme 2.

That Addictive Green Light

At PAX Prime 2011, the 3DS was still relatively new and I still had over 350 StreetPass hits. Now, seven months later, StreetPassing at PAX has become even more ridiculous. I ended up with over 500 this time. If you watched any of the Giant Bomb videos during the weekend, you know how important getting those last few puzzle pieces are. Everywhere you looked, there was always someone with a 3DS clearing out their Mii Plaza. At PAX though, you will likely pick up another ten Miis while you're running the previous ten through your Find Mii dungeon. It's a never-ending loop of madness that you must break yourself from occasionally in order to actually do PAX stuff. The fact of the matter is, you're getting a ton of StreetPasses even away from the convention center. I even picked up Patrick Klepek's Mii during Rock Band Night at some point.

Anyway, I don't have a bunch of pretty graphs this time. Just a bunch of numbers. Check it out.

Locations

First off, here's the breakdown of locations. Only 417 out of all my StreetPasses decided to share this information.

Not surprisingly, Massachusetts was the #1 most represented region. And, sure, NY has a high population. Not sure I would've picked Jersey to come in third though.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• Total Americans - 372 (89.2%)
• Total Candians - 41 (9.8%)
• Total International - 4 (0.96%)

For comparison's sake, only 77.7% of PAX Prime 2011 StreetPasses were American. Seattle also seems like a better place to meet international 3DS owners.

Last Played

For those that don't know, StreetPass lets you know what was the last thing someone played. Whether it was a game or an app, it shows up when they come through the gate. So, here are the top 10 most popular games and apps from my sampling of StreetPasses.

Other Info

Here's some random info extrapolated from the data.

• Only 15.1% of the people I met through StreetPass were female.
• In the never ending war between dogs and cats, 56.8% of people like dogs more.
• Males like dogs more than cats (60.2%).
• Females like cats more than dogs (61.2%).
• No one in Quebec likes dogs. FACT!
• Fuckin' Pooyan.

Raw Data

Here's the raw data. Did I meet you via StreetPass at PAX?

Presented without explanation or context:

• Doing “business”
• We lost @Sweep
• Creamsicle Coke
• I believe in a thing called technical issues
• Last of @Brewmaster_Andy 's beer
• Smocks
• Sucking your own dick
• U-haul guitar cases
• Mass Effect full
• A used condom full of hot cheese
• Dave and Ryan’s tiny bar
• Mega64 gets Lost
• Spec Ops…the eternal line
• Rickety stairs
• We’re gonna need a third booth
• Wiki talk [REDACTED]
• Hot tamales
• Quail eggs
• Ska practice
• Front row Pid
• Sour patch dust
• The Lang Zone
• Crowded bars
• Back-up plans
• Brick Red
• Photo documentary time
• That fuckin’ Pooyan
• No Borderlands
• Cliffy B surprise
• [REDACTED]
• L337 moment
• And the best damn game of Crokinole ever witnessed.

It's likely no secret that I am/was a huge fan of a little game called EverQuest. As the game turns thirteen years old today, it also becomes free to play for the first time. I'll probably fire it up in a few days just to wander around and see the old sites. I haven't actually played on a daily basis since 2004, but I still think about that game almost every day. I could probably write a story a week regarding specific adventures I had in that game, but I doubt many would read it. Between 2000 and 2004, I logged over 350 days of play time in the world of Norrath. Since that time, I've slowly come to the realization that not only were those years (particularly 2000 to 2002) the most fun I've ever had in a video game, but are likely the most fun I'll ever have. I've tried to play several MMO's since then, but the magic of early EverQuest cannot be recreated.

Today's MMO's are way too hand-holdy. I totally understand that publishers saw the rising popularity of MMO's and sought ways to bring in an even bigger audience (make things easier), but it has destroyed a lot of what made EverQuest special back then. When I started EQ, my halfling cleric was dumped into Rivervale with no more than a few rations, a few bottles of milk, and a note telling me to visit my guildmaster in the nearby church. There were no in-game maps. There was no radar. There was no glowing line on the ground telling me where to go. There wasn't even a quest log to keep track of what I'd done and where to go next. And, for a while, there wasn't even an Allakhazam to go look up info (partially because you couldn't play the game in a window then anyway). I'm sure this all sounds ridiculously archaic to many of you, but you know what? All of these things combined gave you a sense of freedom to choose where you wanted to go, what you wanted to do, and an exhilarating sense of exploration and discovery. There was no checklist to go through the motions. You had to make tough decisions on who to trust and take risks. Sure, it was confusing and scary, but I honestly think that's how you should feel entering a huge, new world.

One of my big gripes about most 'modern' MMO's is that there is no real penalty for dying. In EverQuest, when you died, you lost a decent chunk of experience. You would respawn completely naked at a bind spot in the nearest city, if you'd remembered to do so, and immediately be tasked with getting back to your corpse that contained all of your stuff. If you didn't get to it within 24 played hours, it rotted and was gone forever. Now, if you stop and think about that, typically where you die in a game like this is not a safe area. And now you have to go to that same spot, with no gear, and get your stuff back. There were countless occasions where I lost a level due to numerous deaths within one single raid. Terrifying, right? Not even Dark Souls goes that far. But you know what? It was great. It brought a danger to this virtual world that brought people together. There is/was a zone just outside Rivervale called Kithicor Forest. At night, it turned from a newbie zone into a nightmare of high level undead. Even at max level, I still hugged the wall if I had to run through that zone. Bottom line: you should be afraid to die in MMO's.

Another thing that's killed the genre for me is instancing. While sometimes maddening, much of the drama that made playing EQ interesting was competing with other players and/or guilds for certain encounters, raids, and loot drops. Being able to enter your own version of a dungeon in order to complete a quest certainly makes things easier, but it also breaks the illusion that the world you're in is a real place. During my time in EQ, many of the top tier mobs only spawned about once a week (real time), so when one popped up, it was often a race to see which guild could mobilize, assemble, and initiate combat. I once camped a particular spawn for 19 hours straight for a piece of a key I needed. The named NPC that I needed had a spawn time of about twelve minutes. So, every twelve minutes, I hoped he would spawn only to be faced with a placeholder I had to kill in order to restart the timer. I'm sure that sounds excruciating, but it's stories like that one that are what made this game so memorable. I can still tell you the names of guildmates that came by, late in the night, to make sure I was still awake. I even had one who decided she should call me on the phone around 4am to make sure I was alright. These were people I never actually met in real life. And that brings me to the last portion of my rant.

Community. There's no real sense of community in today's MMO's. And, when I say 'community,' I'm not necessarily talking about friendly people. I'm talking about the dynamic of truly having to account for other people, good or bad. When everything is handed to you and you can complete most quests on your own in your own private, instanced zone, you lose a large portion of what made early MMO's exciting. I haven't played EverQuest in about seven years, but I could still list off over fifty names of friends and enemies I had in that game, and I didn't even play PvP. On the other hand, I probably couldn't tell you ten names of players I encountered in the MMO's I've played since then.

Look, I know I sound like the old man talking about walking up hill in the snow both ways, but I liked that hill and I liked that snow!

So, about a year ago, I put together a FAQ of sorts for PAX first timers. I updated it a bit for PAX Prime last August, but it's time for an remake. For those that don't know me, I have attended the last six Penny Arcade Expos (2008, 2009, East '10, Prime '10, East '11, Prime '11). I have also attended ten E3's from 1997 to 2006. As you can see, I have quite a bit of experience in attending gaming conventions, making the most of the time available, and generally surviving four days on little to no sleep. While a lot of this info is targetted at those who have never experienced PAX, I believe it is also helpful to those who have.

If you've never been to the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, you can help familiarize yourself with the layout by checking out the videos I shot last year.

Wheaton's Law: Don't Be a Dick

I once wrote an article about The PAX Vibe. In it, I tried to describe the most indelible thing about PAX. The experience is as though you've come to some sort of reunion with tens of thousands friends you never knew you had. Whether it's an attendee, enforcer, exhibitor, panelist, or D-list Internet celebrity, virtually everyone has a permanent smile affixed to their face for three days. Our leader, Wil Wheaton, said it best...

All of the things that make us weird and strange in the real world.
Those things that people tease us for loving.
Those things that we seem to care about more than anyone else at work and school.
Those things make us who we are.
And when we are at PAX, we don’t have to hide them, or explain them, or justify them to anyone.
We have come here this weekend because just playing games isn’t nearly as fun as playing them together, surrounded by thousands of people who love them just as much as we do.

Personal Hygiene

First of all, for the sake of everyone at the show, please shower. Yes, every day. And use deoderant. It's not hard. You're going to be doing more walking than you're probably used to doing. Aside from that, why is this so high on the list of tips? Well, after PAX Prime 2010, there was a confirmed case of H1N1 on my flight home. So, use the hand sanitizer whenever you can. There are generally dispensers set up all around the convention center and especially right outside the bathrooms. You're going to be touching controllers that have been touched by people of varying degrees of sickness from all over the world. Be smart, and don't spend the week after PAX in misery.

Enforcers Are Awesome

The Enforcers are the incredible army of red shirts that volunteer their time in order to make sure that PAX is an enjoyable experience for everyone. Can't find the right panel room? Look for a red shirt. Need medical attention after experiencing the BioShock panel? Look for a red shirt. Can't figure out where Jeff Green is handing out light-up Plants vs. Zombies sunglasses? Look for a red shirt. These guys and girls are stationed everywhere. If they ask you to do something, listen up. Respect them. Appreciate them. Buy them cookies.

Do Your Homework

The schedule is avaiable right now. Once there's a PDF, ownload it. Print it out. Download an app as well. There's a few different options but the Official PAX App and Guidebook are the best. Skim through it, look at the presenters of every panel, and make a rough draft of what you'd like to see. Compare with your friends, look for overlaps, and start the excruciating process of deciding how to cut the least awesome things from your to-do list.

Planning ahead is a must. If you walk in there completely unprepared, you're going to either be a deer in headlights or a wandering madman. It's overwhelming. The key to planning ahead is to be flexible. Inevitably something will come up and you'll want to rearrange your plans. I'm going to tell you right now that you're simply not going to be able to do everything you want to do/see. Don't stress out about it. Stick to your plan as best you can, but have fun above all else.

Rhythm-Based Entertainment

A common misconception is that PAX is just like E3 in terms of being a giant expo hall of developers and publishers demoing their games. While that is a big part of PAX, there's so much more. The expo hall closes at 6 PM each day anyway, and the party certainly doesn't shut down at six. The concerts are an excellent way to spend your evening, whether you know the artists or not. In 2008, I only vaguely knew of Jonathan Coulton. I knew he did "Still Alive" for Portal, but that was about it. After that night, I was instantly a fan. The same could be said for Freezepop after that night as well.

This year's line-up includes the Supercommuter, Protomen, Metroid Metal, and The Minibosses on Friday. And then Videogame Orchestra, Paul & Storm, Jonathan Coulton, and MC Frontalot on Saturday. When I go, I typically go on Saturday. For the uninitiated, Paul & Storm typically steal the show with their comedy stylings and a 15 minute song about pirates that you'll never forget. Generally, these concerts go pretty late. Sometimes well into the following morning. But, sometimes they are strictly told by the venue to be out by 1 AM. Dejected ARRR!

The Omegathon: Final Round

The Omegathon is a three day tournament between attendees that were randomly selected weeks ahead of time by Penny Arcade's staff. If the trend continues, the PAX East version consists of two-person teams. You'll see that each round is on the schedule if you want to see a particular game they're playing, but the important one is the final round. The final round's game is always kept a closely guarded secret until just moments before the contestants are set to play it. Have you ever imagined being in the crowd for the final showdown in The Wizard? Well, this is it. Literally thousands of people cheering for a few of their peers as they battle head-to-head in Pong, Contra, Skeeball, Ikaruga, or whatever they come up with this year. And it's all hosted by Gabe and Tycho from Penny Arcade. This is the perfect closing ceremony, and you should be there to experience it.

Hurry Up and Wait

As the years have gone by, attendance at PAX has only increased. The Boston Convention & Exhibition Center is indeed massive, but you will inevitably be waiting in line for many things you intend to see and do. I've waited over an hour to see/play things like Dragon Age II, Mass Effect 3, Skate 3, and others at E3. On the most popular panels (i.e. the Keynote, Giant Bomb, Mega64, G4/X-Play, BioShock, BioWare, and anything associated with Penny Arcade), you should arrive about an hour ahead (at least) to guarantee yourself a good seat.

So, be prepared. Bring your PSP, DS, 3DS, Vita, Game Boy micro, or whatever it is you like. If you're a 3DS fan, you will get literally hundreds of StreetPasses over the weekend. Just check this out! If you're a Vita owner, be prepared to gather up more Game Goods than you will the rest of the year combined. And regardless of your handheld gaming optionof choice, you'll likely never find a better place in the world to jump into random multiplayer games. I've mentioned it before, but I once used Pictochat on my DS to solicit people to come play me in Hot Shots Golf on PSP...and it worked!

Backpacking Through New England

Many convention rookies make a mistake as soon as they leave their house. You simply must have a backpack of some kind. If you show up to PAX empty-handed, you'll be hurting and feeling like an idiot by 2 PM. Some think you can just pick up one of those big, fold-out, paper bags from a booth, but there's no guarantee any booths are doing that. Plus, they're cumbersome, you'll be hitting people with it constantly as you squeeze through crowds, and you need to keep your hands free.

So, be smart. Bring your favorite backpack or messenger bag to throw all of your swag into. Your shoulders are going to be killing you by Sunday afternoon, but it's your best option.

Expo Hall: It's a Trap!

The expo hall is where all the developers and publishers have booths set up to show off their upcoming games. You get to play stuff that's not out yet and typically talk to the people that are making them. It's awesome. But don't get stuck in there. Make sure to make your rounds through the convention center. Go upstairs and check out the PC Freeplay area. It's a massive farm of PC's unlike anything you've ever seen (unless you've been to QuakeCon). Hit up the Console Freeplay room and take your shot at some of the best fighting game players around. Think you're good enough? Enter one of the nearby tournaments (check the schedule). Need to take a break? Crash in the Handheld Lounge and rack up some StreetPasses and Near stuff. Head up to the Classic Console room for a bit and take a look at the massive library of gaming's past, pick out something you loved and play it with some people. I once saw someone set up a 64-person GoldenEye 007 tournament on the fly. And don't forget to hang out in the Classic Arcade for a bit. No quarters or tokens necessary, but please respect the cabinets. There's just so much more than just the expo hall that you need to see and do to get the full PAX experience.

The Dangers of SWAG

Free stuff is great. I know. But, listen to me for a second. Don't spend the majority of your time trying to get inflatable swords, funny hats, and Gunnar Optiks t-shirts. You're going to get free stuff without trying. Not all of it, sure, but plenty. The vast majority of free stuff you get, you will eventually throw away or, if you're like me, going to pile into boxes in a closet. At PAX East 2010, there were people that waited well over an hour to play APB for 15 minutes and get a t-shirt. How do you think those people feel about that decision now? Just be smart, people.

Pack Light and Carry-On a Big Bag

For those of you flying to Boston, you're likely going to pay at least $25 to check a bag on the plane, so you might as well get your money's worth. Even if you're only packing three Internet meme t-shirts and three sets of socks and underwear, bring a big suitcase. The extra space is going to be great for any swag you obtain as well as any stuff you end up buying inside or outside of PAX. At PAX 2009, I bought a 'Splosion Man statue from Twisted Pixel's booth. It came in a block of styrofoam, and I was still able to safely fit it into my luggage on the way home. At PAX Prime 2010, my friend (Washa Endrya) bought a fight stick from Capcom and was able to get it home easily as well.

Also, if you have one, bring a cardboard tube in your suitcase. You are likely to be handed posters at the show, and there's really no other way to get those home without folding or crushing them. One more tip from the experienced in packing for a con. Throw an empty trash bag in with your stuff. You can use that as a dirty laundry bag, which will allow you to quarantine your sweaty socks from all the cool stuff you accumulated at the show on your way home.

Do You Like Sleep? TOO BAD!

Sleep deprivation is a major side effect of the PAX experience. You can sleep on Monday or on your flight home. But, there are official and unofficial PAX events going on virtually 24 hours a day beginning Thursday night. The concerts Friday and Saturday typically go til at least 1 AM, and you're going to be in downtown Boston, which is one of the best places in the country for some bar crawling. In the grand scheme of things, your time at PAX is very limited even if you can be there all three days. You may not realize this now or even during the show, but come Monday, you'll know what I'm talking about. So, if you get four to five hours of sleep, you're doing great. Make the most of the time you have.

Microsoft Space Bucks Don't Work Here

If you've got a debit or credit card, you're mostly okay. Any food places in the area, including the food court in the convention center, are going to take your card just fine. Most booths in the expo hall will take it as well when purchasing their wares. But, it may be a good idea to carry at least a little old-fashioned paper money. Cash can be good especially if you're going out to the bars at night. If you know you're going to need cash, there are several ATM's at the convention center, but you should hit them early because I've seen them run out of cash to dispense. And there's nothing worse than knowing you can afford that one of a kind Cammy drawing by Long Vo, but being unable to retrieve the funds to buy it.

Eat Something!

This may sound ridiculous at first, but once you're in the thick of PAX, you may forget to eat or drink. And considering that you normally don't walk around for 10-14 hours a day, you're going to need to hydrate. Stopping for 30 minutes to eat may not sound enticing either depending on your schedule, but you've gotta. Unfortunately, the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center is kind of in the middle of nowhere if you ever could be in a major city. There's not a lot of food options in the vicinity without going back into downtown, which is going to take even more time. So, your best bet is really the food court in the convention center. Yes, it's overpriced. Yes, it's crowded. But, just bite the bullet, get in, and get out. Otherwise, you could toss a few Clif bars in your bag and just eat on the go.

Don't Let PAX Ruin Your PAX

This is something I've learned over the last couple PAX's. Whether it's a Giant Bomb meet-up, the Pokemon League, the Westin Waterfront Gaming Night, or one of the countless other unofficial PAX festivities, make an effort to do stuff after show hours. Honestly, it doesn't even have to be PAX related. Chances are, if you head out to the bars and restaurants in downtown Boston, you're going to run into other PAX goers. We generally take over the city.

What I'm getting at is that being in line at the Queue Room of the convention center at 8 AM (2 hours prior to show open) isn't worth missing out on the great stuff that's going on at night. Now, if there's a game that you HAVE to see and you know the line during the day is super long, go ahead and get to the convention center early one day and run for it when the doors open. But, just make sure you spend some time outside of the convention center and your hotel room.

It's All That You Can Do

Be yourself, but also be open to meeting new people. I know your mom told you not to talk to strangers, but I'm telling you that's a bunch of crap. It's unlikely that you're ever going to be around more people like yourself than you will at PAX. Above everything else, including all the tips I've given you here, have fun. You're about to have an experience that you'll never forget.

I'll leave you with one last piece of awesomeness.

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)...

2011 was a pretty damn good year in terms of these piles of plastic to which we devote so much of our free time. Was it as good or better than 1998 or 2001? Only time will tell. But, forget about all that historical nonsense for now. Let's just look at this year for what it was. It's the end of the year, so we are required to make lists. And here's my top 10 followed by some honorable mentions.

Best of 2011

	1. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim No surprise here. 152+ hours and there's still soooo many dark icons on that map. Despite all the reported issues with the game, I experienced virtually no problems. I think I had a hard lock-up twice. I'm engrossed in the world of Nirn so much that I'm seriously thinking about going back to play Morrowind since Oblivion was my first game in the series.
	2. Mortal Kombat I love MK. Some of the first work I did on the wiki here was adding info for the actors in the first three MK games. MK9 sets the bar frighteningly high for any future fighting games in terms of story and overall single-player content. It masterfully straddles the line between nostalgia/fan-service and competition-worthy gameplay.
	3. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Uncharted 2 was so amazing that making a follow up to match it had to be almost impossible. For the most part, Naughty Dog pulled it off. But, since that jump from 1 to 2 was so drastic, the jump from 2 to 3 pales in comparison, which is unfair when evaluating U3 itself. It's still an incredible feat in design, character, and story telling. I played from chapter 3 to the end in one sitting, and the game only left me wanting more.
	4. Deus Ex: Human Revolution This game came out of nowhere. I had absolutely no interest in it prior to release. But after hearing so much about it during PAX, I ordered it online during the show to have when I got home. I quickly fell in love with the game's world and wanted...no...needed to read every single email and hack every single door I could find. And I actually completed it without killing anyone.
	5. Bastion I was lucky enough to play Bastion at its first public appearance; PAX Prime 2010. You almost always know that when someone hands you a headset for their demo that the sound is a big deal. Well, it was never more true than in Bastion. But the game isn't a one-trick pony. It takes the brilliant narration mechanic and beautiful soundtrack, then combines it with a combat system that was rewarding to master and a story with characters that compelled you to want to finish the game in one sitting.
	6. Portal 2 Spaaaaaaaaace. Space!
	7. Battlefield 3 Forget about the single-player. Just forget about it. I know I did. And for someone that doesn't often play online with random log-carrying folks, I spent a considerable amount of time doing just that, and had a pretty great time as well. I dumped countless ours into BF2 many years ago. I only wish I had a PC capable of running this one as well.
	8. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters This was the only game I took the time to write a review for in 2011. After taking several years off from the franchise due to various issues with the games, I couldn't resist returning for a chance to play my home state's Augusta National Golf Course. EA successfully utilized The Masters license in such a way that brought about the sense of grandeur that the actual event displays every April.
	9. Assassin's Creed: Revelations Diminishing returns are a bitch. I love the AC franchise. I even loved the first game. ACR is pretty damn good too, but it's not what fans of the series really wanted after that massive cliffhanger at the end of Brotherhood. It's still good enough to break into my top 10 though. And it hasn't ruined my hopes for AC3.
	10. Batman: Arkham City I like Batman. How can you not like Batman? But, I wouldn't necessarily say I'm a fan though. I certainly wasn't buying Batman games before Arkham. I won't act like I know what I'm talking about when it comes to the world of DC, but I can say that I enjoyed the journey through a cavalcade of villains.

The B-Team

This year's release schedule was dense, especially the last few months. Nothing new about that though. In no particular order (except alphabetical), here's a few games that didn't quite make it on my list.

	Catherine In 2011, no game review caused as much controversy on Giant Bomb as Catherine. Personally, I rather enjoyed its originality in terms of story-telling. I also am a sucker for a good puzzle game, and that's what you spend most of your time actively doing in the game. Did it go on a bit too long? Yeah, probably. But I still enjoyed the journey and the fact that I had to stop and think about several of the morality decisions in the game. If you must know, I stuck with Katherine the whole way through.
	Gears of War 3 While not being a huge fan of the series, I had still played through both of the first two games. Strangely, though, Gears 3 was the first one that I did not play through in co-op. In a way, I'm kind of glad I didn't though. As the third and final (?) game in this trilogy was quite a bit more emotional and personal than its predecessors. Brothers til the end and all that. It just doesn't seem like the heavier moments in the game would've been as resonating if a friend was playing as that character, then it's like, "Well, you play as this person now, cause...yeah." I still haven't found its multiplayer appealing at all though.
	inFamous 2 I love me some inFamous. While the sequel is, to some extent, more of the same, that was good enough for me. The implementation of the user-generated content was great, and even if the premise of the main villain was a bit hokey, it was still a fun ride. And, without trying to be too spoilery, it took some guts from Sucker Punch to do the ending the way they did. The door is still cracked open a bit I guess, but I'm looking forward to whatever Sucker Punch is working on next, whether it's anything related to inFamous or not.
	Saints Row: The Third I couldn't put this on my list for one very important reason. I haven't played it yet. I simply ran out of time. I ordered it Christmas morning using a Best Buy gift card I'd received the night before, but it hasn't arrived yet. I feel confident, based on what I've heard from friends and from Giant Bomb staff/users, that it would've breached my Top 10 if I had played it before now, but I thought the same thing about Skyward Sword before I played it, and you don't see that anywhere on my list or here on the B-Team.
	Super Mario 3D Land Similar to the Super Mario Galaxy games, all that needs to be said about this game is that it's pure fun. It's what games were meant to be. The 3D effect is nice, but not entirely necessary. Also similar to Galaxy, the real challenge begins once you've 'completed' the game.

Marino's Award for "Does This Qualify as a Game? Because I Had the Most Fun with It!" Award

StreetPass Mii Plaza - Find Mii If you made it to PAX Prime 2011, and you had a 3DS, you know what I'm talking about. That little green light is a magical sight to behold, and it was non-stop flashing all five days that I was in Seattle. Going through the very basic RPG that's built into the Plaza was quite fun. And, thanks @wafflestomp , we have a new word to add to the vernacular; StreetPAXin.

Would you have guessed that the Giant Bomb guys had reviewed over 100 games this year? That seems like a lot for such a small crew. I have it on good authority that 101 reviews in a year is almost two per week. So, I dumped all the review data into Excel and extrapolated some colorful triangles and rectangles for you to look at. I've broken it down by reviewer, by platform, by stars, and by month. Let's get to it...

Staff

Stars

Monthly

Platform

The Raw Data