The monthly NPD report is always a varied lot. The “big 3″ spin the numbers to their advantage (even though it’s obvious they are blowing smoke), terms like “attach rate” are thrown out at will, and grown men argue like children on internet forums around the net. For those of us on the sane side of the aisle, the NPD Group’s monthly retail report gives valuable insight into the trends of the market as a whole.
If you’re not familiar with the monthly NPD’s, they are released around the middle of the month by the NPD Group. The NPD Group is the leading global provider of consumer and retail market research information for a wide range of industries. OK, that last line was lifted from their official website, but you get the drift. In the case of the gaming industry, they work directly with certain retailers to get the sales data they need. However, that’s where the NPD reports falter a bit. Take note that NPD numbers do NOT include all major retailers in the nation! One notable exception? Wal-Mart.
Even still, the numbers are considered the most accurate available, and provide an easy at-a-glance comparison that console fanboys love so much (assuming you’re loyalty lies with a machine or game at the top of the list).
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Videogames
So now that everyone has seen my personal top 10 Live Arcade titles, I know what you’re thinking to yourself. Where’s TMNT, Josh? Well, I can explain…at least I think I can. When making my top 10 list, I simply sorted through the current releases thus far, and from the 170+, 19 were jotted down. Breaking those 19 down into 10 was hard, but those 9 left out are still fantastic games IMO, and deserve to be trialed by anyone.
In no particular order, here are my 9 honorable mention Live Arcade titles, and a brief note on why you should play them (and maybe why they didn’t make the top 10).
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Videogames
So this is it, my top 3 personal favorite XBOX Live Arcade titles. There will be a bit of surprise in this one judging by a couple of previous comments, but I feel really good about my top 3. Each of these games are fantastic, and surprisingly, all are in completely different genres. In my opinion, these are 3 games that should be in any gamer’s collection, and each can easily provide hours of fun and challenge.
Let’s recap #10 - #4….
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Videogames
Today I’ll continue with my personal Top 10 XBOX Live Arcade list with #6 down to #4. While I understand that the games that I’m listing aren’t really for everyone, I do guarantee that if you’re interested in the genre, there’s a good chance you’ll like the game.
When I put my list together, I simply went with what I liked, and was surprised to find that there is quite a mix genres that I’ve taken interest to. In fact, I had such a big list that once I broke it down into my personal top 10, I have enough left over to realize an extra blog post for honorable mentions. So, look for that after the conclusion of my top 10. I promise no less than 9 other games that will suit anybody’s fancy.
On to the list…
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Videogames
When the XBOX Live Arcade was announced and subsequently launched back in 2004 on the original XBOX console, I was excited about the idea of having a dedicated space for all the great arcade games of my youth. While I never hopped on the Arcade bandwagon due to selling my original XBOX, the Live Arcade was “relaunched” with the release of the XBOX 360 in November of 2005, which gave me a chance to get my hands on it.
Now built into the dashboard itself, anyone with a 360 console has easy access to dozens of games for trial or purchase. At the time of this posting, there are no less than 178 offerings to gamers of all tastes, all with trial downloads available to help eliminate the exodus of your hard earned dollars from your wallet on bad games.
Due to so many options, I’m taking it upon myself to list my own personal top 10 Live Arcade games. I’ve played a majority of the available titles on Live Arcade, so I feel somewhat qualified in giving my opinion to those who will read this. Since my blog is lacking in content currently, I’m going to split this top 10 list over 3 separate posts over the next couple of days.
Today, #10 through #7.
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Videogames
A quiet war has been brewing under the surface for the past couple of months, as Dennis and myself neared the magical (pointless?) stratum of 10k gamerscore on the XBOX 360 Live network. The prize? Self worth and dignity. And free beer.
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Personal Musings
