Xbox Gaming in South Africa

Microsoft has taken stock of the past year to put together a chart of the most popular Xbox 360 games on Xbox LIVE, including retail games, Xbox LIVE Arcade games and Indie titles for 2011. Of the top 20 most played retail games, Activision's juggernaut franchise Call of Duty took five places, including the top three, with Call of Duty: Black Ops taking the top spot. A number of older titles feature on the list too, including GTA IV, Halo 3 and Gears of War 2, showing that good games stand the test of time.

First place on the Xbox LIVE Arcade chart goes to Zen Studios' Pinball FX2, although since the base download for Pinbal FX2 doesn't cost a cent until you start buying additional tables, that might skew the figures somewhat. Full House Poker and XBLA veteran Castle Crashers complete the top three positions. Lastly we have the Xbox LIVE Indie chart, with FortressCraft Chapter 1 taking the win.

Check out the full charts below, courtesy of Major Nelson's blog:

Top 20 Xbox LIVE Titles of 2011 (unique users)

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
3. Modern Warfare 2
4. Halo: Reach
5. Battlefield 3
6. Skyrim
7. Gears of War 3
8. FIFA 12
9. FIFA Soccer 11
10. Madden NFL 12
11. GTA IV
12. NBA 2K11
13. Battlefield: Bad Co. 2
14. Call of Duty 4
15. Battlefield 3 Beta
16. Halo 3
17. Gears of War 2
18. Forza Motorsport 4
19. Red Dead Redemption
20. Call of Duty: WaW

Top 20 Xbox LIVE Arcade Titles of 2011 (full versions purchased)

1. Pinball FX2
2. Full House Poker
3. Castle Crashers
4. Fruit Ninja Kinect
5. From Dust
6. Trials HD
7. Magic: The Gathering — Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012
8. DEAD RISING 2: CASE WEST
9. Torchlight
10. Toy Soldiers: Cold War
11. Plants vs. Zombies
12. Portal: Still Alive
13. Bastion
14. LIMBO
15. Game Room
16. DEAD RISING 2: CASE ZERO
17. Peggle
18. Dungeons & Dragons Daggerdale
19. Battlefield 1943
20. Beyond Good & Evil HD

Top 20 Indie Games of 2011 (full versions purchased)

1. FortressCraft Chapter 1
2. Total Miner: Forge
3. The Impossible Game
4. Avatar Paintball
5. Toy Stunt Bike
6. CastleMiner Z
7. I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1
8. Avatar Legends
9. CastleMiner
10. Miner Dig Deep
11. Avatar Laser Wars
12. Bird Assassin
13. Voice Changer 360
14. Nuclear Wasteland
15. Avatar Karting
16. Zombie Estate
17. Avatar Drop
18. Baby Maker Extreme 2
19. College Lacrosse 2011
20. The $1 Zombie Game