It’s no secret that Grand Theft Auto IV just came out, and this sucker seems to be a huge hit.

How huge? Check out 360 Voice, one of my favorite 360 gaming pulse sites. People sign up there to have a blog auto-generated by their live status. Check an example one out here.

Anyway, they compile their data for which games are most popular, and I find this data to be pretty accurate when looking at the other numbers out there. Not total numbers, but each games’ popularity in respect to others. I’m sure the data isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty good to get an idea of how popular a given title is.

I’ll let the numbers for yesterday speak for themselves:

GTA IV
32,430 gamers (UP 24,148)

Call of Duty 4
5,629 gamers (DOWN -3,712)

Halo 3
4,086 gamers (DOWN -2,365)

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles (based on Unique Users)
1 Call of Duty 4
2 Halo 3
3 Guitar Hero III
4 Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2
5 Gears of War
6 Rock Band
7 Iron Man Demo
8 FIFA 08
9 Forza Motorsport 2
10 Madden NFL 08

Top Xbox Live Arcade Titles (Full Versions)
1 Lost Cities
2 Ikaruga
3 DOOM
4 UNO
5 Brain Challenge
6 N+
7 Worms
8 Bomberman LIVE
9 Battlezone
10 Sonic The Hedgehog 2
The above arcade list is based on full versions purchased.

No surprises here this week, as COD 4 tops the charts once again. Halo who? Good to see Forza still hanging in there as well.

It’ll be interesting to see how COD fares against GTA IV this week and next, just about everyone on my friends list was playing last night.

Source: Major Nelson

I happened across a reviews site, Test Freaks, and check out their 360 section. I had forgotten about an awesome demo I played a while back for Devil May Cry 4.

This is a definite pick up for me, as soon as time allows.

Review summary from Test Freaks :

The advanced graphics and techniques together with the visuals giving an attention to detail delight players as they explore new and exotic surroundings. Gamers state that Devil May Cry 4 with its superb action and style is a unique experience. Most reviewers state Devil May Cry 4 with its extraordinary action sequences highlighted by smooth controls and slick animations are all designed to amaze players. The actions are both stylish and beautiful. Though some reviewers find there are frequent repetitions in the environments and the fights, thus discouraging.

Devil May Cry 4 Reviews

Gaining XP and working with your buddies has never been this fun. The shared XP on Co-Op Campaign is great and the AI provides pretty good competition, especially when they spawn right around the corner from you. Running through the Co-Op Campaign with a friend for the second time on Realistic netted almost 30,000 points and an additional RANK. For you Achievement freaks out there, the multiplayer achievements seem to be the easiest to get on Team Leader and straight Death Match.
Arnett Out!

Well I have jumped back online with this game and I am proud to announce that the Multiplayer seems to be running very well now. I am not sure what was causing all the issues in the beginning, but the issues seem very rare now. Good gameplay and good matchmaking make this game worth playing.

Arnett Out!