TA Gaming Stats - Nov 28th to Dec 4th 2011

By Dog of Thunder,
In a week with no major releases, it seems like most of the community went outside, enjoyed the chilly, yet fresh air or spent time with loved ones.

Alright that's a lie, everyone was inside playing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim which is enjoying a special type of dominance we have never seen from a RPG. What type of dominance is that you ask? Total, complete, ruthless domination of every single retail chart.

Congratulations RPG gamers, this week we celebrate YOU.

This report is for the period November 28th to December 4th 2011.

Games Started
22,254 TrueAchievements gamers started a total of 33,937 games between them (1,430 different games).

Only 22,254 gamers even started a new game this past week? That is off from the average, which is much closer to 30,000 a week. As you can see, no new release cracked the chart this week which left November's releases to fight it out amongst themselves.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is losing steam already, lagging behind Gears of War 3 by 18,000 gamers. I'll clarify that statement by reminding people this is only regarding overall play numbers and is not a criticism on quality. That being said, some moron will turn that into a "Call of Duty sucks" statement. Just watch. It's okay, that person can't read and therefore has no idea we're talking right now.

In other interesting stats, Assassin's Creed: Revelations and Saints Row: The Third are running neck and neck. Those two games have been within spitting distance of one another since they were released. I would not be shocked to see them remain close in number for months.

Batman: Arkham City (Xbox 360) and Battlefield 3, both October releases, are still not going away. Considering both of these games are likely Christmas presents as well, I think we'll keep seeing them until the middle of January.

Given the marketing push behind it, Need for Speed: The Run has to be considered an under-performing title for EA right? How soon before they hang up that franchise and let it rest for a year or two?

Oh right, almost forgot, congrats to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for taking the top spot.

Top Retail Games Started

Why Voltron: Defender of the Universe!? WHY!? We finally get a proper Voltron title, and it has more in common with the NES X-Men than Transformers: War For Cybertron. Now I have to spend the weekend on my couch eating Ben&Jerry's Chunky Monkey while watching the entire series off of Netflix.

Beyond Good & Evil HD rightfully claims the top spot as it is a brilliant game I played on the original Xbox. Give in to the hype, snatch it up while it is on sale and enjoy a game unlike any other. Of course you can always get RISK: Factions, which somehow earned the second spot. I know it was on sale, but this game was already over 9,000 10,000 gamers!

Scene It? Movie Night: Mega Movies (NA exclusive) and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Special Editions (EU) (EU exclusive) begin a struggle to the death over the title of "Top XBLA Trivia Game".

The biggest loser here is not only Ramon (What? You think John has a chance?), but us. We have been starved of a blockbuster XBLA release for some time and need something big to bring us back to the digital marketplace. We need something dangerous.

Top Arcade Games Started

First off, welcome back WP7! Two people missed you while you were gone.

Shuffle Party (WP) is an easy number 1 here, with nothing else even in the same zip code. Shuffle Party (WP) would even be number 1 in the "Top XBLA Games" chart. Even then, I have a hard time taking it seriously since I would much rather have a Me Party.

Regarding the rest of the list, it is full of the usual suspects, but the sudden reappearance of Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles HD (WP) makes me think it was on sale. That or a lot of people just wanted to play every game in the franchise in honor of Assassin's Creed: Revelations.

Top Windows Phone Games Started

Games Completed
5,906 TrueAchievements gamers completed a total of 8,286 games between them (989 different games).

Does anyone else still have "Me Party" running through their head? I know I do. Regardless, this here is a "Skyrim Party." The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is already approaching a 4% completion rate, which may not sound like much, but keep in mind the game had only been out for 3 weeks when these stats were collected.

Saints Row: The Third is clearly the easiest to complete of the franchise. Eschewing MP achievements will do that. NCIS is the easiest game on this chart, with an amazing completion rate of 84.99%. I would make a crack about that being the average age of NCIS fans, but I like the show.

I am a bit surprised at the low number for LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7. Despite LEGO games being a bit of a grind, the fan base is very enthusiastic which made me think this game would be completed at ludicrous speed.

Top Retail Games Completed

I am obligated to talk about Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team every time it appears on a chart. Despite the game making it seem like Orks have a ballistic skill higher than 2, I still enjoy this dual-stick shooter. It seems a lot of you do too! Oh wait, only 40 completions? THAT was enough to make it onto the chart? Only 80 gamers separate the 10th spot from the 1st spot? We really do need a new influx of quality XBLA titles.

Harms Way, the harbinger of lean XBLA times, is still stuck with a completion rate of *only* 56.15%. Daytona USA has a higher rate of 69.15%, which surprises me. Speaking of Harm's Way, is anyone else bummed that we have heard nothing from Doritos about this year's contest?

Top Arcade Games Completed

It's a Me Party! A party just for one!

Sorry, still stuck in my head. Looking at this chart is like watching a train wreck, or Tower Heist. 11 gamers was enough to make it on this chart? 11!? You know it's a slow week when Collapse! (WP) and Sudoku (WP) have only half of their normal weekly completions.

Top Windows Phone Games Completed

Achievements Won
68,960 TrueAchievements gamers won a total of 704,787 achievements online between them (37,614 different achievements).

To give an idea just how dominate The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is this week, the top achievement won sports a TA ratio of 1.44. The bottom achievement's ratio is only 1.23. This is the second straight week we have had a top achievement with a ratio higher than the bottom achievement.

Top Retail Achievements Won

Only one achievement from RISK: Factions? With the exception of grinding out super overkills, it is a fairly easy game, but given the extreme variety of games in this chart, it does make sense. 10 spots, 5 games, which is something we haven't seen from the other achievement charts in a long, long time.

Top Arcade Achievements Won

I have no idea what sort of game Shuffle Party (WP) even is, but like most WP games, it has a great title. Given how many gamers started Shuffle Party (WP) this week, it was a forgone conclusion that it would dominate this chart. Kudos then to geoDefense (WP) for carrying the banner for all other tower defense titles this week.

Top Windows Phone Achievements Won

Total TrueAchievements won by Genre

10,071 TA was the difference between Shooters and Action-Adventure titles this week. That margin, given the scale this chart works off of, is very, very tiny. Assassin's Creed: Revelations and Saints Row: The Third took the fight right to the big FPS titles this week, going toe-to-toe with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3 and Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.

In other Genre news, I continue to be amazed at the lack of Strategy on this chart on a consistent basis. Card and Board beat it out this week? Really? Will there ever be another big strategy title?

Oh look, here it is!

  • Shooter6,361,360
  • Action-Adventure6,351,289
  • Role-Playing4,575,816
  • Sports1,646,407
  • Action1,312,668
  • Racing1,098,095
  • Platformer602,435
  • Music & Rhythm346,207
  • Party262,690
  • Card & Board228,993


Next week we have another exciting selection of stats which will again, include no new big retail releases. Which games will display longevity and which will lose their steam early?
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