I came across this thread at xbox.com and it made me curious which games have seen a boost during this gift giving season. Here are some of the games that have seen a post Christmas day gaming boost in the blogs (not in any real order):

F.E.A.R.
I know a friend that got this so I know it was a popular gift. According to the xbox.com thread I mentioned, it looks like many people were hoping it would be a popular gift. It seems like it was.

Big Bumpin, Pocket Bike Racer, Sneak King
All the Burger King games saw an increase meaning they must have been a popular gift this season! That spells good news for BK marketing!

Call of Duty 3
No surprise here. The buzz on this game is good and it was just recently released so it was a natural stocking stuffer.

Gears of War
This game is played so much anyhow that it is hard to know if the day to day boost from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day means more people got it as a gift… but you have to imagine they did, so it is on the list.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance
People like super heroes for Christmas. That is just a known fact. ;)

Need for Speed Carbon
Nothing says Merry Christmas like a super tuned auto drifting in slow motion. Besides, Helo from Battlestar Galactica is in this! How can it be bad?

PGR 3
Maybe it was the new budget price that made this an attractive stocking stuffer?

Rainbow Six Vegas
This wasn’t a surprise. A great game released for the holidays always makes a great gift.

Sonic the Hedgehog
A few more people decided to get in on the Sonic action… If I had to guess, this was for the young Xbox owners in the crowd.

Tony Hawk’s Project 8
I was really tempted to pick this up for myself. The demo was pretty fun. It looks like a few people thought it was fun enough for a Christmas list.

Viva Pinata
This game just keeps growing and growing. Is it the cartoon? The gameplay? the cute factor? Regardless it was popular this season.

So there you have it. Click the game names to view the charts and see the jump from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day after presents have been opened!

Another interesting trend I see is that almost every Xbox Live Arcade game shows a dip in the numbers on Christmas day… this must be because everyone is playing with their retail games! It also says maybe MS needs to do a better job marketing the gamer points as stocking-stuffers so we can buy more arcade games for ourselves! Maybe next year!

So do any of you playing these games online notice more players? Is it easier to find games after the holidays?

Originally Syndicated via RSS from 360voice