Wha? Halo 3 takes top of Xbox Live

by Justin McElroy { Dec 2nd 2008 at 7:59PM }

Well, we certainly didn't see this coming. Gears of War 2 is finally on store shelves, and who do we see at the top of the Xbox Live play time pile? Master Chief. No, seriously! Halo 3 took the top of a list rounded out by Gears 2, Call of Duty: World at War, CoD 4 and GTA IV.

So, we honestly don't have an answer for you on this one, we can't imagine why. We're also flummoxed as to why Left 4 Dead is so darn low. Anyone for some late Tuesday hypothesizing?

Tags: gears-of-war-2, halo-3, xbox-live

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

Christopher Grant @ Dec 2nd 2008 6:36PM

Seriously, go buy Left 4 Dead you monsters.

Sam @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:08PM

Left 4 Dead players are on PC. Mostly all valve games people play on PC.

The Dark Wayne @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:10PM

I bought it! I bought it! Shower me with love and affection!

Arturo @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:22PM

I bought it for both :)

MowDownJoe @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:28PM

If you love Valve so much, Chris, you'll buy the PC version in addition to the 360 version. Seriously, everyone in the Joystiq Steam group has seen that you've been inactive for 100 days or so!

Otimus @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:48PM

I'll get it when it's $30 or less.

I'm not paying full price for a glorified mod who's only reward is in multiplayer, due to it's shallow design.

West @ Dec 2nd 2008 9:17PM

Due to being a college student, I'm going to try to get my parents to get it for a Christmas present this year. Yay.

It's more than a glorified mod, good grief, and from what I've seen it's not shallow. I mean, for that matter, Portal was just a glorified mod.

juju187 @ Dec 2nd 2008 9:35PM

im zombie'd out

BIGGEN (LIVE-PSN: BIGGEN1103) @ Dec 2nd 2008 9:40PM

i haven't seen one person on my friends list play L4D. i haven't played it yet cause i can't find it to rent, meaning others have rented it, not that nobody has it. i want to play it, i really do. and HOW can you ever be zombie'd out? BLASPHEME!!!!!

Dr. @ Dec 2nd 2008 9:47PM

Versus mode is hopelessly broken, I've lost count of the number of times I was stuck on the "entering spawn mode" screen. I wouldn't recommend a purchase until Valve gets a patch out...

Doug @ Dec 2nd 2008 9:49PM

I bought it... for PC. I really like it, and if you have a bunch of crazy, drunken friends to play with, it becomes an instant classic.

Quote from in game:
"Is that a witch?"
"Nah, don't worry about it"
"OK" *throws molotov*
'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA'
Player 2 is dead. :(

Christopher Grant @ Dec 2nd 2008 9:52PM

MowDownJoe: Alas, my MacBook Pro isn't much for gaming anymore – hence why I stick to the console games. If only Valve would make a Mac version ... and then release every Valve game for Macs ... so me and 30 other people could buy them. Yeah, not happening, huh?

Foetoid @ Dec 2nd 2008 10:04PM

MowDownJoe...

There is a Joystiq Steam Group???

Gimme!

(Gimme = instructions on how to join)

Dr. @ Dec 2nd 2008 10:06PM

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/Joystiq

Thar you go

Strategy_Panda (the artist formally known as Titanium_Orchid) @ Dec 2nd 2008 10:18PM

7 of the 12 people who are online in the Joystiq group are playing Left 4 Dead

fffunfarm06 @ Dec 2nd 2008 10:47PM

you guys dont know why its on the top spot???? its because between cod4, waw, L4D and many others diluted all the games and halo3 gamers will always be out there. halo players are always halo players. i delete those people who only play halo. fuck those guys.

8 year olds kicking my ass and shit...

Vidikron @ Dec 3rd 2008 12:02AM

I personally just don't care for the game. It's like the game equivalent of a bad B-movie. Maybe that's the point, but it did nothing for me.

Einhanderkiller @ Dec 3rd 2008 12:10AM

Chris,
http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/bootcamp.html

:D

pwnetheus @ Dec 3rd 2008 1:10AM

Just got Left4Dead. add meeeee

gamertag: ianncannon

Bwarxor @ Dec 3rd 2008 9:36AM

I'm with otimus. I'm not paying $60 for what is essentially a multi-player only game. It's a shame because it sounds cool and all, but I've been pressured by friends to buy games before for multii-player and we always play for like two weeks before moving on to something else. It's just not even worth renting in my opinion. Most of my friends have already stopped playing.

A $40 price tag would have had me seriously considering it.

Zeron @ Dec 3rd 2008 11:55AM

Just thought I'd point out that yes Portal is, essentially, a glorified mod. There's no doubt it's an absolutely amazing game, but it also retailed for $20.

I think at $35-40 L4D would have been perfect. I'll definitely pick it up once they drop the price.

Mr Khan @ Dec 2nd 2008 7:22PM

Posted by Justin McElroy, Dec 2nd 2008, 7:59 PM

Cool! I'm 30 minutes in the future!

Cody @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:05PM

Not really...just in a different timezone...I guess?

The Dark Wayne @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:16PM

even weirder, look at Chris' reply!

Wiinterfang @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:26PM

Damn you LHC stop altering reality >__

Mr Khan @ Dec 2nd 2008 9:05PM

I'm on joystiq time. Eastern Standard. Hell, i'm none too far from Chris's home, i believe. Somewhere near Lower Merion township, right?

343 Guilty Fart @ Dec 2nd 2008 9:52PM

Heh, East Coast people with their 'townships', not good enough for a real town, are ya?

Dr.Nerd @ Dec 2nd 2008 10:08PM

Look at all your time!

steveysnipe @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:03PM

I'm thinking the legendary expansion price cut maybe?

SAKY @ Dec 2nd 2008 9:23PM

Sorry to burst your bubble Halo 3 fans but the only reason the game is on top is because the COD people are split between games. Also, Gears has/had some major matchmaking issues.

343 Guilty Fart @ Dec 2nd 2008 9:53PM

I'm a huge Halo fan, but I'll confess that I think Saky is right.

Cal @ Dec 3rd 2008 6:09AM

No, it's down the Gears 2's multiplayer being a failure, and the CoD playerbase being split between two games, or that's how I see it anyway.

Teh Lup @ Dec 3rd 2008 8:37AM

Cal has got it...
I'm playing both, Gears 2 and W@W, and enjoying both... but all my close former CoD4 brothers are split. The Gears Multiplayer is just too out right favortistic towards host, and W@W doesn't have the same edge and appeal that CoD4 had for a lot of CoD4 players.

I also had a few conversations where people were gonna buy the cheapened Halo3 maps and start playing it again for the fresh achievements. Guess we will see.

tmmoore_nc @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:04PM

Halo 3's matchmaking works. Gears 2's doesn't. As for L4D, it is comparable to The Orange Box for last year. There you go.

Tiptup300 @ Dec 3rd 2008 6:11AM

Any game that you can't have 3 guests with an xbox live game has broken online IMO. I love taking a game I know has splitscreen to find that it doesn't allow live over splitscreen or guests meaning everyone there would have to XBL Gold.

MattF @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:06PM

Both Left 4 Dead and Gears 2 have broken matchmaking. The former is useless for anyone outside of the US and the latter is just useless in general.

j.howlett @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:21PM

i was thinking along those lines

KingOfGods @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:47PM

Gears matchmaking works fine after that patch maybe you should try playing it.

MN Guy @ Dec 3rd 2008 9:14AM

I picked up Gears 2 and loved the first. I haven't been able to play online yet because it is broken. Haven't tried in two weeks but now I'm just so disappointed in it that maybe I'll wait until after Fallout 3 is done, which will be a while.

I couldn't even play co-op with anybody. Also Left 4 Dead really seems like a budget title to me. It is pretty fun, but definately feels like a glorified mod imo. At least it works though.

Alex @ Dec 3rd 2008 12:36PM

Gears 2 matchmaking STILL sucks even after the update. Wait a minute to find players...wait 5 minutes to find another team...oh the rest of your team dropped due to the wait....find more players....get a match that takes 5 minutes after a 15 minute wait.

FAIL

finnith @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:06PM

There's like a billion other games that just came out. Some people probably don't realize that they should have the L4D (and other multiplayer) experiences first.

Also, people like me are just plain broke and aren't able to afford every game.

Youthinized @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:59PM

Ding Ding Ding!

We have a winwar!

Metkis @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:12PM

My hypothesis? Not enough annoying and racist tweens own L4D because they're too busy swearing in Halo 3.

I'm more interested in Steam's numbers than this.

Zoot Suit Jedi @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:13PM

Divide and conquer. The fools who are still playing H3 are dedicated to it. There are just too many other options right now for the rest of the world.

Good lord, Halo 3 is trash.

The Dark Wayne @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:17PM

you better jump to lightspeed cause there's a whole fleet of downvotes approaching in attack formation

tmacairjordan87 @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:22PM

Not from me at least. I'd give you unlimited up-votes for that. I don't even like Left 4 Dead either, but I'd much rather see people playing that over the abomination that is halo 3.

The Dark Wayne @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:15PM

that is odd, I havent even played Halo 3 online since that update came out. I didnt like the playlist changes or the stat stuff, and worst of all it seemed like they really cranked up the auto aim

MarvellousM @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:15PM

Maybe a bunch of people bought it on Black Friday? That and the reduced map pack thing.

Okay, mainly the map pack thing.

Only Gunslinger @ Dec 2nd 2008 8:16PM

The reason for Halo 3 being on top:
As Gears 2 came out, it stole players from many of the other top games, decreasing the population of all, and increasing the population for Gears. However, the population increase for Gears 2 wasn't quite enough.

Basically, Gears of War 2 took out Halo 3's competition then committed suicide, lol.