'Splosion Man tops Xbox Live Arcade chart

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‘Splosion Man, which was awarded a 9 by VideoGamer.com last year, has rocketed to the top of Major Nelson’s Xbox Live Arcade chart for the week of November 22.

Twisted Pixel’s wacky platformer was originally released in June 2009, where it charted second. The resurgence of the title, over a year later, is likely due to its one-day, 75 per cent discount to 160 Microsoft Points last Friday.

In fact, only three of the top 10 weren’t subject to a recent price-drop: Crazy Taxi, PAC-MAN Championship Edition DX and Pinball FX 2.

Meanwhile, Black Ops and Modern Warfare 2 continue to hold the #1 and #2 spots for the full-priced chart, which is based on unique users connecting every week.

Microsoft does not publish sales figures for Xbox Live Arcade titles.

The Top 10 in full:

1. ‘Splosion Man

2. Turtles in Time Re-Shelled

3. Hasbro Family Game Night

4. Trials HD

5. Portal: Still Alive

6. Crazy Taxi

7. Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck’s Revenge

8. PAC-MAN Championship Edition DX

9. Greed Corp

10. Pinball FX 2

We’ve all observed (and felt our wallets loosening at) the effect of a good sale on digital goods: just look at Steam. 2010 has seen Microsoft starting to capitalise on the power of discounts, with weekly deals for Xbox LIVE Gold members and plenty of promotions to get some extra Microsoft Points.

The success of ‘Splosion Man comes a day after Microsoft announced its Xbox LIVE Rewards scheme, which will likely ensure the trend continues well into 2011.