Xbox LIVE has a Great Summer

The month of August was huge for Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE service. All told, the revenue generated by the service jumped 67% on the heels of the Summer of Arcade promotion, which rolled out several high-profile titles, such as Geometry Wars 2 and Castle Crashers. Add into that the seemingly constant downloadable content additions, and Xbox LIVE has evolved from a service that merely allowed gamers to play together into a full-fledged, one-stop-shopping gaming Mecca.

Leading the charge in bolstering LIVE’s sales last month was one of the gaming world’s biggest surprises of the summer: Braid. For those of you who haven’t had a chance to experience this gem, Braid is a time-twisting puzzle/platformer with a decidedly eccentric edge. Braid completely raised the bar for what an independent, downloadable game could accomplish. The puzzles are top-notch and are guaranteed to give you a headache at least once (if not many, many more times) during your time with the game. Hopefully this is just the tip of the indie-gaming iceberg; Braid has certainly paved the way for more of these games to come through LIVE to the public.

Another hit and maybe my favorite of the summer (if not Braid) is the remake of the original Bionic Commando, titled Bionic Commando Rearmed. This title took one of my all-time favorite NES games and completely overhauled it, giving it beautiful graphical upgrades, new boss battles, and an entirely new ending level. This title is unique for a couple of reasons: One, it is everything a remake should be; it combines nostalgia with enough new content to appeal to a broad range of fans. Second, it’s a marketing tool in addition to a game, hyping the release of the fully 3D next-gen Bionic Commando that is slated for release in 2009. Marketing gimmicks for games aren’t always the best, so to have a LIVE release that is a gimmick and a high-quality product in its own right is definitely something special.

While August was a particularly booming month for Xbox LIVE, the future certainly looks bright, with games like Valve’s Portal: Still Alive and the original Banjo-Kazooie slated for release before the end of the year. And don’t forget the DLC! Nothing adds life to a game like fresh new missions, guns, or multiplayer maps. For you music gamers out there, Harmonix continues to deliver on its DLC promises, delivering new Rock Band songs every week. Microsoft’s LIVE service certainly looks poised to continue its success.