Now, here's an interesting one. Gamasutra just ran a news article noting that "Xbox Live director 'Major Nelson' has posted the top Xbox Live games for 2007 -- including top purchased Xbox Live Arcade games -- showing a clear preference from XBLA shoppers for classic over new titles."

And, indeed, here's the Top 10 most-purchased Xbox Live Arcade titles for 2007, according to the Major:

1 TMNT 1989 Arcade
2 Worms
3 Castlevania: SOTN
4 UNO
5 Bomberman LIVE
6 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures
7 Sonic The Hedgehog
8 Pinball FX
9 Geometry Wars Evolved
10 Texas Hold 'em

But what does this actually signify? A comment on the Gamasutra post, from Stuart Bentley, suggests that the retro trend isn't completely cut and dried: "The classic/new distinction on the XBLA list is a tad misleading. Only three of those are true emulation ports (of which one is a rare arcade game, one is a rare console game, and one is one of the most common console games of all time); two are implementations of decades-old card games; two are new iterations in existing old franchises (and one is the sequel to an existing new franchise); and two are brand-new games built on old activities."

Some other thoughts - I presume this is sales by # of downloads, and not sales by revenue - and a few of these titles are $5 downloads, as opposed to $10, so the Top 10 by Revenue chart might be significantly different. In addition, I think 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures is a really odd Top 10 entrant, and shows how much people just like minigolf, even over and above game quality, to a certain extent.

But overall - is Stuart right to make that subtle distinction, what strikes you GSW readers as notable on the list, and what does it show about how to succeed on Xbox Live Arcade? Opinions welcome.