2008 was, by any measure, a superb year to be an Xbox 360 gamer, but which of the many excellent games on offer was the most-loved on the console’s online LIVE service?

The answer isn’t especially surprising, even if it did take Xbox LIVE’s Major Nelson several days to calculate - it’s Halo 3. Indeed the entire top 20 is comprised of exactly the blockbusting titles you’d expect to be there. That said the ordering might raise an eyebrow or two - CoD4 ahead of Gears 2 and several places higher than longtime chart-topper CoD: World at War, for instance. Otherwise it’s interesting to see a sprinkling of demos and pre-launch betas making the grade. Anyway, here's what you loved in 08:

1. Halo 3
2. Call of Duty 4
3. GTA IV
4. Gears of War 2
5. Gears of War
6. CoD: World at War
7. Guitar Hero III
8. Battlefield: Bad Company Demo
9. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Demo
10. Rock Band
11. Fable II
12. Mirror's Edge Demo
13. Madden NFL 09
14. BF: Bad Company
15. Rainbow Six Vegas 2
16. UNO
17. Castle Crashers
18. COD: World at War Multiplayer Beta
19. Forza Motorsport 2
20. Too Human - Demo

The Major’s also listed the best-selling LIVE Arcade games for 2008, where Castle Crashers rules the roost, followed by Geometry Wars 2 and the brilliant, brain-melting Braid. But Kingdom for Keflings and Uno in the top five - did we really not do better than that? Apparently not:

1. Castle Crashers
2. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2
3. Braid
4. A Kingdom for Keflings
5. Uno
6. Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
7. Fable II Pub Games
8. Duke Nukem 3D
9. Bionic Commando Rearmed
10. Worms
11. Soul Calibur
12. Portal: Still Alive
13. Doom
14. 1942: Joint Strike
15. Bomberman Live
16. Mega Man 9
17. N+
18. Commando 3: Wolf of the Battlefield
19. Marble Blast Ultra
20. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3