Gears ousts Halo 2 as top XBL game

The cacophony of exclamations of "running riot!" has been drowned out by the sounds of chainsaws, because Xbox Live's Major Nelson has posted the weekly activity of gamers over Xbox Live.

Halo 2's longtime run at the top of the Xbox Live activity charts has ended, according to Major Nelson. The new king is Gears of War, Epic Games' first offering for the Xbox 360, which was the most played game over Xbox Live for the week of November 13.

Gears of War was released on November 7 to much critical acclaim. The game's multiplayer portion features battles between teams of up to four players each in three game modes. Halo 2, on the other hand, was released on the original Xbox on November 9 of 2004 and is backward compatible with the Xbox 360.