And what happened the year before, in 2006?



At least in my figures, 2006 was just like 2007 when it comes to EA's review average. Atari actually had a decent year, with a review average above 60 percent, a full point and a half above Activision for the year. In 2006, Square Enix published 10 titles in my listing and thereby took top honors in my rankings.

Which brings us to 2005, the first year for which I have sufficiently complete data. The top publisher in 2005 was a surprise to me: Microsoft.



Since I'm not an Xbox person, it wouldn't have occurred to me, but 2005 was special. Not only was it the first year of the Xbox 360 (with Perfect Dark Zero and PGR3 reviewing quite well), but also the last year of serious software for the original Xbox, including highly reviewed titles like the first Forza racing game, Jade Empire and the Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack. All of those, of course, were published by Microsoft. With Microsoft's average at a more mundane 69 percent in 2007, one wonders if they'll ever have another year like 2005.

EA must also look back on 2005 with some fondness. Its average in 2005 was a healthy 74%, the highest of the last three years.