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USA Today Tuesday, March 7, 2000
REINDEER GAMES
When they're not surfing the Web, 61% of computer users play games on their PC's, says a study to be released today by Media Metrix. Among the 54 million people who played in December, the top 10 were dominated by games bundled with Windows.
But Elf Bowling, released as a promotional tool in November by Dallas-based NVision Design, was the first non-bundled title in four years of tracking to hit the top 10, with 7.6 million players.It's set on an ice bowling lane at the North Pole; users must guide Santa in knocking over "those greedy little union elves".
Bruce Ryon of Media Metrix, which monitors the PC use of 70,000 people worldwide, calls the success of Elf Bowling "a phenomenon"-other popular non-card games, such as Myst, Doom,and Quake, "have never reached more than 2 million users in any given month," he says.
| Most Played Games |
Numbers Played |
| 1) Internet Solitaire |
20,762,000 |
| 2) Microsoft Freecell |
17,114,000 |
| 3) Microsoft Entertainment Pack |
12,490,000 |
| 4) Microsoft Heart Network |
9,184,000 |
| 5) Microsoft Minesweep |
7,960,000 |
| 6) NVision Design Elf Bowling |
7,624,000 |
| 7) Microsoft Solitaire |
3,263,000 |
| 8) Microsoft Golf |
2,614,000 |
| 9) Slingo |
1,998,000 |
| 10) NVision Design Frogapult |
1,639,000 |
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