When Microsoft launched the Summer of Arcade marketing push for the Xbox Live Arcade, the goal was to highlight the service's shift from quanity more towards quality. That push was successful--the XBLA's performance in August broke the sales record by more than 67%.

The success was fueled by games like Castle Crashers, Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2, Bionic Commando: Rearmed, and the artistic Braid.

Braid sold enough to make it the highest-rated XBLA game, even though it was the first game to break the 1200 point ($15), much to the outrage of much of the Internet.

The trend of higher-profile arcade games looks to continue: Portal: Still Alive, Vigilante 8 Arcade, and R-Type Dimensions are all coming up in the next month.