Microsoft lauds its ‘Best of’ Xbox Live Arcade games

As the 2008 Game Developers Conference (GDC) came to a close in San Francisco late last week following a raft of software unveilings and corporate keynotes, Microsoft Corp. has bestowed some well-deserved recognition on the cream of the year’s Xbox Live Arcade’s videogame offerings. Microsoft highlights the best games of the year at inaugural Xbox Live Arcade awards at GDC. Credit: Microsoft.

Microsoft highlights the best games of the year at inaugural Xbox Live Arcade awards at GDC. Credit: Microsoft.Following January’s vote casting, which saw in excess of 26,000 people electing their games of choice, Microsoft duly announced the worthy winners on Friday courtesy of an inaugural awards event held during a private developer reception at GDC.While the finalists in each of the event’s 10 categories were selected through a panel of “select industry journalists,” the winners of the night’s first six awards were decided by popular vote, with the remaining four determined through sales and gameplay data, Metacritic scores, or staff votes.“The Xbox Live Arcade business is currently the strongest it’s ever been, thanks to the content provided by the diverse range of talented developers attached to the platform,” said Marc Whitten, GM of Xbox Live at Microsoft. “The Game Developers Conference is the perfect venue to recognise the successes of Xbox Live Arcade developers, and as we move further into 2008, gamers can expect to see even more quality content land on Xbox Live Arcade.”The award ceremony’s biggest honour fell to game publisher Hudson Entertainment, which secured the ‘Best Overall Arcade Game’ for Bomberman Live, while ‘Best Original Game’ went to Namco Bandai’s Pac-Man: Championship Edition, and the award for ‘Most Played Game’ landed at the feet of Team 17 for Worms.Here are the award winners in full:Best Overall Arcade Game: “Bomberman Live” (Hudson Entertainment)

Best Classic Game: “Castlevania: Symphony of the Night” (Konami Digital Entertainment)

Best Original Game: “Pac-Man: Championship Edition” (Namco Bandai Games)

Best Family-Friendly Game: “Pac-Man: Championship Edition” (Namco Bandai Games)

Best Competitive Multiplayer Game: “Bomberman Live” (Hudson Entertainment)

Best Cooperative Multiplayer Game: “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (Ubisoft Entertainment)

Best-Selling Game: “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (Ubisoft Entertainment)

Most-Played Game: “Worms” (Team17 Software Limited)

Highest-Rated Game: “Castlevania: Symphony of the Night” (Konami Digital Entertainment)

Xbox Live Arcade Staff Choice: “Pac-Man: Championship Edition” (Namco Bandai Games)

Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade already boasts 14 games ranked on review aggregation Web site Metacritic with an average score of 80% or higher. Seven of those 14 games are exclusive to Xbox Live Arcade.Xbox live currently offers some 116 games for download and receives fresh content every Wednesday.