Bomberman Live gets the top honours. No surprises there…

At the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2008 today, Microsoft Corp. celebrated the success of its industry-leading Xbox LIVE Arcade platform with the inaugural Xbox LIVE Arcade Awards. In January, more than 26,000 people voted for their favourite Xbox LIVE Arcade games, and this week Microsoft announced the winners at a private developer reception at GDC.

The finalists in each award category were chosen by a panel of select industry journalists, and the winners for the first six categories were determined by popular vote, with the final four categories decided by sales and gameplay data, Metacritic score or staff vote. Following are the winners for each category:

Xbox LIVE Arcade Award Winners

· 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)

“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, general manager 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.”