At the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2008 today, Microsoft celebrated the success of its Xbox Live Arcade  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)

Are these the games you voted for? If not what games would you have chosen? Don’t forget to leave your opinion and let everyone know what you think.