2008 was a banner year for Xbox LIVE Arcade titles and were going to kick off the Second Annual Arcade Awards on March 3rd. The cool thing is this year, you get to cast your votes directly on your Xbox 360 within NXE.



The voting starts on Tuesday, March 3 at 2:00 A.M. Pacific Time (10:00 A.M. GMT), and ends Tuesday, March 10 at 3:59 P.M. PT (11:59 P.M. GMT).

Not sure what game to vote for ? Each Arcade title has a free demo to give you a taste of the action. To get you started, here are the categories and nominees:

Best Overall Arcade Game
- Braid
- Castle Crashers
- Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2
- Street Fighter II HD Remix
- Portal: Still Alive

Best Original Game
- Castle Crashers
- N+
- Braid
- Penny Arcade Episode 1
- Schizoid
- Age of Booty

Best Family Game
- Boogie Bunnies
- Roogoo
- A Kingdom for Keflings
- Lost Cities
- Meteos Wars

Best Co-operative Multiplayer Game
- Castle Crashers
- Schizoid
- Bionic Commando Rearmed
- N+
- Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2

Best Competitive Multiplayer Game
- Street Fighter II HD Remix
- Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2
- Soul Calibur
- Meteos Wars
- Age of Booty

Best Solo Game
- Braid
- Mega Man 9
- Penny Arcade Episode 1
- Rez HD
- Portal: Still Alive

Best Innovation in XBLA
- Braid (time travel)
- A Kingdom for Keflings (use of Avatars)
- Fable II Pub Games (retail game integration)
- N+ (level sharing)
- Duke Nukem 3D (dynamic replay)

Best Graphics
- Street Fighter II HD Remix
- Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2
- Braid
- Castle Crashers
- Bionic Commando Rearmed

Best Classic/Remake Game
- Bionic Commando Rearmed
- Street Fighter II HD Remix
- Mega Man 9
- Galaga Legions
- Rez HD


How to Vote
1. From your Xbox LIVE console, locate the Arcade Awards Voting Application slot in the Spotlight or Game Marketplace channel, and then press A to download the application.

2. Once the application has finished downloading, launch the application in either of the following ways:

• In Spotlight or Game Marketplace, navigate to the slot image that now says Vote Now instead of Download Now, and then press A.
  
• In your Game Library, browse Game Demos and Trials to locate and launch the application.;

3. Select your favorite arcade game in any or all of the nine different categories, and then select the appropriate button below:

• To vote, press A.
  
• To view game screenshots, press X.
  
• To download the game demo, press Y.
  
• To exit, press B.

Winners will be announced by Major Nelson and posted at Xbox.com.

For more detailed information on any Xbox Live Arcade games including game info, screenshots, videos & trailers, achievements, cheats, reviews, news and much more please visit the 360-HQ Xbox 360 Games Database from the links provided.

360-Hq Game Database: games.360-hq.com"