My choice for the 2008 XBLA Awards

It is the second annual Xbox Live Arcade Awards in the coming weeks and Microsoft has listed there nominees. Here is Kotaku's write up on it. I will post them here as well and bold the ones I think should win for each category.

Best Overall Arcade Game

• Braid

Though I didn't pick this game, I feel it will be remembered the longest and have the most impact on people compared to the others on this list.

• Castle Crashers
• Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2

I choose this game because they took a game that was so basic and managed to make you want to play it again and again. It was the effect Pac-Man CE had. I can always find myself going back to this game to play more of it. It was also the first XBLA game I stayed up all night to get.

• Street Fighter II HD Remix
• Portal: Still Alive

Best Original Game

• Castle Crashers
• N+
• Braid

This game was quite different and not expected. When you are told about the main overview of it, experiencing it is quite a different thing all together. We have had time manipulation in games before, but nothing as drastic as this.

• Penny Arcade Episode 1
• Schizoid
• Age of Booty

Best Family Game

• Boogie Bunnies
• Roogoo
• A Kingdom for Keflings
• Lost Cities
• Meteos Wars

I haven't played any of these so I will not be picking one.

Best Co-operative Multiplayer Game

• Castle Crashers

I had quite a bit of fun with this game far before the patch was even released. It was odd how much I played this online even when there was only one online achievement that was almost impossible to get. I never went for it, but I still came back to play with friends.

• 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

I feel as I have only played Geometry Wars 2, I can not pick one of these games.

Best Solo Game

• Braid

You may get stuck on this game for quite a bit with it's mind bending puzzles, but when you finally get it, you feel like the smartest man alive. It was a really nice game to just sit down with for a few hours as you made your way through it.

• Mega Man 9
• Penny Arcade Episode 1
• Rez HD
• Portal: Still Alive

Best Innovation in XBLA

• Braid (time travel)

I don't quite think this was so innovative, but compared to the other ones it was. Though the manipulation powers you were given were quite new, I didn't find them to be ground g

• 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

This game just looked beautiful and when I finally got my HD TV, it looked even better. It was so colorful and vibrant. I had it descrive

• Braid

I think this wins when it comes to the artistic quality of the graphics. I loved how it looked like a water colored canvas with marker drawings over top. So it's safe t say this category has a tie in my books.

• Castle Crashers
• Bionic Commando Rearmed

Best Classic/Remake Game

• Bionic Commando Rearmed
• Street Fighter II HD Remix
• Mega Man 9
• Galaga Legions
• Rez HD

I did not play any of these, I can't make a choice.