Co-op ruled them all in the 2nd Annual Xbox Live Arcade awards.  Castle Crashers beat out the assumed favorite, Braid, for the overall Game of the Year in 2008 on Xbox Live Arcade.

Behemoth's four player co-op hack and slash also took in awards for Best Original Game and Best Co-Op game.  All very promising considering the trailer we just saw for their third game.

The full list of winners can be found right ahead.

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 It's been a crazy and interesting year.  We launched Co-Optimus.com some 11 months ago with two goals in mind - promote co-op gaming and provide co-op gaming information.  Since that time co-op gaming has gone from a bullet point on the back of a box to the main feature promoted by publishers at press conferences.  In total there were over 100 co-op games released this year,  and that my friends is pretty damn awesome.  As the staff looked back over the list it was pretty clear what the standout titles were, but that didn't make the decision any easier for choosing our Co-Op Game of the Year.   

So now I present to you our first annual Co-Op Game of the Year Awards.  Each staff member has picked their respective GOTY followed by the pick for the site.  

The Co-Optimus staff is working away vigorously to determine the Co-Op Game of the Year, and we'll have that to you shortly.  But while you wait you may want to check out GamesRadar, who posted an article covering the same thing.  I'm not sure what gives them the authority to judge co-op, after all, they aren't the prime source of co-op gaming info - but we'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

In fact the GR folks bring on ten editors to examine the lot of games...and trust us...it's a huge lot.  They weigh in on zombie modes, horde modes, online modes and more.  But what's most surprising is their lack of any music games like Rock Band.  

With the year just about over - what are some of your standout co-op games of the year?  If you had to choose just one game this year that really stood out for it's co-op experience, what would it be?

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Spike TV holds its Video Game Awards every year, and every year they surpass the expectations of the unappreciative musclehead idiots that watch two episodes of "Manswers" but change the channel in the middle of The Who's "CSI: New York" title theme.

However, veiled cracks about overcompensating jocks aside, we'll admit that Spike is going to be somehwhat of a mouthpiece for co-op gamers this year. Click the "Read More" link to see the full list of nominees with co-op games highlighted...

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