With high production values, good attention to detail and well executed gameplay, it should appeal both to fans of action-platform games like Prince of Persia and people who actually know who Marc Ecko is.

Yes, the leagues are here; the players are here; the stadiums (well, some at least) are here. But FIFA 08 represents EA’s first real attempt in years to do something with the franchise other than just repackaging what has gone before. Here’s a game that makes a real (if occasionally flawed) effort to move the sports sim forward.

Out of the box bugs make a mockery of Ascaron’s hard work, making the difficult job of selling an already unfashionable genre even harder. But even we can recognise that despite everything, some of the sheen and charm has worn off the second time around. Whatever Ascaron has planned to make a success of next year’s console releases, they have some hard work ahead.

With so many fast-paced action games clogging up Xbox Live Arcade, a slower-paced puzzler like Switchball really stands out. As to whether or not that’s a good thing, well it’s really up to you.

With high production values, good attention to detail and well executed gameplay, it should appeal both to fans of action-platform games like Prince of Persia and people who actually know who Marc Ecko is.

If anything, this is a great sign of things to come for Naruto games.

From the brilliant intro, it draws you straight into its world of intrigue and conspiracy, and will keep you there until you make it through to one of the multiple endings.

While Age of Empires has been stripped of its frills, the core still shines brightly. Ignoring the ‘limitations’ of its chosen format entirely, The Age of Kings is as competent and enjoyable as any strategy title out there.

When placed in the context of the Metal Gears before it, Snake’s latest and last adventure feels a touch diminutive and hollow.

It’s still above average and the multiplayer modes are worth investing time in if you’ve enjoyed them before.

A game with an aspiration to create a real online community around a racing game. For the most part, it achieves this and becomes a shining example of real quality on a format still in its infancy.

So, if you have friends, you like movies and you’re in the 25-35 age range, this game is pretty much tailored for you and about five million other people. Clever Sony. And as for that rivalry, well sometimes you just have to know when to throw a fight.

Yes, the leagues are here; the players are here; the stadiums (well, some at least) are here. But FIFA 08 represents EA’s first real attempt in years to do something with the franchise other than just repackaging what has gone before. Here’s a game that makes a real (if occasionally flawed) effort to move the sports sim forward.

Scarface the game is not a classic befitting of the film, but it’s an edgy, uncompromising, sometimes humorous and overall positive offering, which makes the blatant cadging from a superior game series just a bit more forgivable.

There’s no getting away from the fact that Duke Nukem has gotten on a bit, and he’s already been around the block a few times on several other systems. Still, as a trip down memory lane or an insight into a key period of FPS development, the Live Arcade version is just about worth the admission price.

For every ten or so big releases which disappoint, there’s a relatively small-scale title that comes along and surprises everybody by being pretty good. Arena Wars fits nicely into this category.

A very competent online shooter with some excellent features that can be extremely fun if you play it with the right people. Once again though, we must stress that we can’t recommend this game on the basis of its offline content alone.

Simply speaking, for $9 (which is under a fiver in proper money), even if you’ve already bought BS4, there’s no reason at all not to get hold of this. As far as we’re concerned, we’d rather have had an updating of Monkey Island or Day Of The Tentacle. Until – or even if – that day arrives, Culture Shock will more than suffice as a reintroduction to a world of gaming that has long since past.

A sports game with a sense of fun and, perhaps crucially, provides a great series of single player matches to work through. Most notably of all though is the fact that it’s made its way into our pile of games to be dug out at parties, alongside "SingStar."

The downsides don't trash what is basically a fun and frantic experience that manages to combine realism on the ice with arcade action.

A Vampyre Story is clearly a labour of love, although whether that’s a love lost on you will be down to how accepting you can be of what is for all intents and purposes a point-and-click adventure styled after those of the early to mid nineties.

The Ship is a fresh and different slant on multiplayer death-matching; one not dependant on speed of reflexes and advanced techniques. It’s fun and innovative – something that some of the big name games dominating the charts seem to forget about every so often.

Scarface the game is not a classic befitting of the film, but it’s an edgy, uncompromising, sometimes humorous and overall positive offering, which makes the blatant cadging from a superior game series just a bit more forgivable.

It’s visually wonderful, technologically marvellous and honestly a great deal of fun to play, but as with many other people, we have to seriously question its staying power.

While still not perfect, if you overlook the slow start and the cheap puzzle we mentioned, Abe Lincoln Must Die! marks out an extremely welcome return to form for the series.

On the whole we admire what NFSU2 has brought to the table in terms of customisations and we’re even swayed by the glitzy graphics and excellent audio. It’s just a shame that the racing isn’t quite as exciting.

If you’re after a fairly intuitive 2D level editor with a vaguely disappointing platform game attached and it absolutely has to be on the PS3, we guess LittleBigPlanet will do. Just don’t believe all the hype.

The Suffering is certainly recommendable for its gory/creepy factor, and the shooting action is competently handled if a little lacking in finesse.