With Forza Motorsport 3 Turn 10 have made great strides towards accessibility, but have managed to do so without compromising what remains the most open, detailed and enjoyable racing simulation on the market.

Its unusual, offbeat approach to the tropes of both its genres gives the blend that extra dash of flavour it needs, but the base ingredients are just as tasty and fulfilling. And then there’s those guns, those wonderful, wonderful guns.

While it contains some excellent ideas, the manager mode needs a lot of work, and it's not clear at this stage whether its list of problems can or will be fixed with a downloadable patch. It's really this that holds the game back from earning a higher score at this stage, and this is a real pity, because there isn't any football title that can compete with FIFA 10's superb core gameplay engine.

The enthusiasm and joy that was involved in crafting this game is evident in almost every single frame and it's an undeniably unique gaming experience.

The enthusiasm and joy that was involved in crafting this game is evident in almost every single frame and it's an undeniably unique gaming experience.

Among Thieves is not a reinvention of the genre, more a definition. A sumptuous adventure that enthrals from start to finish, a cast that you'll fall in love with and a tale that's better scripted, directed and paced than most Hollywood blockbusters. It is a testament to the extraordinary talent at Naughty Dog and a glorious celebration of what video games can be when they play to their enviable strengths.

With its beautiful presentation, well designed levels and two adorable titular characters, A Boy And His Blob is a game that rewards and appeals in equal measure. Would all curmudgeons now kindly leave the room on tiptoe.

Better than we expected.

Perhaps the biggest misstep Ju-on makes is that it ignores one of the most crucial elements in creating a horror title; the audience needs to have sympathy for the protagonist.

Fans of the film series may find the video game adaptation of Jigsaw's latest round of lethal morality tests diverting, but true blue console horror fans are better off waiting for something with a bit more bite.

Beyond the initial threat of difficulty there waits a remarkable combination of accessibility and challenge, of risk and reward, punishment and empowerment.

Wii Fit Plus is a solid entry in the fitness game genre. Despite its shortcomings it's guaranteed to make the act of exercising enjoyable and if you don't already own a game of this type, but are interested in trying one out, Wii Fit Plus is a no-brainer; as an entry into the genre, it is peerless.

For our money, it's the best portable eight-track available and one of the best reasons to put your PSP in your bag before the commute to work.

Dead Space Extraction may be short on scares, but it's one of the best 18-rated games on the Wii, and also one of the best rail shooters ever made for any console.

Halo 3 ODST may feel a little thin in may places, and some of the bonus material may seem a little like padding, but there's more than enough here to recommend it to Halo and FPS fans alike.

Shift doesn’t pull off that tricky balancing act with the finesse of Bizarre’s urban racer, but there’s still a lot of fun to be had here for petrolheads after a lighter introduction to the world of sim-racing. If nothing else, it’s certainly a shift in the right direction for the series, with a solid base for improvement.

Its core template may be showing its age a little, but the overall package offers enough new content gameplay tweaks to keep the faithful happy.

What Harmonix have crafted here is a quite exceptional piece of work, raising the bar for single band releases to almost unreachable heights. It’s a gorgeous, reverential and respectful celebration of The Beatles. It is an event that transcends video games, it’s The Beatles finally stepping into the digital world.

Mini Ninja’s toybox is generously and imaginatively stuffed but, unfortunately, the same can’t be said of its playground.

With a series of combat and stealth challenge rooms with online leader boards rounding off the package, Arkham Asylum is a brilliantly polished and wholly engrossing prospect. Few licensed titles have captured so authentically and completely the ethos of its inspiration as Arkham Asylum.

It still has more charm and character than most and –despite the hiccups- provides a challenging, fun and satisfying puzzle experience for players young, old -and everything in between.

On a technical level, then, Wolfenstein is a game that swings wildly in quality on an almost minute-by-minute basis, and a rather vanilla multiplayer offering doesn’t do much to quicken the pulse.

An unashamed definition of its host console; simple, colourful, accessible to all, but with a hidden depth for those who wish to explore it. It’s unlikely to convert many that are lost to the Wii cause, but for those who have already embraced it, a trip to Wuhu Island will be some of the most fun you’ll have all year.

An intelligent, charming and utterly addictive video game. But its crowning achievement is its unerring dedication to its own imagination. CiNG throw ideas at it from every angle and nearly every single one sticks. The result is a delightfully crafted adventure, that will pull you into its magnificent fantasy world and refuse to let go.

Crucially, it left me wanting more. If Telltale can mix their own identity in with the old Monkey Island magic they've conjured up, we're going to be in for a real treat over the coming months.

It's the overall lack of challenge and depth which proves to be the major sticking point.

With a comprehensive class-based multiplayer rounding off the package, Bound in Blood is an altogether more polished prospect than its predecessor. At the very least it’s a hugely enjoyable parade of satisfying shooting galleries. But when it finds its stride, it’s a thrilling, wild ride down a road that remains surprisingly less traveled.

You’ll feel every punch, grimace at every brutal knock-down and celebrate every win as if it were your last. It’s a heart-thumping, nerve-jangling gaming experience and, as a sports game, is agonisingly close to perfection. A little more finesse in its Legacy Mode could have made it an all-time classic.