Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders DS

Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders DS confidently turns literature into puzzles without loosing the sense of intrigue. A gently unravelling tale coerces players through each challenge with great finesse.

Mario Galaxy 2 Wii

Mario Galaxy 2 is the sequel to easily the best Wii platform game to date. Mario Galaxy took the basic platforming 3D premise from Mario 64 and created hundreds of spherical worlds to explore. The same premise returns in Mario Galaxy 2 but with the triumphal return of Yoshi - Mario's friend-steed. This looks to be a Nintendo Wii game for both the hardcore and casual players.

Ex-Rental vs Used Games

In Box DLC is all about the publishers of videogames trying to encourage you, the customer, to buy new games rather than renting or buying second-hand copies. Games such as Mass Effect 2 and Battlefield Bad Company 2 have both released with codes inside the box to redeem and download additional content.

Red Dead Redemption 360

As the era of the Cowboy draws to a close, Red Dead Redemption for the Xbox 360 and PS3 promises to put you in the spurs of former outlaw John Marston. You'll traverse the American Frontier and experience intense shoot-outs, train robberies and bounty hunting exploits that bring the Old West to the modern consoles like never before. With a gorgeous open-world environment and stunning detail, this is one Western that's good, bad and ugly in all the right ways.

Motion Controls

There's no greater cynic when it comes to motion controls than me. Though I admire the way the Wii has brought gaming to a completely new demographic of gamers thanks to its accessible Wii remote and Nunchuk, I still find the practical usage of such a system flawed for the enthusiast gamer more interested in the Xbox 360 and PS3. Both of these popular systems will have their own brand of motion controls come the autumn so lets take a look at both of them and what it means for the future of gaming.

What Day One DLC is For

Recently some games have included codes to download or unlock additional content within the game. This day-one DLC isn't an accident, it's an attempt to encourage us to buy new rather than rent or buy pre-owned. But with this content usually offering only cursory additions it's so far unlikely to make a big difference in our purchasing decisions.

The best Xbox 360 titles of 2009

Even though the number of platform-specific exclusives was on the low side in 2009 for the Xbox 360, it certainly didn't disappoint in terms of quality. Check out the three listed below for some modern classics that are still worth renting or buying today. Not least because they are now great quality cheap 360 games.

Splinter Cell: Conviction 360

Splinter Cell Conviction brings your favourite stealthy killing machine back after four long years. And with it comes more than a few changes - Conviction blows the dust off the aged stealth-action genre and will change the way you'll view 3rd-person action games for good.

It's My Circus Wii

It's My Circus Wii brings varied Circus antics into the living room. 40 circus games and 12 multiplayer modes sometimes lack the fidelity and expertise of Wii Sports Resort, but Circus Games still has enough family-targeted material to keep the game fun and entertaining for many hours.

Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing Wii

Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing, on 360, PS3, Wii and DS, proves its kart racing worth alongside Mario Kart, Need for Speed and the upcoming Blur. This mirrors Sega's focus on action rather than exploration. But although it may lack the course detail of Mario Kart it manages to keep the focus more on the racing - ironically more like the N64 and SNES versions of Nintendo's game.