So what will you be doing this Xmas? It is my sworn intent to go crawling back to the family ranch, where I will play copious amounts of co-op with my little bro and some mates, eat many, many roast potatoes in front of a roaring fire and drink Baileys. I'll also be (snigger) "working" on Kikizo stuff, and bodging together an essay for my MA course.

The gaming arsenal is basically all the stuff I've missed in the past two years or haven't had a chance to play fully: Earth Defence Force on the 360, Dead Rising, Left 4 Dead, plus some kind of beat-em-up. Can anyone recommend anything else, either for co-op or that special, sociable brand of single-player where friends will be happy just to watch and give passenger-seat advice?