The player

DECEMBER is here, so time to get working on those gift lists before we find ourselves frantically trawling shops on December 24th, writes CIARA O'BRIEN

There are plenty of great games out there for all types of players.

For fans of first-person shooters, the year's biggest head-to-head comes with the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3and Battlefield 3. Both are great in their own way, although Battlefieldhas had a bit more praise for its graphics. If you prefer something that requires more commitment, Elders Scrolls V: Skyrimmight be more fitting – it's an engrossing role-player.

Sports fans were spoiled for choice this year. Between Pro Evo Soccer 2012and Fifa 12for football fans (the latter edged it for me) and rugby fans getting not only Rugby World Cupbut also Jonah Lomu's Rugby Challengeon PS3, Xbox and PC, there's plenty out there to keep your resident sports fan happy.

Fighting fans have Fight Night Champion, the latest addition to the boxing franchise available on PS3 and Xbox 360. But if you want something with a good fun factor, Supremacy MMAshows off cage-fighting without the UFC stamp of approval. It's a bit on the brutal side at times, but manages not to make it too heavy going.

Of course, you have to take into account family players. The Kinect has put the Xbox right in the middle of this category. Kinect Disneyland Adventuresis the perfect family game, recreating the park and allowing you to interact with all your favourite Disneyland characters and attractions.

For pet lovers, Kinectimals, which launched with the motion sensor last year, has had an update, and for all-round family fun, you can't beat the new version of Kinect Sports, which brings skiing, American football and darts to the mix. Cue plenty of hilarious moments.

Sony, meanwhile, brings Little Big Planet 2to its Move motion controller, and the return of Sackboy this year was much applauded.

But just because Sony and Microsoft have been treading on Nintendo's territory, it doesn't mean the Wii is out of the picture. Just Dancereturns to the console for the third time, although now it has plenty of healthy competition from the Xbox Kinect and PS Move versions.

So there’s plenty to choose from, no matter what your preferred genre of gaming.