It's usually a good day in the office when the editor tells you that he'd like a list of the best video games to buy this Christmas. It did mean a lot of hard work in front of an array of game consoles while outside the sun was shining, but I was willing to make that sacrifice (also it hasn't been too sunny recently).

I'm going to try to get as diverse a list as I can, because while some want a realistic, military, first-person shooter, others want a dance contest.

I have also included the rating for these games. A recent opinion piece on Stuff.co.nz mentioned that the author had been advised by a parenting helpline to purchase Call of Duty (see below) for their 13-year-old son. This is like advising a parent to buy alcohol for their 15-year-old.

Serious vs casual gamers: FIGHT!

There are the people who love sitting on the couch pwning n00bs (beating inexperienced players) or executing combos through intricate button combinations. The games they play are enthralling, intricate and time consuming.

Then there are the people who don't really want to have to learn what the X button does when you're also holding the left trigger. In fact they'd rather not hold a controller at all; they play on phones or by waving things at the TV screen or just by singing. The games they play are simple, fun and usually short.

There is definitely an overlap between the two as serious gamers want to have fun and sometimes casual gamers want a challenge. But it's good to know exactly what type of game the person you are buying for actually plays – you don't want to buy Modern Warfare 3 for someone who really wants Singstar, or Lee Carvallo's Putting Challenge for someone wanting Bonestorm.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
(PS3, Xbox, Wii, PC)

Speaking of realistic, military, first-person shooters, Call of Duty is one of the two big franchises in this area (Battlefield being the other) and MW3 was so highly sought after that one person paid $USD1725 to get a copy four days before it was released.

Set in a world where major cities have become battle zones MW3 throws the player into a world full of explosions and gunfire. New players (n00bs) may find themselves disoriented, but if they persevere they can become an elite fighter in no time.

Known more for its online play than its single-player story, the essence of MW3 is that it's built for fun. You accrue points or cash quickly which you use to upgrade weapons. Faster gameplay (loading and respawn times are shorter) also helps to keep players right in the game.

It's a violent game (as is any game where you kill other players), so keep in mind that it's R16 (contains violence and offensive language).

Batman: Arkham City
(PS3, Xbox, PC)

Have you ever wanted to be Batman? Of course you have, everyone has. Well Arkham City actually puts you in the cowl.

It’s set inside a section of Gotham City that has been turned into a maximum security prison and taken over by gangs of thugs who become cannon fodder for the Dark Knight. The gangs are run by some of the more famous members of Batman's "Rogues' Gallery": Penguin, Two-Face and the Joker (voiced by a maniacal Mark Hamill). The Riddler, Mr Freeze and other enemies also make appearances throughout the game.

Interestingly one of Batman's enemies takes front of stage, as in the very first level (and in three other stages in the game) you'll take control of Catwoman who has a series of different special actions and abilities.

This is a superb game that makes the dark world of Batman feel like a real place. You may end up spending most of your time gliding over the streets and picking fights with thugs.

Rated M

Uncharted 3
(PS3)

Nathan Drake is back finding secret treasures and shooting bad guys along the way as vast worldwide conspiracies work against him. Pretty basic stuff, really. But with a great story carrying it and beautiful scenery behind it (literally), Uncharted 3 is going to be as engrossing as any adventure movie released in the past few years.

Added to this new edition of the game is the multiplayer aspect where you can run about shooting your friends as the game's main characters.

Rated R16

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
(PS3, Xbox, PC)

If the person you are buying the game for enjoys wielding a sword rather than brandishing a firearm then Skyrim might just be the choice for them. But beware – you may not see them again until February.

The game is intensely in-depth with hundreds of items, plants and animals. Many players are known to start obsessively collecting items like weapons or even brooms.

Dungeon crawling, monster fighting, magical fun in a big open world. Oh, and dragons! Lots of dragons.

Rated R13 (Contains violence and offensive language)

Assassin's Creed: Revelations
(PS3, Xbox, PC)

The third instalment of the Assassin's Creed series is played between the game's three protagonists: Ezio (an Italian Renaissance assassin seeking to discover the secret of the Templars); Altair (the Syrian assassin from the original game); and Desmond (Ezio and Altair's modern day descendant who experiences their adventures through a piece of technology called the Animus). Still with me?

The Assassin's Creed storyline has many twists and turns and the ability to draw you into its world completely. Mixing the excitement and fun of classic action games with the conspiracy and hidden secrets that make Dan Brown books enticing, AC is the type of game that makes you say "maybe just another ten minutes before bed", until you realise it's 3am. Just like those damn Dan Brown books.

Rated R16 (Contains violence, sexual references and offensive language)

Saints Row: The Third
(PS3, Xbox, PC)

I'll say this right now: do not buy this for kids. In fact, probably only buy this for mentally-stable adults. With that out of the way, Saints Row: The Third is stupidly fun.

At first glance SR3 is a cheap Grand Theft Auto clone. But where the latter has pushed into realistic scenery, intricate story lines and social commentary, SR3 just wants to blow things up. And it doesn't really care how you do it. Skydive out of your attack helicopter firing rockets at a rival gang of Mexican wresters if you want.

The story and the missions that you "should" do really are secondary. In fact when the game lets you change your character from a tall thin woman with olive skin to a fat short man with iridescent blue skin without skipping a beat you can tell the goal is just to cause havoc.

I'll let you find your own video for this one.

Rated R18 (Contains violence, sexual themes and offensive language)

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
(Wii)

Zelda seems like a cartoonish kind of game, but the size of the game is amazing. Zelda is one of Nintendo's biggest franchises and the protagonist, Link, is still going strong.

The buzz for this Zelda hasn't been as strong as previous titles (I blame Skyrim) but it's still a fun adventure game with sword fighting, arrow shooting and magic item collecting. But if it's anything like previous games, there'll be some cool little mini-game that will eat up most your time.

Rated M (Contains violence)

Kinect Disneyland Adventures and other Kinect games
(Xbox)

It can't all be about intense gaming experiences. Kinect is a very fun game system. There is no physical controller, just a camera that records your movements in 3D, so you flail about and do your best to control your onscreen persona with corresponding body movements. The dance games and exercise games tend to be the most fun, with racing games essentially just requiring you to lean.

You will need a fairly large room to play it in, with at least 1.8m to 2.5m of space in front of your TV. But if you were using it for exercise, and many do, then you'd need to clear a decent space any way.

Ignore the frighteningly plastic child actors and think how happy your kids will be zooming all over Disneyland, meeting their favourite Disney characters and going on more adventurous facsimiles of the famous rides.

Rated G

Minecraft
(Almost everything, including phones!)

The basic deal with Minecraft is that you dig up or otherwise create elements that you then use to build stuff. And every night monsters come along and try to kill you.

But as with most games of this kind, those simple rules create some amazing things. Players have recreated everything from the waterways of Venice to the Starship Enterprise to actual working computers.

This is definitely a game for people who like building things and can take a bag of Lego and make wonderful toys; incredibly simple and yet very creative.

Steam (PC and Mac)

Steam isn't a game it's a way of playing games. Think of it like iTunes for games – there's an online store of games, from new releases (like all of the PC games listed here) to old classics. It's also full of simple arcade games and "indie" games from new developers trying to make a name for themselves. You can also download the games you buy onto more than one computer, but you have to be logged into the Steam console to play them (and you can only do that on one computer at a time).

Hadyn Green - Technical Writer

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