So, it’s been around about a week since I embarked upon my epic quest to finish all 40 games sat on my shelf before I buy another… In this article, read about my early progress and how I’ve rapidly become bogged down by one of the longest and most challenging games on the 360 already!

After coming upon Hunted around six months ago, I hoped that I would be reviewing a game with oodles of the rich RPG history that Bethesda are renowned for; with a welcome splash of hack and slash fantasy thrown in for good measure.

So, what does one do when a second stack of unfinished and unplayed games reaches the full height of a shelf and there is literally no room for a third? Naturally, one sets oneself the challenge of finishing them all before buying another… Duh!

The challenge is simple. Play through all forty xbox 360 games at least once, finishing them on the hardest (unlocked) difficulty level and picking up all reasonably easy achievements in the process.

RPG’s have been around for decades, featuring on just about every console since the ZX Spectrum. Early examples were often very basic (in appearance) text adventures such as ‘The Hobbit’ or ‘Lords of Midnight’ although as hardware moved on, so did the RPG genre. I still remember the first time I played ‘Eye of the Beholder’ on a friends dads Amiga once and being totally blown away by both its graphics and ambitious, complex gameplay. RPG’s have moved on a lot since then, but not always in the right direction for hardcore fans of the genre, so does Dragon Age II stay true to it’s roots, or pander to EA’s army of casual fans?

Good things always come to an end (and to those who wait.) My XBOX/PS3 setup ran happily using Onkyo’s 2008 low-mid price powerhouse (the 606) for over 18 months, but with failing mainboard components and aging processing capabilities, I’ve had to look at a successor. Will Onkyo’s brand spanking new 609 live up to expectations, or will offerings from Yamaha, Pioneer, Denon and others win my hard earned cash?

Dungeons and Dragons has had quite a chequered past when it comes to video gaming, the frequent ruleset changes and amendments make it quite difficult for many players (and developers) to adapt to in a digital medium. Veteran players also found the various implementations clunky at best and it wasn’t until the introduction of Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale and most recently Neverwinter Nights (and their various expansions) that the vast majority of gamers accepted the concept as mainstream.

A team based shooter similar to the Team Fortress premise made popular by Valve, Brink offers players the opportunity to fill the shoes of either the Ark Security or the Revolutionary Forces based on the floating citadel. Touting freeform parkour style movement, multiple player classes, and highly customisable characters, Brink promises a lot at the first look. In a genre where players expect innovation, quality and balance, have Bethesda managed to deliver …. the Pixel Junkies endevour to find out.

After a recent resurgence of classic, single dimension, one on one fighters it is nice to know that Netherrealm Studios have taken note and have been busy beavering away on a reboot of the Mortal Kombat franchise. The build we had the opportunity of sampling had 4 of the available fighters for use along with a selection of environments in which combat (Kombat, surely – Ed) takes place.