It’s quality AND quantity!

Christmas! I’m sorry I didn’t mean to get you nervous but it’s September and in the run-up to the holiday season there are more triple A quality games coming out than ever before. So let me give you a run down of games you should be paying for and paying attention to.

September: We’ve already seen the return of Tanner in Driver: San Fransisco at the start of the week, so let’s look onward.

Dead Islan d is an open-world first-person Zombie game set on an island. A lot of hype to live up to but hopefully it can succeed.

Starfox 64 gets a remake for 3DS and if you have never played this before you must pick this up. An incredible game for sure. Other games out on September 9 are Resistance 3, Warhammer 40k.

Can you hear that? The rumblings of the ferocious team of Cogs? Gears of War 3, possibly the most important Xbox 360 exclusive game, is set for a release on the 20th.

The final week of September will see the yearly turn of FIFA and more importantly, the ICO and Shadow of the Colossus double pack for PS3. Two fine PS2 games improved and enhanced for the modern world.

October: Rage. Not my emotion for October but instead my most anticipated title this year from the creators of Doom and Quake. After the let-down that was Doom 3, I am hoping this game comes out on fine form and shows the world that idsoftware are still number one when it comes to core mechanics of FPS.

Dark Souls, the spiritual sequel to Demon Souls, is also out the same week and promises to be just as hard as ever before, but this time across both Xbox 360 and PS3.

Forza 4 ,for all your motorhead needs, arrives on October 14 but more excitingly, for me, is the sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum with Arkham City the following week on the 21st. Oh and some game called Battlefield 3 hits the week after. If ever there’s a game to take you away from your Call of Duty fatigue, Battlefield 3 will be it.

November: Something for the younger generation with Sonic Generations. Expect a funky blend of both new and old style hedgehogs fighting the evil forces of Robotnik, but if you’re not into collecting rings then maybe collecting XP for perks is more your thing with Modern Warfare 3 hitting on November 8. Biggest game of the year, but maybe the yearly fatigue has set in. It has for me at least.

For the rest of the month, we have (breathe in) Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, Assassins Creed: Revelations, Halo Anniversary Combat Edition, Need for Speed: The Run, Zelda: Skyward Sword, Saints Row The Third, Football Manager 2012, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Metal Gear Solid Collection, Uncharted 3 and hopefully Mario Kart 7 (breathe out).

December: Not much to see here, other than a slew of 3DS games which don’t really have a release date yet. Super Mario 3D Land, Luigi’s Mansion 2, Paper Mario 3D and a new Animal Crossing ensures your 3DS isn’t a total waste of money.

>> Darren Gargette is a games enthusiast from Leighton Buzzard