Following the immensely successful Metal Gear Solid in 1998, I eagerly anticipated the ambitious follow-up from Hideo Kojima. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty redefined how I looked at stealth action games and two years later Kojima Productions continued to impress with the third outing, Snake Eater. And just two years ago, Peace Walker graced Sony's portable platform bringing all that stealth action to a tiny device. Now those three titles have been bundled together and re-released for a new generation in the Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection.

I have a theory on modern game testing. It’s no longer enough to simply be bug free, players have to instinctively progress and complete a game or there’s something wrong with it (not them). I guess the word is “accessibility”: wanting as many people as possible to be able to play the game. I’m sure the reason wouldn’t solely relate to maximising profits, but why else do developers keep ruining perfectly good games with ridiculous tutorials and simplified level design.

We dive into new game announcements Resident Evil 6 and X-COM: Enemy Unknown, and catch up on some of the 2011 releases we missed including Sonic Generations, Skyrim, PixelJunk Sidescoller, Bulletstorm and Uncharted 3. We also finally make good on the Portal 2 co-op promise. Spoiler: it's awesome. Other than looking forward to Mass Effect 3, we talk about how it could be another big year for fighting games.

Sonic 4 was touted as a serious return to Sonic’s roots, but with the floaty jumping and homing attacks from the Spiky One’s 3D outings, it was anything but. So, Episode II went on hold so we could all enjoy Sega’s attempt to meet us halfway, delivering two games in one with Sonic Generations.

What should be an exciting prospect for anyone picking up a PS3 is access to Q Games series of PixelJunk games. Although they have recently started branching out — such as PixelJunk Monsters’ appearance on Facebook, or PixelJunk Eden on Steam — the largely exclusive collection of retro-like titles sets a quality standard on SEN (formerly PSN). Based on a bonus level from PixelJunk Shooter 2, PixelJunk SideScroller stands apart as one of the best technical shoot ‘em ups I’ve ever played.

I’m quite a fan of the more thoughtful remakes to hit Xbox Live Arcade. There’s definitely fun to be had with the straight ports and re-releases, but there’s something about the successful modernising of a classic that I just can’t get enough of. Bionic Commando: Rearmed set a new standard at the time of it’s release.