Platinum festivities

Take a look at some of the best Platinum games available.

Shopping for the gamer in your life, even if that is a sneaky treat for yourself amidst the festive chaos, is never easy. It can be difficult to tell if a game is any good if you don't avidly follow the gaming news. Thankfully, this is where Platinum titles come in.

Platinum titles are re-releases of innovative, immersive games that impressed critics and game players first time around, often winning accolades and awards. In short they offer the very best game experiences on PlayStation.

These games are easy to spot in the shops as they sport a metallic platinum border and bear the moniker "Platinum: The Best of..." But perhaps best of all, these games are great value. Low cost however should not be confused with the low quality.

This year has seen a select crop of titles for PSP get the Platinum brand of approval. A sure winner is LocoRoco, a PSP game with universal appeal. This BAFTA award winning platformer takes catchy and simple gameplay to a new level, as you roll LocoRoco through a tilting world. Using just the L and R buttons you pivot the world to get your LocoRoco moving, rolling, eating, growing and bouncing through fantastical adventures.

On a similar note, and again on PSP, are the irrepressibly daft, but relentless Lemmings. The never-ending procession of cute, green-haired rodents marches on... and still fails to make any progress without your help.

Both LocoRoco and Lemmings are perfect games for all ages and tastes; with their cute characters, simple controls and challenging level designs, they'll warm even the coldest of hearts.

Equally for the whole family to enjoy is EyeToy: Play Sports for PlayStation 2. Part of the innovative EyeToy range, named after the USB Camera which enables you to interact directly with a game using your whole body, this game boasts 101 sports themed games from Tennis and Surfing to Archery and Sumo Wrestling.

For fans of combat in and out of the ring another PSP Platinum gem is Tekken: Dark Resurrection. More than just a conversion of the phenomenally successful Tekken 5 on PlayStation 2, the game packs a punch of its own with new characters, stages and features such as Ghost opponents, fighters you can download, online, that have been trained by other players.

With a new chapter in the storyline and an Infrastructure Mode upgrade available to download via Killzone.com, Killzone: Liberation is another PSP title that has earned its Platinum stripes in 2007. A tactical, third-person shooter, Liberation pits you against a Helghast counter-attack on Vekta.

These are just five of the Platinum titles released this year across PSP and PlayStation 2. Others include SOCOM 3 and Ridge Racer 2, while releases of yesteryear include the likes of Ratchet: Gladiator and Soulcalibur III. So what are you waiting for, seek out the Platinum treats perfect for you and yours.