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Coming up on it's second birthday, the market which Xbox 360 is being targeted at is very different to that at its initial launch. Back then, the Playstation 2 was king, the Playstation 3 wasn't destined to launch for a further year and the Wii was still the Revolution. As the first HD games system, Microsoft was pretty firmly aiming to sell its console to technologists, early adopters and hardcore gamers.

Forward to 2007 and while yes, the traditional FPS and RPG gamer is being catered for, there is a distinctly larger range of family oriented games ready to be released on the system and even a hardcore gamer like myself found them to be brilliant fun and pretty addictive.

Guitar Hero

There are two things I have learned from the 10 minutes or so I spent playing Guitar Hero III. First, it promises to built upon the success of the previous two incarnations admirably, offering a great track listing, some fun new game modes and most importantly buckets of fun. Second, I am probably the worst guitar hero player on the planet, getting a thorough thrashing from a Microsoft rep.

Unfortunately, as with 90 per cent of the games on show, photography wasn't allowed, so you'll have to take my word for it that the graphics have also received a bit of spit and polish. Some of the new features, such as power ups, are going to add a great new twist to the game as well. My personal favourite, enabling you to cut one of your opponents strings, with the amp overloading, coming a close second.

If you were a fan of the first two games, there is no way you can miss this instalment and anyone who hasn't yet tried out the franchise should find this the perfect reason to do so.

The Simpsons Game

With the film having now come and gone at cinemas worldwide, the nation is crying out for a disappointing, poorly made cash-in game to accompany it. Unfortunately, The Simpsons Game is none of those things, but rather (from the limited play time I had) a quaintly charming and above all fun experience.

For a start, the cartoon world of Springfield translates into a beautiful cel-shaded masterpiece which looks arguably better than many of the so-called photo-realistic games on offer elsewhere. Moreover the gameplay has an equal appeal, which while not up to Splinter Cell plot standard, still offer a good few hours of entertainment. Again, I highly recommend you take a gander once this hits the shelves.

Viva Piñata: Party Animals

If I was to quickly sum up the original Viva Piñata I'd probably call it 'The Sims, with fluffy animals, but better' which I think most people would agree is a fair approximation. The game has proved immensely popular, inspiring not only a spin-off children's TV series (which I'm too scared to watch), a port to the PC and now, Party Animals, which offers a selection of mini games in a similar format to Wario Ware: Smooth Moves.

Games include mashing buttons order to blow a toy boat across a swimming pool, mashing buttons in order to win a running race and, you guessed it, mashing buttons in time with a swinging piñata (don't worry - it's not a live one) so as to hit it with a stick.

I may be slightly over simplifying the technicalities of the gameplay, but I should point out that while it's not the most complicated of games by a long shot it is, simply put, intended to be a fun game for the whole family and in that respect, it looks set to succeed. I predict that it will be immensely popular.

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