Welcome one and all to this brief and somewhat abridged look back over the past 12 months in gaming, as we welcome 2008 into our corridors with open arms (oh behave - Ed). Without further ado, then, lets start the round-up, month-by-month, where it all began. Back in January...

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January

Never the busiest month on the gaming calendar, January was in the main spent in recovery, as the kicked-back after another frenetic record-breaking season. There were a couple of stories of note, however, the first of which was the Stamper brothers' announcement that they were to depart Rare - the developer they founded - and move on to pastures new. Having sold for 375 million USD to back in 2002, we assume the new opportunities in question involved a pool and several leggy blondes...

The month also saw a satirical Columbine game cut from a prominent festival, the title in question subsequently sinking without trace. While over here in Blighty the British Army took the controversial step of following in America's Army's footsteps.

Tragedy of the month came when a US radio contestant died after imbibing too much water in a bid to win a sought-after Wii; the console proving hard to get last festive season too. 2007 was also difficult year for Sony, who found their under fire as early as January when several titles suffered setbacks.

The end of January also saw drop the bombshell that they were departing the series to pursue 'fresh ambitions', which turned into later in the year. Sony's European launch plans for the PS3 were also, finally, confirmed, while on the very same day the Pope branded violent games 'a perversion'. SiN also bid us farewell, Unreal Tournament 3 emerged from the shadow of UT2007, and eBay moved to prevent the sale of in-game items on their auction site.

February

February kicked-off with what I can only describe as a vision of the future, early speculation pointing to a PS3 price-cut as an inevitability, although did cling on until the summer. A new game was also hinted in the early stages of the month, Bizarre confirmed their first title 'The Club', while Sony promised 220,000 PS3s for day one in the UK.

It was February in which Rockstar confirmed Manhunt 2, as well, kick-starting a process of and heated debate which sees the game still not cleared for release in the at the time of writing. The game did later secure a release in the US, but only after a toned-down version was submitted to the censors.

Over in meanwhile, and the Wii's domination was just getting started, news reaching us that Ninty's baby was outselling the PS3 4 to 1. Back in and even Sony's marketing strategy was coming under attack, the EU banning 'sock-puppet' blogs, such as one created to advertise the by a Sony PR firm. February also saw the launch of Gamecock, a sprightly new publisher from the Gathering of Developers' supremo.

Naughty Dog's new title was confirmed in the month as well, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune stepping into the limelight as one of scant exclusive titles looking good on the PS3. also kick-started a new Montreal studio, the developer later taking charge of 3. February also saw rumours emerging that the Euro PS3 would actually be different from that delivered to the and Japan, this speculation was eventually proved true - Sony confirming that hardware emulation for titles would be omitted from the new console. A bad year for Sony continued...

The month drew to a close with Capcom announcing a new deal to use the Unreal engine, the publisher becoming the first to embrace Epic's middleware tech.

March

March kicked-off with the quasi-religious news that had confirmed a release date, while Sony scored a rare PR goal by confirming that rumble support would after all be returning to the PS3 at some point in the unspecified future. Phil Harrison also let slip the first hints of the PS3's 'Home', while Commodore even revealed they were to make new gaming PCs.

As the month progressed, PlayStation 'Father' Ken Kutaragi was blamed for the problems at Sony, while Harmonix jumped into bed with EA. was also properly detailed, and even predicted emotions such as love would be present in 2; a promise we're still waiting to test.

Sony also chose March to deliver early hints of the PSP Slim & Lite, which were at the time taken as speculation that a PSP2 could be on the way. As the month wore on, even the British police began to worry about the price of the PS3, advising people not to attend the midnight launch.

Take-Two and Jack Thompson once again clashed over the course of the month, and sparked recriminations from Sony fans after revealing that Devil May Cry 4 would also be released on the 360.

Bam! The PS3 launches amid some fanfair in both Australia and Europe. Sony were already defending the price, especially in the UK and Eire, where the console was even pricier than on the continent. That said, the launch was declared a record-breaker, PS3 releases flooding the charts as Microsoft hit back with the Elite.

The month ended on a high note thanks to the first IV trailer, reducing video sites to a crawl as gamers clamoured for a first glimpse of Rockstar's new opus.