It's getting chilly, and the sweaters are coming out. Not the people who sweat profusely, mind, but the comfy things you pull over your head when it's cold. And as ancient tradition has it, when the days get shorter and the evenings darker, when October comes knocking, we boot up our Xboxes and PStwosies and settle down on the couch to make up for time lost living life. Here, then, are some long gestating capsule reviews of Games I've Been Playing Lately:

Yes, I've actually played games lately. It's been a while, but with the deluge of games arriving this autumn, I really had no choice but to invest a few (well, more than a few) evenings and weekends making my way through the pile before GTA: San Andreas and Halo 2 hit. So:

Katamari Damacy (PS2). This is my obsession. I sit down to play ten, fifteen minutes, and boom! An hour has passed. This is a work of genius - and art. You play a prince, roll a ball, get bigger, and- well, that's it. Except that's not it at all. The music! The absurdity! The sheer, infuriating addiction! There is nothing greater on this Earth than to start out the size of a mouse and grow to the size of a city, rolling up everything in your path: cars, sumo wrestlers, houses, sushi, chickens, an entire baseball team. You must play this. If you do not have a PS2, buy one, and then play this. It really is radically different from everything else out there, and it's about bloody time something is. God bless the Japanese, every single one of them.

Fable (Xbox). I started out feeling rather blah about this one, but it grew on me. It's not the Greatest RPG Ever, but it's a fine action-RPG with some stunning scenery, fun combat, easy learning curve, and - well, it's generally solid and fun. From time to time, it even shines, though it doesn't quite live up to all the hype. If you like your fantasy traditional and your RPGs uncomplicated, however, this is the one for you. I'm having fun with it, and I might even finish it. Which is definitely saying something.

Burnout 3 (Xbox). My favourite racing game of all time is Burnout 2. That hasn't changed. But number three is a brilliant game, no question about it. It's just not a pure racer, and it doesn't get me into the zone in quite the same way as its predecessor. There's a bit too much going on from time to time, and it's pretty much impossible to make it through a race without crashing...several times. Sure, that's half the fun, but it feels somewhat chaotic and random compared to the incredibly tight Burnout 2. But those crashes - they make it all worthwhile. And it's addictive as hell. Criterion has done a fantastic job ensuring that there's constant progression, that you get rewarded simply for playing, and that the experience - even when you're constantly crashing - is never frustrating. Other developers should pay attention. Gaming is about fun, first and foremost, and Burnout 3 provides that in spades.

I've also played around a bit with Colin McRae 2005 on the Xbox, but it's too early to offer an opinion on that one. And I also picked up Viewtiful Joe on the GameCube - finally - but after spending a rather frustrating hour with it, I'm not yet ready to write a review. Watch out for those at a later time.  ¶ 13:28