This past week Kotaku recapped the year that was in video games, on subjects both naughty and nice. And before we know it, seven days will have passed, and we'll all begin working on another 365-chapter story of video games, how they're made, and who plays them.

For now, we invite you to revisit these retrospectives. And we thank you for choosing to spend a part of this holiday with Kotaku. From all of us, happy holidays, and a very merry Christmas to you.

2009 in Review
The Controversies
The Shows That Were
The Sports Video Game Report
The Disappointments
The Year, NSFW
The Trailers

Featured Stories
One Man's Year Making Assassin's Creed II
The Man Who Never Wanted To Make 'The Citizen Kane of Games'
The Batman-Maker Who Didn't Know The Meaning Of GOTY
Motion-Control Gaming Grabs The Spotlight

Ricochet is a giant game of Breakout in 3D. You play the game by swatting, punching, kicking or headbutting kick balls into a giant wall of blocks.

As the kick ball smacks into the blocks, either destroying or cracking them, other balls start shooting back at you. The end result is that you end up trying to hit a bunch of balls as they bounce around the room.

To make smacking the balls a bit easier, your movements are projected into the game in the form of a transparent avatar that mimics your motions.

It seems to be the simplest use of Project Natal, perhaps beyond shoe viewing, that the Xbox 360 will offer. So I was a bit disappointed that the controls weren't as spot on as you'd expect.

While driving in Burnout Paradise, Project Natal seemed to offer lag-free controls that did what I expected, my swats and kicks seemed to miss the ball a lot more than it should. That may have been because it was a bit hard to get a handle on the perspective of the game while playing. My hand, as seen in transparent avatar form, was being projected onto the wall opposite me, so when the ball came flying my way my natural reaction was too swing too early or wait too long.

Perhaps this is something gamers will adjust to over time, or maybe it's not as noticeable when played on a television positioned closer to you.

It's far too early to tell, but the other possibility is that Project Natal is a control mechanic better suited for games like Burnout or perhaps the slower-paced, more emotive Milo.

"There’s no truth to the Banjo motion control rumor," said Rare's George Kelion. "Banjo has been designed to be played using a game pad from the outset."

Microsoft yesterday denied that a suggestive comment made by Ken Lobb in a clip video referred to motion control.

Kelion admitted that while he's not privy to every design detail about the game, on having played the title, he played it with a normal controller and noted the absence of motion control input.

But is Rare doing something with the fabled X-waggle? "No idea," said Kelion. "And that's the truth."

"People shouldn’t take rumors that gestate in comments sections so seriously, even on respectable news sites like Kotaku. They can often turn out to be red herrings, as is the case with Banjo and motion controls," he said.

The control system, said the source, actually consists of a smaller-sized device that can attach to the body - and multiple devices are intended to be used in concert, such as wearing two on the hands to move a character's hands in-game, or four, on hands and feet at the same time to move a character's body.

Though the source admits the technology might have evolved since the last time it was seen, the source disputes the idea that any of these pieces merge to form a single controller. It is also unclear how the individual pieces will be packaged, whether individually or in sets.

Sony declined to comment on "speculation."