Christmas is less than a month away and the annual battle of the festive gift-shopping spree has commenced. To ensure that everyone has a merry Christmas and is not disappointed by any of their presents (although it accepts no responsibility for hand-knitted reindeer jumpers), ELSPA (Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association) has provided a simple buyers’ guide for computer and video games.

Roger Bennett, director general of ELSPA, says: "It’s all too easy to be fooled by pirates offering a supposed bargain to make your Christmas budgets stretch further, but it very often proves to be false economy with poor quality, inadequate purchases which lead to Christmas morning misery. ELSPA advises buyers to stick to shopping within the usual retail and online outlets."

Ten top tips for avoiding Christmas disappointment:

DON’T:

• Buy unboxed games from market stalls or individuals – they may be counterfeit and pirated software can cause damage to PCs and consoles.

• Be taken in by implausibly cheap prices – chances are the games are incomplete and missing key elements.

• Buy a number of different games from different companies on one disc – these are highly likely to be counterfeit and may well not feature all the games stated.

• Buy games that don’t have an official PEGI age rating – age ratings are provided to give the purchaser essential information on the suitability of that game for the intended user.

DO:

• Buy games from reputable high street stores or online retailers.

• Buy games with the appropriate age rating for the user – an 18 rated game is not suitable for someone younger.

• Make sure it’s authentic – products that come without any documentation, manuals or have the title handwritten on a sleeve or CD label are very likely to be counterfeit.

• Check that the game will work on the user’s computer or console – it is frustrating to open up that much-wanted game and then to realise you can’t play it because your PC’s not up to it or it’s for the wrong console.

• Get a receipt – if you don’t get one you can’t take it back if there is anything wrong with it. If they won’t give you one, it’s definitely dodgy product.

Bennett added: "Hopefully, these tips will help to ensure that everybody is delighted with their Christmas gifts and that kids and adults alike have a fun-filled festive season playing their favourite computer and video games."