That concludes our holiday-season game release frenzy for 2012. We now return you to quieter days, and whatever great heap of games are on your pile or yet to come via gifts or willpower-breaking Steam sales.

But, don't get too comfortable. As has been the case for the past few years as well, 2013 is shaping up with major late-winter/early spring releases. Here are just a handful of the games currently scheduled to be released next year through March: Bioshock Infinite, Sim City, Dead Space 3, Gears of War Judgment, Metro Last Light, Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm, Company of Heroes 2 and Crysis 3. That's a list that could make up a decent enough fall schedule.

It's a safe bet some of those games will see some delays, but if even half of those launch before March 31, my spring will be secure. So, if you have a backlog of games you are meaning to get through, the next 2 months are your opportunity. Because this break from big new releases isn't set to last very long.

For me, I have no shortage of back-catalog to diver into. High on my list are finishing Far Cry 3 and then finally playing The Walking Dead, which I have ignored for far too long. As for this week, well like I said. It's a good time to play the games you already have.

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