This week as some of us may know sees the release of arguably the most anticipated game of the millennium thus far, by one of the most respected developers in history. Can't say I'm not tempted. I drove obliquely near a retail establishment that caters to our breed but somehow found that one last shard of restraint that kept me out of further revolving consumer debt. I don't know from whence that shard sprang forth, but I know its days are severely numbered. I know me, I know my tendencies, and if there's something shiny and curvaceous that apparently threatens my tender setup with actual physical pain -- I envision my aging, beleaguered GeForce 4 Ti4200 writhing in a near-ecstasy trying to render even the opening movie -- I know that I will soon find myself sheepishly walking out of an EB Games around 60 dollars poorer.

But that day has not yet come. Instead, I am doing what comes naturally to some and is a painful, despicable process to others: I'm cleaning out the backlog.

As I've stated before, I have a history of simply not finishing games. Seriously, prior to about, oh, 2002 I couldn't have named a game I completed. That's begun to irk me for ill-explored and ephemeral reasons. The first game to break that streak was Halo. Pain and all, I stuck through that game and finished it. Multiple times, actually. Since then, I've complete a couple of titles including Crimson Skies and The Chronicles of Riddick. Enough that I can see and appreciate the sense of accomplishment in completing a game. Therefore, that's my task. To complete many quality games I never completed. Just think how impressed the chicks will be.

First on the list is an oldie but goodie. With Halo 2 on the way and the whole ilovebees.com hoopla going on, it suddenly occurred to me that I had never completed any of the Marathon series. None of them. To be honest, I couldn't tell you why. I couldn't tell you why I never completed any of the games I've played. I think the Marathon series were primarily a multiplayer sport of mine, as my buddies at work and I played every incarnation via our LAN almost every day at lunch and after work. I was (unarguably) the best at work and actually took home the top prize at the '98 Apple World Wide Developers Conference Marathon Infinity tournament (while the final episode of Seinfeld was broadcast on the giant screen in the main auditorium). It was nice to know that the "big fish, small pond" syndrome wasn't completely true in that case. But I never got around to completing the single-player, an admittedly huge part of the series. So currently heading through Marathon, to be followed by the sequels.

Get this: I never completed Half-Life. Yeah, one of the icons of modern computer gaming, and I never finished it. Bear in mind -- as you can probably tell from the previous paragraph -- I was a Mac gamer for a long time, hence many titles were simply not available for me. A friend let me borrow it, and I started it but never got far. Somehow I always got drawn back into Quake 3 multiplayer and never went back. I figure I have to complete the first one before the much-touted sequel comes out, no?

Once those are done, I'm tempted to play through even some of the more recent single-player releases I have on the shelf, titles like Far Cry and Prince of Persia. Titles that seem like they may have some merit to finish. I don't want to torture myself with tripe just to say I completed it, but titles that seem to be well-regarded are certainly on the list.

So, those of you who haven't taken the plunge yet, consider cleaning out that backlog. You will most likely find pure gaming bliss without spending a dime. Anyone with suggestions for additional titles, feel free to offer them up.

EDIT: Of course Elysium has kindly provided us with a timely, topical thread on this very subject. Thanks. Tons. Really.