Will you look at that... I think this may actually qualify as a sign of the apocalypse.

The Gearbox double-feature in the latest Games for Windows magazine has run its course, but you can still find an interview with Randy plus a few new screens available here on 1up.

I've spent the last week at home from the Thanksgiving holiday plus a couple vacation days. Short of coming down with a 24-hour bug yesterday (the third time in five years I've entered Thanksgiving with some form of illness), my days have been spent catching up on gaming or fiddling with new TF2 and NS levels.

My gaming backlog this time of year looks surprisingly small (my recent purchases of BioShock, Metroid, Halo 3, Orange Box, Mario Galaxy, and Assassin's Creed all have seen significant progress) at first glance, but then I realize how many games I've missed in the meantime. I keep thinking I can use the early months of 08 to catch up, but with the number of games either actually releasing or having been pushed back from 07, this doesn't look likely - Mass Effect, a November release, has a reserved slot in December's budget. Burnout Paradise has already laid claim to January.

On the one hand, this is awesome. On the other hand, my bank account cries - my budget hasn't yet taken into account Ace Combat 6, Gears of War PC, Crysis, Unreal Tournament III, Call of Duty 4, or a PS3 with Resistance, Ratchet, and Uncharted. Ouch.

Here's hoping the early/mid 08 entries can hit with strong sales and perhaps draw publishers to be more willing to commit to non-holiday releases.