Ahem, the blue hedgehog has poked out it's poor little head and has seen no shadow. The Summer Lull is upon us. This auspicious gamer holiday has been growing shorter every year, but no matter the time we've been given we best make the most of it. For it is both a glorious and nostalgic time for each of us. A time to reflect on summers wasted, a time to revisit those old favorites, and a time to look towards the Fall and Winter holidays and what lovely video games they will bring.

The Summer Lull is the time each year when publishers decide to talk a week off. This year's Lull began after the release of Dragon Quest IX and will taper away towards the end of the month, first with StarCraft II, then into June with Madden 11, then Kane & Lynch 2, and faster still until September starts the charge leading up to Black Friday itself. Of course, this is just what the Summer Lullologists tell me. This dying season is unquantifiable though, perhaps beginning much earlier than expected.

Now that the Summer Lull is here, what will you do with your time? There are no games with which to spend your monies, so you are left to either catch up on your back catalog or return to some old favorites. Perhaps you can go the route of the hardcore and instead ponder the true meaning of gaming, by not gaming at all during the Summer Lull. I've had friends (on Xbox Live) that have died undertaking such a task. They died with honor.

Myself, I'm sharpening my skills with League of Legends Season One, trying out some Runes of Magic with my MMO buddies, and staring at my back catalog longingly.

There lies the true tragedy of the Summer Lull. My back catalog, like many gamers, is filled with so many unfinished games and forgotten classics that it is virtually impossible to play them all. I don't even want to begin reading off my list for fear of breaking into tears. The Oddworld games, Jade Empire, Final Fantasy 6, the fighting games I never spent enough time with, and if only I could find my NES cable so I could play Bad Dudes one more time. If anyone asks, it is raining in here. Pouring.

So tell me, Ranters, what will you do with your Summer Lull? Or, perhaps, what won't you be able to do?