Oh what plans I had for this Christmas period, a time for me to complete those games I was so eager to finish and a time for me to wrap up my Game of the Year list for 2013. Yes there were games I wouldn't have the time to finish, but there were a few titles I was determined to experience before I wrote up my list. Sadly this didn't go as planned, instead I spent the majority of my Christmas / New Year period in severe pain and in hospital with a rather dangerous burst appendix. Now I won't go into details here, but as a doctor put it, I'm lucky to be here as the burst appendix caused all sorts of internal problems that could still cause me some problems in the future. After spending the vast majority of my time in hospital attached to a IV drip of antibiotics for days on end, I was desperate to get out of that place. I guess I did learn that me and hospitals don't get on. That said, I'm thankful I'm still here so that's something.

All this meant that my gaming plans went down the drain and I'm left unsure if I should even write up a game of the year list. There's part of me that enjoys wrapping the year up with a list of the video games that I enjoyed from the previous year, so maybe at some point it might be worth revisiting once everything a settled down. Yet I'm always left frustrated by the games I never got around to finishing. Right now I continue to adventure through the sublime Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag and there are countless other games I'd like to wrap up to. 2013 was a strange year for many of us, it was a strange year in gaming in my opinion. Yes we had the typical big hitters and some superb indie hits, however it was a year spent waiting to see what Sony and Microsoft had in store with their next generation consoles. Hopefully 2014 should prove a more fruitful year for us all now that the Xbox One and PS4 have had a little time to settled down in the market. Plus what about Nintendo with the Wii U and 3DS? I have to admit I've found myself attracted by the likes of Super Mario 3D World and Windwaker HD, but enough to shell out £200 plus? I don't know.

I'm comfortable in saying that I most probably won't be picking up a PS4 or Xbox One for sometime, at least till all the creases have been ironed out and there's more on offer to tempt me. Having not long ago purchased a new graphics card for my PC, all my third-party games are happily being satisfied by the good old fashioned personal computer (AC4: Black Flag looks gorgeous on PC). In fact I've surprised myself lately by having even considered picking up a Playstation Vita before Sony inevitably release the new 2013 version with the less spectacular screen. Why? Well Sony have really been pushing the Vita's connectivity to the PS4 and the PS3 to some degree and there's at least a collection of titles that have caught my attention, the likes of LittleBigPlanet Vita and Persona 4: Golden. Who knows what I'll do, but it'll be interesting to experience a new platform again after what feels like forever since I bought new hardware.

So for now that's that, a little update I wanted to write. As for how I'm feeling, well a little rough to be honest but I'm getting there. I now have a butt-ugly scar for one thing, but like I said, I guess I should be thankful because having to rush to A&E after six days of severe abdomen pain is rarely a good sign. Thankfully I get to see what 2014 have in store for us all and that's pretty damn exciting.

Thanks for reading.