  Friday I finished reading The Ultimate History of Videogames (well, I started at the point when the NES was being developed). It was the fastest 400 pages I’ve ever read because the book was just so damn entertaining! It really took me back to the good ole days when I was an even bigger game junkie, subscribing to 4-5 game mags at a time and spending all my cash on games. Steven Kent, the author, not only travels through every detail of video gaming from the past several decades, but does so in a very captivating fashion without ever creating a drab laundry list of events. All diehard gamers out there should definitely read through this book. At the very least it will give you ample ammunition to use in the often hostile and uneducated environments of online video game forums. I am also on about page 200 of Opening the Xbox, a book about the Xbox project and how it developed within Microsoft. It’s a good read so far, but a bit monotonous a times with all the smaller players mentioned. One thing’s for sure, I have a much greater amount of respect for Seamus Blackly and the other Xbox pioneers that brought the Xbox project to fruition. Can you believe that MS actually thought about releasing a WebTV set top games box instead of the Xbox?
Scary… On a final note, I’ve been playing a bit of Beyond Good and Evil over the past few days (and shucking my duties to finish Metroid Prime , Viewtiful Joe and Dynasty Warriors 4 ). I’m only about 6 hours into the game, but it’s definitely official: Ubi Soft kicks ass. They are easily one of the top 3 hottest game publishers at the moment, and for good reason. BG&E is a captivating game with plenty of genuine heart and emotion. It’s a game where you can’t help but truly care for the characters, and the storyline is AAA quality. At $20 they are just giving it away, so go pick it up ASAP. Well, I’m off to do a bit of calculus and then hit the sack. After that I’m going to go to bed. Laters. 
