New Projects Ahead

In the coming weeks I will be bringing some different content to Billy Reads. When I started this blog I intended to deliver features and commentaries about pop and geek culture topics, but that wasn't all. I also wanted to post original content in the way of fiction and art, whether it be created by me or someone else. This is what I plan to do in the near future.

There are things to look forward to and I am excited to show you what's coming. Keep an eye out for new content!

Xbox 2015 Fall Exclusive Line-Up Sells Big

It is no secret that Sony's PlayStation 4 has been consistently outselling Microsoft's Xbox One in the little over two year life-span of the consoles, currently reaching a roughly two to one ratio by comparison. More consoles in the entertainment centre means more games on the living room shelves (or digital collections), and that should also suggest that the Xbox exclusive line-up would struggle to reach sales numbers akin to those of the PS4 catalogue. As if Microsoft needed more adversity, Rise of the Tomb Raider, a major exclusive title for the Xbox fall line-up, released alongside the highly anticipated and competitive multi-platform Bethesda RPG Fallout 4, which many suggested would be the death of Lara Croft's sequel adventure on the Xbox One. 

Xbox has been quiet about its sales numbers virtually on principle as they have trailed the PS4 in a number of categories, but Xbox Wire has chosen to speak up about the success of the 2015 exclusive line-up. Mike Nichols, the Corporate Vice President of Marketing at Xbox, announced that Halo 5: Guardians, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Forza Motorsport 6 and Gears of War: Ultimate Edition each sold over one million copies since their individual releases. This all despite a heavy season of new releases and half the number of units sold as the PS4. PlayStation may not have had any major first-party exclusives for the holiday season, but they did have third-party marketing agreements with EA for Star Wars: Battlefront and Call of Duty: Black Ops III, the former selling over twelve million copies to date and the latter being associated with Xbox for years prior to a new agreement between Sony and Activision. 

Days after the release of Rise of the Tomb Raider, industry voices and entertainment personalities were declaring Microsoft's agreement with Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix a failure simply due to the success of Fallout 4 and other holiday titles. Of course, had the game released on multiple consoles the sales numbers would have been far larger, but that does not spell the end for the reboot of the legendary series. Rise of the Tomb Raider will come to the PS4 in fall 2016, but it won't have to wait until then to be a success. The game itself is a spectacular adventure sure to please fans of the series and the genre alike. The gameplay is smooth and diverse, the puzzles unique and challenging and the story more riveting than the 2013 reboot effort. It is worth purchasing for any Xbox One owner, and even a great choice to buy the console if gamers do not already have one. Surely, this holiday season success for the Xbox exclusive line-up is indicative of the progress towards a better reputation and marketing push for console sales and future titles.

My Year in Books: What I Read in 2015

Now that the New Year has come, it's time for me to begin a new list of works completed in my ever-growing stack of interests. It's worth noting my 2015 reading list really didn't kick into gear until April when I completed my grad school course work. That said, this list does not contain any of the countless titles I read for my own research, but instead the pleasure reading I did on my own time. I'd like to share with you the books I read or re-read in order during 2015 and maybe a few books I know I'll be reading in 2016.

Books Read in 2015:

• "Seinlanguage" by Jerry Seinfeld
• "Star Wars: Kenobi" by John Jackson Miller
• "Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire" by Steve Perry
• "The Lost World" by Michael Crichton
• "Old Man's War" by John Scalzi
• "Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America's Greatest Troublemakers"            by Nick Offerman
• "The Ghost Brigades" by John Scalzi
• "Star Wars: Tarkin" by James Luceno
• "The Last Colony" by John Scalzi
• "The Martian" by Andy Weir
• "Total Recall" by Arnold Schwarzenegger
• "Zoe's Tale" by John Scalzi
• "Star Wars: Lords of the Sith" by Paul S. Kemp
• "The Human Division" by John Scalzi
• "Star Wars: Aftermath" by Chuck Wendig
• "Lock In" by John Scalzi
• "Starship Troopers" by Robert A. Heinlein
• "Number Two: More Short Tales from a Very Tall Man" by Jay Onrait
• "The Making of Star Wars" by J.W. Rinzler
• "The End of All Things" by John Scalzi

I read twenty books in 2015. Mostly fiction, some tie-in fiction and a few non-fiction on varying topics. If I had a full year of reading, I'm sure I would have gotten to more, but I'm not disappointed in what I reached. The fall months saw a slower turn around between books as I took more time with work, traveling and the heavy season of video games. I'll kick off the 2016 year early.

So what am I going to read this year? I'm sure the list will change, but I do know I want to read these few books:

• "Star Wars Battlefront: Twilight Company" by Alexander Freed
• "The Children of Hurin" by J.R.R. Tolkien
• "Unfinished Tales" by J.R.R. Tolkien
• "Ringworld" by Larry Niven
• "The Making of The Empire Strikes Back" by J.W. Rinzler
• "Star Wars Costumes: The Origin Trilogy" by Brandon Alinger
• "Inferno" by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
• "The Unincorporated Man" by Dani Kollin and Eytan Kollin
• "The Bassoon King" by Rainn Wilson

I know I'll get to these, but I am also anticipating what I will come across in the months ahead. Check back!