Ah, but let's have some fun with this. The book's about 200 pages long. So, write a page number in the comments section and, if there's a world record listed on it, I'll tell you the record.

I'll start.....

How about page 45?

OK. On that page, we learn: "With 24.84 million copies sold, Halo is the best-selling first-person shooter franchise ever."

Huh. Guess it trumps Doom.

The first 10 people to drop a page number in the comments will be told Guinness World Records. By me.

UPDATE: Scroll down (and click to reveal) all the comments below and you'll see I've provided 10 records to 10 readers. Please refrain from further requests. I'm off to other ridiculous endeavors.

It's like we're writing a post together, a verifiable nominee for Most Reader-Friendly Gaming Blog Post Of All Ever.

His poetry is bleak, but not bleak in a way that makes you feel empty. Bleak in the way that it makes the worst in video gaming things to be celebrated. In a perverse, self-masochistic kind of way.

Craig's got a new book out, called "64 Bits of Pain", and if you're looking to stuff a gamer's stocking with something other than a GameStop gift voucher this Christmas, this might be a good idea.

You can read some preview pages here. I'd recommend you start with Assassin's Creed.

[64 Bits of Pain]

[Note from Kotaku: The following excerpts are from a series of interviews published in A Casual Revolution, a new book that chronicles and studies modern styles of gaming, challenging the notions of "casual" and "hardcore," and examining how and why gamers play what they play]

Type 2: These are the stories of players who used to intensely play video games and now have switched to more casual video games.

Survey response from a 40-year-old female player.

Q: Have your game-playing habits changed over the years?

A: I used to only play RPGs like Guild Wars but you can start and stop casual games easier during the day.

Survey response from a 42-year-old female player.

Q: Have your game-playing habits changed over the years?

A: Started with text-only adventure games, moved toward RPG video-games & simulations, most recently I stick with time management-type casual games.

Survey response from a 29-year-old female player.

Q: Have your game-playing habits changed over the years?

A: I no longer play shoot 'em ups or beat 'em ups or two-player games with my sister on the Amiga. I've less patience with poor games and am less inclined to persevere. My shelf's full of games I've bought then never even bothered to play, or those I've only played for an hour then given up. At least with casual games the free trial makes that less likely. I've always played casual games, even before they were called that though (Tetris, pinball, card games, Nuclear War, Rockstar Ate My Hamster, they were all casual) and I've always played traditional games too.

Survey response from a 38-year-old male player.

Q: Have your game-playing habits changed over the years?

A: As I grew up and had more obligations my time and patience became limited towards investing in epic games. Though I still love the idea of playing epics like Civilization or Warlords or SimCity, the time required is just more than I can provide. Every so often I try to get a game going only to be pulled off it by various obligations and [I find] it difficult to return.

Survey response from a 30-year-old female player.

Q: Have your game-playing habits changed over the years?

A: Having a baby really changed my game playing habits. When she needs my attention the game must stop. This is why World of Warcraft has been hard to play as of late.

Survey response from a 43-year-old female player.

Q: Have your game-playing habits changed over the years?

A: I've been an active computer gamer since 1989. I've always loved the adventure games. But as I've grown older, got married, had kids, I find it hard to concentrate too long and get too involved in an adventure game, since the time that I spend on the computer is so inconsistent. A casual game is now perfect for me ... it helps me to relax and ‘‘stimulate the gray matter.'' I love them!

Players Discovering Casual Games
Type 3: These are stories of players who have discovered video games through casual games.

Phone interview with the father in a Wii-playing family, the parents in their early thirties with two twin girls aged three and a half.

Q: You compared the Wii to Parcheesi?

A: We don't play Parcheesi [Sorry!/Ludo] with the kids, because it is too complicated for them-they are only three and a half years old. With the Wii, on the other hand, the way that you do something and see a reaction on the screen, the way you tilt the controller and see something on the screen-that is something different. You cannot give them PlayStation controllers; those are a little too advanced with too many buttons. With the Wii, we can see on the kids that it just works for them, they can use that immediately. We play the Wii with friends, at social events. We have also played it with the in-laws who are both around sixty. They play it eagerly, and they ask if we shouldn't play the game one more time.

Q: Do you personally play other computer or video games?

A: Ah yes. I have started playing Call of Duty, and I used to play Counter-Strike a lot. I am into first-person shooters, we have a clan, and so on. But nothing related to the Wii.

Q: You haven't tried converting your wife or family to computer/videogames?

A: Not to traditional computer games. I know they don't like those, so it hasn't come up. We play the Settlers board game with the in-laws. The computer is not so good for something like that where it becomes strategic and you play for several hours. When I was a child, we played Parcheesi and chess, or perhaps Pong. That could be played with the family.

Q: What Wii games do you play?

A: Mostly Wii Sports and Wii Fit. We have bought some others, but we don't play them. We just held a summer barbecue with eighteen guests. Everybody was playing the hula hoop on Wii Fit. We bring out the Wii at social gatherings and when friends come over.

Phone interview with a player of downloadable casual games in her fifties.

Q: Have you played board games or card games?

A: Lots. Checkers, Nine Men's Morris, and lots of card games.

Q: And Solitaire games?

A: Yes. Playing casual games actually feels similar to playing Solitaire. You are totally relaxed, you cannot concentrate on anything else, but at the same time you can be thinking about other things in the back of your mind. I often play when I face a difficult problem. In my company I face various tasks that are hard to get started with. I already have the knowledge I need, so I play a game rather than go read a lot of books. Then the solutions come. It is like the game brings out a lot of tacit knowledge, as if the problem solving in the game maintains that skill, and that is a skill I need.

Q: How were you introduced to casual games?

A: My 75-year-old friend introduced me to Zuma and Collapse, the predecessor to Zuma. It was after I had handed in my PhD thesis, so my brain was completely offline. Then she invited me over for dinner and told me she had something interesting to show me. She also had a computer Mahjong game that was very beautiful and exciting, I really liked that. Later I have begun to buy them myself, because they are not that expensive.

Q: How do you feel about difficult games? Is it a problem to be stuck on a level?

A: Level twelve of Zuma is really fast. I think I gave up after fifty attempts. Zuma has a game mode called Gauntlet where you can practice different levels, so I switched to that and practiced becoming faster. That helped, but I was still too slow. It was important for me to finish the game-I believe that is important in life, to finish things, no matter what. I like competing with myself, to see development and progress. ‘‘No matter what,'' is really the point for me. I googled for solutions and found a site with a cheat code to make Zuma slower. It worked!!! For me, that was even more satisfying that beating the game on its own terms: to modify the game to fit my own limitations and capacities.

Survey response from a 52-year-old female player.

Q: Have your game-playing habits changed over the years?

A: Until I discovered casual games on the computer I used to spend a lot of time with traditional crossword puzzle books and other puzzle-based paper-based activities.

Survey response from a 49-year-old female player.

Q: Have your game-playing habits changed over the years?

A: I play more now that they have made games to suit women. Not the fighting, killing, kicking ... etc. games.

Survey response from a 29-year-old female player.

Q: Have your game-playing habits changed over the years?

A: I only discovered ‘casual games' about a year and a half ago. Of all things, my Mom had bought Insaniquarium and a puzzle type one (I want to say Penguin Puzzle, but I don't remember the name for sure) for my son for Christmas. Regardless, after the entire family got hooked on Insaniquarium, I ended up checking out the website of the company that put it out, and things went from there. Before ‘casual games' entered the house, I'd gotten to the point where I mostly played MMORPGs-EverQuest, at the time, though I usually ended up giving new ones a try as they came out. That, and Sims 2. But like I said above, ‘normal' computer games don't come out all that often. At least, not ones I was interested in. With the whole new world of casual games that can be downloaded and tried in just a few minutes, it let me have a much wider variety of games to play, so that I now have something to play no matter what my mood is and what I want to do.

For more on A Casual Revolution, go to the book's official site or purchase it here.

It occurs to me that a lot of good games are born out of direct adaptations of books as well as spun off of inspirations that come from books. But don't let me waste your time try to list them — let GamesRadar's list of "Top 7 Games based on books" do that instead.

By far the "best" game on that list for me is American McGee's Alice — with The Witcher in a close second (and only because the original adaptation of the anthology was so lousy). Rainbow Six makes the cut, naturally. But I have to admit I didn't know about that Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy game. Tragic!

Enjoy the read:

The Top 7… Games based on books [GamesRadar]

The quote on the cover of the 2010 version of the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition actually comes from a post Crecente wrote earlier this year on the 2009 version of the book. The full quote is "With entries for professional gaming, top selling games in history, the history of hardware and Guitar Hero, the Guinness World Records 2009 Gamer's Edition looks to be a must have for fans of gaming."

And it did look to be such, before they started making up records like ‘Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever.' Still, the book does feature a number of more tangible and less marketing-focused records, so it's still the perfect bathroom reading book for gamers.

Let's see them use that quote.

The book will be out in North America on January 4th, and the UK on January 21st.

Fans following the development of Star Wars: The Old Republic are probably already familiar with Threat of Peace, the weekly web-comic written by BioWare's Rob Chestney and drawn by Alex Sanchez. Dark Horse Comics will be publishing the first portion of the series as a 96-page trade paperback in April. Dark Horse also delves into the Old Republic universe on a monthly basis with its Knights of the Old Republic comic series, in publication since 2006.

Fans of words without pictures are in for a treat as well. In July, Del Rey Books will be publishing Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance, a hardcover novel by bestselling author Sean Williams, and there's another book already in the early planning stages from Paul Kemp. know for his work on the Forgotten Realms series of AD&D novels.

That's two novels. The Old Republic's script alone has enough text for forty. Looks like someone has a lot of writing to do to catch up!

The Expanded Universe of The Old Republic [Star Wars: The Old Republic]

In one of his regular "Iwata Asks" columns, the Nintendo president sat down with Zelda mastermind Eiji Aonuma and picked his brains about the development of The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. And Aonuma revealed that the latest Zelda game was inspired not by some sweeping work of fantasy, or lasting tale of good vs evil, but by a kids book. About a train, some kids, and some animals.

In "The Tracks Go On And On" (which Aonuma was reading to his son at the time), some kids are running a train, and laying the tracks for it as they went, exploring the land. All cute stuff, with bright colours, small animals, etc. Eventually, they finish up, build a station and a real train comes. Which they promptly board, go home, end of story.

Aonuma says he kept the inspiration a secret, instead pitching the idea of exploring Hyrule on a train as though it came to him in a vision. And now, we have a Zelda game where Link travels around Hyrule on a train.

Iwata Asks [Nintendo]

In Forged By Chaos, the third novel based on Warhammer Online, author C.L. Werner takes on Dark Elves. Greenskins, and the forces of Chaos as they explore the Bastion Stair in search of the Spear of Myrmidia, a relic that could ensure their victory over the Empire of Man.

"FORGED BY CHAOS provides readers with a horrific look into the warped minds of the soldiers of Destruction – the megalomania of the Dark Elves, the destructive single-mindedness of the Greenskins, and the unholy obsessions of Chaos", said Jeff Hickman, Studio Executive Producer for Mythic Entertainment. "C.L. Werner provides a never-before-seen look at a single side of the Realm vs. Realm conflict, and shows just how fragile, and deadly, this alliance of dark powers can be."

I've always been a huge fan of fantasy novels from the bad guys' point-of-view, at least when they don't simply portray the villains as uglier heroes. Hopefully Werner gets it right! Forged By Chaos is now available at fine booksellers everywhere.

The novel is titled "Assassin's Creed: Renaissance," and is written by Oliver Bowden. I couldn't find a book description on either Amazon or Tower Books, but Play.tm says it will be an expansion of Ezio's tale. Whether that means a prequel or continuance is anyone's guess. The book has a release date of Nov. 26

"Penguin are hugely excited to be publishing the novelization to the second Assassin's Creed game," Alex Clarke, the Penguin editorial director, told Play.tm. "This partnership presents at last a way for traditional book-publishing to cross-over with the ever growing and increasingly exciting world of gaming media."

Penguin to Deliver Assassin's Creed Book [Play.tm]

Halo: Evolutions, due out on November 24th, is an extended look at the Halo universe through the eyes of popular science fiction and fantasy authors, along with several members of Microsoft's 343 Industries' staff. On the author side we get stories from Karen Traviss of Star Wars: Republic Commando fame, The Last Days author B.K. Evenson, and comic book writer Fred Van Lente.

The 343 Industries team responsible for the Halo game franchise delivers stories from franchise director Frank O'Connor, managing editor Kevin Grace, and Robert McLees, a writer on the first three Halo games as well as the upcoming Halo: Reach.

"We sought out writers who came to the table with an obvious passion for Halo and amazing story ideas." says Eric Raab, Tor editor. "We got stuff for every kind of Halo fan from straight up action with the Master Chief to glimpse into the Elite mindset post Halo 3, and some really cool explorations of some other familiar faces like Cortana, the Gravemind, and Admiral Preston Cole, and some awesome new stuff that wander into unexplored territory of the Halo mythos."

The only books I love more than video game novels that explore untold back-story is anthologies of stories that do the same thing. Makes for an extremely bathroom-friendly read. Check out the full list of contributors below, along with a nice shot of the book's cover, so you know what to look for.

TOBIAS S. BUCKELL, the New York Times bestselling author of HALO: The Cole Protocol and Sly Mongoose.

B.K. EVENSON, the Edgar and Horror Guild International nominated author of Last Days and The Open Curtain.

JONATHAN GOFF, writer and artist with 343 Industries.

KEVIN GRACE, writer and Managing Editor of 343 Industries.

ROBT McLEES, Bungie game developer and writer on Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2 and Halo 3, as well as the upcoming Halo: Reach.

ERIC NYLUND, the New York Times bestselling author of Halo: The Fall of Reach and Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, and most recently a new non-Halo series that begins with Mortal Coils.

FRANK O'CONNOR, the Franchise Director for Halo at 343 Industries.

ERIC RAAB, writer, and Tor editor of the Halo novels since 2004.

KAREN TRAVISS, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of her own Wess'har series as well as Star Wars and Gears of War novels.

JEFF VANDERMEER & TESSA KUM: Vandermeer is the World Fantasy award-winning writer of City of Saints and Madman as well as Shriek: An Afterword and Finch. Kum is the author of 7wishes and editor for Weird Tales and the Best American Fantasy series.

FRED VAN LENTE, the New York Times bestselling author of Incredible Hercules (with Greg Pak) and Marvel Zombies 3, as well as Cowboys and Aliens and the upcoming Marvel comic series Halo: Blood Line.

Either way, you can let your ears take a stroll through the geek district.

Patrick W. Galbraith, author of The Otaku Encyclopedia and University of Tokyo PhD candidate, is your guide. Geek luminaries like Otaku USA Magazine editor Patrick Macias and Tokyo Stormtropper Danny Choo are interviewed as well.

Each tour is bundled with a CD with MP3 audio, an area map and a photography booklet. Yours for US$12.

TOKYO REALTIME - Audio Guided Walking Tours [Official Site]

EA's new FLIPS series takes books from some of today's best children's writers to deliver what are essentially extended director's cuts of their works to the Nintendo DS. Children will be able to read books from Cathy Cassidy, Eoin Colfer, and Enid Blyton, with quizzes and reference links built right in to help encourage getting to the end of each chapter.

"I'm over the moon to see my stories and characters brought to life on the Nintendo DS with EA's new FLIPS range," said Eoin Colfer, author of the award-winning Artemis Fowl series. "Everyone knows that reading improves literacy skills. I have two children who are DS fanatics and cannot wait for the FLIPS to arrive, so EA might finally get them reading my books!"

Here's what they've got lined up so far:

Enid Blyton (Egmont) - The Enchanted Wood®, The Magic Faraway Tree, The Folk of the Faraway Tree, Enchanted World – Petal and the Eternal Bloom, Enchanted World – Melody and the Enchanted Harp, Enchanted World – Silky and the Rainbow Feather

Cathy Cassidy (Penguin)– Scarlett, Angel Cake, Sundae Girl, Shine on Daizy Star, GingerSnaps, Driftwood

Eoin Colfer (Penguin) - Artemis Fowl, Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident, Artemis Fowl and the Eternity Code, Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception, Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony, Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox

Too Ghoul For School (Egmont) - Silent but Deadly, The In-Spectres Call, Ghoul Dinners, The Bubonic Builders, Attack of the Zombie Nits, School Spooks Day, French Fright, Terror In Cubical Four

That's an impressive list of reading materials right there. The first four FLIPS titles are being released in the UK on the 4th of December, with each release featuring six to eight books for the low price of £24.99. Will the Nintendo DS succeed where libraries and book stores have failed? We'll find out then.

We've learned how big a focus ArenaNet was putting on the art for Guild Wars 2 during our annual pilgrimage to the Penny Arcade Expo, which really puts the The Art of Guild Wars 2 into perspective. This isn't just concept art. As far as ArenaNet is concerned, this is the game itself. Consider the book a way of getting your hands on the MMO a little early.

North American fans can snag the book from the Penny Arcade Store for $30, while our friends in Europia can order directly from NCsoft for £20.00 or €25.00.

The Art of Guild Wars 2 [Guild Wars 2 Website - Thanks Connor!]

The Art of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney collects all of the artwork from the three Nintendo DS Phoenix Wright titles as well as Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, into one giant coffee-table holding down stack of bound paper. It's perfect for showing your friends and family how much you enjoy the artwork of the Phoenix Wright series, or at least I hope it is, because otherwise what's the point?

I wouldn't have thought the Phoenix Wright series was popular enough to warrant an UDON art book, but after the wild applause the next game in the series got at this year's Comic-Con, it's probably a wise choice.

Then again, since it's based entirely around the events of the first game in the series, it may well be. Page after page of "I WILL STAB YOU IN THE FACE" followed by "AARRGGHH!!" broken up only by a few moments of "OH NO MY WIFE WHAT HAVE I DONE I AM A MONSTER".

Written by Matt Stover, God of War (the book) will be out in March 2010, with further novelizations of the series to follow.

The 400-page Eve: The Burning Life hits this November for $15 and that's about all we know about the book so far. No mention of the plot other than the fact that it will "stand on it's own", meaning you won't have to be privy to the vast living back story of the massively multiplayer online game.

"Though the player-driven drama unfolding daily in EVE Online is the essence of our virtual world, CCP firmly believes that EVE can transcend the boundaries of a single medium to offer new ways of experiencing its richness" said Thor Gunnarsson, VP of Business Development at CCP. "We are thrilled to collaborate with the incredibly talented team at Tor Books to bring a taste of the EVE universe to sci-fi readers around the world."

The book will be written by Hjalti Daníelsson, CCP Games main create writer for the game.

"EVE is a phenomenal SF offering," said Eric Raab, Tor Editor. "The game is beyond awe-inspiring, and its intricacies deserve stories. Hjalti's storytelling skills shine in-game and in his short fiction. We at Tor are truly excited for his first foray into the novel form."

It's unclear if the novel will have any connection with Eve: The Empyrean Age which hit Amazon last summer.

What fascinates me about these Eve novels is the concept of creating fiction in a universe that continues to grow and be essentially written by the fan base. The idea of trying to tell a story across a massive bit of living fanfic is a neat new concept that flips the tradition of professionally written fiction on its head.

Here are the Pix'N Love fellas checking out the book! Below, boozing it in celebration. Congrats, Pix'N Love! I'll definitely toss up some pics when I get my copy.

Working with Pix'N Love has been a pleasure — everyone on the Pix'N Love team is a class act.

Those interested in acquiring a copy of the French version, click here or check out more details in the embedded link.

Une journee avec Pix [Pix'N Love Editions]

Written by the always insightful Patrick Galbraith, The Otaku Encyclopedia is just that, an otaku encyclopedia. From A-Z, the book covers everything Japanese nerd — an impressive feat. It also features interviews with maids, famous cosplayers, arts like Takashi Murakami, retro game idol Haruna Anno and otaku heroine Shoko Nakagawa.

The book is edited by Andrew Lee and published by Kodansha International, which put out my arcade book, Arcade Mania.

The Otaku Encyclopedia is out in Japan right this very second and will be available abroad this fall.

The Otaku Encyclopedia: An Insiders Guide to the Subculture of Cool Japan (Paperback) [Amazon]

Step aside, Dante's Inferno and you literary adapters at EA working on 2010's video game version of the Divine Comedy. Walden: The Game is also in the works.

In 1854, Henry David Thoreau published the results of what would be one of the most famous experiments of American life. He went to the woods near Walden Pond in Concord Massachusetts to live a life of ascetic purity. He aimed to live alone, with the minimal requirements of life. He would remove himself from society to think and to appreciate life. (Read Thoreau's Walden here.)

That's tough material to adapt into a video game, and not material the most cynical critics and fans of games would expect.

But at the conclusion of a panel about the potential of documentary-style video games yesterday at the Games For Change festival in New York City, USC associate professor and influential video game educator/designer Tracy Fullerton revealed that she was, on the side, working with some colleagues to develop Walden: The Game.

"We were attempting to recreate the tenets of the philosophy," she said. "Within the mechanics of the game, we want to have the player re-enact the experiment of living that Thoreau took on when he went to live at Walden Pond." The game will also recreate the events that occurred while Thoreau was there.

Here's an excerpt from Walden that articulates Thoreau's goals:

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion.

Fullerton told Kotaku that the project is very early. She's worked on it with a small team on and off for about a year and has no idea of when it will come out. One of the chief challenges the developers face, she said, is of player expectation. Gamers expect a reward-based gameplay system. Do this to unlock that. But such material gain — or even simulated material gain — is contrary to Thoreau's experience at Walden, and certainly contradictory to what the writer hoped to achieve during his sojourn from society. "We need to break game player's expectations," Fullerton said.

For those who would be skeptical that a Walden video game is achievable, it's worth noting Fullerton's credentials as an adviser to such celebrated and artistically experimental USC-based game projects as Jenova Chen's Cloud and flow.

If someone can make this work, Fullerton is not a bad candidate at all.

Having already made good game-related money with their Halo series, Tor will later this year be releasing a novel based on BioShock, which will "take you deeper into the realms" of the game's story.

With the sequel already looking a little...off, I'm not sure how much further exposition BioShock's universe can take, but I guess we'll find out when we can actually read the book sometime in "Fall 2009".

Take-Two, Tor Team Up For BioShock Novel [Gamasutra]