KenLevine
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'BioShock' creator takes on 'The Twilight Zone' interactive drama
Ken Levine, best known as the mastermind behind Take-Two's BioShock series, is working on an interactive live-action film based on The Twilight Zone, Wired reports. Levine will write and direct the project, and audience members will be able to control the actions of certain characters using technology from Interlude. That's the company currently rebooting WarGames as a short drama produced by Her Story creator Sam Barlow.
The studio behind BioShock Infinite is no more
The studio responsible for both BioShock and BioShock Infinite is breaking up, according to a note from creative lead Ken Levine on the company's website. Following the final content release this past month for Irrational Games' latest work, BioShock Infinite, the company's head (Levine) and a group of "about fifteen members of the Irrational team" formed a new, dramatically smaller venture within the parent company that owns Irrational (Take-Two Interactive -- the same folks who own Grand Theft Auto-developer Rockstar Games, among others). That's from a crew of nearly 200 at the peak of Infinite's development in Summer 2012. It's not clear if Irrational will still be the name of the studio; either way, Levine said, "I am winding down Irrational Games as you know it." Levine and his new splinter crew will focus on one goal: "To make narrative-driven games for the core gamer that are highly replayable." In that vein, he's "handing over the reins" of BioShock to Take-Two and going head down on his new, digital-only project(s). It's also likely that Levine needs extra time for his non-gaming work, such as helping pen the remake to Logan's Run. Though BioShock 2 was developed by another Take-Two studio (2K Marin), both the original BioShock and BioShock Infinite were crafted in-house at Irrational Games; it's unclear if the franchise will continue, but we've reached out to Take-Two for comment. Update: Take-Two told us, "At this point 2K and Take-Two are directing all inquiries to the Irrational Blog for details on today's announcement." Update 2: More from Take-Two just came in, somewhat confirming the continuation of the BioShock franchise: "BioShock is one of our most beloved and critically acclaimed franchises, and we are indebted to Ken and the talented team at Irrational Games for their contributions to the series with BioShock and BioShock Infinite; the latter being one of the most decorated games of 2013. The BioShock universe remains a rich creative canvas for many untold stories, and we look forward to exploring the next BioShock experience."
BioShock creator confirmed as scriptwriter for Logan's Run remake
The mind behind BioShock's Big Daddies and BioShock Infinite's Songbird is apparently also getting behind the script for a Logan's Run film remake. Irrational Games creative director and head Ken Levine is working on a Logan's Run remake script, Irrational confirmed to Engadget today, which he was tapped to pen by Warner Bros. "I can confirm that the information is indeed correct, but unfortunately there is no other information we can share or comment to be given at this point," the rep told us. According to a Deadline report that surfaced earlier this week, Levine is continuing his work at Irrational in the meantime -- the studio's working on a few content packs for its latest BioShock release, and assuredly other things -- while Jon Berg oversees the Logan's Run project. Also in the report: this remake has been in the works for some time, though Levine's addition is new to the project. In case it wasn't already clear, there's a pretty sweet Logan's Run movie (based on the original 1967 book) starring Michael York as "Logan 5." The very, very mid-'70s poster for that film is cropped just above.
BioShock devs looking for staff with PS3 experience
Would it surprise you to learn that 2K Boston, developers of the highly successful BioShock, are making another game? ... No? What if we were to add that they're currently looking for staff with PS3 experience? No? OK, well, what if we were to tell you that this has lead us to believe that 2K Boston's next game will likely appear on the PS3? ... Wow, nothing, huh? Geez, you're one tough nut to crack.OK, so it's not exactly earth-shattering. And hey, if a BioShock sequel is in the works, this should at least be good news for PS3 owners who still don't understand why their 360 and PC playing friends are always kindly asking them to do things.[Via PS3F]
Ken Levine not too concerned about VGA hijinx
You perhaps remember just a few weeks ago when some unruly Gamecock staffers ruined Ken Levine's life and hijacked his VGA acceptance speech for his "Game of the Year" award. In an interview with 1UP, the BioShock mastermind shared his thoughts on the event, saying "All I really gave a crap about was that the judges (who were all top journalists) chose us from the field. The rest is kind of gravy." Levine did relate what he would have said if given the opportunity, thanking "a tireless, amazing team who was on a mission to make BioShock great." Pretty classy, Ken. It almost makes us happy that you didn't speak at the VGAs, just so you could avoid the indignity of having to talk into a microphone that had just been farted into by a supermodel, or whatever the hell happened there.
Gamecock sorry about crashing Ken Levine's VGA speech
If you made it to the end of the Spike VGAs (and you weren't being paid to live blog it), we're not sure if we should be proud of you or pity you. You did, however, get to see one of the more interesting parts of the evening when Gamecock staffers (complete with red capes and combs) stormed the game of year award acceptance speech. It would have been funny, except the award was being accepted by the well-respected and liked Ken Levine for BioShock. A day later, the company perhaps realized that it wasn't the smartest attention grab, with boss Mike Wilson telling us "the award acceptance they interrupted was the LAST one we would have wanted to interrupt, ("most addictive game fueled by mountain dew" would have been a wonderful choice) as we have the utmost respect and love for BioShock and all who were involved in it, and it totally sucks that Ken Levine didn't get to speak after making such a fantastic game." You can watch the video above to determine for yourself if Gamecock stepped over the line, just be aware: The video features near nudity, because the winners of all the awards were painted on actual naked women. ...No, seriously.
BioShock patch, free DLC due next week
The Cult of Rapture has posted an update regarding the status of the, erm, update scheduled to seep into your PC and Xbox 360 copies of aquatic anarchy sim, BioShock. A patch (or "title update," as the Xbox Live euphemism goes) is expected to arrive next week, bringing with it free but as yet unspecified downloadable content. The undersea DLC will be bundled with the PC patch's TLC, and should be easy to see (provided you're not still on PCP) via the Xbox Live Marketplace. Expect to read an exuberant and overwrought post on this very website as soon as we ascertain the nature of the mysterious downloadable content. New plasmids? Likely! Goomba skins for Big Daddies? Decidedly not.[Thanks, DiddlyKong]
Levine considering DLC in BioShock
Anyone who's played all the way though BioShock can tell you it's a fairly self-contained experience. The narrative has a definite beginning and, after the last Splicer has been ignited, it has a very definite conclusion. That's got Ken Levine thinking about the best way to expand the game with DLC. "I'm not a really big fan of expanding things just by linearly adding to the experience, adding a new campaign, as much as I am of enhancing the original experience and adding replayability to that experience," he told 1UP. He goes on to mention that plenty of plasmids were cut from the game. (Hint, Hint.) The way we see it, anything that gives us a reason to play BioShock again is a good thing, we just hope we're past the glut of holiday gaming goodness when it happens.
Ken Levine defends Lair, deserves playful scolding
There's no denying that Ken Levine, lead of 2K Boston and guru of BioShock, is a golden boy in the industry right now. So when he defends the odious Lair in the latest episode of the Gamers with Jobs podcast, we can't help but politely, yet firmly, say, "No Ken Levine, bad! Wrong! We care too much about you at this moment to see you defending that ... that thing. Now go to your office, estimate the insane amounts of money you'll make before the end of the decade, and think about what you said!"Levine is even in his defense of Lair saying things like, "I'm sure somebody came to them at some point and said, 'We have this motion control controller, and we have to make a go of it. And we really think you should try to make your game exclusively on that.'" He also goes on to say that beyond Wii Sports, there are a lot of games where he wonders if people wouldn't just be happier with a d-pad and analog stick. There's actually a lot of good stuff with Levine in the well-produced podcast, definitely worth a listen and a mention on this week's Podcast rodeo.[Via GameDaily BIZ]
BioShock title update kind of uninspiring
A few of you have been asking what a new title update for BioShock on the 360 does and the answer is ... well, it's kind of pedestrian. Straight from 2K's corporate hive mouth: "Update improves stability when loading autosaves and overall game stability, corrects audio during title menu loading, and addresses AI behaviors regarding use of health stations." ... "Plasmid Pack 1" it is not.So there you go. If you've been having a problem with one of the issues being addressed, this is probably a godsend, if not, you're probably already skipping down to comments to type an ever-increasing row of "zzzz"s. Have fun with that.
Joystiq interviews BioShock's Ken Levine about success and harvesting Little Sisters
Earlier we posted some choice moments from our interview with BioShock's Lead Designer Ken Levine. Below is the full interview. There's more depth on the tech issues Irrational experienced, Levine's ability (or lack of) to harvest Little Sisters, their experience with the Unreal Engine 3 and an awkward moment about BioShock 2.OK, so what did you want to talk about today in regards to these PC issues on BioShock?Given the internets and what they are -- with their tubes and all -- I want to sort of talk about the concerns people have. We take the concerns people have very seriously. There's been some concern like, "What happens if it's three years from now, or ten years from now, when I want to play this game. And, you know, Irrational Games has been hit by a meteor?" We will unset the online activation at some point in the future -- we're not talking about when. If people have concern about that they shouldn't be worried about that. This activation is for the early period of the game when it's really hot and there are people really trying to find ways to play the game without buying it. Of course, there are a lot of people who are legitimately trying to play it. We're not trying to be Draconian, we're trying to find a balance.Now, let's see if we can put this in the simplest terms, this screen thing has taken on a whole life of its own. The game was designed for widescreen. Instead of doing the normal thing and just chopping off the sides for full screen, you actually added more to the top and bottom so full screen people wouldn't lose anything from the sides -- a very nice thing to do actually. Thus, infuriating the PC owners and almost anyone else with widescreen because how dare you not give them more to see like they're used to. So, now this patch will add in the stuff to the side of the full screen. So, in essence, to use a visual term, this patch just zooms the camera out a little bit to appease PC widescreen owners to give the option of increased field of vision? We started the game widescreen. We primarily designed it for widescreen. Then we had to ask, "How do we make it full screen." Your options are to put black bars at the top and bottom, keep same width perspective. Or you allow to ... add pixels to the top and the bottom if you can afford the frame rate -- we could. So the call was made to show those few more pixels. Now this is one of those things when you're making a game -- like I was making a game -- honestly, if somebody came from the future and told me this was an issue I would have laughed at them. I would have said, "Are you kidding me?" But that's what's interesting about gamers, they're an interesting and diverse group. Now that I know that there's this huge contingent out there that actually really cares about this, I wouldn't have laughed at them because they're stupid, I would have laughed because I couldn't have imagined that people are passionate about this. And now that we know they're passionate, we have a responsibility to respond to those people and give them what they want. It's their game, they paid money for it, they should be able to play in the way they want to play. We may disagree with them aesthetically, but sure, we'll make a patch and make if work for them.
Levine confirms no PS3 BioShock and does mea culpa on PC issues -- success hurts
Joystiq just got off the phone with Ken Levine, lead designer for BioShock, and was told that the PC version's issues are overblown because the game's high profile has placed it under a microscope. He fully admits they "screwed up" and notes that patches are most definitely in the works. Furthermore, there is no PS3 version of BioShock in development or planned. Levine admits there were "real screw-ups" and he "understands why people are pissed off" about the online copy protection verification for the game and it comes down to a classic victim of their own success story. They couldn't have planned the game would be such an insta-hit and they weren't prepared, so when all those people tried to verify their PC versions online during installation the server crashed. He also reiterated patches are in the works for the FOV issues and that the copy protection limit locked in for PCs will be raised. He also says at some point they will remove the online verification. He says there is nothing "insidious" in their copy-protection, it's the same as any other game that uses the same protection program.Then there is the lingering question of the rumored PS3 version of BioShock found in the PC code. Levine responds quite clearly, "I promise you, there is no secret plan about the PS3 that we're keeping from people. There's no PS3 development going on that we're hiding. There's lots of stuff that gets into game code, plans change over time and we got an exclusive deal with Microsoft ... that's not a Rosetta Stone discovery."Update: Full interview with Ken Levine is up.
Levine responds to BioShock widescreen complaints
Yesterday, we reported on the numerous complaints that have been filling the internets surrounding how BioShock handles widescreen displays. In short, to display widescreen BioShock pulls in the 4:3 aspect ratio and cuts off the top and bottom giving 16:9 ratio players a much smaller game view. So, last night 2K Boston big man Ken Levine hopped on the 2K Games forums to ease the hostility and acknowledge that their team is looking into the issue. Levine explains that he has been trying to wrangle together people to look at the problems and find answers, but the time difference between here and their Australian dev team coupled with vacationing employees has made it difficult to get answers. So, Levine wants everyone to know they do care, that they are looking into the BioShock issues and asks that we have a "bit of understanding as to the time scale that software development issues must occur in".Even though Ken didn't give us any answers to our widescreen woes, we suddenly feel a warm fuzzy feeling tingling through our toes and into our heart. We'll be patient Ken Levine ... for a little while.
BioShock PC demo no longer due out tomorrow [Updated]
[Update: Well, not so much.]Sure, once it had downloaded, 360 gamers may have loved playing the BioShock demo earlier this week. But we wonder if it made them feel a little uneasy, as if someone was watching. That wasn't just atmosphere, console gamers: That was the feeling of hundreds of thousands of PC gamers with their noses pressed against the window, trying to catch a glimpse. But take heart, oft-neglected PC fans, your demo is coming tomorrow. ShackNews is reporting that you'll be able to put your plasmid-scarred mitts on your playable introduction to Rapture tomorrow at FileShack. We're not sure what other sources will be offering it, but we doubt it'll be too hard for you to dig up. In the meantime, would you mind cleaning the smudges off the glass?[Thanks, Jubby]
Plenty of publishers turned down Bioshock
While the unbearably long time it's taking to download the Bioshock demo (65% and counting, baby!) is pretty much excruciating to us who are hotly anticipating the game, one has to imagine there's at least one guy who's got a smile on his face: Designer Ken Levine. According to a new interview, he and his team have had quite the struggle to get the shooter to this point.Senior designer Joe McDonagh detailed the long journey for CVG, saying that Levine had taken the game to several publishers who decided that the cerebral FPS wasn't a fit for their company. McDonagh rails, "Something I realized very quickly was that as much as your boss won't ever know that you turned down a future game of the year, he will know that you signed up a turkey. You don't get fired for not taking risks." If the response to the demo is any indication of earning potential, there are a few execs out there who had better keep mum about meeting with Levine.
New BioShock video appears, narrated by Ken Levine
Every time that a new video from BioShock is released, it does more than just promote the game, it further inflames our desire for the invention of time travel ... and we doubt we're alone. To that end, we'd like to make a bold proposal: That BioShock continue to be delayed until some FPS-crazy inventor creates the technology to leap into the future and snatch it from Ken Levine's hand.Does this request pain us? Of course it does. Look at that video, you think our heart doesn't ache when we see the player using telekinesis to reposition a tripwire? Do you think we don't cry a little bit when a dude gets frozen and then shattered with a wrench? As hard as it is for us though, perhaps, much like Russia nipping at America's heels in the race to the moon, we need the inspiration of BioShock being at some point in a time that we can not reach to lead us forward to greatness.
Irrational developing X-Com sequel?
If you played PC games during the 90s, chances are you've played X-Com. A memorable turn based strategy title, X-COM put players in control of an elite agency tasked with defending the planet from alien invaders. Players researched alien technology and built their arsenals to combat different types of enemies. All in all, X-COM earned a fond place in many gamers' memories. Potentially good news then, as Irrational Games, makers of the upcoming BioShock, may be working on a sequel. A client document from Irrational's law firm, Fierst, Pucci, & Kane LLP was discovered by Shacknews. The document in question lists X-Com among Irrational's games. Adding fuel to this fire is the fact that Irrational's Ken Levine himself has professed his love for the X-Com series and Take-Two (owner of Irrational) purchased the rights to the series in 2005.Should the rumor prove true, we can only hope that the imminent success of BioShock will convince Irrational Games to bring the game to the Xbox 360.[Via 1UP]
Trash talk: Bioshock designer scolds uncultured peers
Speaking with MTV's Stephen Totilo, Bioshock designer Ken Levine, a self-proclaimed "Vassar-educated twit," took a jab at his fellow developers. "Most video game people have read one book and seen one movie in their life, which is Lord of the Rings and Aliens or variations of that," said Levine, adding, "There's great things in that, but you need some variety." While no doubt a gross generalization, Levine's criticism sparks a worthwhile question, as put to us by Totilo:Do culturally illiterate developers bear any of the blame for the creative conservatism that usually gets pinned on corporate game publishers? Marinate on that for a minute.Original source: GameFile [Warning: 'MTV assault' awaits]
Irrational boss: EA didn't give a sh-t about System Shock 3
In an article from PC Gamer, Irrational boss Ken Levine had some pretty choice words for über publisher Electronic Arts and their relationship with the groundbreaking System Shock franchise. In reference to System Shock 3, Levine said: "One of the reasons I wasn't interested [in System Shock 3] is EA just didn't give a sh-t about that game. I think if EA were to do it, it would've been just a regular first-person shooter with a boss monster at the end. They [EA] didn't see it as big brand and I didn't want that uphill battle."Currently developing the heavily-anticipated BioShock, Levine says new publisher 2K Games is more of the nurturing type: "We have a publisher who cares about this game, and they believe in this kind of game. 2K Games is the company that helped reinvigorate Elder Scrolls [with The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion] and Civilization. They believe in core games."So, is this just bitterness talking or was EA more concerned with gettin' that paper and not unique games? Well, with games like Army of Two and Spore on the horizon, maybe bitterness is the answer.
