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NYCC 09: Todd Howard, Ken Levine panel
So, what happens when you stick game developers Ken Levine (BioShock) and Todd Howard (Fallout 3) in a room with two outspoken games journalists for an hour? You get a fascinating discussion on how Eastern Europe has become a new haven for PC games, how Bollywood perfected The Lost and, of course, a lesson about Horse Armor. That, and Howard reveals Bethesda is working on an iPhone game. MTV Multiplayer's Stephen Totilo and Newsweek's N'Gai Croal grilled both Levine and Howard on everything and anything gaming, and we were there to absorb it all.When asked about what he thought the most notable game of last year was, Levine answered he was intrigued with Russian dev Katauri Interactive's King's Bounty: The Legend. He pointed out that Eastern Europe has been thriving with PC games, noting that games like King's Bounty are good reason to keep an eye on the region. Todd Howard was asked by a fan where he draws the line on DLC, using Oblivion's Horse Armor as an example of seemingly unnecessary content, or content which should have been integrated initially. Howard responded saying that people shouldn't complain about the inclusion of DLC, as devs can't always include certain content within their given schedules. They're really extras for fans, he said; however, he ascribed merit to complaining about how much that content costs.One last interesting discussion of the afternoon included a glimpse into how companies are using Achievements/Trophies in more ways than just giving you – the gamer – an ego. Game companies are using these accolade systems to check up on completion rates on their games (determined by the number of gamers who've received endgame Achievements). Levine revealed that 50 percent of BioShock players finished the game, while Howard noted a 30 percent completion rate for Fallout 3. Both those titles represented a notch up from the average 20 percent.
BioShock has 'potential' for numerous sequels, suggests 2K boss
2K Global President Christoph Hartmann says BioShock could have plenty of sequels, but he promises the company won't "cash in" on the franchise. Speaking with MCV, Hartmann states that with the "right twist of innovation," the series has the potential to span, oh, six parts ... "as Star Wars did." (BioShock 6: Revenge of the Lil' Sithsters, anyone?)Although Ken Levine might be giggling all the way to the bank with sequel royalties, we'd like to see how BioShock 2: Sea of Dreams turns out before we get excited about a six-part aquatic epic. Also, wasn't Star Wars just a trilogy? Please, join us in our denial.
Ken Levine's role in BioShock 2 not 'material'
Besides working on "Super Secret Project That We're Dying to Find Out About X," Ken Levine also has an involvement of some sort with the follow-up to his hit BioShock, as well as the upcoming film based on the license. Heart-breakingly, he recently told OXM his work with BioShock 2 isn't really "material," that he's only "informally engaged in certain scenes."His involvement with the film is even harder to pin down. Levine said, "My job there is to be a friend to [director] Gore [Verbinski] and [writer] John [Logan], be a resource for them and kick ideas around with them. At the end of the day John's the writer and Gore's the director. I'm not the traffic cop."...Umm, if KennyL is hiring himself out as a friend, shouldn't we have been his first choice? Or at least been allowed to make an offer? We think he would have found our salary of numerous hugs and adoring stares very competitive.
Levine got 'nasty f***ing threats' over copy protection
When we say we want to lock BioShock creator Ken Levine in a box, allowing him to subsist on nothing but our love, it's in a fun way. Because we care about him and we're meant to be united into infinity. But, as KennyL recently told PC Zone, he has also gotten some threats that weren't nearly as nice as ours, over issues far more pedestrian than eternal love. "When we had the copy protection issues come out, I was out there talking about the product, I didn't run away from that. And frankly I got some nasty fucking threats," Levine said. We know the mandatory internet connection and two-install limit was bad, but getting threats over it? That's just horrifying. C'mon Ken, why don't you climb into this unmarked van with tinted windows and tell us all about it?
PAX 2008: Ken Levine keyote talks sex, comics and growing up
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/PAX_2008_Ken_Levine_keyote_talks_sex_comics_and_growing_up'; Let's destroy your dreams now: Our friend KennyL did not talk about BioShock 2. Instead, Ken Levine kicked off Penny Arcade Expo by talking about his journey from from sex-intrigued comic nerd to Hollywood scribe and back to geekdom (which may in fact be the future plot of BioShock 2, but that is as of now unconfirmed). Regardless, Levine's keynote was a hysterical, vulgar and self-deprecating tribute to puberty and gaming.Levine broke up into three acts, each different parts of his life. In part one, Levine described how he discoverd the adult with science fiction, from his dream to sleep with The Scarlet Witch to his dream to sleep with Jessica-5 from Logan's Run (both the comic book character and the film version's actress). "I wanted to smoke cigarettes and listen to Deep Purple," he said. "I didn't want to go to bed [thinking about Battlestar Galactica], but I did."Act 2 was on the discovery of tribes, and how how his Dungeons & Dragons group moved onto girls. "The truth is, my tribal brothers were simply ahead of me in the game." In Act 3, in which our friend is a failed movie scribe, Levine ends up at Looking Glass Studios (System Shock). The rest, as you know, is history.In his near-final last words, Levine offers a thanks to Tycho and Gabe, "We are united by a common element. Its not the color of our skin or our ideology or where we come from. No it's that we're a giant bunch of fucking nerds," he said to a roaring applause. Listen to it yourself:
PAX 2008 event schedule released
Gaming convention season is upon us and perhaps one of the largest of these is the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, Washington. This being the fifth annual PAX, the turnout promises to already crush the numbers from the previous years combined. In anticipation of the event, every bit of news concerning the attendees and panel information is welcomed with open arms... and giddy screaming.Yesterday, the PAX folks released their tentative schedule of events in pdf format on their forums. This includes the usual general gaming panels, but also a few interesting ones for MMOs. There's a panel with ArenaNet on three years of Guild Wars, one on NCsoft, one on the MMO and Virtual World business, and many more. Check out the forum announcement containing the pdf link and good luck with the planning!
Ken Levine: BioShock film won't be a stinker
Speaking to videogaming247.com, 2K Boston's Ken Levine did his best to allay the fear that the upcoming BioShock film will be a turkey. "You're always going to be worried that in that first meeting they're going to be, like, 'OK, it's Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey on a desert island hunting for pirate treasure,' but it's not going to go that way," said Levine. The film's director Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) "gets" BioShock according to Levine, and he assures fans that Verbinski and script writer John Logan "will very much honour the dramatic and thematic elements of the game." Considering Verbinski managed to turn a theme park ride into a decent set of films, we're hopeful that Levine's faith is justified. Then again, the last time someone made a game movie and claimed to really understand the source material, we wound up Silent Hill.Fingers crossed.
Bad news: BioShock movie won't be 'Fool's Gold'
It should come as no surprise that our favorite film around Joystiq HQ is Matthew McConaughey starrer Fool's Gold. We even have an adorable little Fool's Gold drinking game where ... well, we get really drunk and watch Fool's Gold. It's precious. Now, Ken Levine tells videogaming247 that, despite what we all assumed, the BioShock movie will be little to nothing like Fool's Gold! "You're always going to be worried that in that first meeting they're going to be, like, 'OK, it's Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey on a desert island hunting for pirate treasure,' but it's not going to go that way," he said. Apparently, KennyL thinks director Gore Verbinski and crew "will very much honor the dramatic and thematic elements of the game." ... So you're saying there's not even room for Alexis Dziena as a ditzy heiress who proves to herself that she has something more to offer besides a killer body and a 1,000-watt smile? Why are you even making this movie?
Ken Levine dances around new project
News Flash: BioShock helm Ken "KennyL" Levine is working on a new game that will totally blow your mind. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Levine sidestepped talking about his new project, only to say it is, "something very, very different, so it's a little scary - because we don't know what it is, exactly." He said the focus would be on "people's relationship with the game over the long term. That's what we're thinking about, but it's about as clear as I can be." Our hope is that he's reused some ideas from the original BioShock plan and is now poised to make a game of Nazis on a tropical island, more affectionately dubbed Wolfenstein Xtreme Beach Volleyball.
Levine contract could include royalties from BioShock sequels
Ken Levine may be entering the upper echelon of game designers. According to a source from The New York Post, the BioShock creator is renegotiating his contract with Take-Two to allow more creative control over his projects and – this is the key – royalties (here called "points") "based on how much business the next installment of 'BioShock' and any other games that he develops produce." Given we don't know exactly to what extent Levine will be working on BioShock sequels, if at all, it's pretty interesting to hear that Levine could be given royalties for a creating a concept, even without working on a project directly. As noted by Variety, we'd only imagine a few notable game icons with this much weight (e.g. Sid Meier, Will Wright). This is all rumor at the moment, as neither Take Two's people or Levine's people are talking, but we're watching the re-negotiating (as are apparently the tabloids) closely.[Via The Cut Scene]
BioShock officially coming to PS3
We've heard rumors of it for months and now it seems that the most recent one circulated by 1UP's Quartermann is indeed on the money: BioShock is coming to the PS3. The news will apparently drop in the July issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly.All we know at this point is that the game may get some graphical improvements, it's due in time for the 2008 holiday season and that the port is being headed up by new BioShock creative director Jordan Thomas, a designer on the original. Check out the July issue of EGM for screens and some more info. BioShock developers 2K Boston and 2K Australia are owned by Take-Two. Get to know the company with our Take-Two Family Album.
BioShock 'pimp supreme' Ken Levine to keynote PAX 2008
With just a handful of months to go before the annual Penny Arcade Expo opens its doors again, you may be wondering who will be taking to the stage to the deliver the August event's keynote address. Organizers have announced that the opening speech will be given by none other than 2K Boston president and creative director Ken Levine.Says Penny Arcade business mastermind, "Obviously, Ken is pimp supreme...We're super excited to have him open up the show." Given Levine's involvement with one of last year's biggest releases as well as a sequel that already ranks among our most anticipated in 2009, we're sure he'll have plenty to talk about -- and we expect to be left hanging on every word.
'Pimp supreme' Ken Levine to keynote PAX
The hilarious gents behind the fan-swarmed Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) have announced Ken Levine as the keynote speaker during the event that runs from August 29-31."Obviously, Ken is pimp supreme," said Penny Arcade's Robert Khoo, "We're super excited to have him open up the show." Levine, who has recently been iconized for his work on the critical and commercial smash-hit BioShock, will lead the charge at the event which also includes musical guests MC Frontalot, FreezePop, the MiniBosses, and Jonathan Coulton of 'Still Alive' fame.PAX also welcomes back the Omegathon, in which twenty randomly-selected PAX pre-registrants compete against each other in various gaming events ranging from table-top to the electronic games. Winner of the 2008 Omegathon will score a trip for two to the Tokyo Game Show, along with $5,000 in spending skrilla (that's OG street for monies, btw) and a home theater system that is described as "almost supernatural."
Behind the Curtain: Hard at Work?
Having been trapped in the Hell that we call flood recovery SLASH redecorating over here in noble Caledonia, I have had precious little time to play anything this past week other than 'World of Pry the cat free from the slowly drying gloss paint Craft', so forgive me is this week's column is a little unfocused. Still, as I was slopping on the third coat of paint on one particularly irritating wall, something MMO-related managed to penetrate the paint fume-induced fog in my brain, and I began to wonder about how the ease and difficulty of accomplishing certain tasks in MMOS – how hard are they really, and should they be easier of harder than they are?
Bid on Ken Levine autographed copy of BioShock
Feeling charitable yet you still want to receive something tangible for your tax write-off'able donation? Then how about bidding on a Ken Levine autographed copy of BioShock (the Xbox 360 version, of course) which is currently on the auction block over at eBay by the folks at Game Giving. A non-profit organization who donates all auction proceeds to various charities that help children worldwide. You have nine days to bid on this piece of Ken Levine, BioShock, 2K Games history, so get to it! Heck, if BioShock doesn't float your boat (no pun intended), then we advise focusing your bidding efforts on Game Giving's Rock Band bundle. Just stay far, far away from Eragon ...
Gore Verbinski to direct Bioshock movie
Wow. This could turn out to be great news. According to a Variety article, Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean director) has been snagged to direct the movie adaptation of Bioshock. Even better, John Logan, the screenwriter on The Last Samurai, The Aviator, Gladiator and more, is going to be doing the screenplay. AND, the Take Two Chairman, Strauss Zelnick, has supposedly structured the deal in such a way that it actually happens, unlike other notable video games movies that have attempted to run the Hollywood gauntlet. With such a setup as this, we could be looking at the beginnings of the best video game movie ever made. Hmm ... we wonder what Uwe Boll thinks of this?
Ken Levine loves World of Warcraft
MSNBC asked Ken Levine, creator of last year's underwater masterpiece, Bioshock, to list his five favorite games of all-time, and right there on the list, between Civ IV and Heroes of Might and Magic 2, is our favorite MMORPG. Yup, the World of Warcraft makes it into the top five of all-time, according to the guy that created the city that Andrew Ryan created.Of course, instead of saying he enjoyed the game for its endless replayability, its pitch-perfect reward system, or its effective graphics and design style, he compares his love of Blizzard's game to alcoholism, and calls it his "always-reliable secret shame." Next time you talk about World of Warcraft in the media, Mr. Levine, would you kindly try praising the game instead of your addiction to it?[Via Joystiq]
Ken Levine's favorite games of all time
MSNBC asked 2K Boston's Ken Levine, creator of BioShock, what his top five games of all time are. Levine gets double bonus points for picking cult favorite Beyond Good and Evil, which he says "managed to combine whimsy and dystopia in one unforgettable package." Levine's other picks are: Civilization IV World of Warcraft Heroes of Might and Magic 2 Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Beyond Good and Evil The best part of the bite-sized feature is when Levine admits that World of Warcraft is his "always-reliable secret shame." If Ken Levine can admit it, maybe others will find the strength to do it as well.
Bioshock creator's top five games includes WoW
It may not really be a shock to us here at Massively, but Ken Levine likes to play a lot of World of Warcraft. In fact, he says that he plays it at least a few minutes every day and sometimes far longer than that. For many of us actively playing an MMO, they can serve as a kind of place that we finish our day at as we watch the evening hours dwindle. So we can easily see where Ken is coming from when he says, "You know how in the movies when the father comes home, and he puts on his slippers and drinks a glass of scotch? Well, that's WoW to me." Granted, there are days when we find ourselves slipping into hours of play in our own favorite massively multiplayer online game. Sometimes you just get caught up in things, especially if you've rolled as many alts as we have over the years.
Ken Levine does best to clear the storytelling air
As is becoming more and more common these days, a developer heard about the internet debacle that their comments or actions sparked, AND responded with relative quickness. This time it's BioShock's very own Ken Levine and his comments about dumbing down the stories in video games to be understandable for the lowest common denominator. His response was posted over at VE3D, and in it he goes deeper into his side comment about the medium of games having potential through player choice. In fact he can say it better than us, so we'll just let him do it: "(Players) can, IF THEY CHOOSE, go deeper. That's where in BioShock all the other storytelling devices kick in: the diaries, the public service announcements, the posters, the thousands of little scenes in the world of Rapture that tell the story of what happened there. But I like to assume there's going to be some part of the audience that doesn't care about that, and those people can opt out of it. But for the people who do care, they can choose to opt in and get a fairly complex story (and a VERY complex story relative to other console first person shooters)."The second part of Ken's response can be found after the break.
