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Borderlands, BioShock and XCOM are headed to the Switch
As part of today's surprise Nintendo Direct Mini (which packed in way more news than anything "Mini" should reasonably offer), it emerged several big 2K Games franchises are coming to Switch. All three BioShock games -- BioShock Remastered, BioShock 2 Remastered and BioShock Infinite: The Complete Edition -- will hit the console May 29th, along with BioShock: The Collection, which bundles the titles into a neat package.
Celebrate 10 years of 'BioShock' with a $200 boxset
It's hard to believe, but as of today, the extremely influential BioShock is ten years old. To commemorate the art-deco shooter's birthday, publisher 2K will release a fancy commemorative edition of the claustrophobic, undersea morality tale on November 14th this year. Brace yourself, though, because it won't be cheap. $200 will get you an 11-inch statue featuring the series' iconic Little Sister and her Big Daddy protector along with last year's BioShock: The Collection remasters and a numbered certificate of authenticity.
How Troy Baker's Naughty Dog work influenced 'Shadow of War'
Troy Baker has lent his voice and performances to some of the biggest games of the past decade. From six roles across Darksiders 2 to playing Booker DeWitt in BioShock Infinite or stepping into The Joker's shoes in Batman: Arkham Origins, you might not realize it's actually him delivering the lines until you see the credits. That's because he approaches each performance incredibly differently. With Middle-earth: Shadow of War his job was particularly complex: In addition to reprising his role as Talion, a Ranger of Gondor who's more or less possessed by an undead prince, Baker served as the director for all of the game's performance-capture story sequences. For that task, Baker relied on his experience with director Neil Druckmann from Naughty Dog and his roles in the studio's The Last of Us (TLoU) and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. Naughty Dog is widely regarded as having some of the best performances and shot composition in video game story sequences -- there are definitely worse places to look to for inspiration.
'BioShock: The Collection' hits PS4, Xbox One and PC in September
Break out the wetsuits -- you're going back to Rapture. BioShock: The Collection contains all three BioShock games and their single-player DLC packs, remastered for current-generation consoles. It's due to hit PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on September 13th across North America and Asia (that's September 15th in Australia and September 16th worldwide), and the whole bundle costs $60.
'BioShock: The Collection' for Xbox One, PS4 and PC pops up again
The evidence that a BioShock compilation will soon arrive on current-gen consoles continues to pile up. BioShock: The Collection is a yet unannounced but often rumored set that includes BioShock, BioShock 2 and BioShock Infinite, based on the artwork accompanying a ratings listing for Taiwan. The collection popped up in another ratings listing in Brazil last month that also included Xbox 360 and PS3 versions. Details remain scarce, though, as all we have to go on is the cover art and these filings for now.
Hints emerge of 'BioShock' remasters for PS4 and Xbox One
You might not have to resort to emulation (or dragging out an old console) to play the BioShock series in your living room. A Brazilian ratings board has listed a BioShock: The Collection bundle headed to both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, suggesting that all three of the retro-futuristic games will be remastered to play on modern consoles. There's no mention of a release date, but it comes a few months after a South African store briefly offered a similar collection for pre-orders -- something's up here. We'd take this with a grain of salt when 2K Games hasn't said anything. All the same, you shouldn't be surprised if you're revising Columbia or Rapture in the near future.
What to do when you're done building 'BioShock'
Forrest Dowling is the man who made sure BioShock Infinite's world was both complex and logical. As the lead level designer on the third BioShock installment, he was in charge of every archway in the floating city of Columbia and each tunnel in the underwater Art Deco metropolis of Rapture. After 10 years in the gaming industry, Dowling knows how to lay out the oceans, the skies and everything in between. So when BioShock's studio, Irrational Games, shuttered two years ago, he had enough experience to go independent.
'BioShock' series lives on with help from the second game's dev team
The news that BioShock and BioShock Infinite developer Irrational Games was winding down was a punch to the gut for many last year, but it turns out there is a bit of silver lining. The franchise will live on with developer 2K Marin, the studio that handled BioShock 2, according to GameSpot. Someone at the Cowen and Company analyst conference apparently made a remark that the BioShock series hadn't quite reached its commercial potential yet, and Take-Two Interactive head Strauss Zelnick agreed, saying that the NorCal team would be responsible for its "shepherding going forward." BioShock 2 did pretty okay critically and commercially, but many (including myself) felt its tour through Rapture was little more than a retread and that it lacked the first game's magic. With how Infinite ended, it's anyone's guess where the series' fiction could wind up next.
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 Infinite is the Mac game of the year
BioShock Infinite, one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time, has come to the Mac via the Mac App Store. Originally released for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 in March, its mix of jaw-dropping graphics, first-person shooter action, story and social commentary regarding racism, American exceptionalism and religious fundamentalism has led many to call it the best game of this decade so far and earned it over 85 prestigious awards. The game is the third installment in the BioShock series, but players don't need any knowledge of the first two installments as BioShock Infinite stands on its own with new characters and storyline. You play as Pinkerton agent Booker DeWitt, who is sent to the floating city of Columbia to find a mysterious woman named Elizabeth who has quantum powers. Though the city of Columbia floats in the sky, the game takes place in 1912. Yet many critics have noted that the themes in the game reflect the political, religious, plutocratic and populist divides in America running up to the 2012 elections. Besides typical weapons like guns, other items include a hook that allows you to zip around and between buildings on Columbia's rail system known as the Skyline, telekinetic powers and gangs of murderous crows (trust me, it makes sense in the game). As for how the game runs on the Mac, it's not much different than playing it on a PlayStation or Xbox, provided you have a fast enough computer. Any iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro or MacBook Air bought in the last few years should handle the game just fine. The official system requirements are a Mac running OS X 10.8.3 or later, 2.2 GHz CPU speed, 4 GB of RAM, 512 MB of video RAM and 30GB of free disk space. The game itself is a 17.9 GB download. The minimum video card requirements are a Radeon HD 3870 or a GeForce 640M graphics card. If your Mac meets the minimum requirements, buy this game. I'm not even a big first-person shooter fan, but I've been only playing the game for a day and its story is so compelling that it's sucked me right in. Aspyr has done an outstanding job porting BioShock Infinite to the Mac, which looks and runs beautifully on a machine like the latest MacBook Pro with Retina display. Best of all, like any game bought from the Mac App Store, no CD or authentication is required, so you can just download and launch and you're in the game with very little load time. The game is also Game Center-compatible. BioShock Infinite is US$39.99.
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