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Netflix's 'BioShock' movie now has a director and a writer
Francis Lawrence, of 'I Am Legend' and Hunger Games fame, is taking the reins.
Netflix is making a 'BioShock' movie
It's teaming up with 2K and Take-Two Interactive to adapt the series.
Modder brings the world of Bioshock to 'Half-Life: Alyx'
While you patiently wait for the next BioSchock game, there's some new, unexpected Bioshock content you can try out.
'BioShock Collection' and other Switch games get big discounts at Amazon
You don’t have to wait until the day of Black Friday to get good deals on Nintendo Switch games. Amazon and Walmart had a number of good deals going on right now, including BioShock: The Collection for $25. The only thing to keep in mind with this deal (and the rest of the games on sale right now) is that the discounts are on the physical games rather than digital copies.
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.
A new BioShock game is in development
2K Games has announced the formation of a new studio, Cloud Chamber, which will take the lead on a new title in the Bioshock series. Cloud Chamber has offices in California and Montreal, and will be headed up by 2K veteran Kelley Gilmore, who has previously worked on Civilization and XCOM.
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 violence in video games changes with the times
Violence is the default mechanic in the video-game world. But as video-game graphics become more realistic and virtual reality headsets make games more immersive, developers are taking greater care with the way they portray murder and gore. The independent scene is a driving factor in this space, with an influx of games that eschew traditional tropes in favor of other forms of tension.
Microsoft Research helped 'Gears of War 4' sound so good
Popping in and out of cover has been a hallmark of the Gears of War franchise since the first game came out in 2006. It hasn't changed much because it didn't need to. What's always been an issue though is how thin the game sounds -- a shortcoming of the underlying tech, Unreal Engine, powering it. But Microsoft owns the series now and has far more money to throw at it than former owners/Unreal Engine creators Epic Games did. With help from Microsoft Research, Redmond's Gears of War factory The Coalition found a high tech way to fix that problem. It's called Triton. Two years ago Microsoft Research's Nikunj Raghuvanshi and John Snyder presented a paper (PDF) titled "Parametric Wave Field Coding for Precomputed Sound Propagation." The long and short of the research is that it detailed how to create realistic reverb effects based on objects in a video game's map, to hear it in action pop on a pair of headphones and watch the video below.
'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' 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.
'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.
Steam Halloween sale slashes prices on 'GTA V' and more
You know Steam loves to celebrate most holidays in a big way -- with notable discounts on ton of different games. And since Halloween is almost here, the service is now letting you save cash on spooky titles such as BioShock, Left 4 Dead 2, Alien: Isolation, Outlast, ARK: Survival Evolved, Dead Realm and SOMA, to mention a few. There's also Grand Theft Auto V, which is priced at about $40 right now, compared to the usual $60 -- while we wouldn't exactly call Rockstar's title "spooky," it's great to have it as part of the promotion. Speaking of, the Steam Halloween sale will be live until November 2nd at 1AM ET, so you have some time to look over the games list and determine whether you want to pull the trigger on any of them.
2K Games kills off 'BioShock' for iOS
When 2K Games launched a port of the original BioShock for iOS last year, fans of the adored franchise were ecstatic. But it looks like that joy has, unexpectedly, come to an end for some of them. Much to the surprise of people who had already purchased the mobile title, 2K Games appears to have pulled it from the App store -- if you deleted it from your device, there's no way to get it back. The company had recently cited compatibility issues with versions of iOS 8.4 or higher, bad enough that users couldn't play it, but it said a fix was in the works. Now, however, the developer appears to have given up completely. According to a forum post on Touch Arcade, a 2K Games customer service rep told a fan the removal was "a developer decision."
BioShock shakes hands with Stepford in 'We Happy Few'
Smile for the camera -- and for the TV, and during the walk to the store, and while you're sitting in the living room, in the dark, all alone. Smile, because if you don't, they will come for you. That's the story behind the first trailer for We Happy Few, the new game from Compulsion Studios, maker of PlayStation 4 launch game Contrast. We Happy Few features a "drug-fueled, retrofuturistic city in an alternative 1960s England," filled with citizens with permanent smiles literally affixed to their faces. It's creepy, unsettling and cheerful all at the same time. Think BioShock with a splash of V for Vendetta and a smattering of picture-perfect Stepford. "I will say that Bioshock wasn't a direct inspiration, it's just that our interests have kind of always aligned with Irrational's games (people made the same comparison with Contrast)," Compulsion marketing director Sam Abbott says. "It's a pretty daunting comparison, given that we're less than one-tenth their size."
Games of a Lifetime: Xav's picks
After more than ten years devoted to video games and the people who make them, Joystiq is closing its doors. We won't be reporting on the best games of 2015, so join us for one last hurrah as the Joystiq family reveals their Games of a Lifetime. Chrono Trigger In my recent Joystiq Presents episode I talked about the profound impact the strategy guide of Chrono Trigger had on my love of games. Being able to finally play the game, just thinking of the first time I had that chance, still gets me a little choked up. It still stands as my favorite game of all time. I've played it a countless amount of times on so many platforms. It has wonderful characters, a story about fighting fate and shaping the world. I don't know if was supposed to be so "heady," but I think of it that way. It was meaningful, it showed the consequences of action, it had a talking Frog and a badass Robot. To me, Chrono Trigger is perfect.
Four in February challenges you to finish the fight
The shortest, yet greatest month of the year is upon us, February. If you followed along with us last year, you know what that means: Four in February is back! The month-long initiative starts tomorrow, challenging you (yes, you) to pick four games to finish in one month. The rules: There are no rules. Seriously, there are no rules. You can pick new games, old games or even titles that you stopped playing that one time during finals week in college because your academic life depended on it (it's cool, we've all been there). The only requirement is that you pick four games. Start at the beginning of a game, or start where your old save file left off, it doesn't matter! We can't drive over to your house to force you to start a game over; we don't know where you live, after all. By joining in the fun on Four in February's Facebook page or using the cute little hashtag #4iF on Twitter, you can update us on your progress, like that friend that uploads their daily jogging times to your news feed, except way more fun. Joystiq may be closing its doors, but we refuse to shut our consoles down. Join us in finishing the fight against our backlogs. Head past the break to see Four in February father Mike Suszek's lineup, then share yours in the comments!
Ken Levine hints at new first-person sci-fi adventure
BioShock creator Ken Levine recently let slip on Twitter that he's working on a new game, and that he'd be happy to answer questions. Levine offers no solid details on the project, but we do learn a few basics. According to Levine, the game is set in an original universe and he's currently leaning toward a first-person perspective for players. This plot is sci-fi ("or sci-fi-ish," as Levine describes it), and the scope of the game will be "large-ish," but will rely heavily on story and gameplay elements that can be repeatedly recombined with one another in interesting ways - a design principle Levine dubs "narrative Legos." Those expecting further details soon are likely to be disappointed. Levine claims his team has no intention of showing the game at this year's E3 conference, and the game has only barely begun development. "Stuff in engine. Very rudimentary gameplay. Concept art. Passion system in code. A working board game to demonstrate passions," Levine offers when asked how development of the game is progressing. However, there is progress on one front: After nearly a year, Levine believes he is close to coming up with a name for the small studio he formed after laying off over 90 percent of the employees at Irrational Games. [Image: Wikimedia]
