bioshock 2
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BioShock 2 DLC plans are 'aggressive' and under way
A 2K Marin representative has confirmed that BioShock 2 will have DLC -- we'd have been (bio)shocked otherwise. Speaking to AustralianGamer, Senior Systems Designer Kent Hudson revealed that the studio has "pretty aggressive plans for DLC" and that it's "something that is already under-way." No further details were provided. The original BioShock was lacking in the DLC department, only providing some extra plasmids and adding challenge rooms for the PS3 port. Hopefully, the numerous studios working on the sequel will have all their Splicers in a row for the game's February 9 release date. %Gallery-50342% [Thanks, Matthew; Via Xbox Insider]
Interview: Ken Levine talks Irrational site, next game announcement and BioShock 2 relationship
Irrational Games' head-honcho Ken Levine spoke to us today about the developer's new website and stronger community focus -- but of course, we wanted more. We tried to get an answer on when the studio's new project will finally be announced, asked him what the company's plans are for PAX East, and finally got to the bottom of what his actual involvement is with BioShock 2 -- which isn't much. Joystiq: Why does a studio that's well-known for focused single-player experiences need such a robust community site? Ken Levine: I don't think that single player ... I don't think community is just for multiplayer. People like talking about the games. You go to Cult of Rapture, BioShock was a single player game and there's a lot of people on that site. People want to learn about us, they want to learn about other people playing the game, they want to learn what's happening at the studio. They want to know about the the integration behind stuff we did. Maybe I'm high, I just don't make the connection between multiplayer titles and a web page. We've known this change has been in the works since last March during GDC, where members of your studio were wearing shirts that hinted toward this name change. What was the impetus for putting so much effort into trying to create a community around Irrational with the site? Why was that so important? We've had a big community, back in the day when we did Freedom Force. We had a huge website that supported them. It kinda broke our heart a little bit when that went away and we converted to 2K Boston. When we took the name back, Take-Two was kind enough to agree and allow us to build our community. ... I really wanted a website that was about interacting with fans. I don't really care about the marketing stuff, that's handled elsewhere. This is not a site where you get five flash videos selling you a product. This is a site about the audience and about the audience getting a better understanding of what it's like to work here, be here and getting us a better understanding of what they like and don't like about our games.
Rumor: Bioshock 2 Achievements emerge from the abyss
If your wait to return to Rapture has been too much to bear, then you may be interested in some of the Achievements for Bioshock 2 over at Xbox360Achievements -- you know, just to help ease the passing of time. None of them spoil the game (you hack stuff again!) and, unsurprisingly, they mimic a lot of the Achievements in the first game. But, with the inclusion of multiplayer this time around, a few of the 'cheevos are obviously geared toward that. [Via Hot Blooded Gaming]
BioShock 2 Cult of Rapture site hangs its 'Subject Delta'
Bringing to a close the BioShock 2 "Artist Series" over at the Cult of Rapture website is the image seen above, dubbed "Subject Delta." Painted by Julie Bell and Boris Vallejo, the piece epitomizes the little we know about the upcoming game, with Splicers looking more gruesome than ever and a flood of ocean water just moments from washing everything away. Oh, and dear Little Sister, please stop staring right through us. That's just creepy. Check out the wallpaper-sized version, right here. %Gallery-50342%
Bioshock 2 coming to Japan, courtesy of D3 Publisher
Good news, Japan! D3 Publisher is localizing Bioshock 2 for you and, this time around, you won't have to wait that long to get your ADAM-soaked hands on it. Andriasang reports D3 Publisher will release the 2K Marin, et al.–developed sequel sometime in early 2010 -- presumably close to the February 9 US release date. We just hope the new Japanese ad campaign dials back the completely frightening a bit.
BioShock 2 Special Edition vinyl-y announced
Click to Big Daddy–size If you find yourself enraptured by everything BioShock, you're really going to love this. 2K Games has disclosed details on the BioShock 2 Special Edition release, limited to one production run and set for retail on February 9 alongside the slightly-less-special edition we saw the cover art for on Tuesday. If you're prepared to sink $99 into the set ($89 for PC) you'll be the proud (but poorer) owner of the game, a 164-page hardcover art book, three posters, the orchestral score on CD and the most special goodie accompanying this edition: the orchestral score on a vinyl 180g LP. You know ... a record. You know, big black disc DJs use? Yep, one of those. This is great news for audiophiles and those who refuse to own a CD player because lasers are obviously some kind of witchcraft. %Gallery-50342%
BioShock 2 cover is familiar, absolutely filthy
Not to be overshadowed by BioWare's latest effort to depict Mass Effect 2 in one epic cover, 2K Games has released the box art for BioShock 2 -- and it doesn't win any points for originality or cleanliness. Just like the first game's cover, it features Big Daddy (this time he's you!) and Little Sister (not you). Only now, everything's behind cracked, grimy glass and the logo's covered in barnacles. Eww. You can lay your eyes on high-res versions of the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC covers for the sequel in the gallery below. You might want to put on some rubber gloves and grab a can of Scrubbing Bubbles before you click on 'em, though. %Gallery-78401% [Thanks, Geoff]
Actions of BioShock protagonist debated by characters in sequel
Considering the dichotomy of the moral decisions (see: good or evil) offered to the silent hero of the original BioShock, many have wondered how the upcoming undersea adventure, BioShock 2, would take his actions in the first installment into account. Without a save game import feature (ala Mass Effect 2), how could the sequel register the player's decisions in the original? The answer was recently revealed by Bioshock 2's creative director, Jordan Thomas: Ambiguity, my dear Watson. Speaking to MTV, Thomas explained that, "the things that he did are being fiercely debated by the splicers, because we wanted to support any of the choices the player could have made in the first game." He later added, "It's become kind of a religious question; what he did at the end of BioShock 1." This plot device is probably for the best -- if the splicers in Bioshock 2 knew about our actions in the first game, all they'd debate about is why we spent ten hours wandering aimlessly around the city, desperately hunting for audio cassettes.
Hands-on: BioShock 2
Having already taken a brief tour of Rapture through the eyes of a Big Daddy a few months back, we were okay with the fact that BioShock 2 looked and seemed to play very much like the original game -- only this time encased in a huge pressurized diving suit. Now that we've played through a full area of the game, our initial assessment more or less holds up, but that's not to say there aren't several noteworthy -- and even surprising -- changes and additions to expect when the game arrives next spring.Warning: We've done our best to keep what you're about to read as spoiler-free as possible, but the extremely sensitive should tread cautiously beyond this point.%Gallery-76773%
BioShock 2's 'Capture the Sister' mode isn't kidding around
The citizens of BioShock 2's undersea dystopia, Rapture, love them some ADAM -- especially when it's been freshly harvested by a Little Sister. It's with this in mind that Digital Extremes tweaked the tried-and-true Capture the Flag multiplayer contest to place one team in charge of abducting one of these adolescent creepsters while the other must lay their lives on the line to protect her.As the above first look at the mode explains, the "attacking" side's goal is to return the girl to a Little Sister vent. The defenders -- well they defend, of course ... but one of them gets to be a Big Daddy. We'll have our hands-on impressions of BioShock 2's single and multiplayer modes tomorrow, so look for more details then.
Latest BioShock 2 trailer stomps around 'Siren Alley'
If you diligently avoided last week's GameTrailers TV due to all the BioShock 2 spoilers, the trailer you see above can help provide you with some water-soaked gameplay -- sans all the direct information. We feel it's safe to tell you that 2K Games gave this clip the title "Siren Alley" because of an area in Rapture of the same name, a place that we never got to see the in the first game. Even if you don't watch the video above, you should take one thing from it: The "worldwide embargo" gets lifted this Thursday and a flood of information on the game is sure to follow. If you're really trying to remain spoiler-free on BioShock 2, now may be a good time to go dark.%Gallery-50342%
GameTrailers TV drowns us in BioShock 2 footage
Like all good things in life, there's a steep price to pay for watching last night's Bioshock 2–centric episode of GameTrailers TV (posted after the jump). That price is your everlasting soul.Okay, all it actually costs you is exposure to a few spoilers for the game -- but isn't that just as bad? Remember that sense of wonder the first time you stepped foot into the murky waters of Rapture? Aren't you afraid you'll ruin whatever semblance of that emotion that might still appear in the sequel by filling your ... you're already watching it, aren't you? You're a fiend, you know that? A fiend.
GTTV features BioShock 2 this week; reveals who's running Rapture
Ever since Andrew Ryan decided to go out for that pack of smokes (our mom says he's coming back; just you wait!), there's been nobody to tend to the leaky pipes and roving packs of splicers in Rapture. Well, according to GameTrailers TV's Geoff Keighley, someone's finally decided to step in and assume the leadership role for BioShock 2, and we'll find out who on Thursday's episode.In another tweet, Keighley promised plenty of "new single player info and footage" and even teased that the episode will also reveal new characters -- something we already knew was planned for the sequel. You can catch the special BioShock 2 episode this Thursday night, October 22 at 12:30 a.m. ET on Spike.
BioShock 2 washes up on shore Feb. 9, 2010
If you're planning the playoffs for the video game industry's intramural softball league, you may want to avoid the weeks leading up to Feb. 9. That's when the 27 different development studios involved with BioShock 2 (a full half of the world's developers) will be crunching to finish BioShock 2 for release. After waiting all this time, we're just happy that the game can finally ship, 2K can staff up just a bit more, and work can begin on BioShock 3: Now It's An MMO.
BioShock 2's plasmid-packed multiplayer trailer makes a splash
The first look at BioShock 2's multiplayer component in action surfaced this evening on GameTrailers TV. Our rough calculations reveal that the trailer -- which clocks in at just over two minutes in length -- is running at about .5 plasmid attacks per second (PAPS). It might just be the edit, but the gameplay looks extremely frantic, with several human-controlled players employing the likes of Incinerate, Winter Blast, Telekinesis and a host of other plasmid powers in rapid succession. There are also glimpses at turret-building, what appears to be the first game's Research Camera being used for something and, of course, someone playing as the prototype Big Daddy.Check out the trailer after the break and let us know that you thought of it in comments. Did it have you enraptured ... or leave you with a sinking feeling?
'Early 2010' is a 'realistic' release for BioShock 2 [update]
Update: Call it a failure in translation. The representative meant PAX in Seattle and not PAX East in Boston. The company currently has no plans for PAX East. The rep followed up that "'early 2010' is a much more realistic release date than 'second quarter 2010.'"Speaking to a 2K Games representative at GamesCom, Joystiq learned that a new BioShock 2 trailer is set to be revealed at next year's PAX East show, which will also be host to a strong presence from the company. With the undersea sequel still being promoted during the last week of March, we were able confirm the obvious implication: BioShock 2 won't be out during the cluttered first quarter of 2010.Instead, it seems we'll make our long-awaited return to Rapture in the second half of the first half of 2010.
Worley Winery loses stock, BioShock 2 gains promotion
We have to imagine that the marketing team for BioShock 2 is split into two warring factions, each one trying to outdo the other's promotions. "We're going to make an online pseudo-ARG site." "Oh yeah? Well we're going to give away characters as a pre-order bonus." "Oh yeah? Well we're going to set up an eerie simulacrum of our ARG site in the middle of Comic-Con." Hopefully the escalation will stop before we reach: "Oh yeah? Well we're going to kidnap an actual little girl and take her to the bottom of the ocean."The latest salvo from one of these sects is pretty clever (and legal, we think) -- a number of advertisements for plasmids and Rapture locales tucked into bottles from Arcadia's Worley Winery (an in-game spirits retailer) recently washed up on beaches across the world. Kotaku readers grabbed images from the bottle-peppered shores of Brighton Beach, The Hague, Vancouver and Santa Monica. We also received a video from tipster Lazlo showing the early-morning discovery at Vancouver -- it's posted after the break.If your mainland orientation kept you from checking out the promotion, don't despair -- you can already grab one of these ad-filled bottles on eBay for around $100.[Thanks, Lazlo!]
GameStop pre-order ad reveals pair of BioShock 2 multiplayer characters
After 2K showed us some of the customization options available in BioShock 2's multiplayer for the single character thus far revealed (Jacob Norris), we were left in the dark as to how many to expect in the finished game. While we're not much closer to knowing that now, GameStop has reportedly revealed two more characters in "Zigo the Fisherman" and "Blanche the Actress," available "exclusively" through pre-order of the game via in-store ads.Koku Gamer spotted the images on the 2K's BioShock 2 forum, where astute forumgoers point out that the images of the two characters look a lot like recently released BioShock 2 Mulitplayer Gamerpics #2 content on Xbox Live. As the game's release has been pushed back to the "first half" of 2010, we're waiting to hear more before running out to the store and dropping five Earth dollars, thank you very much.[Thanks, Admir!]
That's a wrap: Comic-Con 2009
Last week's San Diego Comic-Con was one crazy ride. The Joystiq representatives in attendance were trained in advanced interrogation tactics and managed to extract information on a variety of subjects. We've got an update from Peter Jackson himself on the Halo happenings, first footage of South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play! and a new game mode for Uncharted 2! Friend, you missed one heck of a week.But, that's okay! You can get caught up right here, right now. Simply head past the break for a complete summary of all the headlines. [image] %Gallery-68768%
Comic-Con 2009: BioShock 2 gets real
Ever been to the mysterious BioShock 2 website, www.somethinginthesea.com? We first heard about it in March, and it is randomly updated from time to time with new bits of information from an obsessed searcher looking for clues about mysterious lights in the sea, and the disappearance of young girls from villages and cities near the ocean.2K Games decided to take things one step further by recreating the entire website in real life at Comic-Con by letting fans actually read the papers on the desk, follow the clues on the bulletin board, check out the mysterious glowing symbols inside the box on the desk, and rummage through the filing cabinet. It was incredibly detailed, right down to the roller skates.It was a bit hard to focus on details when you're getting jostled left and right by people dressed as Spider-man and Wonder Woman, but you can check out all the details in the gallery below.%Gallery-68768%
