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Bioshock creator: Plot has to be f****** stupid
We all know that Bioshock was a widely praised game. We all know that much of that praise was directed at its storytelling and narrative. So then when news like this comes around it makes us look at things a little differently. In an interview with PC Zone, Ken Levine the project lead on Bioshock, was quoted as saying: "If you want people to follow your plot, it has to be really f****** stupid." "What are you doing in Bioshock?" continued Levine, "Act 1: Find the submarine and get out. But, the sub goes down. So, Act 2: You go find and kill Ryan". He's certainly correct (duh), noting that Bioshock's original story plan involved at least three civil wars and spanned across a total of 70 years (possible Bioshock 2 hints?). Despite lambasting the necessary dumbing down, Levine does praise the gaming medium's ability to immerse the player to whatever degree they choose via player exploration and discovery. With Ken involved, we're not at all worried about 2K Marin, and we have high hopes for whatever new IP he's working on next.
Ken Levine will be involved with BioShock 2
We briefly mentioned this during our recap of the Take Two earnings call last night, but we wanted to echo the story so BioShock fans can sleep easy. At the tail-end of the Take Two earnings call last night Chairman Strauss Zelnick clarified questions we had regarding the BioShock sequel that was announced during the 2K investors call earlier in the day. When discussing the upcoming sequel Zelnick assured listeners that BioShock series creator Ken Levine, "will be working on BioShock 2."While we hope this means Ken will lend his vision to the 2K Marin team in hopes of creating yet another successful foray into the franchise, who knows if it means Ken will just be in Australia on a LOST landmark bus tour. So readers we ask, how important is Ken Levine's involvement in a sequel to BioShock?[via Joystiq]
BioShock 2 announced, drops Q4 2009
After BioShock was met with critical and commercial success the prospect of a sequel seemed to be a foregone conclusion and today 2K Games finally admitted that the title is in the works. The surprising news is that 2K Boston, formally Irrational Games, will not be at the helm of BioShock 2's development, rather the job has been tasked to 2K Marin, who are reportedly staffed with former Irrational Games members. No involvement from Ken Levine was mentioned during the announcement. The info dropped from an investor relations report 2K released today. With talks of an impending buyout on the horizon for parent company Take Two, the timing of this announcement couldn't be better. While the average gamer doesn't care about the business side of the industry, it will be interesting to see how Take Two's stock spikes based on the announcement. Either way, gamers can expect to take-out another group of Big Daddies in the last months of 2009 - so start lining up. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in. Via, Joystiq]
BioShock 2 due in fiscal Q4 2009 from 2K Marin
After sales of brainy first-person shooter BioShock were so strong, a sequel seemed like all but a foregone conclusion. 2K Games put any remaining doubt to bed today, revealing that BioShock 2 is due to hit shelves in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2009, which would put it between August and October of 2009. The game is being developed not by Ken Levine's 2K Boston, but rather 2K Marin, which reportedly has some BioShock staffers on board. At this point, we don't know what (if any) involvement Levine will have, nor do we know what systems it will be on.The info came in an investor relations report released by the company today. Even though we figured the game was in the works, we have to admit we're a little surprised by the window, just two years after its predecessor. But you're not going to hear us complaining. If it means more Big Daddies and Little Sisters, we don't really care where we get it.
Levine: Wii Bowling is the 'ultimate gateway drug'
Ken Levine, that dude who made that Bioshock game all of the kiddies went crazy over last year, recently spoke with GamesIndustry.biz about his stature in the industry now that he's made what most consider to be one of the greatest games of this console generation. But, Levine did take some time to touch on what he thinks about the casual market and how Nintendo is introducing new gamers into the fold.You see, Levine is embracing the changes that Nintendo and their Wii console are looking to bring to the industry. "Wii Bowling is like the ultimate gateway drug and God bless them for figuring that out because there is no barrier of entry," he explains. "Hey, can you go like that?" [swings arm] That's what you do in bowling, that's what you do in Wii Sports." Levine sees those that would otherwise ignore gaming as getting into it, commenting "I think there's a much better chance of people who wouldn't normally be interested in games going in and thinking "I'm interested in the history of Rome. I'll buy that strategy game," whereas before they would have been overwhelmed by the very concept of it." And, Levine, you're not the only one. We're excited about the future of gaming and how the Wii will help shape it, too![Via Go Nintendo]
BioShock's Big Daddy just wants to have fun
While trolling the 4chan image boards the team at Bits Bytes Pixels Sprites stumbled upon this a gorgeous wallpaper depicting the Big Daddy and Little Sister having, as our own Dustin would say, "good times."Ripped from the narrative of the award-winning BioShock, the Big Daddy and Little Sister are central characters in the great underwater city of Rapture and have inspired everything from fan art to developer discussions on the importance of simple stories in games. This beautiful piece deserves to be added to your desktop, so would you kindly download it.
Last Week on Massively: WoW-related stories
This week's round up of WoW-related posts on our sister site Massively covers many different angles of the MMO universe dominated by World of Warcraft. The Game Developers Conference 08 coverage took up much of last week with many people comparing their efforts to WoW's success. You can click on the links below or subscribe to a special WoW-only Massively feed.The Daily Grind: When will you be done with WoW?Akela Talamasca wants know what is it that will end the WoW-affair?GDC08: Massively is Live at the Future of MMOs panel Rob Pardo, VP of Game Design at Blizzard was on a panel at GDC last week debating the Future of MMOs. Massively's Michael Zenke was there to liveblog it. Ask Massively: Show me the MMOney!What will it take to overcome WoW? Massively lays out the battle plan.
GDC08: Dennis Dyack is worried about GDC
During the Game Developers Conference, 1UP.com was able to record interviews with developers in the guise of their weekly 1UP Yours podcast, one such episode was with outspoken Silicon Knights boss Dennis Dyack. In the episode on February 21, Dyack outlined his worries for the future of GDC based on the marketing spin put on the, "once sacred," developer gathering."I worry about GDC [because] how many talks are you learning something versus when somebody is trying to sell you a product?" Dyack asked the crew made up of editors Garnett Lee, Shane Bettenhausen, Bryan Intihar and former 1UPer Mark MacDonald. "Are we calling this the Game Developers Conference [or] are we calling it the Game Demo Convention?"
Overheard@GDC: Ken Levine on Steamworks
Throughout his discussion of BioShock's story on Wednesday, Ken Levine referenced the folks at Valve and the top notch work they had done on games like Half-Life 2. Before the talk started we overheard him talking about the Steamworks announcement, and when we joined a large discussion of attendees after the event ended we asked the man himself what he thought.What do you think of the Steamworks announcement?"I think the great thing about Valve is they understand you don't have to make every penny off of everybody every second to make the big dollar. Google has a similar approach. You don't feel like you're being constantly fleeced - Valve has a very sophisticated model, they're very smart guys, and I think it's really exciting. It's great for developers. It's great for Valve, it's great for everybody else, and it's great for people making games. How much do you think Steam helped BioShock?"I think one of the great things about Valve is that they are developers. I've worked with some big companies, and as developers they're professional, they're on the ball, I can't think of a single mistake that they made. They're taking it very seriously."
GDC08: Early, pre-Little Sisters BioShock footage
Yesterday morning we had the chance to listen to Ken Levine speak on the storytelling process behind his hit title, BioShock. The quick Zero Punctuation video got big laughs, but there was another video during the presentation that more accurately represented what Ken was talking about. Above is a picture of a stage in the development of the Little Sisters, a hint at other (stranger?) versions of Rapture and its denizens. You can catch other stages in the Sisters development in our gallery of photos from the talk.Like the Little Sisters concept, the video itself shows an early version of Rapture. The beautiful art-deco world we know and love is an ugly, boxy, warehouse of a place. Check it out below the cut for raging Big Daddies, worm-like Little sSsters, and one of the quickest "time to crate" experiences in gaming.%Gallery-16573%
Seen@GDC: Ken Levine is a total rock star
Ken Levine may be the guy who gets interrupted at the Spike VGAs, but when he's at the Game Developer's Conference he is a god among nerds, whose every step echoes through the halls of the Moscone Center like Thor ... if Thor made good games.Want proof? Check out the crowd that swarmed Levine to touch the hem of his garment after his lecture at the conference Wednesday morning. That's how Ken rolls. ... Wait. Do you think he's reading this right now? [swoon]
How Ken Levine (maker of BioShock) plays World of Warcraft
Ken Levine is best known for his work on such games as Thief, System Shock 2 and (most recently) BioShock. Before a talk at GDC this morning about the storytelling BioShock we noticed a World of Warcraft icon very prominent in the quicklaunch bar on his Mac. Over the course of the lecture Levine reinforced his online influences by several times referencing some of Blizzard's talented design. We chatted with him for a few minutes after the talk ended, and he confirmed that he's a big fan of the game. In fact, he just recently leveled a druid to 57 - solo, as that's the way he generally plays.He also touched on the depth of WoW's design in a response to differences between BioShock and System Shock 2: "Feature-wise it's not really that different from System Shock 2. We wanted to make sure every player understood what they were doing on an instictual level - not that they were doing 2d6 of fire damage. That meant there were limitations. In a game like WoW, on the other hand, they can make stuff that's incredibly deep because you're watching the numbers scroll by. My friend Joe likes to brag "My tank has 12,612 armor points!" Which in a game is a distinction that's meaningful to some extent - some people really like min/maxing, some people area really about the world, and I didn't want to get trapped in the middle."
Zero Punctuation's BioShock Opening
Ken Levine gave an amazing talk this morning on the process of crafting BioShock's story. There were two video presentations during the course of the talk and one of them was a hilarious mile-a-minute clip from Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw - the twisted mind behind the Escapist's Zero Punctuation. We have a video of the clip, which was introduced by Levine as "their original idea for how to start BioShock", below the cut.
GDC08: Ken Levine says to keep the story simple
"Details seem like the hard work, they seem like they important part, but they're not your friend. They really just drag you down."It's a surprising message from BioShock developer Ken Levine, who spoke this morning at the GDC. But despite how intricate his game was, he said that plotting details are (with a few exceptions) best left out. He says that the best storyteller is the one that might seem the most benign: The world."What is he engaged in all of the time? What's right there in his face? He's engaged in the world," he said.%Gallery-16573%
And the greatest video game horse is ...
MTV Multiplayer has been on a quest recently to find the very best video game animal, and they've begun with man's best ... non-mechanical mode of transportation, the horse. Now a panel of experts, that included 2K Boston's Ken Levine and Penny Arcade's Mike "Gabe" Krahulik, are back with their decision: Epona, Link's trusty steed in several Legend of Zelda games.But controversy is a-brewin' dear reader. For while the esteemed panel chose Epona, the readers have selected Agro of Shadow of the Colossus fame. Which one will go on to do battle with the other members of the animal kingdom? We're sure the competitors wait with baited, oat-scented breath to learn.
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]
Rumor: BioShock movie murmurs in Hollywood
Digging through all the praise heaped upon BioShock, you're sure to scrape your nails across several repeated phrases such as "engaging," "gripping" and "atmospheric." Some have even said it's "pretty good." The most common one, however, is sure to be "cinematic," a term that places BioShock and Hollywood in rather close proximity. A reliable source within a major film production company has told Joystiq that the two have been getting along famously, with a movie adaptation of 2K's successful franchise already being discussed by the Big Daddies internally. The studio hopes to bring the fallen aquatic utopia of Rapture to celluloid life through extensive use of green screen technology, an approach not dissimilar to Legendary Pictures' interpretation of 300. If the computer generated approach is deemed feasible and fitting, the focus can then shift to capturing BioShock's secondary (and uninhabited) characters. While it's not guaranteed to move beyond these early stages, this project has our full support, if only so we can see M. Night Shyamalan's face when he gets out-twisted. Of course, the potential film would do well to remember that while it's desirable for a game to share traits with cinema, the opposite situation will likely earn a thumbs down from most critics. %Gallery-3725% %Gallery-6604%
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 DLC available, adds plasmids, achievement points
In addition to the dash update, 360 owners will have another nice surprise waiting for them (as will their PC counterparts): a title update and new DLC for BioShock. The title update includes some small fixes and one big one: A new widescreen FOV, the answer to some specific, antiquated prayers. The new content (just in time to refresh the memories of Game of the Year list makers) includes a plasmid pack (Machine Buster 1 & 2, Vending Expert 1 & 2, Sonic Boom 1 & 2, EVE Saver), the option to disable Vita-Chambers and a new, 100-point achievement called "Brass Balls." To get it, you'll just need to beat the game on hard without using a Vita-Chamber. No problem, right?We know, we know, this news couldn't come at a worse time. You're busy with the only games that ever matter: The ones released in the past three weeks. But don't you want to check and make sure all the daddies are still dead? Don't you want to see if those splicers tried to build a rudimentary society Lord of the Flies-style? If you get a moment to spare, isn't it time you checked in on Rapture?
