EL33TONLINE: News tag archive: bioshock
The reveal of Irrational Games’ next title yesterday, Bioshock Infinite, was incredibly exciting, and while some may be a little disappointed that the studio that originally brought us Bioshock isn’t working on something completely new, the possibilities are staggering for this new vision of the universe.
To get mega-pumped (Translation: Very Excited) for Bioshock Infinite, you should definitely watch the two video interviews leashed below, where lead artist Shawn Robertson and game director Ken Levine talk about the inspiration behind the game, how this title will be different from the original Bioshock, and what kind of gameplay experiences we can expect in the future.
Levine even hints at a gameplay scenario! squeal
Unleash:
The question has long lingered on the lips of philosophers, historians, archaeologists, palaeontologists, hairdressers and chiropodists, and has stumped and stymied even the greatest minds that these varied but connected areas of study have to offer.
Mathematicians and scientists are no help either. The question is simple:
“What is Project Icarus?”
Don’t think about the question for too long, though, because you’ll sooner go insane than discover the truth.
Come August 11th, however, Irrational Games may just provide the answer to the question, sending us all into raving fits of lunacy.
The last game that emerged from the studios of Irrational Games (known then as 2K Boston) was the original Bioshock, which released half-way through 2007.
A masterpiece of a first-person action adventure game, Bioshock got everybody in the game industry talking, and most likely affected the design of all similar games going forward as developers scrambled to match the excellent experience on offer.
Now, half-way through 2010 and three years later, we still don’t have a clue as to what Irrational is currently working on. This could very well all change come August 11th this year.
Bioshock was an amazing game, and an amazing achievement in the world of videogames, but if everything had gone according to the exact plans laid out at the beginning of the project, before all of those years in development and a semi-reboot, the game could have turned out very differently, as evidence by the release of Bioshock’s original publisher pitch documentation.
If you’re as big of a Bioshock fan as I am, then you’re going to really enjoy poring over this documentation which talks about features intended for the original game in the series, but never made it in.
During Take-Two Interactive’s quarterly financial report it was revealed that the original Bioshock has now sold over 4 million units, with recent sales driven by both the release of the sequel, Bioshock 2, and digital download promotions for both games.
Take-Two Interactive CEO Ben Feder commented that the franchise has now sold a combined seven million units, as Bioshock 2 has so far shipped three million copies worldwide.
Catalogue sales of Bioshock, Feder said, were affected by Bioshock 2:
Major Nelson has been kind enough to let us keen Xbox gamers know what we can expect to find on the ole’ Xbox LIVE for the next few weeks of January, including Xbox LIVE Arcade games, Games on Demand, and Deals of the Week.
Also included are tip-offs on some price reductions, (as of yesterday) on some current generation games that you may just find quite intriguing, and some information for Xbox LIVE Silver members.
Get the full list below:
[Update] OK, the Irrational website has gone live for realz. Enjoy. [End of Update]
Late last week it was announced that 2K Boston (Bioshock) would be rightfully reverting to their previous name of Irrational Games, and with that news, a countdown clock went up on their website, ticking down to a time when we would be able to take an extended peek behind the curtain at the studio, as the developers there revealed information about past projects and current goings-on.
Irrational Games, a studio of trail blazing developers known for titles such as System Shock 2, Freedom Force and Bioshock, will soon reclaim that name after they were (somewhat confusingly) renamed 2K Boston during the development of Bioshock, and the company’s subsequent acquisition by 2K Games/Take-Two Interactive.
Super talented prop designer and creator, Harrison Krix, is once again in the spotlight for his amazing game-related props as he and his fiancée run around the walkways of an aquarium in their amazing Bioshock costumes, now in a setting to equal the first reveal of their outfits earlier this year.
The location is absolutely perfect and matches up wonderfully with the underwater city of Rapture featured in the game, creating a similar vibe to what players of Bioshock may have felt while roaming the halls of the dystopian city.
Harrison Krix has done it again. Not content transforming some of videogaming’s most recognisable in-game items into amazing real-life, authentic props (such as his Portal gun and Bioshock Little Sister Syringe), he’s gone and created a real-life Big Daddy costume that’s as authentic and detailed as they come, while featuring a working drill!
The Big Daddy is, of course, one of the main antagonists found in the underwater dystopia of Bioshock, and a formidable foe at the best of times. Luckily, in real-life at least, someone as clever as Krix is helming the beast, so bloodshed and gore aren’t really priorities for the professional prop maker.
Krix has kindly put up a step-by-step guide for the creation process of his latest prop, which he says took seven weeks to build, although he claims that the suit isn’t “up to [his] standards” just yet, and isn’t 100% complete. Wow, take it easy guy!
Check out a larger pic of the real-life Big Daddy behemoth below, as well as a quick video showing the working drill in action:
Two new games have appeared on Xbox LIVE’s Games on Demand service, namely the excellent first-person action adventure game, Bioshock, as well as the military strategy/nation building game, Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution.
What experiences await us?
Kotaku have posted up pics of an enormous piece of art created by professional illustrator Eric Maruscak, commissioned by Bioshock publishers 2K Games to be completed during PAX 2009.
Maruscak began drawing the piece during the opening hours of PAX on Friday (September 4th) this year, and spent 26+ hours working on it. Now that PAX 2009 is over, the piece has been sent to 2K Games, probably to be used as an awesome display at 2K Marin (developers of Bioshock 2) or simply to impress people at 2K headquarters.
Shift your eyes below to see a work-in-progress snapshot of the piece, featuring an almost life-size Big Daddy:
According to a Variety report, the currently on-hold Bioshock movie has recently had a new director attached to the project as previous director, Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) steps down, although he will still remain on the project as a producer.
Relative newcomer to Hollywood, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, director and writer on zombie movie 28 Weeks Later (the sequel to 28 Days Later), has been named as the new director of the movie adaptation of Take-Two’s underwater adventure FPS.
In an interview with Develop, creative director behind the development of Epic’s Gears of War series, Cliff Bleszinski, has revealed his thoughts on where the future of shooters may lie, and it may or may not surprise you what those thoughts are. Bleszinski said:
“I had a conversation with Harvey Smith – one of the lead designers on Deus Ex – and said to him the future of shooters is RPGs. He said he completely agreed.”
Bleszinski has long been a fan of the critical and commercial smash hit, Bioshock, (“There was a time when the industry warmed down, and then Bioshock came along,” says Bleszinski) which incorporated both first-person shooting action with an RPG-lite system to mix up the gameplay.
The Bioshock/Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion game bundle that was announced for the US yesterday has been revealed to be releasing in the UK on July 10th, a few days after the pack’s release in the US.
On the Xbox 360, it’ll set you back £29.99, and on the PC it’ll cost £19.99. That is all.
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