irrational-games posts (Subscribe to this feed)
Ken Levine lists favorite games again, changes mind on a few
Ken Levine plays video games. Shocking, we know! Speaking with IndustryGamers, Levine, who is currently working on a super-secret project, listed his ten favorite games. Occupying the top five spots in descending order are: World of Warcraft, Civilization, Beyond Good & Evil, Ultima Underworld and Company of Heroes.
Back in 2007, Levine produced a similar list for MSNBC. His top five have apparently shifted in the last two years, though, as Heroes of Might and Magic 2 and Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past have fallen even beyond the BioShock developer's top ten. How hast these games forsaken thee, Ken? What hast they done for thou to banish them from thy heart likest so?
Back in 2007, Levine produced a similar list for MSNBC. His top five have apparently shifted in the last two years, though, as Heroes of Might and Magic 2 and Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past have fallen even beyond the BioShock developer's top ten. How hast these games forsaken thee, Ken? What hast they done for thou to banish them from thy heart likest so?
MIT BiG: Levine talks life before BioShock

After an introduction by one of the show's sponsors (get off the stage, bub!) the Q&A was handed over to MIT graduate student Dennis Fu, who peppered Levine with a series of questions inspired by the day's panel topics: digital distribution; in-game advertising; MMO business models; and serious games. Fu stepped right into the deep end, asking Levine "What can you tell us about BioShock 2?" As he's said before, he's keeping himself intentionally in the dark so that he can play it "as a fan." "We're sort of keeping ourselves at a distance," he explained.
Ken Levine: Next project will cost 'a fair amount of money'

"Freedom Force was $2 million; System Shock 2 was $600K, it was nothing. BioShock, I think it's been published, was $15 million," Levine said. When we asked how much, on that scale, his new project would cost, Levine teased, "It's more than System Shock 2."
He elaborated, "It's a fair amount of money. Our goal is to build experiences." Referring to the craft of building experiences, Levine noted that BioShock "didn't have the best shooting compared to Call of Duty" and "it didn't have the most revolutionary AI." What it did have was an "experience [gamers] couldn't get anywhere else." It was something "that people can look at it and say, 'I can't have this experience anywhere else.'"
Here's the thing: "Generally those experiences cost a fair amount of money to make," Levine says. Of course, he can't say how much – "because I would probably get fired before I walked out the door" – but he assures us "It won't be the cheapest product ever made." So we've got a ballpark here: Somewhere between $600K and infinity.
Take-Two files trademark for 'Irrational Boston'
The clues have been building up and it appears that 2K Boston may be changing its name to Irrational Boston, the original name of the development studio (albeit now with a location tacked on to the name). The information comes by way of a trademark registration (via superannuation) filed by parent company and publisher Take-Two Interactive, not to mention shirts we spotted 2K Boston employees wearing at GDC last week.
Little is known about how the name change will affect the development studio but we are prone to wild speculation. So let's begin! Is it a sister studio inside 2K Boston? Is it to spin off 2K development studios under the "Irrational" name? And what does this mean for the other half of the original Irrational Games that's now named "2K Australia?" The official word from 2K Boston as of this morning was, "No comment," but we should expect to hear something "very soon." We'll update this post as news comes in.
[Via superannuation]
Little is known about how the name change will affect the development studio but we are prone to wild speculation. So let's begin! Is it a sister studio inside 2K Boston? Is it to spin off 2K development studios under the "Irrational" name? And what does this mean for the other half of the original Irrational Games that's now named "2K Australia?" The official word from 2K Boston as of this morning was, "No comment," but we should expect to hear something "very soon." We'll update this post as news comes in.
[Via superannuation]
GDC09: An Irrational name change?

2K Boston is hiring (Hey, Ken. We have excellent compuper skills!)

According to the flip side of the card (found after the break), the company is currently looking for ... well, it appears it's looking for everyone under the sun. The company has "dozens of openings in programming, design, art, audio and production." Remember to check for typos (like we should have with our headline -- guess that rules us out, blargh) before submitting your resume to the email address found on the card.
Now, let the speculation begin on why the image -- seemingly of a Big Daddy helmet -- was used for this promotion. Best of luck to the applicants!
Video: BioShock 360 vs. BioShock PS3 look similar
Seeing that it has been quite a while since we've posted one of these little gems, here, for your viewing pleasure, is a video comparing the look of BioShock on the Xbox 360 versus BioShock on the Playstation 3. Press play, watch, analyze and we'll wait ...
Okay, by now your video watching should be complete, (achievement unlocked audio sample goes here) and hopefully you noticed that the games are nearly identical. How fun! You should have also realized that you wasted a good three minutes of your day squinting at your computer screen trying your damnedest to spot a pixel differences between the two. Don't feel bad though, because we did the same. It's just something that's in our fanboy genes that makes us do it.
Okay, by now your video watching should be complete, (achievement unlocked audio sample goes here) and hopefully you noticed that the games are nearly identical. How fun! You should have also realized that you wasted a good three minutes of your day squinting at your computer screen trying your damnedest to spot a pixel differences between the two. Don't feel bad though, because we did the same. It's just something that's in our fanboy genes that makes us do it.
Get creative with BioShock vending MP3 downloads
Major Nelson and Elizabeth from 2K Games just partnered up to offer a few short, sweet and completely downloadable audio clips from everybody's favorite Big Daddy adventure, BioShock. The audio clips are all master tracks taken from Rapture's quirky odd talking vending machines. As an added bonus, once you play but one of these audio clips, we guarantee that you'll be instantly taken back to your Rapture gaming days. Ahhh ... Rapture ...Now, you may be asking what the heck you want with a few random (yet very yummy) audio samples from BioShock's vending machines. Well, if you were a creative fellow, you wouldn't be asking that now would you? Use them as a ringtone, apply them as your computer's error message, mix some samples into a full fledged song or just keep looping a clip while you sleep at night. Be creative and share how you'll be using your newly downloaded BioShock vending clips.
Gorgeous but totally unofficial BioShock 2 art

[Via CVG]
Rumor: Rapture will fall in BioShock prequel

So what does 2K Games have to say about this latest BioShock prequel rumor? Well, not too much. In a response to Videogamer.com, a 2K spokesperson told them that they have "nothing to announce at all" which sounds eerily similar to Microsoft's stance on rumors. We'll just have to wait a bit longer for official details (or more concrete rumors), but we'll be the first to raise our hand and tell 2K that a BioShock prequel not only sounds interesting, but is pretty much the only place you can take the story. Bring it on!
[Via Joystiq]
Read - Hrej.cz's BioShock prequel rumor
Read - 2K Games' response to the rumor
2K is still shipping out Big Daddy replacements

[Thanks, HaVoC]
BioShock scares up GOTY honor from AP

[Via The Cult of Rapture]
BioShock gets update and new plasmid DLC
Hey, hey! The BioShock update and downloadable content that was announced a few days back has just been released early this morning making your Rapture experience all the better. BioShock's Cult of Rapture outlined what's included in the title update which includes a widescreen FOV fix, various bug squashes and a solution to the nasty caching problem. They also confirmed that the free DLC includes a disable Vita Chambers option, a 100 point "Brass Balls" achievement and four brand new plasmids (Machine Buster 1 & 2, Vending Expert 1 & 2, Sonic Boom 1 & 2 and EVE Saver). Pop in BioShock, get your update, download the DLC and re-visit Rapture with your new sonic booming abilities. Boom, boom![Thanks, dave]
BioShock update and free DLC coming next week

BioShock's new (and secret) achievement

[Thanks, xenocidic]












