While this will be the first Bioshock 2 footage since last year's October, there are some hints about what to expect. The German magazines PC Games and Play3 visited 2K Marin and witnessed a short gameplay demonstration (more on that later).

So when will we see the sexy cyclops called Big Sister? The GT TV show will air on Thursday evening/Friday morning at 12:30 am on Spike TV.

You dont live in the US or you cant the show on TV? No problem since each footage will appear online as soon as the show airs Eastern Time.

Catch your Big Daddy helmet and get ready!

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Oh my god, does it mean we can expect another crappy game-to-movie-adaption? You may rest assured since 2K and Universal hired some high class movie veterans.

Gore Verbinski, director of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy will be the movie's director and producer. Caring for the screenplay, there is John Logan, writer of Gladiator, The Aviator and Sweeney Todd.

Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of Take-Two: "We are excited that 2K Games' vision for BioShock will be carried forward in a new medium. BioShock has been hailed as one of the most highly cinematic and richly plotted titles in interactive entertainment, making it extremely well-suited to film. In partnering with Universal and Gore Verbinski, we have assembled a team that respects the uniqueness of BioShock and will translate it into a powerful movie experience."

Since every gamer and fan of Bioshock still might fear that things could go wrong, you might want to know that Verbinski is a gamer and Bioshock fan, too.

Christoph Hartmann, President of 2K Games, noted, "BioShock fans appreciate the depth and complexity of the game, and our partnership with Gore Verbinski will introduce the world of Rapture to an even wider audience. In addition to his impressive body of work, Gore is an avid video gamer and true fan of BioShock. That was extremely important to us in deciding to move forward with this project."

In an interview with the Cut Scene Blog, Verbinski also mentioned some details, which are important to him while making the Bioshock movie. For example, Verbinski might make use of CG as well as animatronics to bring the Big Daddies to life. He also talks about his relationship with Ken Levine and how he asks him for help.

Cut Scene Blog - Gore Verbinski talks about directing the Bioshock movie

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Since the news are only a part of a financial report, it's no stand-alone announcement, which should follow soon. Here is what we have got:

-- 2K Games said today that BioShock 2, the sequel to the wholly owned and internally developed title, is being developed by 2K Marin and is planned for release in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009. The critically acclaimed BioShock title has sold over 2 million units worldwide since its launch in August.

Ok, wait, but what is with Ken Levine? He is cooking his own stuff at 2K Boston, but he will be involved in Bioshock 2, according to Shacknews.

Towards Shacknews, a Take 2 spokesman replied: "[Ken Levine] is critical to BioShock."

I will keep you contacted about further details as they come, but I am sure we will see the first stills from Bioshock 2 at E³ 2008. For plattforms, I am pretty sure that PC and 360 will be in the bag, but PS3 may also make its first trip to Rapture.

You should also keep an eye on 2K Marin's website, since it promised a soon opening.

Take2Games.com - Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Reports First Quarter Fiscal 2008 Financial Results
Shacknews.com - BioShock 2 Officially Announced for Q4 2009 Release; Ken Levine Involvement Confirmed

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Bioshock has won the awards for Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction (Scott Sinclair), Outstanding Achievement in Story Development (Ken Levine), Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition (Garry Schyman) and Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design (Emily Ridgway, Patrick Balthrop, Justin Mullins).

Ken Levine then took part in a Speaker Discussion with developers from Harmonix, BioWare and Ricardo Torres (Gamespot) as a moderator (see above). Frankly, Ken repeated what he said at GDC about cutting down the story in Bioshock.

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If you look at his Powerpoint folios, you get an impression of his ideas for cutting down the story in Bioshock. The "one character, one theme" formula is appears on several photos, too.

Joystiq.com - Ken Levine storytelling gallery

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Levine said: "I didn't think they became that invested in what was going on,". He went on with in the game "you have this great mystery of your own identity and once it is solved the story is over."

Sorry, Ken, but people were not only interested in the main character. After you played a bunch of hours in this amazing city called Rapture, it's some more you care about. It's the destiny of the whole world, you have stepped into. And like a bad ending of a movie, people can get upset.

But there is a chance to make it better, Mr. Levine. How about Bioshock 2?

Kotaku.com - Levine Agrees, Bioshock's Ending Failed

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At first, they had a concept of a massive background story, spanning over 70 years, with several civil wars to tell about and a big cast of characters and love stories, to carry on the storyline. Then, they cutted things down and let the world itself tell the story (see Rapture before change below). Developer's tend to too much complexity in video game stories and that is a problem, Levine believes. Too complex stories would not fit well to video games.

Levine sees playing Bioshock like reading a detective story and that it's important for players to solve and discover things rather than just getting something shown and explained.

Mystery, in Levine's opinion, is also a key element of a game, since "Answering questions is sometimes not as interesting as asking them". Too much mystery without answers is boring, though.

Ken closed his session with the phrase: "Developers must respect their audience, trust mystery, and empower gamers."

Sadly, no media source mentioned hints about possible sequels/prequels of the game, Ken Levine could have dropped.

1Up.com - Levine on Narrative in Bioshock

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While Next-Gen.biz admitted that great games are not only the work of a single person, they believe that the function of one person as a leader of a team or a creative mind might be the way to success.

Here is what the jury had to say:

Yes, 2007 was a year of staggering achievement and many excellent games. But even in such illustrious company the branchild of Ken Levine, BioShock, managed to stand out. Levine’s Rapture was a setting unlike anything ever created, and even as millions played it for its inventive shooting mechanics it spoke complex ideas to all who cared to listen. Theories on philosophy and dogma were in there, as were statements on the nature of choice and the medium of games itself. Levine ambitiously took steps with BioShock that games needed to take; the entire field is better for this game’s success.

Ken Levine is the No 1 under 100 of the best developers, followed by Jason West (Co-Studio Head/Project Lead, Call of Duty 4, Infinity Ward) and Rob Pardo (Vice President of Game Design at Blizzard).

Ken Levine may be the "hottest" developer of the year, but women, please stay cool - this guy is married!

The Next-Gen hot 100 developers 2008

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Editor Brian Crecente believes that this mobile integration into Xbox Live could be tied to big games like Bioshock. A mobile version of Bioshock was announced a few days ago.

Bioshock was indeed a big title for Microsoft, but you surely need to take this with a massive grain of salt.

Kotaku.com - Our best guesses for Microsoft's GDC keynote

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Currently, the following studios are possible:

• 2K Boston (known as Irrational Games before - Bioshock 360 location)
• 2K Australia (known as Irrational Games before - Bioshock PC location)
• 2K Marin (formed by yet unknown Bioshock team members, residing in Novato, California)

While rumours say that Ken Levine may be busy with "Project X" (expected X-Com sequel), the dark waters of the internet believe that 2K Marin will deal with a new Bioshock game. But what kind of hints do we get out of 2K's job listings?

Let's start with 2K Boston:

• The new Producer at 2K Boston will collaborate with and manage the time, focus, and priorities of Creative Director, Ken Levine during all aspects of the development cycle and must be experienced with large scale software development projects (40+ development staff over 2+ years).

• 2K Boston needs a Senior Console Programmer, who is experienced with the PS3 (apart from Xbox, Xbox360 and PlayStation2). 

• A Lead Enviroment Artist should be experienced with animated environment effects (such as particles). Experiences with Unreal Engine 3 are also desired.

• A 3D Character Animator will be working with motion capture data, facial animation. He will be working with humans, animals, "others" and will develop new features for animation system in the Vengeance Engine. 

• The Special Effects Artist will deal with flowing, splashing, and stagnant water, magical and ethereal effects. Like other members of the art team, he will develop new features for particle systems in the Unreal 3 Engine.

• The Senior Game Designer should be familiar with the current state of the art in game design across a wide range of genres on both PC and console.

Conclusion: It really smells like "Get your next Bioshock here" at 2K Boston. Major hints are the particle effects, flowing, splashing and stagnant water effects, new team members have to deal with. If it is just a PS3 port, you don't need people for complete new effects.

Animals and "others" need to be animated. This could be a consequence of Bioshock critics, that the game lacked in more varied, more terrifying enemies than splicers. A unterwater utopia without any animals? No! As far as we know the team originally imagined a fight with a huge squid - maybe we will see this in the next Bioshock game.

I am unsure if there will be a Bioshock (1) port for PS3, but the console seems to be counted in for the next Bioshock game, since Playstation 3 experience is desired, apart from other consoles (360) and PC. Current-gen games are very expensive and going muliplattform makes sense. There is no exlusivity deal for new Bioshock games with Microsoft and the install base of the PS3 is growing.

What sounds a bit striking is the fact that the Vengeance Engine is mentioned, as well as Ken Levine. The Vengeance Engine is known as a enchanced Unreal Engine 2/2.5, which was originally used as the "Bioshock engine". Later on, Irrational Games switched to Unreal Engine 3.0, so you might argue if a Vengeance Engine can be a varied UE3. The new producer will work together with Ken Levine closely, so they maybe both work together at the same location. The new producer might support Ken Levine's secret project, which was already in development during Bioshock 1 or they both care for a new, second (Bioshock?) game. Since experience with longer developments (2+ years) is desired, we might expect a new IP instead of a game, which might use already known mechanics/engines/models. Think of GRAW 2 and Rainbow Six Vegas 2, which were released a year after their predecessors.

So the job listings are for one project or for several ones. At least the Special Effects Artist position sounds like a new Bioshock game. So let's have a look at the next studio.

2K Australia:

• 2K Australia is currently searching for an Senior MP Designer with 5 years + game design experience.

• They are also searching for a Level Builder, which must fit into the exactly the same requirements as a Level Builder, who can apply for 2K Boston right now. Both need to have experience with creating first-person levels using Unreal, Quake, Half-Life or similar technologies for commercial titles. 

Conclusion:  While both job listing do not contain a clear hint on a Bioshock game, there is some room for speculation. Remember that it was 2K Australia, which was mainly responsible for the PC version of Bioshock. Work for new multi-platform Bioshock game could be distributed to several development studios, too. Like 2K Boston, 2K Australia is working on a first person game, so there might be two games of the same genre or exactly the same title.

A MP Designer cares for multiplayer aspects of a game. A multiplayer in Bioshock was missed by many gamers and Ken Levine admitted that he would like to have one. This job position could then be a hint that Bioshock 2 will indeed contain a multiplayer mode.

2K Marin:

• The new studios searches for a Pogrammer. Highly desired are experiences with developing for next-generation game consoles (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii), with the Unreal Engine and multi-platform software projects.

• The new Audio Director will conceive audio-scapes for our games including first-person shooters and tactical role-playing games.

• The Game Designer's qualifications need to contain work-experience with recent generation game console technology (Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2 or PLAYSTATION 3) and PLAYSTATION 3. Experience with Unreal Engine 3 is also preferred.

• The new Graphics Programmer will develop, maintain, and extend the graphics engine on multiple console platforms. Highly desired are one or more already shipped PC or console game titles, FPS or RPG titles, as well as experiences with the Unreal Engine 3 and multi-platform software projects.

• 2K Marin is searching for a Lead Animator, who will collaborate with the Art Director and Creative Director in creation of the overall artistic vision of a next-gen console game. He must be able  to develop plans and appropriate direction for outsourced production. Fine Arts skills and Unreal experience are a plus.

• The next Level Builder at 2K Marin will function as part of a three-person team tasked with building large levels for a next-gen console title: Level Builder, Level Modeler, and Level Designer. Background in architecture or lighting is a plus, as well as Unreal Engine experiences. 

• The new Producer must have experiences with managing external development projects and will facilitate communication and cooperation within the project team and between internal and external teams.
   

Conclusion: Someone is forging a whole new team for a fresh game. The title will be a next generation console game, but it will very likely be multi-platform. It sounds like a mixture between FPS and RPG and will make use of the Unreal 3 engine. Interestingly, the PC platform is hardly mentioned, but the Lead Animator and the Producer must be capable of working with external teams. This could mean that another studio or location will be involved. If this game is our new Bioshock game, it could fit to my assumption of 2K Australia making a PC version, collaborating with 2K Marin.

The bottom line: 2K Boston is not doing Ken Levine's other project only and I doubt that his game deals with lots of water, too. That is why I believe that the next Bioshock game will be done at several locations. Ken Levine is somehow still involved but not as much as with Bioshock 1. Some people in Boston will do work for the next Bioshock game (maybe using some assets of Bioshock 1, doing conceptional work). The rest of the technical development will be done in the 2K Marin studio for consoles (360/PS3), while the PC version will be done at 2K Australia. The game will possibly feature the long awaited multiplayer and a wider range of enemies like underwater animals.

Sources:

Job listings at 2K Boston
Job listings at 2K Australia
Job listings at 2K Marin

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Ok, most of us want another Bioshock game, but who will make it?. Rumours say Creative Director and "Bioshock father" Ken Levine will not be involved in the next game. What do you think?

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Since a lot of Ken Levine's inspirations for Bioshock came from Ayn Rand's books and philosophy, it was only a matter of time until a Ayn Rand specialist would take a look at Bioshock, analyzing the parallels and differences between the literature and the videogame. Apart from the plain comparison, the article deals with the theme of objectivism in Bioshock.

The article is quite well written and contains lots of quotations by Levine. If you have some time, it may be worth reading.

Kotaku.com - No Gods or Kings: Objectivism in Bioshock

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Ok, to be honest, the weather will be crap with few showers, but the next Game Developers Conference (GDC 08) will be held there from February 18 - 22.

Ken Levine will will take part in the following GDC sessions:

Storytelling in BIOSHOCK: Empowering Players to Care about Your Stupid Story
Are Games Essentially Superficial? Exploring the Positive Impact Model of Design

The first session will be done by Levine himself. He will talk about story-telling in Bioshock, how it attracted the players/medias, how the story was created and why it was so successful.

The second session will be together with big names like Peter Molyneux, Chris Taylor, Louis Castle and Rusel DeMaria. The title mainly explains itself.

But the Bioshock presence will not end here, since there is also a session with Patrick Balthrop, the Senior Sound Designer at 2K Boston. It's called:

Audio Post-Mortem: BioShock

You can mainly expect a discussion of "successes, pitfalls, and processes" during the sound development.

If you are interested in working for 2K, you should step into the careers pavilion. The 2K Australia crew will be waiting for you with fingers crossed.

To even top all of that, parts of the Bioshock score will be played at the Video Games Live concert on Friday.

Wow, hanging around there sounds fun, but what do we get out of it? We might hear about a game which is already released, but we can expect some glimpse at future Bioshock games.

GDC has always been a place to show something new or to show some more about a game, so it could even end up in announcements about Bioshock games. It would fit perfectly to a recent announcement of the Unreal Engine 3 being licensed for future games by 2K.

By the way: Microsoft announced to publish a huge media coverage for the GDC 08 via Xbox Live. Apart from the keynote, we can be sure that "footage will include never-before-seen gameplay, demos, screenshots, game trailers and interviews from the GDC show floor."

Official GDC 08 Website

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While Little Sisters should hug and kiss their Big Daddies today, I like to let my girlfriend Kristina know that I love her truly, madly and deeply.

Kristina, we are just together for some months yet, but you give me the feeling that I really mean that much to you. I have never got this feeling before in the same way as with you.

I love every minute with you and still got the butterflies in my stomach when I see you again, like today.

I want to stay together with you, want to live, laugh and cry with you, just like you said.

André

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IG Fun LLC received the rights to develop and publish the cellphone version of the higly acclaimed shooter. No details or media were presented yet, but we get some information about the company itself.

For example, IG Fun already teamed up with movie studios like 20th Century Fox, Miramax, New Line Cinema, Sony Pictures and Universal Studios for making mobile titles. Over 300 employees and offices in Mumbai, London, Los Angeles & Beijing belong to the mother company Indiagames.

Sean Malatesta, CEO, IG Fun said, “We’re trying to do great things and BioShock on mobile promises to offer a whole new gaming experience and unmatched excitement amongst mobile gamers the world over. BioShock is a special game in its genre; it brings an element of conflicting morals which has an impact on the storyline, and, among other things, on the difficulty of the game itself.”

I am very sceptical about mobile games, since I believe they mostly remain in the shadow of the original game. Since Bioshock is a great shooter with a great atmosphere, I fear that a mobile game is never able to catch up with the experience of the original version.

IG Fun LLC Website

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After a long period of silence I like to announce that I will continue Rapture Gazette.

I was quite busy with studying and that is still the case, but in times of potential Bioshock movies, a possible Bioshock prequel and a planned Bioshock mobile game, there is a lot to write about.

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BioShockFTW here, sadly having to resort to selling one of my favorite, most personal pieces of gaming memorabilia; my BioShock Xbox 360 faceplate, signed by Ken Levine himself.

Also available is the amazing gaming mousepad made by fUnc Industries.

I've taken good care of them and they're both unused, have only been a part of my personal collection. I hope the end up in good hands.

eBay auction of the faceplate

eBay auction of the launch party mousepad

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The game is nominated in the categories "Best Game" and "Artistic Achievements".

2K Boston/Australia and fans must wait for Tuesday 23 October, when the winners will be announced. Expect a huge gala at Battersea Evolution in Battersea Park and Ken Levine in a dinner jacket.

British Academy Video Games Awards 2007

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In Australia, BioShock makes a spectacular dive from first place to spot number 8.

vraptor

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"KL: If the sales success of BioShock means anything, it means that we can trust our audience a little more. With the themes--both from a gameplay standpoint and especially from a theme standpoint, a story standpoint--if you told anybody including myself that BioShock was going to be the kind of commercial success it's been, they would have done a double take."

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"Garry Schyman: I have received many emails from people who love “Cohen’s Masterpiece” a piano solo that I wrote in the style of the late romantic composers with a touch of modernism from the early 20th century. Many pianists have asked me for the score so they could learn it. That has been very satisfying and frankly unexpected. It was a lot of work to compose and it’s just so gratifying to have people respond so positively to what is essentially a classical piano solo."

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Have a look: Round 1; Round 2; Round 3; Final Round.

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"This 'one-two punch' of the demo and the TV spot in the same debut was so important to us: our final round of market research by Frank Magid and Associates showed that the TV spot and the demo combined were driving purchase intent through the roof. Our moderator kept coming into the room shaking his head saying he's never seen anything like it. Many sessions ended with 100% purchase intent from 100% of the participants. The response was tremendous."

vraptor

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Elsewhere, CliffyB of Epic gives BioShock great praise, calling it his game of the year. It'd be interesting to see what other developers think of the game too, especially like those at Valve, who had expressed great anticipation for it - so much so that they had to ban their team from playing it in order to get Orange Box done in time for release.

vraptor

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If you registered until that day, you will receive a replaced Big Daddy and a free printed artbook of Bioshock. Both items are currently in production and will get shipped as soon as they are ready.

I also added the link again for US and Canadian consumers having Big Daddy issues.

2K Games - BioShock Support: Big Daddy Issues

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The normal walkthrough version is crafted and written quite well, with locations of every tonic, plasmid and diary marked on the map. It also gives you basic tips for the game or how to fight Big Daddies.

IGN Insiders get a PDF-file with the walkthrough soon, as well as a version for PSP and video tips to download.

Although the guide's title mentions the 360 version only, I don't know any reason why it should not work for the PC, as well. Enjoy!

IGN.com - BioShock Guide (Xbox 360)

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We already know that 2K has shipped 1.5 million units thus far, so it will be interesting to see how it sells this month.

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