Remember how many people were up in arms about the PC version of BioShock’s copy protection, SecuROM, which limited people who bought the game legitimately from having it installed on more than two computers at once? Well apparently EA and BioWare don’t, since they’re using an even more restrictive version of the software in the upcoming PC release of Mass Effect. This version of the game will automatically authenticate your CD key with your PC every time you run the program, and will actually run this check on its own every five days as long as your computer is connected to the internet. If the game can’t find a connection, then it will still allow you to play the game for five days before locking up. At that point, you’ll have to contact customer support to get your beloved game unlocked again. Bottom line: you’ll have to re-authenticate your copy of Mass Effect online every ten days…forever. In other words, don’t leave your internet unplugged, don’t toss out an old computer without uninstalling the game first, and God forbid you should ever go on vacation and take the precaution of leaving your electronics unplugged.

Naturally, this raises a lot of issues with gamers. For one, nobody likes being treated like a criminal for legally purchasing a product for their own entertainment. Besides that, this makes you wonder if people will even be able to activate the game years later — seriously, I still crack open the original Fallout every few years without a fuss. At least they’re disclosing this now rather than after the game hit store shelves, like with BioShock. Of course, some people with enough free time won’t even need the ten days to finish with the game (hell, it took me three days to plow through it around Christmas time). Unfortunately though, it sounds like SecuROM isn’t going anywhere as far as EA is concerned, seeing as Spore will apparently use similar copy protection methods.

Via The Angry Pixel

There’s a rumor making the rounds that BioShock 2 may be released for the PS3 and possibly the Wii.

2K Marin has put out job postings for developers with PlayStation 3 experience required.

BioShock 2 was confirmed in March, along with the announcement that the new 2K Marin studio would take on the challenge of creating a game to equal or best its predecessor with the guidance of Ken Levine. No platforms were confirmed in the announcement although it’s a fare bet that the Xbox 360 and PC can look forward to the game.

I’d like to think that PS3 and Wii users will have the chance to play BioShock 2. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anywhere specifically in the job postings that specifically said the the positions being filled were to dedicated to working on the game. At this time 2K Games hasn’t made itself available to confirm or deny the rumor.
BioShock 2 is slated for release sometime between August and October 2009.

via Eurogamer

I posted recently about a so called “Co-Op Bill of Rights,” which was a concept inspired by Penny-Arcade and then run with by Microsoft employee Ozymandias on his blog. He threw together a list of features that co-op games must have, and then ones that would be ideal but aren’t necessary due to the time/effort/technical requirements they require. It’s nothing official of course, and it’s likely never going to be something that impacts how developers spend their time. More recently, he posted up a more finalized version with the help of various comments from around the ‘net that his initial article called for.

This got me thinking about features that all games simply must have. It irritates me to no end to go pick up a new game, assume something about the game and then come to find out that a blatantly obvious feature or option is nowhere to be seen. I asked for feedback from readers and friends, and I’ve come up with my own Bill of Rights. It’s not necessarily focused on features that have to be included, but more often functionality and design choices in games. Some of it will overlap with Ozymandias’ list, but that’s only because these are things games absolutely must do.

I’m looking for feedback, so if you think I omitted something or something made the list that shouldn’t have, share in the comments. This is by no means intended to be a finished piece, but more of a building block. And, as long as I’m admitting my faults, this doesn’t apply only to games, but game-related things, as well.

And just to make sure things are clear, I’ll give out examples of games that did it either well – guised as a Dick Vitale “That’s awesome, baby!” – or poorly – a Charles Barley “That’s turrible.”

Read the full article

An exhaustive report – combining factors like game sales, Metacritic averages and developer feedback through Gamasutra – has concluded creating the first-ever Top 50 Developers list from Game Developer magazine. Coming in at the top of the list is, but of course, Nintendo’s Kyoto studio, followed by Infinity Ward, Blizzard, EA Canada, and Valve.

The top 20 are as follows, along with some of their notable 2007 releases:

1. Nintendo Kyoto (Brain Age, Wii Play)
2. Infinity Ward (Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare)
3. Blizzard Entertainment (World Of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade)
4. Electronic Arts Canada (FIFA Soccer 08, NBA Street: Homecourt)
5. Valve (Portal, Team Fortress 2)
6. Konami Japan Studio (Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer, Dance Dance Revolution Universe)
7. Insomniac Games (Ratchet & Clank Future)
8. Capcom Osaka Studio (Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, Monster Hunter Freedom)
9. Electronic Arts Tiburon (Madden NFL 08, NASCAR 08)
10. BioWare Edmonton (Mass Effect, Jade Empire: Special Edition)
11. Bungie Studios (Halo 3)
12. Ubisoft Montreal (Assassin’s Creed, Naruto: Rise Of A Ninja)
13. 2K Boston [& Australia] (BioShock)
14. Harmonix (Rock Band)
15. Bandai Namco Tokyo (Ace Combat 6: Fires Of Liberation, Beautiful Katamari)
16. Square Enix Tokyo (Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, Front Mission DS)
17. Game Freak (Pokemon Diamond/Pearl)
18. Epic Games (Unreal Tournament 3, Gears Of War PC)
19. Hudson Soft (Mario Party 8, Mario Party DS)
20. Neversoft (Guitar Hero III, Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground)

The full list and all of the excruciating minutiae that went into the list can be found at the Game Developer Research website, located here. It’s interesting to see how the top 50 shaped itself; in the top 20 alone I was surprised by several things (Valve not being higher and Hudson Soft being so high, for example) – what do you make of the list?

Along with the good, but completely expected news that a sequel to BioShock is in the works, Take Two also noted one unfortunate change to their release schedule. The upcoming sci-fi FPS/RPG hybrid, Borderlands is now being delayed into their 2009 fiscal year. According to the company, this was done “in order to allow additional development time for this highly anticipated game and provide a better balance in the release of Take-Two’s triple-A titles.” Basically they’re saying that GTA IV is expected to drop with such a big shockwave that they don’t want too many other games out there competing with it. Yes, that’s right: GTA IV knocked Borderlands into next year.

Via Take Two

Details have been released on Obsidian’s new action RPG in development, Alpha Protocol. Game Informer featured the new title on the cover of the April issue. Here are some of the highlights of the story courtesy of NeoGaf.

“A modern day espionage focused action/RPG that takes you on a suspenseful ride in the vein of James Bond, Jack Bauer, and Jason Bourne. Take a wet-behind-the-ears greenhorn agent up through the ranks to become a bona-fide super spy.”

• Main character is Michael Thorton, a fully trained but inexperienced young operative who has the world turned upside down when a mission goes wrong.
• Title “Alpha Protocol” is a phrase that is used when operatives go underground to work off the grid. Usually reserved for senior agents.
• Battle system is similar to Mass Effect but have more in common with Uncharted. It revolves around real time combat with an emphasis on gun play and high tech gadgets.
• Third person perspective, action orientated gameplay
• Close quarters combat can be a last resort or primary method of fighting depending on how you spend skill points you have earned.
• Skill system is based most closely on Fallout. It’s classless, you have 10 skills and 10 ranks in each skill. Skills don’t simply improve things like accuracy, they improve the way your character will perceive situations.
• The game will suit all play styles from the run and gunner to the stealth assassin.
• Extremely in depth dialog system that is a mix of Mass Effect and Indigo Prophecy. Once conversations happen, that’s it, no revisiting the NPC to try to talk again and again. System is named the Dialog Stance System. You dictate your characters tone in a conversation by pressing a corresponding face button. Options can be cool and suave others can be brash/impatient.
• You can have multiple active missions in different countries and travel freely between them.
• Lots of girls and romance subplots. You’ll meet tons of different girls on missions and yes you can bag them all.
• Current control scheme for selecting powers and weapons is similar to Bioshock.

Sega has signed on as the publisher for Alpha Protocol. The title will be available for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 and is scheduled for release Spring 2009.
via NeoGaf

Given BioShock’s success, moving it to platforms other than PC and Xbox 360 seems like a no-brainer. It unfortunately doesn’t look like a PlayStation 3 version is ever going to happen, but there’s still the Wii, DS and PSP – any of those could offer an interesting platform for the game. Instead, IG Fun announced this week that it has acquired the license to develop a mobile version of BioShock.

Not quite what you were expecting, right?

We know next to nothing about what to expect from IG Fun’s mobile version; the announcement didn’t exactly clue us in as to what we should expect.

“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,” said Sean Malatesta, CEO of IG Fun. “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.”

So look out for BioShock coming (we don’t know when) to mobile phones near you. I guess.

via 1UP

iD Tech Camps is aiming to teach kids game development skills using the Unreal Engine 3 tools that come with Unreal Tournament 3 for PC. The Campbell CA based camp, the largest national youth summer computer camp in the U.S.. offers programs for beginning to advanced students, hands-on learning and instruction in small groups.

“We provide an environment where instruction is personalized and fluid,” said Pete Ingram-Cauchi, president and CEO of iD Tech Camps. “Teens choose our computer camp because we have the cutting edge software and tools that are most relevant in the industry. Partnering with industry leaders like Epic Games is vital. They believe in our teaching philosophy. They understand that a key component to offering the best tech courses involves instruction of the industry’s leading game engine, Unreal Engine 3, as provided with the Unreal Tournament 3 game.”

The Unreal Engine has been used in best selling games such as Mass Effect, BioShock and Gears of War.

“We’ve partnered with iD Tech Camps because of their reputation for quality game development instruction for As a student in a video game design program, this sounds like a lot more fun than the courses I’ve taken.teens,” said Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games. “Unreal Tournament 3 delivers unparalleled game quality that gamers have come to know and expect from Epic Games. We are reaching an audience of gaming enthusiasts who play the game as well as learn to design and mod with our deep set of tools.”

Both iD Tech Camps and the iD Gaming Academy use Unreal Tournament 3 in their curriculum as well as getting some playtime in during NVIDIA-hosted Gaming Tournaments. Students will be taught to use the engine to add new levels, mod skins and replace characters to customize game play. Eventually they should be able to create personalized 3D video games with 3D environments and levels using the advanced special effects available with the UT3 engine.

As a student in a video game design program, this sounds like a lot more fun than the courses I’ve taken. Wish they’d had stuff like this when I was a kid. Where do I sign up?

Anyone interested can sign up at www.internalDrive.com

via Press Release

If you are the type of person who appreciates artistic styles from a bygone era instead of sterile looking modern decor or the strange and mind boggling cubist paintings, then you will appreciate this PC designed by Jeffrey Stephenson. The G-metric Nano has a Pennsylvania cherrywood PC case with mahogany and basswood veneers enclosing a Nano-ITX motherboard, 1GB of RAM and a well-concealed slot-loaded optical drive and will be making it’s debut at the CES show in Vegas next week.

Looking like something you would see in BioShock, this is more a piece of art than anything and it is definitely a beauty. In the long run, I don’t know how well it would hold up, but if you were looking to get rid of your hulking beige PC case and purchase something that goes much better with your decor – this is one PC worth considering.

You can check out more pictures of the PC on Jeffrey’s site here.

Thanks: Wired

I don’t really expect Time Magazine to be an expert on videogames (or, as they would argue, “video games”), but if you’re going to publish a list of the top 10 games of the year, you better either know what you’re talking about, or be David Letterman. I’d argue Time’s top 10 list indicates neither of those.

The list, which can be seen here, is a part of Time’s “50 Top 10 Lists of 2007,” which includes things like Top 10 Worst Biz Deals, Top 10 Gadgets, and Top 10 Websites (none of which I had ever even heard of).

The list starts off with Halo 3 as the number one game, and proceeds to mention games like BioShock, The Orange Box, Mario Galaxy and, most curiously to me, Ace Combat 6 and Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.

I almost don’t even know where to begin, except to cite a few things: there are no PS3 or PC games on the list (Crysis, Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, Uncharted and Ratchet all instantly come to mind as better candidates than either Ace Combat or Zelda)… and, well, actually I think that’s enough to raise an eyebrow.

Then again, lists like this are subjective… but doesn’t it make sense to have more than one author collaborate on something like this – especially when it’s for a major publication like Time?