The organizers behind the next Penny Arcade Expo have announced that the convention’s opening keynote will be given by none other than Ken Levine. He is the president and creative director of 2K Boston, but is probably best known for his work on BioShock. In addition to that announcement, it has now been revealed that a number of musical performers will be making appearances as well, including MC Frontalot, mc chris, FreezePop, the MiniBosses, Jonathan Coulton, The OneUps, The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets, and Anamanaguchi. The prize for this year’s Omegathon has also been announced as a trip for two to Tokyo, along with a home theater setup and $5,000 in cash. Add to that the fact that the exhibitor hall is completely sold out, and you’re looking at yet another awesome PAX for this year. The show is set to take place on Aug. 29-31 at the Washington State Trade and Convention Center in Seattle. You can check out www.pennyarcadeexpo.com for more details on the upcoming festival.

Via Press Release

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“Pirates of the Caribbean” director Gore Verbinski is slated to direct the film adaptation of BioShock. According to Variety, the film will be developed by Universal Studios, which subsequently handed over a multimillion-dollar advance to Take-Two for the film rights.

Screenwriter John Logan (Gladiator, The Aviator) will be the scriptwriter and while Universal has not announced a release window, Verbinski said that pre-production will begin as when the script is finished and approved.

Strauss Zelnick, chairman for Take-Two and former President of Fox said the deal was structured to prevent any pre-production hang ups:

“The reason I structured it the way I did is to make sure it gets made. One of the things we decided early on is that we didn’t want to go through a producer. It’s terribly important to us to have a meaningful influence on how this project is produced.”

The Variety piece also mentions that BioShock creative director Ken Levine has been “regularly consulted” but having a formal role in the film’s process remains to be seen.

Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that it does not suck. Verbinski is a decent director, and even though the last Pirates film was awful in my opinion, you can’t totally blame him. He did the best he could with a shoddy script.

Via: Variety

Contrary to what you may believe, a study presented at the MI6 videogame marketing conference recently suggests that trailers are more effective at selling games than demos are. While I doubt BioShock would have turned out to be the success that it did without releasing a demo, I can understand where the logic comes from — you can certainly make a bad game look good in trailer form. But release a demo of a bad game, and suddenly those potential buyers who are on the fence realize their money would be better spent on gum. Lots and lots of gum.

Gregory Short and Geoffery Zatkin of the Electronic Entertainment Design and Research Group presented the study. They were also responsible for a study that said marketing teams should have a hand in creating a game’s achievements.

MTV Multiplayer has two charts proving the case, although I wonder how it would work out over a longer period of time and if games like Halo 3 – which don’t need to release a demo — weren’t included. I certainly can’t see the harm in releasing a demo provided you’re releasing a good game. But, like delaying the press from reviewing games until after release, hiding a bad game for as long as possible probably would benefit from what this study is saying.

Ken Levine, the creator of BioShock, is regarded as one of the most creative game developers around. But that does make you wonder just what games the man enjoys himself. Well, apparently MSNBC was wondering the same thing, as they asked Levine to list his top five favorite games. You could read the brief article on their website…or I could just spoil it all here:

1. Beyond Good and Evil
2. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
3. Heroes of Might and Magic 2
4. World of Warcraft
5. Civilization IV

You have to admit, the man has taste. And I’m not all that surprised to see a fairly even blend of action and RPG games.

Via MSNBC

2K Games was kind enough to oblige a wish of Major Nelson’s to share more audio from games with the readers, and provided him with several of the sounds from BioShock – namely, from the vending machines. The files are taken from the digital master files, so they’re much better quality than what you would get by holding your phone next to your computer or TV’s speakers.

I sunk enough time into BioShock that the lines from the vending machines are permanently imprinted on my brain. As such, I won’t be making use of these. But they wouldn’t make for a half-bad ringtone – when the orb sound effect from Crackdown was released, I started using that as a text message indicator on my phone. It somehow never gets old.

Recently, a bit of a spark was lit under the debate over the place of writers in the games industry. Adam Maxwell, a game designer, wrote a piece that was run on Gamasutra which proclaimed that writers don’t have a place in this business, and that they’re essentially an obstacle in the path to creating a good game. I vehemently defended writers, pointing to examples of cases where writers had a dramatically positive impact on a game – Portal, BioShock, and so on.

A new analysis of the value of a good writer by developer James Portnow dives into the subject of how he believes videogame writing should be done. He starts off bluntly enough, as he asserts: “I’ll be blunt.  Videogames are terrible at making statements.  You want to tell a person what they should think?  Go write a book or appear on daytime TV or compose an epic poem…don’t make a videogame.”

One of the subjects he discusses is the problem of binary choices in games. I’ve written before about how it’s this sort of thing that really detracts from the overall experience of a game like BioShock or Mass Effect, and there’s no doubt that Portnow agrees that binary choices need to go.

EPIC FAIL!  Binary choice is one of the worst things in gaming.  It keeps us from being an art and, more importantly, it takes away “fun” from any game it is in.  This one ridiculous cop-out has sabotaged more masterpieces than I can name.  What is it?  Glad you asked…

A binary choice is a choice between two extremes.  Do you want to be Mahatma Gandhi or the lovechild of Satan and Hitler?  Do you want to save the world or blow it up for all eternity?  Do you want to get laid or not (always a stupid question)?

HUMANS SIMPLY DON’T INTERACT THIS WAY!  In case you didn’t get the emphasis on that previous sentence, please take a moment to go into a quiet room and shout it as loud as you can.  Done?  Good, now maybe you’ve got it.

For the full read, head over to Next Gen.

When Take Two rejected EA’s buyout offer this morning, they obviously had to sell that decision to the stockholders first. For part of this, they decided to list “Potential Untapped Opportunities” the company might be able to mine in the future. These opportunities included MMOs, mobile games, and films, all of which could bear the “BioShock” name. Of course, it’s hard to tell if these are serious considerations or just ideas that someone came up with desperately to convince shareholders to toss out EA’s offer. Still, this wouldn’t be the first time the idea of a BioShock movie has been tossed out. However, the idea of a BioShock MMO both frightens and intrigues me.

Via Kotaku

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

Game designer Adam Maxwell, who has worked on Auto Assault and Dirty Harry, recently reworked a blog post for Gamasutra which is entitled “The Case Against Writers In The Games Industry.” With an intriguing enough title, I read through his piece and walked away thinking that a writer must have stole Maxwell’s girlfriend at some point; I couldn’t possibly disagree with him anymore than I do.

His main points are that a writer takes time away from development of a game’s core mechanics, his or her contributions won’t make a game good, and a writer’s linear work is at odds with a designer’s non-linear work.

Maxwell also claims that a designer who also has the ability to write is much more valuable than a writer, which is true to an extent. I completely can understand why you would want a multi-talented individual on your staff; someone versatile is always an asset. (Just ask Ron why he hired me. I do wonderful papier-mâchés.) But, that argument doesn’t take into account two things. Read the full article

It’s official: Take Two has announced that a sequel to BioShock is already in the works. The development is being put in the hands of the recently formed 2K Marin studio and is expected to be released in Q4 of 2009. And…that’s pretty much all that’s known at this moment. You can probably chalk this up as the most unsurprising news of the day, since it doesn’t take an industry expert to tell that a game that sells two million units and wins oodles of “Game of the Year” awards will probably get a sequel. Hopefully we’ll get some more details on this game soon (or at least some official word on the rumors that it’s a prequel).

Via Kotaku

BioShock’s art direction and sound was what really made it such a terrific game. Forget the story and plasmids; it was in the more subtle areas that the game made such great strides. BioShock 2 is no doubt in development, but apart from assuming that we’ll be seeing Big Daddies once more, we don’t have a lot to ponder.

Ben Mauro has put together some concept art for BioShock 2, and it’s all really well done. Sure, this is far from having some new details about the game to speculate upon, but taking some time out of your day to enjoy some inspired art is time well spent.

For all of the concept art, head to Ben’s blog, located here.

via Evil Avatar

There’s a whirlwind of news surrounding Take-Two and the potential EA buyout of the company. But the creative director at2K Boston (which is owned by Take-Two) isn’t concerned. He believes that the talent is critical to the equation, and that the suits have to keep that in mind so that they don’t end up losing what they are essentially investing in.

“If the people with the money don’t realise that the people with the talent are critical to what they do, then the people with the talent will go elsewhere,” he told GamesIndustry.biz last week at GDC.

“Look at the Call of Duty guys who came over from the Medal of Honor franchise. It’s the talent,” he explained.

“You can do a game, but if you don’t have the talent - maybe you’ll sell a lot of a sequel or something, but you need the talent to keep it going.

“The question is, are you building up the brand or are you damaging the brand? You have to be very careful with brands.”

Levine raises a good point. If the entire team from BioShock were to leave before developing a sequel, the second game would sell based purely on the name alone. But if it didn’t live up to the standards set in the original game, gamers would lose interest in the series.

The full interview with Levine will be going online tomorrow, so we’ll keep an eye on that to see what other interesting nuggets came from the talk with Levine.

Thanks to Geek Squad, if you are having trouble installing BioShock on your Xbox 360, they have agents available to install it for you. Before I get a bunch of crazy comments about this image as usual, it is a joke. If you happen to be one of the people who can’t figure out how to install BioShock on your 360, I really don’t know what to tell you.

Via flickr

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

Seeing as it was one of the more critically and commercially successful games of 2007, it seems a sure bet that Hollywood would come knocking for the movie rights to BioShock. So why haven’t we heard anything definite about a movie based on this gem? Well, it’s not for Hollywood’s lack of trying. Rumor has it that a number of production companies have expressed interest in a deal with Take Two, but the publisher has so far rebuffed all advances. No idea why at this point, though some are speculating that it may be due to monetary disagreements or that they may be hoping to secure a much larger alliance with a studio. Or maybe they’re smart enough to realize that no matter how intelligent the story, Hollywood will certainly find a way to dilute it into box office dreck.

Via The Cut Scene

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences has awarded top honors to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, BioShock and Orange Box. Each of the titles won four statues last night at the 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards. Call of Duty 4 took Overall Game of the Year.

The Academy also inducted Mike Morhaime, president, CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, into the AIAS Hall of Fame and bestowed Ken Kutaragi, former president and CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

A full list of Awards follows the break.

Read the full article

I was starting to get a little tired of all the Master Chief LEGO creations popping up on the net. I finally came across something from another game that I hadn’t seen before. Someone who goes by the handle “snyderman” posted images of his BioShock LEGO creations. Bid Daddy and Little Sister never looked better. If any Fox News reporters happen to read this, keep in mind that in BioShock, you have the option to kill as many Little Sisters as you choose. I normally wouldn’t support killing little girls, but they are evil, so I am behind the idea. If you like the LEGO creation above, check out the via link for more images.

Via Brickshelf Gallery

I’m always happy when the NPD numbers are released, and instead of just getting a single month’s worth of data, we’ve gotten a list of the top ten selling games of 2007, as well as total sales figures on the major hardware for the year. Let’s dive in.

Top 10 Selling Games of 2007:

1. Halo 3 (Xbox 360) – 4.82 million
2. Wii Play w/ remote (Wii) – 4.12 million
3. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360) – 3.04 million
4. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PlayStation 2) – 2.72 million
5. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) – 2.52 million
6. Pokemon Diamond (Nintendo DS) – 2.48 million
7. Madden NFL 08 (PlayStation 2) – 1.90 million
8. Guitar Hero 2 (PlayStation 2) – 1.89 million
9. Assassin’s Creed (Xbox 360) – 1.87 million
10. Mario Party 8 (Wii) – 1.82 million

As disappointed as I am, not seeing The Orange Box make the list, I didn’t really expect it would. BioShock headlines my list of games I’m surprised didn’t make the list along with one other game I’m really shocked by – Pokemon Pearl. To not make the list, it had to sell less than the 1.82M that Mario Party 8 did, which means that Diamond sold a minimum of about 700,000 more units than Pearl – maybe more. I would never have guessed that there could be such a discrepancy between the two, but I’m no better – I refused to buy Pearl because I preferred the exclusive Pokemon found in Diamond.

And how about Guitar Hero 2, after being released in 2006, making the list?

Hardware numbers are after the break.

Read the full article

In response to rumors that surfaced a couple days ago, 2K Games has said they have “nothing to announce at all” concerning a follow up to their hit BioShock. The rumors alleged that the next game was already in pre-production and would actually be a prequel chronicling the fall of Rapture. The Czech publication that started the rumors also said the game was slated for release in the summer of 2009. So basically, who knows what’s going now? Another game seems highly likely given the success of BioShock, but there have been other rumors suggesting that the development team is forming a new studio specifically to create the next game without Ken Levine. We’ll just have to wait and see for now.

Via Video Gamer

Rumors are starting to circulate concerning the story nehind BioShock 2. According to Czech gaming site Hrej.cz, a source within 2K Games has told them that BioShock 2 is already in the pre-production phase and that it will be released mid-2009. Graphic design and plot is 2K’s primary focus at the moment, and the plot will be set before the events that took place in the original game.

I’m really excited about this if it turns out to be a true rumor. Finding out more about the fall of Utopia is a dream for anyone who fell in love with BioShock.

The article from Hrej.cz was translated by ‘boostup’ on News 4 Gamers.