By Kieron Gillen on September 19th, 2010.
Just a quickie here. The full Bioshock Infinite gameplay footage video which I saw in August on the game’s unveiling is going live on 21st. However, they gave Gametrailer TV a few short snippets in their latest show. So you can watch that, or just go to the cut-for-youtube snippet Phill found below…
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By Alec Meer on September 3rd, 2010.
UPDATE: CONFIRMED! And due for release next year. Wowsers.
Initial picture proof (Thanks to these chaps.) And here’s more. And more. And more. Honestly: it’s real.
Video stream on the ongoing PAX announcement below, including attendees actually playing it with their actual hands. Pigs flew after all.
ORIGINAL:The hot word on the hot street is that 2K are unveiling something hot at that time, live from the showfloor of the Penny-Arcade Expo. Hotter still, it’s hotly-tipped to be Gearbox’s rumoured finishing-up of Duke Nukem Forever. Is it? Maybe/probably/everyone on the internet’s saying it is, so don’t blame us if it isn’t. Look, Randy’s even wearing a relevant t-shirt today, though maybe he’s just a massive prankster.
Find out for yourself by pointing those beautiful eyes of yours at the live-streaming videobox below at 6pm BST, 1pm EST, 10am PST and 7pm CET (It is DNF. Maybe. Probably. Everyone on the internet’s saying it is anyway, so don’t blame us if it isn’t).
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By Kieron Gillen on August 13th, 2010.
It’s late at night after the unveiling of Bioshock Infinite by the time I sit down with Ken Levine to talk about the city of Columbia. What follows is a discussion which takes in how the themes of the game resonate between 1900 and today, how Irrational think they took the binary Little-sister choice as far as they were interested in already, dances elegantly around the question of whether this shares a universe with Bioshock 1 or not and expresses sadness that people aren’t going to totally get the name until they’ve finished the game…
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By Kieron Gillen on August 13th, 2010.
While I’m finishing off the transcript of the Levine interview, I thought this may be of passing interest. At certain press events, you can find yourself given what I’ll describe as gumpf. Having a house already brimming with literature, Skaven and literature about Skaven, I tend to give it to a passing tramp. However, noting that some of the actual repurpose Bioshock: Infinite propaganda posters were among them, I dragged ‘em with me and took some quick cam phone shots. Also, some of the other stuff, which may reveal some fine detail of what Irrational are up to. Possibly.
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By Kieron Gillen on August 12th, 2010.
It’s rare as a games journalist that you find yourself sitting in a hall, knowing you’re there for an announcement, without a single clue what the game actually is. You’ve always got theories. And – yeah – I had some, but none that I’d dignify with a word like “theory”. “Guesses” would be as far as I’d go. So when the trailer rolls, it’s a surprise in all sorts of ways. And since there’s a chance this is the first place you’ve heard about the game, we’ll like to recreate the experience for you guys. So, head below for the video they unveiled the game with…
By Alec Meer on August 6th, 2010.
‘Art Deco’ is basically the only school of design I’m at all familiar with. My own approach to design in any regard doesn’t go any further than “make most of the colours the same.” So when I see something that’s Art Deco, I become slightly excited. I recognised a thing that I know! I can sound very vaguely learned! So has it been with Civilization V, a beta build of which I’ve cuddled up to over the last few weeks. “The menus are Art Deco,” I say whenever anyone asks me what the game is like. Then I nod wisely. Then they ask me about hexagons, and I punch them in the teeth.
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By John Walker on July 23rd, 2010.
Ooh, ooh, it’s Mafia II. That’s the official song. I sing it because there are two more trailers, one of which features an interview with the splendid Director of Creative Production Jack Scalici. He discusses the story, the motivations, and the music. (If you want to read a lot more thoughts from Scalici, be sure to check out my feature on voice direction.) The second is an advert for NVidia. Oh, and don’t forget to check out our recent preview of the game.
By Alec Meer on June 15th, 2010.
Around four months ago, I flew to San Francisco to see XCOM, 2K Marin/Australia’s remake of my favourite-ever videogame. Where once it was a turn-based strategy game, now it’s a first-person shooter. This upset one or two people. All that time, I’ve had to be quiet, despite my previews appearing in PC Gamer and Official Xbox Magazine UK – games publishers, I love you, but your print/online emargo split is just dark-ages idiocy.
Now, at frigging last, I can talk about it. There’s a preview over on Eurogamer as of right now, though I do advise picking up the PCG issue for more details still. Read at least one of previews first, then come back here, because I’m afraid I don’t have time today to re-describe the game in this post (but will definitely unfurl my thoughts about what I saw tomorrow). Back? Well, okay then. Below is a long interview from that showing in March, never before published, with three members of 2K Australia – Creative Director Jonathan Pelling, Art Director Andrew James, and Studio General Manager Anthony Lawrence. We talk about why it’s a shooter, why set it in the 50s, how it references the original, how it’s going to escalate and, yes, the possible fan reaction.
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By John Walker on May 21st, 2010.
I got a chance to sit down with Mafia II on PC, and play through a complete mission. Then run on a lunatic rampage around the city. Read my impressions below.
By Alec Meer on April 14th, 2010.
Yeah, you heard me. X-COM, the game to end all games, is finally getting its long-rumoured remake/sequel. [Boom. Internet explodes.] Wahoo, basically. Yes, it is indeed a first-person shooter – it is extraordinarily sad to wave away X-COM’s traditional genre, but c’mon, did you really think a AAA title in 2010 (or 11, or whenever it ends up being released) was going to be a turn-based strategy game? Let’s wait and see where they take it, at least.
Contrary to ancient prophecy, this tantalising do-over isn’t being made by Ken Levine, but rather is pitched as a game from 2K Marin, the Bioshock 2 chaps. Though it also seems 2K Australia (née Irrational Australia) are heavily involved. Sparse announcement details and the first in-game screenshot are below…
By Alec Meer on March 15th, 2010.
Fashionably late again… We managed to miss posting about this when the scandal hit last week, in one of those “oh, one of the others will surely cover it. Today I want to write about a happy thing!” confusions that sometimes afflicts the oft-scattered hivemind. It’s a major talking point, however, so you really should talk about it here. Y’know that Bioshock 2 DLC, the one with the new maps and characters and whatnot in? Apparently it was a whopping great 24 kilobyes big. Goodness, aren’t level designers economical these days?
Edit – I’m informed I’m wrong in believing the DLC in question contains maps. The 24k file unlocks character models, masks and achievements/trials to reflect the raised level cap you can pay for. The idea being that the people without the DLC can see the visual stuff that people who have bought the DLC have unlocked, without having to install a patch. I’ll leave it to you to decide if that’s any better.
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