Posts tagged “Ken Levine”

After Irrational Games was dismantled in 2014, the future of the Bioshock IP was left twisting in the wind. It certainly wasn't going to fall on former studio head Ken Levine, as he departed to run a smaller studio called Ghost Story Games which would have nothing near the production scale required to take on a new time-period magic-potion exercise in the violence of political…

Tagged with 2K, Hangar 13, Ken Levine, Not Really A Secret, BioShock.

BioShock is ten years old! The first-person shooter set in the underwater city of Rapture was released on August 21, 2007 in North America (and on the 24th elsewhere), and I've been digging through RPS's archives for the things we wrote about the game upon its release.

Tagged with 2K, Irrational Games, Ken Levine, BioShock, BioShock 2, BioShock Infinite.

Given Alice is not interested in any ghost stories which aren't terrifying movies she can freak herself out with while alone in the house, it falls to me to tell you about Ken Levine and other senior Irrational folk's new studio, Ghost Story Games [official site]. I'm not sure whether to call it a new studio or a rebrand, actually, as the site seems to…

Tagged with Irrational Games, Ken Levine, Ghost Story Games.

Even a few years ago, the idea of getting to watch assorted Looking Glass and Irrational alumni play and talk through revered sci-fi immersive sim System Shock 2 sounded like an absurd fantasy. Twitch and Twitter, whatever else they might be throwing at the world, have broken down so many barriers. For instance: two of hours of System Shock 2, with live commentary provided by…

Tagged with Irrational, Ken Levine, Looking Glass, OtherSide Entertainment, Steve Gaynor, System Shock 2, Underworld Ascendant.

Sometime BioShock boss Ken Levine has opened the first tears to his new development dimension. He effectively closed his long-time studio Irrational last year in favour of working on smaller-scale projects, but still within the protective fortress of 2K. At the time he talked about making narrative-led games with more replayability, and while last night's sudden flurry of updates is nothing like a reveal, he…

Tagged with 2K, Ken Levine, BioShock, BioShock Infinite.

In a post on the Irrational Games website titled "A Message From Ken Levine", the BioShock creator announced that he's "winding down" Irrational Games. What does that mean? All but a core team of fifteen developers are being laid off, so that the remaining few can focus on new ideas, "a long period of design", and the idea of "replayable narrative". This is a surprise.

Tagged with Irrational Games, Ken Levine, wat, BioShock Infinite.

Last week BioShock's Ken Levine appeared at BAFTA to give a presentation on "the mission of Irrational Games", and of course to talk about BioShock: Infinite. This was followed by being interviewed on stage by the very lovely Mr Simon Parkin, for an hour. Why am I telling you? Because you can now watch the entire thing, just below this sentence.

Tagged with Ken Levine, bafta.

There's a lot you can do in a month. You can write a novel, you can fill in one 12th of your calendar, you can take ride around the Earth once while on the moon. It depends on the month, though. For example, from February 25th to March 25th 2013 you'll be unable to play BioShock Infinite. It was due out on the 26th of…

Tagged with Ken Levine, The never-ending saga of release dates, BioShock Infinite.

Let's do this, okay: When a new game first announces a release date, let's just go ahead and ignore it. Wasn't it Einstein who said the very definition of insanity was filling a balloon with kittens and then severing off your own leg? So it is that BioShock: Infinite has declared it won't be with us this year at all. They're now looking at February…

Tagged with 2K Games, Irrational Games, Ken Levine, slippage, WP, BioShock Infinite.

Irrational Games have just announced a new play mode that will be appearing in BioShock Infinite. Called 1999 Mode, it's aimed at appealing to those who think games have become too easy. Ken Levine explains, "We want to give our oldest and most committed fans an option to go back to our roots," adding that 1999 Mode means that you'll face more permanent consequences from…

Tagged with 1999 Mode, Irrational Games, Ken Levine, staring eyes, BioShock Infinite.

Do you enjoy conversation between passionate individuals? If so, the recent Irrational Interview featuring Ken Levine and Guillermo Del Toro is a thoroughly enjoyable way to spend an hour of your day. The Mexican author/director is working on a horror game and the first part of this audio was posted on Halloween so I expected a focus on spooky happenings but the conversation is much…

Tagged with Guillermo del Toro, inSANE, Irrational, Ken Levine, BioShock Infinite.

When a Bioshock Infinite video arrives in my lap, which is how I demand delivery of all gaming news, I do not expect it to feature actual human beings speaking at me. Ziplines and plummeting are gravely missing from this video. Although it does contain game footage, it's mainly Ken Levine talking about the world he's creating, which he sees as but one of the…

Tagged with 2K Games, Irrational Games, Ken Levine, BioShock, BioShock Infinite.