The Shock That Almost Wasn't

According to a senior designer on the 2K Boston (formerly Irrational) game Bioshock a number of publishers turned them down when the company brought the title to their doorstep. "Ken (Levine) spent years pitching the game to publishers but no one was interested, incredible as that seems now. I joined Irrational in December 2004 and my first job was to get a publishing deal for the game (I worked as the Business Development Director for the first six months). I remember pitching the game to one publisher who later told a friend of mine that it was 'just another f-ing PC FPS that's going to sell 250,000 units." Just in case you didn't catch it over the weekend, there's a demo for the game up on Xbox Live. PC owners hold tight: a PC demo is coming, and hopefully before the game launches on the 21st.

Vindicated already?

It seems a little early to be counting your chickens given that they are all still eggs. It's not like there have never been highly anticipated games that were a complete letdown before.

Re:Vindicated already?

But those games tend to sell pretty good too. The hype around this game will make sure it sells more than 250k copies, even if the buyers found that their boxes were empty, heh.

Re:Vindicated already?

The demo convinced me. I had been intending to avoid the game as "another hyped FPS," but the game shows both a strong edge of story telling, and a shockingly strong artistic vision. It almost feels like a cross between myst, and Half Life 2, but adding in elements of a hellish children's book. Also, since it isn't intended to be a multiplayer game or a multiplayer platform, they can get away with weapons and scripting that wouldn't otherwise be possible.

Truly an experience.

Reminds me of another game..

So which guy from the dev team is going to make us his bitch this time?

I like it so far

Wonder how many of the mediocre comments are ps3 fanboys?? I just finished the demo, the atmosphere is awesome, good lighting effects, fantastic water effects, yep its a FPS but it looks to have a decent enough story and different enough setting to make it well worth while. Its really creepy, kind of like when I played F.E.A.R. the first time, the setting's 1950's look with the radio playing constantly gives it a weird haunting feel even when nothing is happening. Irrational has never let me down before (loved Freedom Force)so im looking forward to the full game.

Why am I supposed to care about this game again?

I keep seeing posts about this game on slashdot, usually pointing to articles stating what a great achievement this game is, regardless of the fact that it has yet to be released or reviewed. On top of that, there doesn't seem to be anything about it that's all that new or interesting. It sounds just like the the description, 'another f-ing FPS'.

So please tell me, why does this game get so much attention?

Regarding the Xbox demo

Does anyone have a link to a site with reviews/opinions about the demo? Even though I'm more interested in the PC version I'd still like to know how people felt regarding the content.

Free 60-page BioShock art book just released

I was just skimming Kotaku [kotaku.com], and it looks like the developers just released a free 60-page art book today. There's plenty of horrifically beautiful goodness inside, although (as one might expect) also some spoilers:

http://www.2kgames.com/cultofrapture/artbook.html [2kgames.com]

Way back when I was creating the BioShock Limited Edition, I took a poll for what you guys wanted to see in the box. And while we managed to put your top 3 choices in - the Making of DVD, Sountrack CD, and Big Daddy Figurine, we just couldn't manage a BioShock artbook.

But with a game as beautiful as BioShock, that just didn't sit right with me. Because everyone should be able to experience the beauty of BioShock, see the concept art and visualize the evolution of building such a revolutionary game.

So, with the help of the BioShock team and an amazing art designer, I put together a BioShock artbook for everyone to download. Here it is, in all its glory, in two PDF versions: a smaller, ebook download, and a more hi-resolution version that you can take to your local printshop and bind.

The one thing I'd recommend is skipping over Ken's foreword until after you've played the game, as it holds some spoilers you might want to keep secret your first playthrough is complete.

Other than that, and without further ado, I present to you BioShock: Breaking the Mold.

Re:it's just another f**king FPS

okay, who had 7? who bet on 7? 7 posts before someone attempted to turn this topic into a PC vs. Xbox360 fanboy flame ware. If you had seven, come on down and claim your prize.

Re:2K Boston?

Read and be enlightened. [gamasutra.com] 2K Boston both A) exists and B) is located in Boston. We might also add into evidence that you're A) an asshat, who should B) do some research before typing, or maybe just C) shut the fuck up.

Honestly, is it so fucking hard to type "irrational 2k boston" into Google?

Re:Too bad it's an FPS

One thing that I've found is that the camera field of view makes a huge difference in whether I get motion sickness or not. A game programmer can set the "camera" to have a wide or narrow field of view, just like changing an actual camera lens. If the field of view approximates what you're used to, it removes one contributing factor to motion sickness. However, some programmers like to give their cameras a wider field of view, which increases your peripheral vision (Thief I and II and System Shock 2 both had a touch of this going, which is why I can only play them in limited doses). This is particularly apparent when turning, since objects on the periphery appear to move toward the center much faster than objects that are near the center move across the center (uneven optic flow).

Another factor is the closeness of the camera to walls, floors, and ceilings. If you're moving along really close to the ground, for example, the optic flow (the apparent motion of objects or patterns in your field of view) is increased, and that can contribute to motion sickness if the effect is not what you're used to in real life.

Also, any sort of gratuitous bobbing motion is a great way to induce motion sickness. Descent was a chief perpetrator of this back in the day.

If you want a good example of all of this stuff combined, try EverQuest. Get a levitate for your gnome character (low to the ground, while levitate induces a bobbing motion), get your character drunk (induces a weaving motion when going forward and greatly increases your camera's view angle), and move forward while turning. About ten seconds of that is enough to send me to the couch for a long rest.

As for trying to reduce motion sickness, here are some suggestions: Play in a well-lit room, and don't sit right up at the screen. This provides a stationary background to match your stationary inner ear. Turn off any sort of camera bob options, if possible. Don't watch other people play - their unexpected motions can have a detrimental effect. And finally, you might have luck playing in shorter doses.

Personally, I've found that a really high frame rate makes my motion sickness worse, but that may be because I'm used to playing games with a slower frame rate (15-20 fps).

Re:Too bad it's an FPS

By higher frame rates I'd take a look more along the lines of 60~120 fps. When a new game like Bioshock comes out getting that kinda frame rate will mean an expensive rig, but for the time being try older games you can get these high frame rates on to see if you still feel sick. Don't forget your monitor's refresh rate could be a bottleneck. Other then that, just don't sit too close to the monitor, I've found the distance can help some. I remember first game I got motion sickness on, Descent 2: Vertigo - the name was appropriate enough.

Re:Too bad it's an FPS

I was all excited about getting a nice projector for home.

I got it, set it up, and hooked up my Xbox for Gears of War.

I got so sick I had to take the projector back. Now I play on a 32" tv from about 7 feet back, and anything larger than that makes me feel like crap.

It's 360 and PC exclusive.

Sources?

Last I heard, it was exclusive to 360 and PC. Which pisses me off, because I have a PS3 and no Windows PC.