Bioshock Ships 1.5 Million, Sequels Likely 103
Gamespot is reporting that 2K games has shipped 1.5 million units of BioShock to games stores and retailers. The title was noted by EA Sports' Peter Moore as proof that third-party publishers aren't getting squeezed out by first-party AAA games. "It turns out the comments by the former Xbox 360 and Games for Windows marketing chief were prescient. Today during a post-earnings report conference call with analysts, Take-Two Interactive Chairman Strauss Zelnick said BioShock was already a runaway success for the controversial publisher, which has been set back by the Grand Theft Auto IV and Manhunt 2 delays."
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I would hope the irrational team gets to do another new property, since they've shown how good they are at it.
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Part of the fun of Bioshock is discovering the city, and also, to me, it was the moral/ethical battle that the game explored. The game play was simpl
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I haven't gotten very far in the game, so maybe there is more opening for sequels than I know, but even then... if the world of Rapture ever escaped
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Personally, I'd like to see a prequel instead. Set it just as the war is brewing. They could use a thriller feel instead of horror like in Deus Ex, but with vibrant art d
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The best thing about the game was that it put you in this mysterious place and you gradually discover how it became that way.
A bit like "The Dig" [wikipedia.org]... ;-)
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Once I finally got the damn thing working (it's old) I discovered that it was unplayable. The graphics were painfully bad.
Mind you, I'm pretty tolerant of crappy graphics in 3D games. I liked Doom, Wolf3D, and even Blake Stone. This, though? Ugh.
A remake would be great for people like me who can't get past the blur-tastic graphics.
While we're at it, can someone please remake Deus Ex? I'll pay new-game prices for graphical/physics engi
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There's a mod that replaces the textures with higher-res versions. The models themselves are still hideous, but it hides them a little.
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If you ARE interested in better SS2 graphics, there's actually two projects that improve them:
Improved AI models [strangebedfellows.de]
Improved objects [strangebedfellows.de]
I haven't tried either of them myself, but I'm downloading both of them right now.
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Ah, crap. I did say SS2. Yeah, I meant SS1. 2 is very playable, though its graphics could also use an update (beyond what these oh-so-good projects are doing).
Yes and no. (Score:2)
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If so, then it was a pretty terrible example. The game easily shows that the city has hundreds of different citizens living within it, but we never see massive dorms or rows of apartments. People have to sleep somewhere and the game never shows the player.
Rapture was to be built-by and home-to the worlds best and brightest. You can assume there were some excellent engineers.
Nonetheless, you have to question how all the steel got down there. Even the w
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Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? (Score:2)
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No kidding. Discussing whether or not to make a sequel is like discussion whether or not to pick up the bag of money on the table.
Good... (Score:1)
I played it through Hard, Easy and Medium (in that order). I have 1000/1000 achievements points. Still, the weird thing is; I was at work the other day and in a dull moment, I couldn't wait for my next trip to rapture.
I hope the game industry 'gets' that these are the games we want.
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Re:Good... (Score:4, Interesting)
As far as graphics are concerned this will be the only thing I will say about it...they are good enough (ESPECIALLY the water) to the point where when you first surface after the plane crash, I thought it was a cinematic...it wasn't. You are actually controlling it.
Play the first few minutes of the game and you will see what I am talking about.
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Re:HI GUYS! (Score:5, Funny)
Need a new spark in your life? Then try Electro-Shock® Plasmids from Ryan Industries!
(sorry for feeding the troll, couldn't resist
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-Peter
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First Party vs. Third Party (Score:2)
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Sure, the first party and third party publishers are doing OK, but won't someone please think of the second party!
Though technically speaking the first and second party interchangeable, since the first party is defined by convention to be the platform manufacturer (in this case Microsoft), the second party who is the other direct participant in a transaction must therefore be the end user of the platform. This is of course outside of Nintendo related literature where the second party is redefined to mean the semi autonomous subsidiaries and affiliates of the platform creator.
For PCs I think the end user (second part
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I believe Microsoft have gone some way to support indie games developers (who could feasibly be called the 2nd party as you say) through downloads on X-Box live and the provision of a free toolkit for games development.
Interestingly, I think the 1st party is harder to define on the PC platform than the 2nd and 3rd parties! No one company is responsible for the complete PC package including hardware and software as with consoles. I guess Microsoft would like to be considered 1st Party, but
2 zillions shipped but... (Score:2, Insightful)
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The stores can return unsold inventory to the publisher for refunds. At least, that's how it works in book publishing. Sell-in is nice, but only sell-through matters.
A Rapture Reminder (Score:2, Funny)
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CODE YELLOW.
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(Now I'm left to wonder if the moderators beat the game and are playing a meta-joke on me, or didn't and are watching references whoosh past their heads...)
Demo didn't work (Score:2)
All other Steam games work fine, but Bioshock is different because it includes SecuROM, even in the demo (!). Therefore, I suspect that SecuROM is to blame. So - no sale. Please try to make sure that showstopper bugs like SecuROM don't get through your QA process next time.
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I'd bet if I'd just said "would you kindly continue to make Bioshock sequels?" instead of mentioning the DRM, the moderation on my comments would've been far different.
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The following does not contain my opinion on DRM (Score:1)
The numbers are in their favor here.
I can understand why (Score:5, Interesting)
Play this game. Play it on 360 or play it on a (very) well equipped PC, it doesn't matter which. Just make sure that you experience it at least once...you won't ever forget it.
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But the most scary game I played was Thief:The dark project. I barely managed to complete couple of levels without sound and gamma maxed out, but I just gave up afterwards because I was completely terrified playing that game. I said then: "No more scary games for me fullstop."
Maybe I'm just a bit older now, but I still freeze occasionally when playing Bioshock;)
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Damn good game, but... (Score:2, Flamebait)
(If you liked Bioshock, SS2 is well worth the try. Still an amazing game after all these years)
I agree (Score:2)
Still, Bioshock was really good.
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Ditto. (Score:2)
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I hope they will stop complaining about Piracy... (Score:2)
I respect stardock for a reason because they are probably one of the only rational game developers/publishers.
damn (Score:4, Funny)
Pretty much fucked, aren't I?
Not if you have an Intel based Mac (Score:1, Informative)
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If it's that popular, it will be ported to Mac inside of a year.
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I'm not advocating piracy by any means. I don't own Bioshock and will never own it - more than likely. I still use Windows 2000 Pro because it is exceptionally stable and does everything I need it to do. I'd need to upgrade to Windows XP Pro and upgrade my video card just to enjoy the massively invasi
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Am I the only one ...who thought this game was average?
Possibly. I think the best criticism is that its homogeneous, but it's also short enough to get away with it. HL2 as an example, is a longer game and consequently requires varying styles of gameplay to stay interesting. Whether this makes it a better game is questionable. A key selling point for me is immersion, I can't think of a game thats done a better job at establishing mood and environment. Interestingly enough, the story is almost entirely optional, if you dont bother to listen to the strewn about
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No RPG elements
See, I'm going to have to simply disagree here. There was at least one series moral choices in the game (from a story perspective) and a completely configurable character ability system from the ability system perspective. Granted, you only got "exper
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I will admit that I didn't play the second Half-Life, so
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That's exactly what I was thinking. I think some of the strongest critics are probably those who just blasted their way to the end and didn't explore the entire plot.
To me, the best stories (in games, books, or movies) are those which create a robust enough universe that I can imagine the events that led up to the story, the followup to the epilogue, or alternate outcomes from those present in the story. It's interesting to
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Perhaps because it really wasn't a shooter... I would say it was more of a cinematic adventure with a shooter element.
It wasn't just in an underwater city, in fact it could have been anywhere. What was important was the background of the underwater utopia's founding. The ideals of Rapture and tragic unravelling is what made it interesting and thought provoking
Kudos to Take 2 (Score:2)
Irrational makes fine games, and I'm glad to see someone saw the potential in this title. Consumers sure did.
No Bioshock 'till there's no DRM. (Score:2)
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I let it defailt detected settings (most everything set to high) and my setup is comprable to yours.
Athlon 64 4000+ (single core)
2GB ram
WinXP
GeForce 7800GS (AGP).
20" CRT screen.
Once in a while (quite rare IMO) I get a skip but otherwise it is playing fine. I'm up to Fort Frolic. I am amazed how high I have the settings and how smooth it is with all those shaders and particle effects.