Tag Archives: 2K boston

A 2K Boston job posting over at Gamasutra unceremoniously ripped the cover from a multiplayer mode for the eagerly anticipated Bioshock 2. Or so we thought.

The job listing requests that applicants be familiar with Bioshock and – more importantly – specifically notes that potential employees will be designing multiplayer modes for 2K Boston’s “next big project.”

However, IGN was contacted by a 2K rep who more or less drove a knife into the rumor’s still-beating heart.

“I’ll just remind everyone that in our earnings call on March 11, we announced that BioShock 2 would be developed at our 2K Marin studio,” the rep said.

But, as many of you likely remember, Ubisoft split Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow’s multiplayer and single-player between separate dev teams, and ended up with a hit – so 2K could very well be setting its sights on a similar target.

Time will tell, it seems.

By Nathan Grayson

Speaking to VG247 at Develop yesterday, 2K Boston’s Ken Levine said that he didn’t understand why gamers had leveled criticism and the scope of innovation in BioShock’s gameplay compared to the steps forward the game made in terms of narrative.

“Honestly, I’ve been very open to criticisms in terms of narrative, etcetera – you’ve probably seen me talk about that, and I’ve tried to acknowledge things about it – but I’m not exactly sure I understand the complaint,” he said.

“If you think about the Big Daddies, if you think about the plasmids, if you think about the hacking, if you think about the security system, if you think about being able to upgrade your powers, compared to the Call of Duties, the Half-Lifes and Medal of Honor, I don’t understand [the complaint].”

He added: “Look at BioShock compared to Portal and other first-person shooters that came out last year. Portal, outside of the narrative, the gameplay’s innovative but on a fairly narrow axis, right? They do their one thing and they exploit it very well. I don’t mean ‘one thing’ in a derogatory sense: it’s a great thing.”

BioShock lead designer Bill Gardner, however, did concede that gameplay innovations may have lagged behind those made in the game’s storytelling, but that the stance was intentional.

“I think there’s an element of not wanting to throw too many curve balls at the player, and I think we knew early what the advancements were that we were going to make in the narrative, and we didn’t want to alienate people,” he said.

“That’s not to say we weren’t trying to do anything different… Certainly emergent gameplay’s been done in other games, but I like to think that things like the one-two punch and the way the plasmids work with the powers with the weapons, the environmental stuff [meant] we brought a lot of new things to the table.”

Develop concludes today.

2K Boston’s Ken Levine has refused to comment on why a PS3 version of BioShock wasn’t released last year, saying the decision to stagger the 360 and PS3 versions was taken entirely by 2K.

“That’s above my pay grade,” Levine told VG247 when asked why the game didn’t release on PS3 at the same time as the 360 version.

“The only thing that I knew at that point was that we were working on the 360 version and we weren’t working on the PS3 version. And that comes down to a corporate decision level.

“Just strictly from a production stand-point, it was a luxury for us because we could focus on a single platform. So strictly from a production standpoint, we weren’t complaining.”

Levine added that he’s excited about the PS3 version, despite the fact he’s having nothing to do with its production.

“Now, especially, that the PS3 is coming into its own, it’s very exciting… I’m a gamer that buys every single platform the minute they come out, so I always forget that there are a lot of people out there that haven’t seen the game because they’re PS3 gamers, and that’s really exciting.

“There’s a whole audience that hasn’t seen that game. For me it’s kind of a kick to have it still be a new title for a lot of people a year later.”

Neither Levine or BioShock lead designer Bil Gardner would comment on the game’s additional content, saying it was a “2K thing,” although Levine did explain where the game was being produced.

“It’s a mix,” he said. “The PS3 technology was primarily developed by the guys in Australia. Some of the technology’s done in Boston… I think they have a few people at Marin and there’s Digital Extremes, and the additional content is being developed almost entirely in Boston.”

Levine said he had no control over the additional content for the PS3 version, and that the project was 2K-led.

Levine and core members of the original BioShock team are currently working on a band new IP at 2K Boston, which the dev boss described today as now being out of the “blue-sky period.”

2K Boston’s Ken Levine has responded to rumour that certain members of the original BioShock team left to work at 2K Marin because of dislike for him personally by saying talk of its kind simply doesn’t matter.

“My wife finds it more upsetting than I do,” he said, talking to VG247 at Develop in Brighton today.

“I think the thing that was the most damaging is that it’s not something I can respond to. There’s no point in it. Look at the BioShock credit list and see how true that rumour is. My personality? I don’t know. Maybe I am an asshole.

“Honestly, the people I respect? Maybe I’m the nicest guy in the world, maybe I’m the biggest asshole. I couldn’t tell you. I think people choose to work with me because I can work with them and make a game called BioShock.

“Do you like to see people say you’re inconsiderate? No. When it comes to hiring, does it really matter? No.”

Levine reiterated the point that his wife takes the brunt of the scuttlebutt.

“It really, really hurts my wife,” he added. “But I could be Britney Spears with my gut hanging out on TMZ. It’s mild compared to that kind of stuff.”

Ken Levine has confirmed that his new IP has entered development proper.

“We’re not in the blue-sky period any more,” said the developer, speaking to VG247 at Develop today. “We’re actually building design elements and building it out… But it’s, you know, it’s going to be pretty crazy ambitious.”

Levine refused to confirm specifically the identity of the new title, but did flesh out some primary details.

“I’ll say this about it. It’s important to us that whatever we do has the same impact on the gamer that BioShock did. And so, I think that the company’s position on us and what we do is that we’re going to be breaking down barriers and breaking down doors.

“Whether we succeed or not, that’s our goal. In terms of our timeline and the resources we have and the people we have working on it, I’m really fortunate to have Bill [Gardner, BioShock's lead designer - Ed] and Nate [Wells, 2K Boston’s art director - Ed] who designed the Big Daddy… that BioShock team, and sit around with the guys that did the original BioShock and come up with this thing that we’re working on now.”

Levine did said that he was “not substantially” working on BioShock 2.

“I’m doing my thing and making my game,” he said.

“It’s not Bioshock 2.”

It was confirmed that Levine would not directly work on BioShock 2 when the sequel was announced in March, and would instead embark on a new IP at 2K Boston.

Speaking at Develop today, 2K Boston star Ken Levine said that BioShock’s narrative was supposed to bear more than a little relation to adult entertainment.

“With BioShock we tried to make the most integrated porn movie of all time,” he said in his keynote Q&A session at the Brighton conference.

He was referencing a comment made by Heavy Rain developer David Cage earlier this week, in which he likened the narrative structure of Naughty Dog’s Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune to a porn film.

The keynote’s ongoing. Read what’s going on here.

2K Boston technical chap Christopher Kline has discussed with GamesIndustry.biz his concerns over the perils of the increasingly precarious mid-budget development market.

“I think what we realised… [when] we were doing games that I’d say were mid-budget – maybe $3-4 million, [was that] there was no real market left,” he said.

“You’d have to do something like what EA is doing and go into the casual market, or you’ve got to go for a really big blockbuster – just because of the economics, especially for the small independent developers, you’re really squeezed out of the middle.”

More through the link

By Michael O’Connor

Nice surprise for a Friday. According to this post on the 2K forums, all “activation limits” have been lifted from the PC version of BioShock.

“Good news! As promised, all activation restrictions, including install limits, have been removed from BioShock PC as of today,” said community manager Elizabeth Toby. “You don’t have to patch or install anything for this to go into effect for your copy of BioShock – it’s already done!”

BioShock boss Ken Levine had said previously that DRM would be removed from the game when retail sales were “no longer a factor.”

So there we are.

According to this Variety report, journalist Ben Fritz has claimed that “several sources” have confirmed that 2K Boston’s Ken Levine is in the process of renegotiating his contract with Take-Two Interactive. Fritz says this explains why Levine has been largely absent from the press lately and why Take-Two would only say he’s “involved” with BioShock 2, even though it’s being made at 2K Marin.

More through the link. Thanks, GameDaily.

SCEA’s revealed that a studio other than 2Ks Boston, Australia and Marin is working on the PS3 version of Bioshock in this US PlayStation Blog post.

“Because this is the first PS3 title from 2K Marin, 2K Australia and 2K Boston, we’ve also got another development partner with some outstanding PS3-specific coding chops helping out with the project,” said a spokesperson. “We can’t talk about what studio that is yet, but we look forward to revealing that in the future.”

The piece also confirms that there are “as-yet-unannounced components” to the new version, but, obviously, doesn’t hint as to what they are. Multiplay, please.

Take a look. Thanks, Blerk.

On Gamed.nl. Are those jaggies? The new version’s out later this year. For more details, hit this.

Following EGM and PSM3′s confirmation that 2K Boston’s Bioshock will be heading to PS3, someone on NeoGaf has published the details from the US mag.

The game will be graphically identical, apparently, so hopefully that argument can be put to bed from the off. Also, the 360 version’s DLC will be available out the box for the PS3 SKU.

More interestingly, the magazine says that Sony and 2K are working on ways to “extend and augment the game” – whatever that means.

“Whatever we end up with via our discussions with Sony, coupled with the fact that BioShock allows you to go through and roll your own shooter in the first place… these two factors together would turn into a motive for replay,” Bioshock’s creative director is quoted as saying.

By Mike Bowden

Update: Looks definite. Apparently it’s in the next issue of EGM as well.

The next edition of PSM3 is to carry the first screens of the PS3 version of Bioshock, according to this CVG report.

Apparently the mag’s on sale on June 5, and will include a preview of the new SKU.

Follow the link.

Ken Levine’s not a man to mince words. So when he tells you that successful games need ridiculous stories, his 2 million BioShock sales mean developers should probably listen.

“If you want people to follow your plot, it has to be really fucking stupid,” he said in a PC Zone interview, adding probably the only vaguely intelligent comment on plotting in games we’ve seen in the past year in that developers “have the opportunity not to push information at people but to let them pull it to them.”

We love you Ken. And we love your beard.

Update: Oh. Levine didn’t say that in a PC Zone interview, we’re reliably informed. He said it at GDC. Way to go, CVG.

Update 2: It actually says on the CVG piece “in the latest issue of PC Zone,” as the editor’s just pointed out, and not in a PC Zone interview. Glad we got that cleared up.

See here. The 2K shooter has to be worth it at that price if you haven’t tried it out already. We just hope you enjoy putting bits of pipe together and following a big arrow through some corridors.

According to this Variety report, “you’d be hard pressed to find a production company, studio, or agency with at least one videogame savvy employee that isn’t interested in Bioshock. Take-Two has been bombarded with requests from producers and studios interested in obtaining the rights, agents interested in representing them, etc.”

Take-Two hasn’t accepted a proposal for a film based on the game as yet, but the door to a potential project is still said to be “open”.

Developer 2K Boston, formerly Irrational Games, are advertising for a heap of positions for upcoming projects. In case you don’t know, this is the studio responsible for Bioshock, so you’d best polish up your CV before sending it through. Programmers, artists and designers are invited to apply at the link.