You can download the playable demo from Xbox Marketplace right now (it might take a while - everyone's downloading it) and the game is due to launch for 360 and PC on August 24. So far it's scoring incredibly well; OXM, PC Zone and PC Gamer each gave it a huge score.
But according to senior designer Joe McDonagh many publishers turned their noses up at the title when it was initially being pitched around.
Speaking to CVG about his role in its conception and development, McDonagh said, "Bioshock was a long time in the making. Ever since System Shock II the team had talked about everything they wished they'd done differently.
"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 fucking PC FPS that's going to sell 250,000 units.'
"This sort of attitude really pissed me off. System Shock II, for all its critical success, didn't sell very well which turned buyers off. Something I realised very quickly was that as much as your boss won't ever know that you turned down a future game of the year, he will know that you signed up a turkey. You don't get fired for not taking risks. That kind of mentality is driving the industry into a creative cul de sac."
Look out for our awesome Creative Minds interview with McDonagh later this week.
Oh my god! I havent been able to download the BioShock demo yet as I'm at work and I thought the title of this topic was CVG's opinion. I almost shed a tear thinking that this game was gonna be crap.
Roll on 5 o'c**k so I can go home and waste an evening on my 360
i must say, i'm not impressed with all this swearing. it's not big and it's not clever.
It's not the swearing I dislike.. It's this brand of developers these days who are so intent or appearing to be cool and make games *gulp* hip.
360 devs are often like this and it just irritates me.. mainly because I just do not believe that's how they normally talk.
Why's it so hard to believe? I happen to talk like that, getting in the intermittent f**k and f**king. And saying that things p**s me off, or that something is s**t. I don't write like that (except for right now) and I sure as hell don't talk like that in front of my Mum. It all depends on your environment, and the school yard I grew up in thought it was cool to swear all the time. Your right, it isn't big and it's definetely not clever, but some people actually do speak like that.
i must say, i'm not impressed with all this swearing. it's not big and it's not clever.
It's not the swearing I dislike.. It's this brand of developers these days who are so intent or appearing to be cool and make games *gulp* hip.
360 devs are often like this and it just irritates me.. mainly because I just do not believe that's how they normally talk.
Why's it so hard to believe? I happen to talk like that, getting in the intermittent f**k and f**king. And saying that things p**s me off, or that something is s**t. I don't write like that (except for right now) and I sure as hell don't talk like that in front of my Mum. It all depends on your environment, and the school yard I grew up in thought it was cool to swear all the time. Your right, it isn't big and it's definetely not clever, but some people actually do speak like that.
Oh no, my point wasnt about swearing, hell I swear all the time. It's just these "nu devs". Maybe its just me.
downloading the bioshock demo of marketplace right now, been going for 1 hour and only 20% complete and i have virginmedia cable 20mb(max)speed. God help anyone with a puny internet connection is all i can say.
I don't agree with the swearing, but as we get so many on PC....
"It is just another FPS".
Yes, it's underwater. Yes it's got the cute little girl and the big protective robot and yes it has the 'X-Com' 50's design kitsch, but it is another 'kill things to get through the story'. It does have 'the guns that get bigger and stronger as you go through the game' and it does have the 'magic as technology' with plenty of 'spells' by any other name.
So yes. "It is another FPS".
And boy, does PC gaming need more genres than everything becoming FPS's!!
The what? I fail to see what X-Com has to do with BioShock, or the connection to 50's era design either. Did you just accidentally type the name of that awesome game as you were randomly thinking about it then, or what?
I'm not being mean here, I just genuinely don't see any connection there, at all, between X-Com and BioShock.
Nice to see developers speaking their mind for once rather than being told what they can't and can say by publishers. Also interesting news that so many publishers passed on what has to be one of the contenders for GOTY going on the recent review scores. Will download the demo later tonight once the servers have calmed down. Already got this one pre-ordered but still nice to some hands-on time before official release.
Started downloading 10:10 this morning, currently sitting at 72%. I just hope this game is as good as everyone says, this download is bordering on the ridiculous.
Looking to the future, when Live gets all the movies and TV shows later this year, is this the expected download time?
downloading the bioshock demo of marketplace right now, been going for 1 hour and only 20% complete and i have virginmedia cable 20mb(max)speed. God help anyone with a puny internet connection is all i can say.
i have virgin 2mb...there is no difference in stuff like this
Looking to the future, when Live gets all the movies and TV shows later this year, is this the expected download time?
Its only slow because everyone is downloading the same thing. If you go to download the Strangehold demo now for example, it would download extremely fast...
Come into this thread a little late, but can I just say that I'm glad I didn't read this story at work tomorrow. I don't really think uncensored use of f**k is very cool considering people will be looking at this in the office eating their lunch (like me every day).
@ CVG crap title again! I can't be the only one who throught CVG were slagging off Bioshock, which I think is a shame.
On the demo I am not downloading this, I've also been avoiding all the latest walkthroughs as I want to be a total virgin on my first Bioshosck playthrough!
downloaded the demo yesterday,took me just under 12 hours.this is on a 1 meg connection only.but its well worth the wait,looks fantastic and runs very smooth cant wait for release,who says fps,s are boring.this is another great reason to keep getting your 360 repaired..........! im seroius
I'm new to this Xbox Live thing..here's what I don't get - I've had to interrupt the Bioshock download twice to turn off the machine or whatever. The first time the download was 33% done when I switched it off - when I switched it back on again it was 24% or something. Got up to 73% last night before I had to shut it off - went back to start downloading it again today and it was at 61%. What the hell is going on with that? Anyone else had that problem?
I'm new to this Xbox Live thing..here's what I don't get - I've had to interrupt the Bioshock download twice to turn off the machine or whatever. The first time the download was 33% done when I switched it off - when I switched it back on again it was 24% or something. Got up to 73% last night before I had to shut it off - went back to start downloading it again today and it was at 61%. What the hell is going on with that? Anyone else had that problem?
yep, happened to me which goes to show the percentage value must be a load of crap. however, having now played it i think it is fantastic, so much atmosphere and i actually panicked when the little helicopter type enemies came rushing at me. the sound is awesome too. definitely buying this.
Hmmm, I may get flamed for saying this. But it is just "another f***ing FPS" As is Halo. As is Killzone. I like all those games a lot. But they are just FPSs, and they don't deserve all the hype they get. I played Halo for the first time the other day (I had played Halo 2, but heard it was rubbish, so I made my girlfriend dig out her Xbox) and I honestly didn't see what all the fuss was about. I'm going to get flamed for that by some small minded fool, but all I can say is different games impress different people. Deal with it.
As for the swearing, it's pretty obvious it was intentional as a professional would be used to holding back on interviews and such and watering down their language. We all do it when talking to people at work, bosses, teachers, to our parents, etc. So you know, why can't he?
I just played the demo - it was everything I thought it would be - absolutely fantastic! It reminded me of Deus Ex mixed with the atmosphere of the Shining! Definitely getting this game when it comes out.
of course its just another fps,but this kind of misses the point.all fps,s are basically the same as are all platform games etc etc. the difference is how well each game is put together and how well everything works.the neat little touches,the atmosphere created,design,control need i go on. for a game to be great it doesnt need to break new ground it just has to do it well. saying all fps,s are the same is like saying all beers are the same....
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