User blog:Gardimuer/November News Summary

This is a summary of BioShock news from the month of November. As always, I've only collected the pieces that reveal something new. For other news from November, see the BioShock Wiki's news blog.

2K Australia returns to the BioShock series
Some of you may recall the tricky history of studio rebranding after 2K Games bought Irrational Games.

Before the release of BioShock, Irrational Games was actually two studios: one in Boston, Massachusetts and one in Canberra, Australia. When Irrational Games was bought out, the two studios were renamed as 2K Boston and 2K Australia, and they worked together to produce the first BioShock.

Then came the confusing split off of a few Irrational team members to form 2K Marin in Novato, California. 2K Australia began working with the new 2K Marin team to create BioShock 2. After that came the development of XCOM, and the 2K Australia studio was paradoxically absorbed under the 2K Marin name, despite the fact that it was located an an entirely separate continent.

2K Boston regained it's well respected Irrational name in January of 2010, and now things have come full circle. 2K Australia has stopped collaborating with 2K Marin and has joined Irrational Games in development of BioShock Infinite.

Ken Levine, Creative Director of Irrational Games, had this to say about the switch:

Upcoming VGA Hype
As mentioned in D.Ryan's post, BioShock Infinite is a contender for "Most Anticipated Game" in Spike TV's Video Game Awards. Regardless of whether Infinite wins, the VGA ceremony will be an important moment, since Geoff Keighley of Spike TV has announced on Twitter that the first new footage of BioShock Infinite since E3 will be shown at that time.

PlayStation Move Confusion
There was some confusion in November about whether or not BioShock Infinite would have a special PlayStation Move controller to go with the game. The official UK Playstation site initially announced that there would be a unique peripheral for Infinite, but this was quickly debunked by 2K Games.

Vigors and Nostrums
Ken Levine explained a bit about Vigors and Nostrums in an interview with DigitalSpy.com:

Occupy Wall Street Influences
The mainstream media has really latched onto Ken Levine's mention that the Occupy Wall Street movement helped him in the process of writing the Vox Populi. In an interview with The Washington Post on that subject, he let drop a few more tidbits about the backstory of the Vox Populi and Columbia.

Timothy Gerritsen
Timothy Gerritsen, Director of Development/Executive Producer at Irrational Games, also revealed a bit more about the Founders and Vox Populi in an interview with The Electric Playground.

He also revealed a tiny bit more about Booker DeWitt's mission: that the ultimate goal is to return Elizabeth to her family.

Ken Levine's Hitchcock Moment
In an interview with The Guardian, Ken Levine revealed, among other things, an amusing tidbit about the voice acting in the BioShock Infinite demo.

Twitter tidbits

 * Ken Levine revealed in a tweet that advertisements for the El Ammo Bandito machines in BioShock were voiced by Mauricio Tejerina, one of Irrational Games' artists. Some of you may recall Tejerina's name appeared on scattered calendars within Rapture.
 * The Irrational Games twitter channel hinted that Murder of Crows bottles may eventually be up for sale.

Other

 * The Playstation blog posted a great interview with Ken Levine about his life growing up as a geek in a time when geek culture didn't have the internet as a connecting platform: "Developer Origins: Irrational Games’ Ken Levine"
 * Irrational Games announced the winners of their BioShock themed Halloween costume contest on November 15."Halloween Costume Contest Winners"
 * IGN, 1Up and Gamespy have all conspired to host contests where the lucky winner gets a signed BioShock Infinite poster."Win a Signed BioShock Infinite Poster!"
 * The December issue of Edge magazine features Elizabeth on its cover."New issue of Edge out now"
 * Check out this reddit post for a BioShock crowning moment of heartwarming: "My grandpa asked for some video games for his birthday..." I wish my grandparent was that cool.
 * Steve Gaynor, Lead Designer on the Minerva's Den DLC, has uploaded a transcript of a presentation he gave about "progression gating" as tools in game development. In the presentation, he discusses the methods of "gating" that were used in BioShock and the reason for the hub/spokes layout of Minerva's Den. Check it out if you are interested in the thought process of designing the DLC: "Helping Players Find Their Own Way - talk from NYU Practice 2011"