User blog:Gardimuer/1999 mode explained, and other news

The past few weeks have been a busy time for BioShock Infinite news, with many gaming news sites announcing Infinite in their "most anticipated" lists. Below are some highlights of major news related to the game.

More Information on 1999 Mode
Following up on their promise to explain the newly announced "1999 Mode", Irrational Games answered selected questions from fans in their blog. Check out the full articles for more details.

In response to questions of how the game mode would be available, Irrational Games had this to say:

Ken Levine also elaborated on that subject in an interview with Rock Paper Shotgun:

In an interview with G4TV, Irrational's design director Bill Gardner had some interesting things to say about how "respawning" would work in BioShock Infinite:

Behind the scenes: recording audio for BioShock Infinite

 * Irrational Interviews: In the latest Irrational Interviews session, Troy Baker, Courtnee Draper and Ken Levine explain the process of casting and recording the voices of BioShock Infinite: "Irrational Interviews 10: Troy Baker and Courtnee Draper"
 * The Gun Range: The Irrational Games audio team recount the experience of going to a gun range to record gun shot sound effects for BioShock Infinite.

Viral Marketing campaign coming?
The folks at Fusible report that Take-Two Interactive has recently registered several new domain names: DeathtotheFounders.com, DeathtotheVox.com, and DeathtotheVoxPopuli.com

SOPA and PIPA aftermath
People who were paying attention probably noticed the massive internet backlash against the proposed SOPA and PIPA legislation on the 18th. Of course Wikia (the company that hosts the BioShock Wiki and other sites of user created content) was concerned about how SOPA and PIPA would impact their business. You can read about their participation in the January 18th protests here: "SOPA and PIPA Situation Summary"

SOPA and PIPA were also very important topics for the gaming industry. The ESA (Entertainment and Software Association) was one of the bills' main supporters. For those who don't know, the ESA is an organization that protects the interests of many major game publishers, including Take-Two Interactive (the parent company of 2K Games and Irrational Games). For perspective, in the past the ESA has played an important role in protecting free speech in video games, opposing laws that would limit the sale of video games with violent content (such as in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association). For the ESA, supporting anti-piracy legislation (such as SOPA and PIPA) is clearly in the best interest of their game industry members. However, this position caused a widespread backlash from fans of the game developers who are members of the ESA. There was much confusion and shouting about which development studios tacitly supported the bill and which ones had or had not outright stated an opinion on it.

Finally, on January 20th (two days after the widespread internet protests and several hours after the bills were put on indefinite hold) the ESA formally announced that it was no longer supporting SOPA.

Other

 * Ken Levine responded to fan focus on Elizabeth's bust size, and IGN analyzes what it implies about the gaming industry.


 * Irrational Games' art director Nate Wells discussed the world and character building of BioShock Infinite in an interview with G4TV: "BioShock Infinite Art and Environment Preview"