Podcast Of Bioshock Creator Ken Lavine
The net is aflutter with anticipation over Irrational Games’ new shooter Bioshock. Screenshots have been leaking out like molasses trickling uphill. So few details have been released concerning this mystifying game. We know about the big daddies and little sisters, and the advanced A.I. but how does it all work?
Next Gen recorded a fascinating podcast with Ken Lavine of Irrational Games to discuss his new shooter, Bioshock. Now he doesn’t delve into all of the secrets of the game, but it is an enlightening affair listening to him speak about his game.
One of his central points of the interview is to clarify that this game is a shooter. It is a well crafted and complete experience, but the core gameplay is a first person shooter. He uses Psychonauts as an example of a game that was not promoted as a singular experience. He says that marketing should have pushed the game as a platformer, but a type of platformer you have never played. Lavine feels the same way about Bioshock, it is a shooter, but it is much more than any shooter you have played.
When questioned about the lack of multiplayer support, Lavine replied:
It' really about core competency. This is our first game without multiplayer but if you look at our previous games, hardly anyone played them online, with the possible exception of SWAT. Apart from the really big multiplayer hits, you have some games with, like, six people playing them online. That's a lot of effort for a small return.
For the rest of the interview he speaks of the craft of storytelling in gaming, the dearth of originality in modern gaming, the heated console wars, online gaming, and some great points on salesmanship and marketing.
Check it out. Lavine is a great conversationalist.
Toots
Posted to Video Games on 24 January 2007
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Other stuff like this: bioshock, ken lavine
Is it just me, or does he look like he had a tragic forehead accident?