bioshock posts

We've been very impressed with the community features and articles that have popped up on the Irrational Games' web site since the developer relaunched and rebranded itself earlier this month. This week the site has added a new feature that showcases five cut features from two of their classic first person games: System Shock 2 and the original BioShock.

Those features that didn't make it into the final games included more biomechanical items in BioShock and an audio log in System Shock 2. One feature in BioShock that has working code put in when the game shipped was pressure changes in the city of Rapture. Pressure changes were supposed to affect the enviroment and even the AI of the creatures in the game. Ultimately the code was never fully implemented because there were a number of production and gameplay issues that could not be solved.

Would you like another free game with the purchase of another game? If your answer is, "Yes" then head over to Steam or Direct2Drive. Both PC game download sites have just launched a nice pre-order offer for BioShock 2. The upcoming first person shooter sequel from developer 2K Marin can now be purchased for 10 percent off its regular price before it's release on February 9.

Oh, and when you pre-order the game you can get the original BioShock from Irrational Games for free immediately. If you want to go all out you can purchase a four-pack of BioShock 2 (this is for Steam online) for $134.97 (basically getting one of those game for free). Oh, and you still get four free original BioShock games to give to friends. All in all, it sounds like an excellent deal.

Games that are coming out soon have a lot of unknowns that the average person might not know. Who is this character inspired by? Is all the talk of volumetric fog or cel-shaded graphics really worthwhile? Do the game mechanics really seem solid, or are they lackluster? In All You Need To Know we provide information to help you fully appreciate what these upcoming games have to offer.

Feed your head after the jump.

Check out our collection of BioShock 2 related downloads here on Big Download!

As promised last week, 2K Boston is now officially no more as the development team behind System Shock 2, Freedom Force and the first BioShock game has gone back to using its original moniker of Irrational Games. The revived brand also has a new web site with looks back at the company's games as well as the first installment of a podcast called Irrational Behavior. Let's just say you won't be hearing anything about helicopter games or Casey Johnson in this podcast.

Irrational Games head man Ken Levine has posted up an intro to the revamp saying that the site will be all about "secrets". There will be revelations about past Irrational Games that got cut or didn't work. And what about Irrational's next game? Levine states, "And yes, we will tell you about the game we're working on right now. Just not today."

When BioShock shipped to stores in 2007, the game's developer Irrational Games got a name change to 2K Boston. We and a lot of other folks were not happy that one of the best game development studios in the industry was having its identity superseded by a generic publisher-imposed brand. Now Game Informer has revealed that 2K Boston will soon be no more as the studio will revert back to its Irrational Games brand.

The studio's official web site currently has a countdown clock that will expire on Monday. Once that happens, the name change will become official. The site will also have a number of new community features and insights into the studio's previous games like System Shock 2, the Freedom Force series and of course BioShock. However, there doesn't appear to be any plans to reveal Irrational's next project.

Today is officially the last day for Steam's 2009-2010 holiday sale. All of the bundle sales from publishers will end sometime on Monday. Today is also the last one-day sale of the event and for the last day Steam goes back and puts several of the games that were part of the one day sale back on the chopping block one more time.

That means that Torchlight is once again priced at just $4.99, as is Killing Floor and Bioshock. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is just $2 while Defense Grid: The Awakening is $2.49. Grand Theft Auto IV is just $7.49, and Left 4 Dead 2 is priced at only $33.49.

Direct2Drive was originally suppose to offer just one game on sale for just one day during their 24 Days of Christmas promotion. But in the past few days they have gone ahead and put two PC game titles on sale for 24 hours. Today Direct2Drive has increased the amount again with three big PC game titles on sale until 1 pm Eastern time on Monday.

First the download site offers Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II. Relic's RTS game is on sale for just $19.95. Also getting a price cut is the original Bioshock which can be downloaded and purchased for just $9.95. Finally the multiplayer shooter Tribes: Vengeance also has a one-day price of $9.95.

So you are looking for a PC game to give your favorite gamer. But maybe he or she doesn't care to deal with . . . what's the word we are looking for . . . oh yes, "people". They don't want a game that has any kind of component that allows them to actually interact online with others. They just want a game that they can play on their PC on their own without the need to deal with what they might call "noobs"

While the single player-only game is starting to become an endangered species on the PC, that doesn't mean they are not out there now. Big Download has a list of 10 terrific titles (plus one that will be out soon that we have high hopes for) for the PC gamer that thinks this whole "multiplayer" thingie is just a passing fad. From first person shooters to big scale RPGs to smaller downloadable indie titles, we think there's something out there for any person on your gaming list.

Click on the image above to continue reading Big Download's 2009 PC Gamer Single Player Game Holiday Gift Guide.

Not too many retail stores have PC games on sale during Black Friday but an exception is Best Buy. Their full Black Friday 2010 newspaper ad for the biggest shopping day of the year (that's November 27 in case you didn't know) has been posted on the bfads.net web site and it shows quite a number of PC game titles on sale for just $4.99 each.

Most of these games are older of course and many of you reading this might already own some of them but for $4.99 they do make great holiday gifts for you non-PC gaming friends. Here's the full list:

World of Warcraft
Far Cry 2
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl
Assassin's Creed
Civilization IV
Bioshock
Hoyle Slots (yeah, that one threw us too).

"Our prices are so low, they are scary!" Hey it was too good to resist. Actually that's just what the Direct2Drive web site is doing right now as it has cut the prices on a number of their horror-themed (and other M-rated) PC games for download. Some of the games have been cut down to as low as $4.95. The sale prices end on Sunday:

The games priced at $4.95 include Stubbs The Zombie, The Path, Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines, Cold Fear and Downfall. In addition, BioShock, Damnnation and Far Cry 2 are priced at $9.95 and The Witcher and Dead Space get a price cut down to $19.95