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It's still something hard to believe that a company that no one had heard before creates one of the best games of all time as its debut title. Yet Irrational Games did just that when they released the FPS-RPG sequel System Shock 2 back in 1999. Now the newly revamped Irrational Games web site is spilling a few of the development secrets from the game.

For example, did you know that the game started out with a kind of Heart of Darkness-Apocalypse Now style plot? Or that there were plans for a zero-g sequence outside the space ship hull? Well those secrets and more can now be read at Irrational's web site. We just hope the reveal of their next game is "soon".

This past week Irrational Games returned to its original name and as a result its head Ken Levine has been giving a few interviews to various web sites. He also chatted with Game Informer magazine in its latest print issue and Shacknews reports that in that chat Levine still refuses to talk about their next game, saying, "I can't say yes or no to any particular thing, but I can say this: Don't believe everything you read." That's likely a reference to various rumors that the studio might be working on an X-Com remake.

So when will we learn about their first game? Our sister site Joystiq got Levine to say the announcement will happen "sometime after PAX (East) and GDC." That sounds awfully like an E3 2010 reveal to us.

As part of the Irrational Games relaunch, they also launched the first episode of their official podcast called Irrational Behavior. The first episode talks about ideas for games that died and during the podcast Irrational team members revealed plans for a zombie tactical shooter that ultimately was never made.

The game was called Division 9 and was first pitched in the early 2000s to the now defunct Vivendi Games as a possible new direction for the SWAT series (Irrational had developed the fourth game in the series from the publisher). The game was prototyped as a kind of shooter with some strategic elements. While Vivendi passed on the game, Irrational head man Ken Levine said they actually sold Division 9 to an unnamed publisher. However, for reasons that were not entirely made clear in the podcast, the game was canceled. Irrational went on to be bought by Take Two Interactive and of course made the original BioShock. The web site plans to reveal assets from Division 9 on January 22.

By the way, the podcast is definitely NSFW so listen with headphones. Perhaps while playing Darksiders or Line Rider if that floats your boat.

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."

We've been down this road before and it looks like we are going that way once again. Rumors of a revival of the classic X-Com turn-based strategy PC game series have been popping up on the Internet tubes for years. This week the new rumors center on 2K Games' developer Firaxis working on a new version of the original game.

This new rumor comes from the Twitter page of the anonymously updated and trademark-obsessed web site Superannuation. The statement also revives the rumor that there's a first person shooter X-Com game that's also in the works. 2K Boston has been named as the developer for that title for quite some time and it's head man Ken Levine hasn't exactly denied that possibility. Indeed 2K Boston's sister developer 2K Australia has apparently worked at one time on such a project as Superannuation has found a (since removed) resume from a former developer at that studio that mentions such an X-Com game. We just wish 2K Games would spare us more time to speculate and come clean; the suspense is killing us.

While Ken Levine is still working on his top secret next project at 2K Boston following the release of the original BioShock over two years ago, he's apparently got some time to reveal his top 10 favorite games of all time to IndustryGamers. As one might expect, Levine's picks include several PC exclusives.

Among the games picked are Master of Magic ("It's Civilization with dragons. And spell making. And giant armies of Dwarves and stuff. Why is there no sequel? Is there no God?"), Baldur's Gate 2 ("I play it for the combats") and Company of Heroes ("The RTS that reminded me I could still love RTS."). And his number one pick is not much of a shock but still funny to read. You can check out the entire list at IndustryGamers right now.

Earlier this year a job listed for 2K Boston stated they were looking for someone to work on a multiplayer first person shooter project. This week new evidence emerged that the development team behind the original BioShock is working on some kind of shooter game for their next project.

The company's job page shows three listings, all of whom state that 2K Boston (and its head man Ken Levine) are hiring to work on "an unannounced shooter". Levine has already said in previous interviews that their next game will have "a scope and ambition in mind which is more ambitious than anything we've ever done."

Ken Levine is still not talking about what his team at 2K Boston is working on next. Let's get that out of the way right now. However he is more than willing to chat to Gamasutra about pretty much anything else in a lengthy interview (with interjections from 2 Boston's director of creative development Joe McDonagh and the studio's recruiter Ryan Oddey).

The interview talks about how 2K Boston hires the right people and creates the right culture to develop their games. However Levine does give a small hint about what their next project is trying to achieve. He states, "We needed a certain kind of length for the title, because we had a scope and ambition in mind which is more ambitious than anything we've ever done. Even more, substantially more ambitious than BioShock." Wow. That sounds promising.

The BioShock team at 2K Boston has been pretty silent about their upcoming plans and in a new Gamespot chat, its head man Ken Levine doesn't really give too many new details about what they have planned next. He does say that the game " . . . will probably come as a huge surprise to our audience and yet at the same time will make total sense once they see it."

He adds that the project " . . . will include a type of gameplay that is completely new to us--something the BioShock team has never really explored in depth before." But don't expect details about the game for a while. When asked if it's a new X-Com title (something that has been rumored for some time) Levine says, " I will say that I'm probably the world's biggest X-Com [fan]. I won't say I'm working on an X-Com game."

He also repeats that he and his 2K Boston team have nothing to do with the upcoming BioShock 2 title which is being developed at 2K Marin. Levine states, "Frankly, I'm trying to keep myself at a distance from it so I, like all the other fans out there, can play it fresh when it's done." 2K Boston is actively recruiting and our sister site Joystiq has the word on the developer's hiring drive.

Speculation about what Ken Levine and his group at 2K Boston are doing to follow up on their 2007 smash hit BioShock continues. While another group, 2K Marin, are doing the official BioShock sequel, we still don't have a clear idea on what 2K Boston is doing next (although rumors of an X-Com revival are still popping up).

In a new job entry on Gamasutra, 2K Boston announces it is hiring for a lead multiplayer designer to work on an upcoming first person shooter project. The job description states, "Understanding of online persistence is preferred but not required. MMO design or production experience also preferred." Since BioShock did not have a multiplayer component we are going to assume that 2K Boston's new title will have a faster pace than much slower BioShock. Hopefully we will learn more about this new game sooner rather than later.

[Via Kotaku]