Eurogamer "Shock Tactics" interview w/ Ken Levine

[Raveness]

You can read the article here: Eurogamer Shock Tactics interview (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=74338)

Eurogamer: Do you feel as though your primary influences are literary or cinematic?

Ken Levine: All of the above. Here's a partial list of the inspirations that BioShock begs, borrows or steals from: Atlas Shrugged, Logan's Run, The X-Men, The Shining, Fight Club, 12 Monkeys, etc. etc. etc. I watch a lot of movies.

Maybe Andrew Ryan is a Tyler Durden-esque over-the-top anarchistic villain :cool: Atlas Shrugged certainly inspired Rapture and the social themes in the game. X-Men I could see inspiring the creation of various plasmid enhancements, basically turning the citizens into 'mutants' of their time. I guess The Shining is the inspiration for any horror elements in the narrative. Fight Club & Twelve Monkeys must be because, like myself, Ken loves Brad Pitt.

[v.dog]

Maybe Andrew Ryan is a Tyler Durden-esque over-the-top anarchistic villainYou mean Andrew Ryan is actually your alter ego? I hope not. It's almost a bad a cliche as 'it was all a dream, or was it?'

[Hatesink]

But Fight Club is still a brilliant film ;) Personally I could forgive it anything.

The guy who wrote Fight Club got beaten up so badly on holiday that when he got back to work his boss couldn't bring himself to look at his face, so he didn't give him any work to do. It was then that the guy started writing fight club at work.

[vrap]

I'm completely baffled as to why Kieron Gillen has yet to do a preview or interview about BioShock. The Eurogamer one was done by John Walker, which by proximity makes it all the more weirder.

[Raveness]

You mean Andrew Ryan is actually your alter ego? I hope not. It's almost a bad a cliche as 'it was all a dream, or was it?'

No, no. I meant only in the way he acts and his vernacular. Over the PA system, Ryan could shout:

"**** off with your sofa units and stripe green shirt patterns. I say never be complete, I say stop being perfect, I say lets evolve, let the plasmids fall where they may."

"**** damnation, man! **** redemption! We are God's unwanted children? So be it! We dont need him."

@ Hatesink: Apparently he got beaten up when out camping, some other campers were causing an uproar next to his camp, and he politely asked them to be quieter. Go figure :rolleyes:

[Hatesink]

"**** damnation, man! **** redemption! We are God's unwanted children? So be it! We dont need him."

"I Am Jack's smirking revenge [...]

I am Jack's complete lack of serprise [...]

I am Jack's broken heart."

;)

[Necros]

Eurogamer: How do you think your games have earned the peculiar reverence with which the gaming press receives them?

Ken Levine: I provide sexual favours to the press.

http://forum.hwsw.hu/html/emoticons/nevet.gif That was good. :D

[jackinthebox]

the interviews look all much the same... why don't the interviewers ask something else? at least we know what inspirations Bx borrows from :)

[v.dog]

There's only so much you can ask at this stage and not get the answer 'no comment'.

[Eurhetemec]

There's only so much you can ask at this stage and not get the answer 'no comment'.

Really? The official release date is, what, three months away? For most games, that'd mean 90% of the gameplay was "set in stone", and that only polishing and so on had left to be done, which would mean one could reveal quite a lot. That said, I do think BioShock's developers have revealed more than some games choose to, so it's not too bad.

[Hatesink]

There's only so much you can ask at this stage and not get the answer 'no comment'.Really? The official release date is, what, three months away? For most games, that'd mean 90% of the gameplay was "set in stone", and that only polishing and so on had left to be done, which would mean one could reveal quite a lot. That said, I do think BioShock's developers have revealed more than some games choose to, so it's not too bad.I don't think it's because there are still undetermined aspects of the game, I think it's probably more to do with marketing etc.

[Silent Film]

I imagine so. It's about not releasing too much info too soon, maintaining anticipation by trickling the facts and selling exclusives to various publications. The marketing types probably have all this planned out.

[Hatesink]

Absolutely— releasing just enough information to keep people's eye on the ball.