BioShock 2 Message Board older than one year ago

#dlc The second dose of BioShock 2 multiplayer downloadable content is coming this Thursday with the Rapture Metro Map Pack, featuring six new maps, two masks, three achievements, and a new game mode for fans of blunt objects. More »

#deals Are you a BioShock newbie who doesn't want to play through the second game without experiencing the first? Well then Amazon.com has the deal for you. More »

Are you one of the few that have yet to explore the world of Rapture? Amazon is running a secret sale that lets you score both BioShock 1 and 2 for only $50 -- less than the cost of BioShock 2 alone. To take advantage of this deal, you'll need to add either the PS3 or Xbox 360 versions of both games into your shopping cart; the discount will appear there. (Sorry, the deal isn't applicable to the PC or Limited Edition versions.)

Starting with this combo bundle will give you the rare chance to play the entire BioShock saga in the correct canonical order. Remember to start with BioShock 2's multiplayer mode, then move onto the original BioShock, and finish with BioShock 2's story. That's the only way you'll get the real experience.

[Thanks, Waunel]Deal: BioShock 1 & 2 for $50 on Amazon

#screenrgrab Were I to stab this syringe-shaped pen into my arm, BioShock style,I would not get the "Hemingway's Helper" gene tonic upgrade, but we would all remember that it was swag to promote the Sinclair Solutions BioShock 2 multiplayer add-on. More »

Once more into the bathysphere.

#dlc Technically, BioShock 2's downloadable content released before today. That's because it's on the disc. So, again, we're downloading an unlock. 2K says this was necessary to allow the entire player base to play multiplayer together. More »

Start of aggressive downloadable content campaign to expand the single and multiplayer elements of the award-winning game.

Having printed and shipped more than 3 million copies of BioShock 2 across the seas, publisher Take-Two is clearly leaning on its sequel to provide a strong sale wind to push the company through another successful quarter. Following its February 9 release, the Xbox 360 version of BioShock 2 cruised up the US sales charts, anchoring in the peak position, according to the NPD's monthly report. For the PS3 version, the journey was not such a breeze, as it appeared to have come up against some bad weather.

Despite the Xbox 360 edition's #1 ranking in US February game sales, the PS3 version of BioShock 2 was curiously absent from the top ten listing. An NPD representative told Joystiq that the PS3 game recorded roughly 190.5k units sold last month, "just outside the top 10 at #11." If anything's to blame for this somewhat modest debut month, it's Heavy Rain. In just one week of retail availability, the PS3-exclusive "Western Interactive Novel" had enough of an impact, with 219.3k units sold, to seemingly alter the sales course of BioShock 2 for PS3.

Now, just image how much trouble a rampaging "murder carousel" could stir up for BioShock 2 PS3 sales this month!

Modern Warfare 2 keeps on rolling, Heavy Rain impresses.

#column I shamelessly invaded your Xbox Dashboard last week – and now that my thumb fatigue has expired, I'm here to tell you about it.  More »

Professional level designer J.P. LeBreton's creativity can't just be contained by the BioShock franchise which his work has appeared in for the last three years. So, he recently exercised his craft in a fairly peculiar way -- by designing a Doom 2 map modeled after the two areas on which he served as lead designer for 2K's underseas adventure: Arcadia and the Farmer's Market.

You can download the map directly from LeBreton's site. It comes bundled in a handy little .ZIP file which includes instructions on how to get it up and running on your modern gaming rig. If you're having trouble, just put the original BioShock in, and smear a thick sheen of petroleum jelly on your monitor.

[Via Big Download]

Next Thursday, those entrenched in The Great Splicer Uprising of '59 will get a chance to beef up their arsenal in Bioshock 2's multiplayer mode with the Sinclair Solutions Test Pack on March 11. Here's what you'll get for your 400 ($5) on Xbox Live and Games For Windows - Live, and $4.99 on PSN:

• Rank Increase to level 50 with Rank Rewards
• New playable characters Louie McGraff and Oscar Calraca
• 20 new trials (some only available after a player achieves a rank of 41 or higher)
• A third weapon upgrade for each weapon
• Five additional masks (some only available after a player achieves a rank of 41 or higher)

Happy Splicer hunting! (Splunting?)

Next Thursday, those entrenched in The Great Splicer Uprising of '59 will get a chance to beef up their arsenal in Bioshock 2's multiplayer mode with the Sinclair Solutions Test Pack on March 11. Here's what you'll get for your 400 ($5) on Xbox Live and Games For Windows - Live, and $4.99 on PSN:

• Rank Increase to level 50 with Rank Rewards
• New playable characters Louie McGraff and Oscar Calraca
• 20 new trials (some only available after a player achieves a rank of 41 or higher)
• A third weapon upgrade for each weapon
• Five additional masks (some only available after a player achieves a rank of 41 or higher)

Happy Splicer hunting! (Splunting?)

New characters, masks, weapon upgrades incoming.

#bioshock2 The Sinclair Solutions Tester Pack, the first in a series of single and multiplayer downloadable content for Bioshock 2, hits Games for Windows Live, the Playstation Network and Xbox Live Marketplace March 11 for about $5. More »

2K's sequel off to a good start.

Take-Two has revealed in its latest fiscal earnings report that Bioshock 2 has managed to ship three million units worldwide since releasing on February 9. The report also says the first game has now sold over four million copies worldwide across all platforms, "bringing the total sales of the franchise to 7 million units." Of course, the important distinction here is that "shipped" does not equal "sold," as Take-Two infers above.

Still, getting three million copies out there into the world is a pretty noteworthy feat. Get yourself a couple more million and you'll be able to finance construction on your own underwater metropolis, not that any good could possibly come of it.

[BioshockFan52]
Those of us who have played BioShock 2 likely don't see anything out of the ordinary in the above image. Almost all of Rapture's propoganda has been smeared by Sophia Lamb and her followers in-game, so it only makes sense that 2K would do as much with the game's promotional items. And according to this thread on the 2K Games site, a black light is all you need to unlock this hidden feature in those neat posters you got with your special edition.

Community Manager "2K Elizabeth" (Elizabeth Tobey) implies the validity of what you see above -- we're still waiting on 2K to officially confirm this. But, for all intents and purposes, it would seem your love of velvet paintings and black lights is a good thing for once!

[Thanks, Alex]

When you come right down to it, genetic engineering is about the only shot humans are going to have at developing real super powers. Which is why BioShock and BioShock 2 are more than just stories about some nifty underwater city gone wrong. When you have people that can move objects with their minds or blast fire from their hands and then stick them in a gorgeous dystopia, that's when you've got a story.

So what better way to celebrate that world than by bringing it into our own? With that in mind, we're offering up a mess of BioShock swag: one BioShock "Don't Wait! Incinerate!" women's shirt (size medium), one BioShock 2 Butterfly Hands men's shirt (size small), two different BioShock lithographs, and one extremely cool, handmade Splicer mask. Check out the prizes in the gallery below, and read the rules to enter.

• Leave a comment telling us what plasmid power you'd want. Feel free to make up your own.
• You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec, mostly due to our exclusion from a "statut particulier" status in Canada).
• Limit 1 entry per person per day.
• This entry period ends at 7:01PM ET on Monday, March 1.
• At that time, we'll randomly select one winner to receive one BioShock 2 men's butterfly shirt, size small (ARV $10), one BioShock 2 women's "Incinerate!" shirt, size medium (ARV $10), two BioShock lithographs (ARV $15 each), and one handmade Splicer mask (ARV $50).
• For a list of complete rules, click here.

What is Joyswag? Since we don't keep the games and merchandise we receive for review or promotional purposes, it becomes "Joyswag," which is passed along to our readers. Please note that Joyswag may be in "used" condition. For more info on our policy, click here.

#clips I don't believe I've seen anything quite as beautiful as a man dressed as Jason from Friday the 13th carving the Big Daddy from BioShock 2 out of a tree using a chainsaw. More »

We're not gonna lie to you -- we were initially tempted to write this post in full-on mid-'90s late night TV ad format, but we instead chose restraint in telling people about the BioShock 2 sale going on over at Newegg. For just $49, you can snag a copy of the (at least somewhat) critically acclaimed return to Rapture on either Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 over the 72 hours that Newegg's sale takes place (just under 60 left as of this writing).

If the recently released DLC weren't enough to entice you to dive in to BioShock's sequel, maybe $11 off the asking price will do it, eh? (Because a man finds sweet sales, a slave buys at full price ... or something.)

Second verse better than the first, or Conveyor Belt of Murder 2: Sea of Communism.

Does the sequel stack up to the original?

Folks who elected to resubmerge themselves into the world of Rapture using a computer have had to suffer a pretty serious display issue -- due to a last minute bug fix, the PC version of BioShock 2 shipped without proper widescreen monitor support. The game would simply slap a letterbox on the 4:3 display, limiting the player's field of view. Fortunately, a patch released today adds 16:9 and 16:10 resolution support to the game's repertoire, meaning you'll finally be able to see that Splicer that's been creeping alongside you for the past few days.

The patch also fixes an issue in which "holding the M1 button would not register in Multiplayer gameplay," which sounds equally serious. Those are the only two fixes in the available update; however, 2K community manager Elizabeth Tobey promises "a larger, more extensive patch" is currently in the works.

[Via Videogamer]

2K has plans for both singleplayer and multiplayer.

2K Games has announced that expansions for BioShock 2 are "slated to arrive over the coming months," expanding both the single-player and multiplayer facets of the game. The custodians of Rapture have yet to reveal what's in store for the single-player campaign, but have offered details on the first new multiplayer add-on: the Sinclair Solutions Test Pack.

Available "soon" for 400 ($5) on Xbox Live and $4.99 on PSN, the pack will include:

• Rank Increase to level 50 with Rank Rewards
• New playable characters Louie McGraff and Oscar Calraca
• 20 new trials (some only available after a player achieves a rank of 41 or higher)
• A third weapon upgrade for each weapon
• Five additional masks (some only available after a player achieves a rank of 41 or higher)

We just hope 2K Games takes care of those freezing issues before luring us back to the Circus of Values.

How the sequel gives gamers a reason to care.

Did the sequel surpass or fall short of the amazing original?

Jon Blyth discovers Big Sisters really are doing it for themselves.

[Image credit: Negative Gamer] Allow me to break from the usual third-person writing style we employ at Joystiq to address my personal stake in writing this post -- I'm part of the approximately 10 percent of human males with colorblindness. I had to return Super Puzzle Fighter for GBA and turn on the symbols in Hexic (the price I pay for the love of puzzle games). Like Russ at MTV Multiplayer, I (quite likely) have the most common form of colorblindness: Deuteranopia.

Personal info aside, Negative Gamer put together a bit of an analysis of BioShock 2's hacking system -- a system which applies color matching to various rewards/punishments (green = hack, blue = reward, red = alarm, white = electric shock) and one which could be problematic for those suffering from colorblindnesses many forms. The piece takes a program called "Colour Contrast Analyser" (yes, it's a British-born application) and runs an example image of the hacking program through it, pointing out how the colors would appear to people with a variety of types of colorblindness -- the image you see above is but one example.

So! If you've ever wondered what it's like to deal with the frustration of being colorblind and not being able to play a game because of it, now's your big chance. If you want to start a petition to "fix" the situation like these folks did for Modern Warfare 2, I'd really appreciate it.

[Via MTV Multiplayer]