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[Deadly Cyclone]

People have been jumping ship since the start of August. So, if the game goes gold about a month before release (start of Feb.) that was still a solid six months worth of development, and now four months without these guys.

Yeah, but with a 5+ year dev cycle they have to be close. Not saying it isn't worrying for the company, but I still think the game will turn out.

Levine even said we wouldn't see more until the game is in its final state, and we have a trailer coming soon. It must be close aside from bugs/polish.

 

[shira]

Is cliffyB gonna save the day here

 

[snoopeasystreet]

So are they moving? MS doesn't have a studio on the east coast, do they?

 

[H3xum]

This is mind blowing

How are consumers supposed to keep on being optimistic with a core team member after core team member dropping out?

Sloppy on irrationals part, something really bad is going on there

 

[a secret-boss]

MS gathering people for the new console. Next box only games

 

[CrunchyFrog]

What the hell is going on at Irrational?

Over-promising and underdelivering, or simply unable to do a lot of the stuff they prematurely said they would in the 2 years since this was announced. This project sounds like a disaster the more and more news comes out about it. I would be inclined to agree with people saying "normal development turnover" except that these have been primarily leads leaving and, quite frankly, they still haven't shown jack shit in the real functioning gameplay department.

 

[charsace]

Major design for the game is probably done and they are polishing it up. And probably Ken is leaving irrational.

 

[diamount]

I didn't follow Infinite very much but what made it so "ambitious"?

I'm sure it's mostly to do with Elizabeth's powers and the like.

 

[subversus]

On the latest Insert Credit podcast, they are asked to say something nice about a big budget game they don't like. Pretty much everybody leapt to Bioshock. So it's not just GAF.

yeah, people love to hate a) popular things b)pretentious things c) thoroughly well done stuff. Bioshock is a) b) and c).

 

[Roland Deschain]

Stop changing your tag Nirolak!

Anyway, outlook for this game isn't looking good. Too bad as the first trailer made it look awesome. They should just cut the mp and focus on a great singleplayer.

 

[diamount]

Over-promising and underdelivering, or simply unable to do a lot of the stuff they prematurely said they would in the 2 years since this was announced. This project sounds like a disaster the more and more news comes out about it. I would be inclined to agree with people saying "normal development turnover" except that these have been primarily leads leaving and, quite frankly, they still haven't shown jack shit in the real functioning gameplay department.

Sorry, but how are they over-promising and under-delivering? There hasn't been any new media since last year (gameplay that is) and nor have they been bigging the game up. As stated before, the game is done. It's just in polishing stage now.

 

[Nirolak]

So are they moving? MS doesn't have a studio on the east coast, do they?

Both of their resumes list that they are now in Redmond Washington.

 

[antitrop]

yeah, people love to hate a) popular things b)pretentious things c) thoroughly well done stuff. Bioshock is a) b) and c).

I love you.

 

[Muffdraul]

My take:

Bioshock Infinite is close to being finished. It was a very long project, approx. five years, and "the home stretch" itself is relatively long... close to a year. Close to a year of being content complete, but still in need of lots of polish and fine tuning. The heavy lifting is done. A lot of the key team members have done their job. And they're fed up with working for Levine, who has long been rumored to be a ruthless ball breaker of a taskmaster. So now that the job is done, they're getting the fuck out.

At least, that's how I sleep at night, confident that Infinite is going to kick all sorts of ass in Feb. And the Handyman will have his awesome old timey hairstyle and mustache back, and not be the lousy generic bald brute they turned him into.

 

[black_vegeta]

My take:

Bioshock Infinite is close to being finished. It was a very long project, approx. five years, and "the home stretch" itself is relatively long... close to a year. Close to a year of being content complete, but still in need of lots of polish and fine tuning. The heavy lifting is done. A lot of the key team members have done their job. And they're fed up with working for Levine, who has long been rumored to be a ruthless ball breaker of a taskmaster. So now that the job is done, they're getting the fuck out.

At least, that's how I sleep at night, confident that Infinite is going to kick all sorts of ass in Feb.

This is my thought as well

 

[Zeouterlimits]

My take:

Bioshock Infinite is close to being finished. It was a very long project, approx. five years, and "the home stretch" itself is relatively long... close to a year. Close to a year of being content complete, but still in need of lots of polish and fine tuning. The heavy lifting is done. A lot of the key team members have done their job. And they're fed up with working for Levine, who has long been rumored to be a ruthless ball breaker of a taskmaster. So now that the job is done, they're getting the fuck out.

At least, that's how I sleep at night, confident that Infinite is going to kick all sorts of ass in Feb.

Agreed, I still believe.

 

[Eusis]

This is mind blowing

How are consumers supposed to keep on being optimistic with a core team member after core team member dropping out?

Sloppy on irrationals part, something really bad is going on there

It's happened even on huge games like Mass Effect, and that had issues unrelated tot he positions being vacated as I recall. Still, the fact there doesn't seem to be any substantial gameplay hands on has me VERY worried, I'm hoping it's just something akin to Mother 3 where no one really gets to touch it until it's out or just about out. Though that was more extreme since I don't think we even saw screenshots until we were, what, two months away?

 

[TheOddOne]

Producer on Infinite also left in May for Microsoft.

I've heard some vague hints about a new internal studio, it's been staffing up considerably.

 

[antitrop]

Wrong thread.

I have no idea what the point of this is.

EDIT: Nevermind.

 

[Azih]

I'd like to hear more about what people say Levine is like to work with.

 

[DocSeuss]

As a fan of the original BioShock and someone looking forward to BioShock: Infinite bringing the franchise back to interesting territory (I strongly dislike BioShock 2 for being a cheap cash-in) this makes me sad.

The cheap cash-in had the better story (the father/daughter relationship, the player character has a 'want,' the villain isn't some hokey bad person, but someone who fundamentally misunderstands humanity, etc), the better implementation of narrative and game (you aren't a slave to the game! choice can still matter so long as it has consequence!), that awesome Minerva's Den expansion, and better combat.

So... uh... Bioshock had Sander Cohen and the ability to freely travel around Rapture, I guess?

--

My dream would be that Microsoft ended up buying the rights to Deep Cover like they were planning back in 2002 or so, and they're finally making it with a resurrected Looking Glass, and it'll be released simultaneously on PC and Nextbox.

 

[epmode]

yeah, people love to hate a) popular things b)pretentious things c) thoroughly well done stuff. Bioshock is a) b) and c).

I like Bioshock but it's half the game System Sock 2 was. It's nice that it brought that style of game to the forefront and I doubt we would have seen Human Revolution or Dishonored without it.

 

[jetpacks was yes]

This and Last Guardian have been my most-anticipated games for this gen. :/

I wish both teams the best of luck. You can dooo ittttt!!

 

[Karram]

Leaving 6 month before release.... I'm starting to get really worried.

 

[DocSeuss]

I like Bioshock but it's half the game System Sock 2 was. It's nice that it brought that style of game to the forefront and I doubt we would have seen Human Revolution or Dishonored without it.

I think we would at least have seen Dishonored. That's not just Arkane's thing, it's Bethesda's thing. A lot of people criticize Bethesda for making bad RPGs, but that's because their games were never really RPGs, they were immersive sims. I mean, yes, they're all about role-playing, but most people think "RPG" means "interesting lore and story," rather than "game where you can be anyone and explore a world the way you want," which Bethesda's games do, coupled with a heavy dose of simulation elements... the Looking Glass design philosophy. Skyrim's an evolution of Ultima Underworld, not Ultima.

The kind of people Bethesda are hiring, and the kind of games they're encouraging, seem to make it abundantly obvious that this is what they DO. Even the ex-Starbreeze guys, the id acquisition, and Prey 2 all point to this ImSim philosophy.

 

[benny_a]

I'd like to hear more about what people say Levine is like to work with.

Haven't you heard?

 

[Endo Punk]

I had zero interest in this game but the troubled development alone makes me want to purchase and support it. This may well be the last game from such an acclaimed studio.

 

[XtremeXpider]

So are they moving? MS doesn't have a studio on the east coast, do they?

New studio?

 

[BurnOutBrighter]

Went from most anticipated for 2012 to most anticipated for 2013 to the verge of cancelling my preorder.

 

[TheOddOne]

I thought this was a bit suprising: Alex Liu left for Microsoft in May too. He was a game designer over at Naughty Dog and worked on Uncharted 3 (He did the levels Rough Seas and Caravan) and The Last of Us.

All these talented folk just don't go there for a reason, something must be brewing.

 

[TheNamelessOne]

Producer on Infinite also left in May for Microsoft.

I've heard some vague hints about a new internal studio, it's been staffing up considerably.

MS hand picking developers for top secret next gen studio confirmed.

 

[sflufan]

As nice as the game looks, Levine & Co. have done nothing to convince me that its narrative is anything more than someone taking the Word design document from BioShock and doing:

- find "Rapture", replace with "Columbia"
- find "Objectivism", replace with "American Exceptionalism"
- find "Big Daddy", replace with "Handymen"
- find "Plasmids", replace with "Vigors"

They've got their work cut out for them with me!

 

[wrowa]

Even if that were the case, all these people jumping ship makes me think something bad went down during its creation. I mean, it's not as if everyone was ready to leave the company after completing Bioshock, right?

Did Ken lose his mind or something?

Maybe the company is broke and people know that it'll inevitably close doors once Bioshock: Infinite is released. Better get a new job now than being unemployed later.

 

[Neuromancer]

They have the lead game designer of Crysis 2 working at Microsoft Vancouver. The rumor is that the game he is working on is a Space Horror FPS.

Whoa! Hadn't heard about this; should be amazing.

 

[Barkley's Justice]

What the hell is going on at Irrational?

srs.

 

[subversus]

Maybe the company is broke and people know that it'll inevitably close doors once Bioshock: Infinite is released. Better get a new job now than being unemployed later.

the company can't be broke as it is not independent.

 

[Barkley's Justice]

Generally if people are leaving now I would say the following statements are likely true:

1.) The game is either basically done or in such a state that they can no longer motivate themselves to work on it.
2.) They really don't want to make another game with the same studio.

Yea, I agree. I don't think news of these departures dooms the game, really. But it certainly doesn't bode well for the future prospects of Irrational as a company.

 

[Corleth the Fey]

If everyone leaves, who's going to make the Vita version? I only bought one this weekend.

 

[LQX]

Holy fuck, I hope all these talents MS is gathering is not to work on a damn Gears of War 4 or some shit like that.

 

[gaming_noob]

I thought this was a bit suprising: Alex Liu left for Microsoft in May too. He was a game designer over at Naughty Dog and worked on Uncharted 3 (He did the levels Rough Seas and Caravan) and The Last of Us.

All these talented folk just don't go there for a reason, something must be brewing.

This is exciting. Next E3 is going to be a treat.

 

[subversus]

If everyone leaves, who's going to make the Vita version? I only bought one this weekend.

they can't outsource it to some studio.

 

[Neuromancer]

Went from most anticipated for 2012 to most anticipated for 2013 to the verge of cancelling my preorder.

Why would someone preorder a game so far out? Just wondering.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

But I want my next Bioshock.

 

[Interfectum]

If everyone leaves, who's going to make the Vita version? I only bought one this weekend.

lol

That shit is never coming out and if it does it's going to be garbage.

 

[herod]

Generally if people are leaving now I would say the following statements are likely true:

1.) The game is either basically done or in such a state that they can no longer motivate themselves to work on it.
2.) They really don't want to make another game with the same studio.

3) they know it won't make the metacritic target to trigger their bonuses so no point staying.

 

[Neuromancer]

If everyone leaves, who's going to make the Vita version? I only bought one this weekend.

2K Marin could do it once they're done putting the finishing touches on XCOM.

 

[pax217]

yeah, people love to hate a) popular things b)pretentious things c) thoroughly well done stuff. Bioshock is a) b) and c).

Albeit I don't like this because...:
a) It's a respected opinion
b) It's a bit pretentious
c) It's thoroughly thought and written.

...I agree.

 

[subversus]

As nice as the game looks, Levine & Co. have done nothing to convince me that its narrative is anything more than someone taking the Word design document from BioShock and doing:

- find "Rapture", replace with "Columbia"
- find "Objectivism", replace with "American Exceptionalism"
- find "Big Daddy", replace with "Handymen"
- find "Plasmids", replace with "Vigors"

They've got their work cut out for them with me!

-find Elisabeth, replace with ...?
-find skylines, replace with ...?

...I agree.

I geneally don't give a shit if people agree with me but I deeply care that you personally agree with me.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

Combat Design Director and A.I. Lead leaving indicates to me maybe they had trouble creating that kind of emergent combat seen in videos dealing with those rail things.

Or glass half full, everything went well, and MS offered them more money/more responsibility to do the same on an upcoming project.

 

[gollumsluvslave]

NeoGAF recently is the only place where I've ever seen so many people down on BioShock. You're entitled to your opinion, I'm just rather shocked that GAF has such a generally negative reaction to a game that some hold up as a pinnacle of video game story-telling and immersive atmosphere.

Pot meet kettle, saying Bioshock 2 sucked and was a cheap cash-in!

DocSeuss puts it across well:-

The cheap cash-in had the better story (the father/daughter relationship, the player character has a 'want,' the villain isn't some hokey bad person, but someone who fundamentally misunderstands humanity, etc), the better implementation of narrative and game (you aren't a slave to the game! choice can still matter so long as it has consequence!), that awesome Minerva's Den expansion, and better combat.

Bioshock 2 was better than the original in every way except the fact it wasn't the first experience in Rapture.