Holla me amigos and welcome to another week of back-fence news as brought to you by Epicbattleaxe.com’s The Rumor KILL.  Now I know all you Axeheads are full of gaming news and knowledge courtesy of GDC and to be honest I was a little nervous this week.  Gaming conventions such as GDC tend to solve rumors instead of creating them and even if some rumors are started most gaming journalists don’t report them because they have their hands full with the festivities.  For such an occasion I have a great rant planned out about the subliminal messages in Disney films and video games!!!  Just kidding……fortunately my fears did not become reality and we still have many rumors to dissect and discuss so take out the pruning shears it’s time to get whacking!
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Greetings Axeheads! We come, once again, to the end of a week full of insightful discussion and superb punditry. We’re going to close out the conversation on game delays with a Battle Cry that puts some pragmatic perspective on the high-profile delays of 2009. Were the rash of delays from late last year a good thing? Could we have afforded all those games anyway? Is the game industry harming themselves irrevocably by leaning on the delay crutch too often, rather than simply being smarter with their scheduling? AxedWheelie makes the case…
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2K Games has sent word that the Sinclair Solutions Tester Pack, the first in a series of single and multiplayer downloadable content for BioShock 2, will be available on March 11, 2010 from both the Xbox LIVE Marketplace and Games for Windows-LIVE for 400 Microsoft Points, and from the PlayStation Network for $4.99.

For those not in the know, the Sinclair Solutions Tester Pack contains a number of customization features that will allow players to further their character’s development in BioShock 2’s multiplayer modes and provide a deeper multiplayer experience.

Announcements about additional downloadable content for BioShock 2 designed to extend the game’s single player and multiplayer experience will be made “in the coming weeks.” Of course, we’ll keep you posted.

Loving BioShock 2? Yearning for more? Well, 2K Games announced today an “aggressive” post-launch downloadable content plan for the game meant to extend and enhances the single and multiplayer portions of the latest journey to Rapture.

From the press release:

Downloadable content will be made available soon, beginning with the Sinclair Solutions Test Pack, available this March from the Xbox LIVE Marketplace and Games for Windows LIVE for 400 Microsoft Points and from the PlayStationNetwork for $5/£3.19. Future expansions into the world of BioShock 2 are slated to arrive over the coming months and will continue to expand on the stories of the denizens of Rapture.

First images from the DLC have also been released and are available here.

“The fans who waited in the snow, rain and cold for the midnight launch of BioShock 2 have spoken and their message is that Rapture still has many fascinating stories to tell,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “Downloadable content is a key part of our efforts to continue to entice the fans that have made 2K a household name – we intend to deliver single and multiplayer content that respects and expands upon one of the greatest fictional worlds ever created.”

Here’s a more detailed description of the first DLC.

Sinclair Solutions Test Pack, the first of several planned downloadable packages, contains a number of customization features that will allow players to further their character’s development in BioShock 2’s multiplayer modes and provide a deeper multiplayer experience. The pack includes:

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

In the coming months, 2K Games will also be publishing downloadable extensions of the single player experience that provide new insight into the world of Rapture. These packages will include more narrative, new tools and new challenges that extend the lore and fiction of the failed Utopia under the sea. Of course, we’ll keep you posted as the details, uh, emerge…

Empowering the EBA Community with a voice to collaboratively review the industry’s hottest titles, the EpicBattleAxe.com uREVIEW (about) delivers real insight from real gamers about The GOOD, The BAD, and The UGLY pertaining to the biggest games in the world. This is the EpicBattleAxe.com uREVIEW for BioShock 2. Let’s get started:
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Ready the spears and mount the horses, its time for another edition of EpicBattleCry! This week, we take a look at the debut trailer for Fallout: New Vegas, cross our fingers in hope that Splinter Cell: Conviction does indeed have a firm release date, say a brief ‘I told you so’ to the news that Episodes From Liberty City is headed to both the PS3 and PC in March, and bemoan the announcement that Microsoft will soon discontinue the original Xbox Live service.

First up in the main course this week, we talk about the recently unveiled Apple iPad. While Apple is certainly presenting their new mobile device as a superior outlet for games, will gamers buy into the new multi-touch platform? Next up, with BioShock 2 and Dante’s Inferno set to release this week, we discuss the literary influence on these two unique games. Will the source material of these titles inspire gamers to delve into the novels from which they sprang, or will everyone be too distracted by the kickassery?

The Battle Cry of the Week goes to Sonic the Hedgehog 4 and the hope it will be a return to form for the fleet-footed-franchise, Just Cause 2 and the hope that the actual gameplay lives up to the level of fun seen in the trailer, the recent BioShock 2 Special Edition Unboxing video and its tease for the forthcoming Über Edition, and Ninja Gaiden, one of the most epic, difficult, and influential titles on the NES.

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What’s up everyone? DK here kicking off another week of Member BattleCries on EpicBattleAxe.com! If you missed out on the conversation last week, we had some really great submissions on the topic of genre defining Action/Adventure games. You can check out the post here and the featured Member BattleCries here.

Now, on to this week’s topic…With the release of BioShock 2 this week, I thought it’d be fun to step back and examine the games or franchises that deliver the deepest sense of immersion…Games dripping with atmosphere and standing apart from the crowd by being ANYTHING BUT GENERIC! The word “Atmospheric” is defined as “creating a distinctive mood”, so with that in mind, I pose the following question to you in this week’s MBC Topic Starter:

WHICH GAME OR FRANCHISE DO YOU CONSIDER THE MOST IMMERSIVE OR ATMOSPHERIC AND WHY?

Of course, the discussion is open to any game, any genre, and really anything you want. Just keep it on topic and let us know your thoughts on the matter if you can pull yourself away from BioShock 2 long enough to do so. We’re also glad to hear from you if you have a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT subject you’d like to sound off on, so feel free to do that in the comments section below as well.

As always, we’ll feature a new Member BattleCry each day here on the ‘Axe and then highlight the Member BattleCry of the week on the next skirmish of the EpicBattleCry video podcast. Also, don’t forget to vote in our poll this week on the key elements that go into making a game immersive!

Alright, I’m looking forward to what you all have to say! Check back daily to see if your MBC has been featured and to see what all of the other ‘Axe Heads are saying.

Peace,
DK

Unboxing vids aren’t generally of the “GREAT” variety, but when you combine a great game, with a great special edition, and a great gag, well…Greatness ensues. Don’t take my word for it though, check out the official BioShock 2 Special Edition unboxing video after the jump…it’s pretty great.
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In case you didn’t know, a little game called BioShock 2 is coming out soon and publisher 2K Games has announced its plans to blow the doors off of the game’s release with a nationwide Return to Rapture including midnight openings, television premieres, and more.

From the press release:

On February 9, more than 2,500 GameStop and Best Buy stores will open their doors when the clock strikes midnight to the hordes of Big Daddy fans hungry to get their hands on and devour BioShock 2. Additionally, those who pre-ordered the game through GameStop will receive two bonus characters – Blanche the Actress and Zigo the Fisherman – to use in the game’s multiplayer mode. The road to the launch of BioShock 2 kicks off tonight, with the debut of a 3 minute 15 second trailer during the first commercial break of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

“One of the most exciting aspects of the original BioShock was how our fans responded with adoration for the game, from creating homemade Big Daddy suits to their own BioShock-inspired art and videos,” said Christoph Hartmann, president, 2K. “We felt it was only fitting to reach out to those passionate fans with nationwide Return to Rapture midnight openings where they can pick up their copy of BioShock 2 as early as possible.” 

And here’s a description of tonight’s commercial:

Debuting during the first commercial block of NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon exclusively in North America, the launch trailer is a realization of the elements that BioShock 2 fans have been clamoring for. Breathtaking action set against the backdrop of a decaying underwater Utopia provides players with the slice of Rapture that awaits them next week, all presented in a style that is distinctively representative of the BioShock universe.

BioShock 2 will be available worldwide on February 9, 2010. For more, hit up one of the following sites:
www.bioshock2game.com, www.cultofrapture.com or www.somethinginthesea.com.

While DLC has become almost as common as a pause menu in video games, it’s always nice to know when AAA titles will receive some post launch lovin’ and, as expected, the upcoming BioShock 2 will be no exception.

Kent Hudson of 2K Martin has confirmed the studio is currently working on DLC for BioShock 2, though it will be without the help of their Australian studio.

“We are working on pretty aggressive plans for DLC and that’s actually something that is already underway. That is something that is mostly being run out of the Marin studio because like I said the Australian studio is already ramping up on the next big thing.”

Though as of now we have no idea what this DLC will be, whether it will expand on the single player gameplay/story, add to the multiplayer or both, and what the DLC will cost (if anything), we will certainly keep you in the loop as more details emerge.  What do you think the DLC will consist of???  Feel free to discuss/toss out ideas below.

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