Irrational Bioshock

[674f40a611405Kolya]

°bioshockQUICK GUIDE: BACKUP: Content\BinkMovies\2KG_logo_720P.bik Unpack into your Bioshock game or demo folder.
This mod changes the startup video of the Bioshock game or demo to show the Irrational Games logo as it appeared in System Shock 2. (As discussed on TTLG)

It is meant as nod to the many gamers who have come to love and support the developer formerly known as Irrational over the years for their great games, including well known titles such as "System Shock 2", "Freedom Force", "Tribes: Vengeance", "Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich", "SWAT 4" and "Bioshock", and to the great women and men who worked on these games.

We acknowledge that their new publisher 2K has played a big part in making Bioshock come true. But many of us were truly disappointed that they renamed Irrational Games just days before the release of Bioshock, deleting a valuable corporate and personal identity. In other words, this is a protest.

This mod is not made by, nor is it supported by Take 2 or 2K.

EDIT: Meanwhile the original logo film by Irrational has surfaced.

[674f40a611584Kolya]

This is a shot of another version I thought about making but it will take some time at least.

[674f40a61170cvarver]

Very nice idea Kolya! :-)
respect

[674f40a6117fdUnicron]

This really is awesome.  A great way to respect one of the finest groups of game developers to ever grace this world.

[674f40a611b3eEnchantermon]

Sorry to resurrect this, but I had to thank you for this Kolya. I laughed out loud when the M rating with the elevator music popped up.
It was kind of small though; is there any chance it could be upscaled somehow without losing quality? Probably too much to ask from such an old video, but I figured I'd throw it out there.
What about that Victrola version? Have you given up on it?

[674f40a611ca1Kolya]

Nah, can't upscale a video without quality loss. I tried it back when I made this and it looked awful. About the second version, yeah, that turned out way too much work, as I would have had to edit every frame individually. There's an error in that screenshot by the way, it should say "Levine and Chey", referring to Jonathan Chey of course, as can be seen here.

Since I'm not going to do anything with it in foreseeable future I'll put up the Photoshop file here for anyone to play around with.

[674f40a611dbeEnchantermon]

Huh. I didn't even notice that Levine and Chey text on the original.
Shame that it can't be larger, but oh well. It serves its purpose quite well.

[674f40a611f23Kolya]

Looks like Irrational Games will be back.

http://www.irrationalgames.com/

[674f40a612099ZylonBane]

Can't say I'm a fan of the new logo. Looks like they just taped together some leftovers from Bioshock's design.

[674f40a6121aaKolya]

I doubt that's the last call. Looks like it would scale quite badly.
Anyway, the article promises "never-before-seen tidbits about games like System Shock 2". This was probably just a poor choice of words by the editor. I can't imagine they'll pull anything but some artwork out of the hat. But hey, surprise me.

[674f40a6122d7Nameless Voice]

The unstripped versions of the rest of the missions would be nice.

[674f40a6123a7Kolya]

Obvious: Dark Engine Source Code.

[674f40a612494Nameless Voice]

I was wondering about that.  They should still have the code for the SS2 engine, at least.

[674f40a61273eKolya]

The new Irrational Games website went online today, a bit prematurely as it seems. It only loads text so far and the counter isn't done yet.

There we find a message from Ken Levine, promising to explain "what all the fuzz is about", but instead of losing any words about the re-renaming of his company, he goes on about the secrets this site holds. How many websites do they have by now, that are marketing platforms with that arcane angle?

Anyway, it looks like a big project including a blog, a podcast (hilariously named "Irrational Behaviour"), a forum, a section on past projects including System Shock 2, a section about the studio, a flickr page and so on.

It will be interesting to see what the site turns into and how they bridge the gap between their old fans and Bioshock fans which are largely not the same group.

As Irrational Games (formerly known as 2K Boston) they're acknowledging their history again and try to get back in touch with their fan community. And yet Ken Levine omits their very recent name change and goes straight back into Mystic-Marketing-Mode™. He must have had a seminar on that at 2K.

- Related thread on TTLG
- IG employees playing Space Hulk board game

[674f40a612bbdVictim]

It will be interesting to see what the site turns into and how they bridge the gap between their old fans and Bioshock fans which are largely not the same group.

I find it surprising that you'd even suggest that such a thing could be possible much less in the best interests of the 'new' Irrational. And given that I'm lazy, I'll copy/paste what I typed in response to the ign.au Irrational announcement:

"I lost a fair chunk of respect for Ken and the team when Bioshock was released. At the same time, I understood that they were making a game to fit us all and that that likely wasn't the teams ultimate goal, but rather an imposed directive (regardless of the subtlety with which it was applied) from the monsters upstairs. Given the opportunity to distance themselves, I like to think that they might reinstate the kind of intellectual freedom that has contributed to the sadness at a great name once thought lost forever. Unfortunately I've been on the scene for long enough to know better."

Yes, I may be considered to be ultra pessimistic but as I'm also a fan of various other exceptional games which have since seen their creators succumb to the Mass-Appeal-Money-Machine. 

I believe my feelings to be justified.

[674f40a612d3aKolya]

Let's not get too emotional about this. Take2 are no "monsters" and making money isn't a bad thing. The System Shock games would have never been made if there had been no money in it.
And of course it's in Irrational's best interest to have as broad a fan-base as possible.

That said, so far there are no secrets or anything of interest on Irrational's SS2 page. In the forums people ask for a re-release which IG is unable to provide of course. No surprises here.

[674f40a612eeaquidam]

I have something that may be of interest.

During the summer of 2007, before the name change from Irrational to 2K Boston was announced, the studio logo movie had already been created.  That asset had to be redone after the name change.

Here is the original file:

http://www.mediafire.com/?ter6qx64c7uxzfb

You'll have to rename it to 2KG_logo_720P.bik and place it in Content\BinkMovies\.

I figured that because Irrational has since reclaimed its name, it would be nice to let players who care reinstate that name into Bioshock.

Long live Irrational Games, and all the talented and wonderful people who worked on Bioshock.

[674f40a612ff4Kolya]

Now that is a nice find!
I've added it as an attachment to your post to make sure it never gets lost.

[674f40a6130e4Enchantermon]

How cool! Thanks for posting this!