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BioShock 3 Confirmed Despite Lack of BioShock 2

The opposable thumbs blog is reporting that despite a lack of BioShock 2, a third installment of the BioShock universe has been confirmed. "Take Two's Chairman Strauss Zelnick let the news slip during a conference call to investors. The third installment will apparently be strongly linked to the also recently-announced BioShock movie. 'Its unlikely the picture would be released coincident with BioShock 2,' Strauss said of the upcoming film. 'It's more likely it would be released coincident with BioShock 3.'"

96 comments

  1. Verb Tense is Your Friend. by Bieeanda · · Score: 4, Insightful
    'It's more likely it would be released coincident with BioShock 3.'

    The operative word here is WOULD. Not WILL, but WOULD.

    The only implication here is that the movie will take roughly two game development cycles to produce.

    1. Re:Verb Tense is Your Friend. by IthnkImParanoid · · Score: 5, Funny

      If verb tense is your friend it's likely unique in that regard. :)

      --
      It's nothing but crumpled porno and Ayn Rand.
    2. Re:Verb Tense is Your Friend. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mean mood rather than tense.
      Will is future tense, this is a subjunctive.

    3. Re:Verb Tense is Your Friend. by Hambone_dot_exe · · Score: 1

      It's nothing but crumpled porno and Ayn Rand. Which are exactly the two concepts that shouldn't be next to each other in a sentence, like, ever.
    4. Re:Verb Tense is Your Friend. by Enlightenment · · Score: 1

      I abandoned Ayn Rand in favor of crumpled porno?

    5. Re:Verb Tense is Your Friend. by Mozk · · Score: 1

      I think it's more conditional mood than subjunctive mood.

      --
      No existe.
  2. Doesn't quite sound like a confirmation to me by Gat0r30y · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Sounds more like BioShock 2 will come out well before the movie, and so if a game release was coincident with the movie release it wouldn't be BioShock2.

    --
    Prediction: The real iPhone killer is going to be sex robots from Japan. Think about it.
    1. Re:Doesn't quite sound like a confirmation to me by SQLGuru · · Score: 1

      I'd like to think of it as the solution to the Star Trek movie problem......if only the odd ones are good, skip the even ones, conversely, if only the even ones are good, skip the odd.

      Layne

    2. Re:Doesn't quite sound like a confirmation to me by Garganus · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yeah, this is like a programmer muttering that Spore'll hit shelves right after Duke Nukem Forever, which is going GM right after the end of World War III.
      "Insider Sources: WWIII CONFIRMED!"

    3. Re:Doesn't quite sound like a confirmation to me by MaXMC · · Score: 1

      "Insider Sources: WWIII CONFIRMED!" WWIII is that the next console from Nintendo? ;)
  3. BioShock is one thing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... But can someone please resurrect the System Shock series? I miss SHODAN.

    1. Re:BioShock is one thing... by IthnkImParanoid · · Score: 2, Interesting

      SHODAN was a great nemesis, sure, but doesn't it get old and predictable fighting the same enemy ad nauseum? (You'll be sorry when she becomes a farce and joins Bowser on a cart racing game.)

      System Shock 2 was awesome largely because you didn't know it was SHODAN until halfway through.

      --
      It's nothing but crumpled porno and Ayn Rand.
    2. Re:BioShock is one thing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "System Shock 2 was awesome largely because you didn't know it was SHODAN until halfway through."

      You knew she was going to pop up sooner or later, her face is right on the box cover after all!

    3. Re:BioShock is one thing... by somersault · · Score: 1

      System Shock 2 was awesome largely because you didn't know it was SHODAN until halfway through. Well, there's one interesting but fucking scary/tense game demo that I never need to play the full game of.. :p
      --
      which is totally what she said
    4. Re:BioShock is one thing... by triso · · Score: 1

      [...]
      System Shock 2 was awesome largely because you didn't know it was SHODAN until halfway through. Don't worry 'bout spoilers 'cause no one is going to be playing SS2 anytime soon. It doesn't run under NT, XP, Wine--nothing but Windows 95/98 thanks to a crappy 32-bit library that doesn't work with 32-bit systems (NT and above).
  4. kinda weak by ILuvRamen · · Score: 1

    Yeah and then he added "If there's was a Bioshock 3 but really it's just going to be too late for Bioshock 2 and I just said it would be at the same time as 3 so you'd know it was after 2 but we're not necessarrily making 3" That's how I read it lol.

    --
    Google's Super Secret Search Algorithm: SELECT @search_results FROM internet WHERE @search_results = 'good'
    1. Re:kinda weak by curmudgeous · · Score: 1

      Booger, shut up.

      "It's been swell but the swelling's gone down."

    2. Re:kinda weak by GradiusCVK · · Score: 1

      Yeah and then he added "If there's was a Bioshock 3 but really it's just going to be too late for Bioshock 2 and I just said it would be at the same time as 3 so you'd know it was after 2 but we're not necessarrily making 3" That's how I read it lol. Thanks, that really cleared it up for me. ?
  5. In other words: by Volatar · · Score: 1

    Has there ever been a skipped number in a series of games? If there is going to be a 3, there is going to be a 2.

    Prove me wrong.

    1. Re:In other words: by khellendros1984 · · Score: 1

      Just for you, Volatar, I'll become a major game developer and produce a series that only has a first game and a third one.

      --
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    2. Re:In other words: by Volatar · · Score: 1

      You would? I am honored :D

    3. Re:In other words: by JebusIsLord · · Score: 2, Informative

      In the US at least: Final Fantasy 1, 2, 3 then 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12...

      of course 2 and 3 were actually 4 and 6 in Japan, so we really skipped 2, 3 and 5.

      --
      Jeremy
    4. Re:In other words: by Nephilium · · Score: 4, Informative

      Yep. Leisure Suit Larry made a 3 and a 5, but never made 4.

      Nephilium

    5. Re:In other words: by Lilith's+Heart-shape · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but Square eventually translated and released the ones it didn't bother to when they were new.

    6. Re:In other words: by Jor-Al · · Score: 1

      That's a completely different situation. The person was asking if the developers ever skipped over a number when doing a series of games which did not happen in Final Fantasy.

    7. Re:In other words: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Leisure Suit Larry

    8. Re:In other words: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      on an internal tool we jumped from version 3 to version 5, but thats because versions 1-3 were pieces of crap so our version 5 was written entirely from scratch to perform the same functions (or in this case to actually perform the functions is was designed to do)

    9. Re:In other words: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Try Marathon Infinity.
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon_Infinity

    10. Re:In other words: by Drooling+Iguana · · Score: 5, Funny

      Super Mario 64.

      --
      ... I'm addicted to placebos
    11. Re:In other words: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      actually, bungie made the largest version increase ever, skipping almost every number when they went from Marathon 2 to Marathon Infinity:)
      and dont leave out the Aleph One project.

    12. Re:In other words: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Has there ever been a skipped number in a series of games? If there is going to be a 3, there is going to be a 2.

      Prove me wrong. The Leisure Suit Larry series. Al Lowe said there would never be a 4th game. So it went from game 3 to game 5 so he would still keep his word on that.
    13. Re:In other words: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Leisure Suit Larry 4 was intentionally skipped.

    14. Re:In other words: by parisjackson · · Score: 0

      Yes, this has happened - serveral times. Usually due to the US skipping a couple Jap sequels. There is a super funny "Angry Gamer" video about this phenomina. Look it up on youtube.

    15. Re:In other words: by Alzheimers · · Score: 1

      Maybe not in Games, but certainly in Movies:

      Witness: House IV

    16. Re:In other words: by Alzheimers · · Score: 1
    17. Re:In other words: by LandDolphin · · Score: 1

      I feel a little sad inside thinking about how much I laughed at this.

      --
      Spelling and Grammar errors have been added to this post for your enjoyment
    18. Re:In other words: by Volatar · · Score: 1

      That was not named IV until I happened.

    19. Re:In other words: by AdamThor · · Score: 1

      I think it would perhaps be interesting to skip game 2. Game 3 would pretend to presume you had knowledge of Game 2, and you-the-player would have a strong knowledge dissonance with you-the-charecter. I think of one of my favorite moments in TV - watching the Cowboy Bebob episode in the casino, having missed the first 5 min of the show (and it being ~2nd episode of it I had ever seen). Figuring out WTF was going on only as the show progressed really made the plot elements *snap* as they fell into place.

      But then I really enjoy media about the interplay of order and chaos.

      Skipping game 2 could be an interesting experiment in narrative structure.

      --
      -- "Oh. This guy again."
    20. Re:In other words: by Pope · · Score: 1

      Incorrect. It was always "Episode IV", as a nod to the old serials Lucas loved as a kid (and was supposed to make the audience feel like they were dropped in the middle of something). The subtitle "A New Hope" was added for re-release prints when "Empire Strikes Back" was confirmed for production.

      --
      It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
    21. Re:In other words: by mixmatch · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure how that merits skipping a version. If the desired effect is to create separation with the previous junk program, wouldn't it be a better idea to rename it? Or maybe you are trying to say that 1-3 were junk partly because your organization is not too big on logic? Finally, it is possible that you are somehow trying to say you work for Nullsoft without getting in trouble...

    22. Re:In other words: by Taibhsear · · Score: 1

      Actually LSL4 was in production and almost finished IIRC. The disks were lost in the office or stolen. I'm at work right now though so I'm afraid to look for citations... But it's out there. Google it.

    23. Re:In other words: by hedwards · · Score: 1

      Asian companies will do it sometimes when the number would be offensive to the local culture. While not strictly software, Canon skipped from G3 to G5 because of a resemblance between the character for 4 and the one for death. Or something very similar to that.

      Which is a bit odd considering they then went on to name their lower end DSLRs rebels.

    24. Re:In other words: by Hatta · · Score: 2, Informative

      Not quite. "The missing floppies" was a joke title. Here(and here) is the real story from Al Lowe himself.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    25. Re:In other words: by JCSoRocks · · Score: 1

      Dr. Evil skipped straight to H for his release - Our early attempts at a tractor beam went through several preparations. Preparations A through G were a complete failure. But now, ladies and gentlemen, we finally have a working tractor beam, which we shall call... Preparation H.

      --
      You are using English. Please learn the difference between loose and lose; they're, there, and their; your and you're.
    26. Re:In other words: by 4D6963 · · Score: 1

      Yep. Leisure Suit Larry made a 3 and a 5, but never made 4.

      Nephilium

      Argh you bastard you beat me to it! That was quite an ingenuous device plot though (to pretend LSL 4 happened but that Larry couldn't remember a thing)
      --
      You just got troll'd!
    27. Re:In other words: by TheLoneDanger · · Score: 2, Interesting

      According to wikipedia, Mario appeared in 53 games before Super Mario 64. So, 64 really isn't that far off. There might be some other brief Mario cameos in other games, or games that were killed in development that had Mario as well.

      --

      "But I trust in the people's capacity for reflection, rage and rebellion." -Oscar Olivera
    28. Re:In other words: by Alpha+Whisky · · Score: 3, Funny

      Ha, that's nothing, Windows went from version 3.11 straight to 95.

      --
      it's = it is

      its = belonging to it

    29. Re:In other words: by notamisfit · · Score: 1

      Al Lowe in the "Leisure Suit Larry" series.

      --
      Jesus is coming -- look busy!
    30. Re:In other words: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Incorrect. It was always "Episode IV" [...] The subtitle "A New Hope" was added for re-release prints when "Empire Strikes Back" was confirmed for production.
      Incorrect. "Episode IV" was added at the same time as "A New Hope". It was referred to as "Episode I" for a while during production, though, and that was indeed a nod to the serials that inspired Lucas to create his own space opera masterpiece.

      Heck, you'd think people could get this kind of stuff right... it's only a few weeks since http://www.secrethistoryofstarwars.com/ was publicised right here on Slashdot...
    31. Re:In other words: by captjc · · Score: 1

      Ah, My favorite game...LSL 4: The Case of the Missing Floppies

      Something about a bottle of tequila and a long night in Tijuana.

      --
      Slow Down Cowboy! It's been 1 hour, 47 minutes since you last successfully posted a comment
    32. Re:In other words: by Qetu · · Score: 1
    33. Re:In other words: by Shipwack · · Score: 1

      Don't forget the "Madness of King George III"

    34. Re:In other words: by Caboosian · · Score: 1

      Marathon 2 -> Marathon Infinity.

    35. Re:In other words: by Taibhsear · · Score: 1

      Hmm. It appears I fell for the joke then all those years ago... Maybe I just really wanted it to be true so we could one day read a slashdot article about someone finding the long lost larry 4 disks.

    36. Re:In other words: by bhtooefr · · Score: 1

      Not a game, but Netscape skipped version 5.

      Of course, that's partially because 5 was already in development when the decision was made to go with Gecko instead.

    37. Re:In other words: by donscarletti · · Score: 1

      Yes, the Battlefield series skipped 2140 version numbers between the third and fourth instalments after going backwards 1940 versions between the first and third (the second wasn't numbered).

      --
      When Argumentum ad Hominem falls short, try Argumentum ad Matrem
    38. Re:In other words: by hampton · · Score: 1

      It was because Larry doesn't believe in "four"play.

    39. Re:In other words: by Tuidjy · · Score: 1

      Lazy Larry skipped a number. It's been a while, so I do not remember which.
      Probably four, as I am drawing a blank for the plot. Yes, I'm that pathetic,
      I remember Lazy Larry's plots :-)

      --
      No good deed goes unpunished...
  6. Surprised? by hansamurai · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Is anyone really surprised at this? Bioshock was very successful late last year and has been heralded as having one of the best stories in recent memory. If you would have told me there were going to be less than three games I would have been surprised, writes love trilogies, and so do consumers.

    1. Re:Surprised? by Volatar · · Score: 1

      I am also not surprised. It does not take much praise to make a sequel, and Bioshock won several GOTY awards.

      Personally though, I though the game's story was rubbish.

  7. This just in... by Jor-Al · · Score: 1

    ScuttleMonkey is confirmed to be the worst editor of stories on Slashdot.

    1. Re:This just in... by moderatorrater · · Score: 1

      I wonder if they take turns purposely misreading the story and making a summary that's deliberately misleading. KDawson, Zonk, and now ScuttleMonkey. I understand occasionally making mistakes, but it seems like some editors seem to post story after story that's pure bullshit. This is at least the third from ScuttleMonkey in the past weeks where I feel like he's completely missed the point.

    2. Re:This just in... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They aren't paid to read by Collabnet.

  8. Sequels?! by EricR86 · · Score: 1

    Of a successful game?! NO WAY. This is going to really change how games are made...

  9. It is a theoretical construct by joeflies · · Score: 1

    Much like at the end of Rush Hour 2's bloopers, Chris Tucker ad-libs upon the death of a bad guy "He's not going to appear in Rush Hour 3". That was in no way a confirmation that Rush Hour 3 was going to be produced, in fact it was a long way off from it. It was use of the language to simply show that an arbitrary point of time would coincide with a possible future event, of which a sequel fits the definition of a future event.

  10. Spaceballs by dazedNconfuzed · · Score: 5, Funny

    Bioshock 3: The Search for Bioshock 2

    --
    Can we get a "-1 Wrong" moderation option?
    1. Re:Spaceballs by jdinkel · · Score: 1

      Dangeresque 3: Dangeresque, too?

  11. Re:HOW ABOUT A SPOILER ALERT, YOU IGNORANT FUCKSTI by Jor-Al · · Score: 1

    He...He's not going to say fuck stick in front of the children, is he?

  12. Don't worry by Alzheimers · · Score: 1

    Aren't the 3rd episodes always the ones where they go into space?

    Mmm, Bioshock in Space...imagine how awesome that would be!

    1. Re:Don't worry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      imagine if the 'bad guy was an out of control AI as well, that you had to enter 'cyberspace' to defeat...

    2. Re:Don't worry by Sabz5150 · · Score: 0, Redundant

      Mmm, Bioshock in Space...imagine how awesome that would be! We could call it something like... Halo.
      --
      "Who modded this informative? Whoever it is must've been smokin' some of that martian pot!"
    3. Re:Don't worry by Spatial · · Score: 2, Informative
    4. Re:Don't worry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tardy to the party?

  13. Re:HOW ABOUT A SPOILER ALERT, YOU IGNORANT FUCKSTI by navygeek · · Score: 1

    Yes, let's put up a spoiler alert for a game that's 9 years old. Good call hoss. Your attempt at being ironic, at least I hope this is what you were going for, fails on many, many levels.

  14. Sonny Bono was the ignorant fsckutick by tepples · · Score: 1

    Yes, let's put up a spoiler alert for a game that's 9 years old. It's only 9 years old. That's an order of magnitude less than the age for it being universally acceptable to post a spoiler of a given work. That time comes once the work has been published 95 years ago and the creative leads have been dead for 70.
  15. Best story? by antdude · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I think not. System Shock 2 had a better story and game.

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    1. Re:Best story? by hansamurai · · Score: 1

      Actually I had System Shock 2 in mind when I wrote my original post, which is why I specifically said "in recent memory." Nine years is nearly a lifetime in terms of video games. But yeah, I agree.

    2. Re:Best story? by antdude · · Score: 1

      Has it been nine years? Wow. SHODAN needs to return. Unfortuantely, she can't at this time. :(

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    3. Re:Best story? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ultima VII is probably the best RPG ever, in terms of story and believable game world. System Shock 2 has the best atmosphere for any "FPS RPG" (where you don't actually interact with NPCs). Bioshock basically takes SS2's game mechanics but replaces the game world and story with something a lot sillier and less believable. It looks very nice (a bit too dark - some map designers seem to confuse atmosphere with lack of light), but you just feel like you're fighting your way through a series of game maps, you never feel as if you're in a real place, like you did with SS2.

  16. Prequals are easy by psyque · · Score: 1

    SimRapture anyone?

  17. Overt Wish Fulfillment and Underpants Gnomes by Hambone_dot_exe · · Score: 1

    No, no, no, I totally get what Zelnick's doing here.

    BioShock 1: BioShock, you know, One.
    BioShock 2: null
    BioShock 3: Profit!

  18. Re:HOW ABOUT A SPOILER ALERT, YOU IGNORANT FUCKSTI by Hatta · · Score: 1

    Just because it's old doesn't mean everyone's played it yet. System Shock 1 & 2 were on my queue to get played soon, I may have to put them off for a couple years now so I can forget what I just read.

    --
    Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
  19. 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 64 by tepples · · Score: 2, Informative

    And not only did Super Mario skip everything from 5 through 63 (SMW was 4), but it also had two 2's. SMB2: The Lost Levels was a level hack of SMB1, while SMB2: Mario Madness was a graphics hack of Doki Doki Panic.

    1. Re:1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 64 by Culture20 · · Score: 1

      Don't forget SMB -1 and 0 (Donkey Kong and [non-super] Mario Brothers)

  20. I don't see how a sequel could work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The storyline of the first game pretty much completely cleared up every loose end.

    1. Re:I don't see how a sequel could work by JCSoRocks · · Score: 1

      There are always prequels... I agree that aside from doing something ridiculous like taking the game to some completely different location where you happen to have the same types of powers available to you there wasn't much left that you could build a chronological sequel off of. I could see a game based on Rapture before you got there in BioShock 1 though.

      --
      You are using English. Please learn the difference between loose and lose; they're, there, and their; your and you're.
  21. Different characters, same city? (Spoilers) by JSBiff · · Score: 1

    IIRC (it's been like six months since I played it), the first game didn't end with the destruction of the city, leaving open the possibility for someone to come in and assume power. Maybe the german scientist lady, or someone else. I thought the ending rather didn't tie up a lot of loose ends. Also, just because it shows the player character growing old, doesn't mean there aren't further adventures in the character's life between when you leave rapture the first time, and when you grow old.

  22. Some additional thoughts by JSBiff · · Score: 1

    I thought about this more and, sci-fi has a long history of bringing back 'dead' antagonists. There's no reason why the Bioshock writer's couldn't potentially bring up some cliche, cheezy thing like Tony Fountain had a clone of himself that was activated after you defeated him, or Ryan might have had a trick like that up his sleeve. I mean, we *are* talking about a game centered around genetic engineering sci fi, which already stretches the theoretical potential of genetic engineering from the plausible to the extremely improbable.

        Heck, maybe Ryan and Tony just popped out of the nearest Vita-Chamber when you defeated them (I mean, if you could be revived by the Vita-Chambers, why not the villain?). That would be the simplest explanation for the devs to use.

    Actually, one thing that occurs to me would be an awesome gameplay twist in one of the sequels is if you, in order to achieve the mission objectives, have to, somewhere near the end of the game, shutdown all the Vita Chambers (thus forcing the player into a sequence somewhere, where defeat isn't an option - not too long of a sequence, mind you, or that could get very very frustrating, but still could be an interesting story/gameplay interaction).

    1. Re:Some additional thoughts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Heck, maybe Ryan and Tony just popped out of the nearest Vita-Chamber when you defeated them (I mean, if you could be revived by the Vita-Chambers, why not the villain?). That would be the simplest explanation for the devs to use.
      Didn't Ryan "choose" to die by disabling the vita-chamber in his office?
  23. Not looking forward to it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If the path from System Shock1, System shock2, Bioshock1,2,3 continues...

    Bioshock 3 will have only one control button, which will double for both 'move forward' and 'fire'.
    The computer will choose which action is appropriate at which time.

    It will autosave every 20ms, and if you die you will instantly continue from the last autosave.

    There will be no inventory, or items. Weapons will be chosen for you, and the computer will randomly state 'oh you've upgraded. How clever of you'. They will look amazing and make huge explosions.

    The plot will be labyrinthine and complex, but you will not be required to understand any of it to complete the game.

    The game box will include a pacifier and a 35 DVD ROMs, to try and make you ignore the fact that watching a DVD actually has more user interaction.

  24. Re:HOW ABOUT A SPOILER ALERT, YOU IGNORANT F by Culture20 · · Score: 1

    Don't worry, the plot was obvious to anyone paying attention.

  25. Bioshock 2... does exist? by TheSambassador · · Score: 2, Informative

    The opposable thumbs blog is reporting that despite a lack of BioShock 2 Did people not see this?
    1. Re:Bioshock 2... does exist? by Jor-Al · · Score: 2, Informative

      You have to realize that the summary was written by ScuttleMonkey. That means you are getting something written inaccurately by a moron.

  26. Aww, man. . . by JSBiff · · Score: 1

    Now I gotta go play the dern game again, lol. I can't honestly remember. I do seem to remember there was some definite choice, almost a suicide aspect, to his death. I'm still not sure Fountain couldn't have popped out of a vita-chamber; he rather seemed to want to live.

  27. BioShock 3 pictures by aamirshah1 · · Score: 0

    Well good news. And for you all gaming fans i have a link. It contains the pictures of BioShock 3. http://www.searchnani.com/search/Bioshock-3/3-1.html