Topic: Bioshock demo up on Xbox Live Marketplace

[idolminds]

Go for it.

We'll hear more about a PC demo tomorrow, if not the demo itself.

[MysterD]

360'ers are getting a nice present before the game comes out...
I bet Que will be all over this 360 Demo.

....Hmmmm, so is the PC version getting a demo...?

EDIT:
Yuh, I can't wait for tomorrow to find out if and when this PC demo's coming!

[Quemaqua]

I knew it was going to be a fucking 360 demo.  I'm so fucking sick of console popularity.  No, D, I won't be getting the demo because I don't have an HD for my 360.  I'm sure a PC demo will be forthcoming, but why the hell couldn't they just do the shit simultaneously?  My guess is because somebody paid them to let the 360 demo be first.  Arg...

EDIT - Wow, it seems a lot more people are a lot more angsty than I am.  I have mild annoyance, but there's a bunch of people that are super pissed, complaining about how Irrational was a PC developer first, blah blah.  Jeez, guys, it's just a demo.  I mean, I get the angst because I've always had the same anger when a fan base was made on the PC side of things and then a company or series went console-only, but I don't think this is *that* bad.  Enough to say "Fucking 360" for a minute until you get over it, but not enough for some of the serious ranting.

Anyway, I guess the demo is like a lot more popular than they thought, which is a good sign for Irrational.  Apparently a lot of people can't even get onto Live to grab it.  That's great news!

[Quemaqua]

From Ken Levine himself:

Guys, the PC demo is simply not ready. The pc development was always a bit behind because we had more time to finish things (no submission to MS). The PC game will therefore have a bit more polish (and a couple more features like turning off loot highlight options) that 360 doesn't have.


It'll be out as soon as possible.

It makes no difference to all the people who are pissed, sadly.  I mean, it's good to know that he responded so quickly to the backlash, but I doubt people are going to feel better.  It still means PC gamers aren't likely to get a demo before the game actually releases, which means it's essentially completely useless to us.  That's a shame.  Hopefully it at least means that people can stop being so IDEOLOGICALLY pissed, however, which is really the worse problem.

[ScaryTooth]

Downloading the demo now. Buying it for PC, but it won't hurt to mess with it on 360.

Should be done by the time we get back from watching meteors.

[Quemaqua]

Do give us your thoughts.  And you too Pyro!

[JacksRag(e)]

Attempting the download...but it keeps hanging.  It's mighty frustrating.

[Quemaqua]

For many folks.  From the boards:

You guys realize this is happening to everyone right? It's because everyone is DLing it at the same time. This game is going to be awesome and everyone wants the demo. Its the servers being bogged down. Some people even said their Marketplace Blade is not appearing, its like crashing live haha.

GO BIOSHOCK!

[JacksRag(e)]

Yea, I figured as much that that was happening.  I'm just sad that my connection isn't being utilized to its full potential. 
That, and I haven't been this excited over a game since, well, ever.

[Quemaqua]

I'm with you, brother.  The difficulty of the wait has done irreversible damage to my nervous system.

[iPPi]

Sweet, I think I'll grab it tonight when I get home from work.

[JacksRag(e)]

I just played it, and it was unbelievably awesome.  I've never liked playing shooters on a console, ever.  But this was so easy to pick up and just get into that I almost forgot I was playing it on an Xbox.  The controls are perfectly tuned, I think.  I had no problem controlling and everything just felt intuitive.  I was afraid the control scheme might be too complicated, but not so.
The graphics were gorgeous, and the atmosphere was intense.  The tension was palpable; you almost didn't want to look around half the time because you weren't sure if something or someone was gonna jump out at you.  It was just...wonderful.  The game feels wonderfully polished, I can't imagine how great the PC version will be, either.  This makes the wait even more unbearable.

[Cobra951]

I knew it was going to be a fucking 360 demo.  I'm so fucking sick of console popularity.  No, D, I won't be getting the demo because I don't have an HD for my 360.  I'm sure a PC demo will be forthcoming, but why the hell couldn't they just do the shit simultaneously?  My guess is because somebody paid them to let the 360 demo be first.  Arg...

EDIT - Wow, it seems a lot more people are a lot more angsty than I am.  I have mild annoyance, but there's a bunch of people that are super pissed, complaining about how Irrational was a PC developer first, blah blah.  Jeez, guys, it's just a demo.  I mean, I get the angst because I've always had the same anger when a fan base was made on the PC side of things and then a company or series went console-only, but I don't think this is *that* bad.  Enough to say "Fucking 360" for a minute until you get over it, but not enough for some of the serious ranting.

Anyway, I guess the demo is like a lot more popular than they thought, which is a good sign for Irrational.  Apparently a lot of people can't even get onto Live to grab it.  That's great news!

I guess if I was still a PC gamer first, I'd feel bad about it too, except I would know in any case that game companies are going to follow the money.  I can't see having a temper tantrum over it.

I'm downloading this right now.  Thanks for the news.  If it doesn't disappoint, I'll be picking up the game ASAP.

[MysterD]

Guys, the PC demo is simply not ready.

Dammit! I was hoping to get my hands on a demo like.....NOW or in the next few days, BEFORE the PC version gets released.

The pc development was always a bit behind because we had more time to finish things (no submission to MS).

That's a good up-side, then -- more polish is what PC games need and deserve.

The PC game will therefore have a bit more polish (and a couple more features like turning off loot highlight options) that 360 doesn't have.

Ooooh @ the "highlighting loot options" to be turned on and off -- I always liked that feature that are in RPG games like Bioware games, Titan Quest and Dungeon Siege games, where you just press a key while playing -- and it just shows and highlights every item in the world you can interact and/or pick-up, so you can see what the hell you can interact w/.

Some games, eh -- it's like a pixel hunt to almost find what the hell you can interact w/, pick up, etc etc!

It makes no difference to all the people who are pissed, sadly.  I mean, it's good to know that he responded so quickly to the backlash, but I doubt people are going to feel better.  It still means PC gamers aren't likely to get a demo before the game actually releases, which means it's essentially completely useless to us.  That's a shame.  Hopefully it at least means that people can stop being so IDEOLOGICALLY pissed, however, which is really the worse problem.

It's a shame the PC version demo ain't coming before the game's release, but oh well....

...I probably am buying this thing for the PC upon release or not too long after its release, anyways.

[beo]

the atmosphere and graphics are superb. it's certainly the most beautiful game i've ever played or seen, but from the demo it's hard to tell much about the rest of it. the gameplay didn't seem to stray far outside of the box, and there wasn't much of an exploration element involved either. it looks immensely pretty, but from the demo it's difficult to say much else about it.

[Cobra951]

Yeah, but wow, what an intro.  Ooh!  That was amazing.  It looks so good and moves so well.  The mechanics seem pretty good.  I bumped the controller sensitivity from 50 to 55, and that seemed perfect.  (60 was too much, I thought.)  Having an old instrumental version of "La Mer" ("The Sea") playing in the sphere was a great touch.  I love that song, and I actually listened to the whole thing before getting in.  I'm not going to spoil the rest of it.  I'll just say there's no way I'm going to miss this.

[JacksRag(e)]

the atmosphere and graphics are superb. it's certainly the most beautiful game i've ever played or seen, but from the demo it's hard to tell much about the rest of it. the gameplay didn't seem to stray far outside of the box, and there wasn't much of an exploration element involved either. it looks immensely pretty, but from the demo it's difficult to say much else about it.

Well, we can't get much of an idea about the exploration element yet since what we're playing is probably the first 10 minutes or so of gameplay.  I wouldn't worry too much about that part, I think.

[MysterD]

Yeah, but wow, what an intro.  Ooh!  That was amazing.  It looks so good and moves so well.  The mechanics seem pretty good.  I bumped the controller sensitivity from 50 to 55, and that seemed perfect.  (60 was too much, I thought.)  Having an old instrumental version of "La Mer" ("The Sea") playing in the sphere was a great touch.  I love that song, and I actually listened to the whole thing before getting in.  I'm not going to spoil the rest of it.  I'll just say there's no way I'm going to miss this.

Whoa -- The NIN song from The Fragile (double) album is in there?

[idolminds]

I couldn't decide which thread to put this in...so I just picked this one.

You know how they did a vote for what should be in the collectors edition? Well, the soundtrack and figurine won but sadly the artbook didn't.

Our loss is...our gain. Or something. They released the artbook for a free download. PDF format in two versions: a smaller version for quick download and perusing and a big high res version that you can take to a printer and get a real book made out of it. Pretty kickass.

Read the page, though. They warn that you may not want to read the foreword of the art book because it has some spoilery stuff in it. Other than that, art on.

[ScaryTooth]

Damn, that was fucking sweet. The atmosphere is incredible. It was really creepy. Controls are nice and tight, very intuitive, and felt spot on. The sound is beautiful. Love "somewhere beyond the sea" playing in the background there at the beginning. It fits the game perfect. The voice work is great, from Atlas to hearing Splicers around corners. This game is going to be fuckin' boss. Sick as hell. 

I don't really want to spoil even the little tidbits at the beginning. I can tell you that this game is going to be something special.

I'm gonna go play thought it over and over again.

[MysterD]

I couldn't decide which thread to put this in...so I just picked this one.

You know how they did a vote for what should be in the collectors edition? Well, the soundtrack and figurine won but sadly the artbook didn't.

Our loss is...our gain. Or something. They released the artbook for a free download. PDF format in two versions: a smaller version for quick download and perusing and a big high res version that you can take to a printer and get a real book made out of it. Pretty kickass.

Read the page, though. They warn that you may not want to read the foreword of the art book because it has some spoilery stuff in it. Other than that, art on.

Releasing the artbook in PDF for FREE = AWESOME.

DOWNLOADING this in HI-RES and LO-RES.

Kudos to Irrational/2K Boston-Austrailia.

[beo]

Well, we can't get much of an idea about the exploration element yet since what we're playing is probably the first 10 minutes or so of gameplay.  I wouldn't worry too much about that part, I think.

oh yeah, i'm completely un-worried! from what i can tell, it looks like it's going to be as good as we were all hoping, i was just trying to say that it's a bit pre-emptive to judge much based on the tiny confines of the demo. the graphics and sound are the only things that really get to show off in the demo, but the tiny glimpse we get at the game world is highly cinematic and utterly awe inspiring. and yes cobra, i completely agree - the intro is amazing.

[Quemaqua]

Just so you know, I completely hate you all.

But yeah, so far I haven't heard a single negative complaint about the demo whatsoever, and that's pretty rare.  This game has gotten nothing but love so far on all counts, the only bad spot being the PC gamers who didn't get the demo they were so hoping for.  I feel their pain.  Nonetheless, I am looking forward to the 21st with much longing.  It's really starting to drive me a bit mad.

And that art book... I couldn't be happier!  What an awesome thing to do.  I'm going to have to look into options for getting it printed.  Need to take it somewhere and spend a bit more for a really good binding.

EDIT - Also, Elizabeth (the 2k community manager who runs the Cult of Rapture site) had this to say today:

After the appearance of the BioShock Demo on Xbox 360™ last night, I’m sure many of you PC fans wondered, “What about us?”

Here’s the deal.

A BioShock PC Demo IS coming. We tried as hard as humanly possible to get it out to you guys simultaneously with the 360 demo, but we needed to make sure that it was perfect -- that all drivers were ready, and that the game looked great on a huge variety of computers.

Currently, the PC demo in its final stages of testing and approval. We are pushing to get it out to you as soon as possible. It will be out during the month of August, and everyone is working at full capacity to deliver it to you before the game hits store shelves on August 21st. I will also let you know as soon as I have an exact date for the demo's release, so please stay tuned.

I cannot express enough how sorry I am for the wait. Thank you for understanding and your patience. Just remember -- only eight days left till you get your hands on the full game.

I’ll let you know where to get the demo as soon as it becomes available.

They really just should have been saying all this up front instead of making people wait for the announcement and then get disappointed.  That's really a shame.  I don't think anyone is mad at them any longer, just disappointed that it was sort of handled stupidly.  People got their hopes up (and from all of you who played the demo, I'm sure you can see just why).

Anyway, at least it's all settled down now.  I do hope we get the demo soon, though, because I really need to assuage my fears that this thing is going to kill my rig.

[MysterD]

Well, the free PDF art book does help me get over the lack of a PC demo being released right about....NOW!

[JacksRag(e)]

I just keep playing the demo over and over again.  I love how you can use all of your powers in different ways and play the exact same sequence of events in different manners.  Sometimes I just hack the bots and let them do all the fighting.  Sometimes I'll electrocute the crap out of people, sometimes I'll incinerate them, most of the time I'll just end up doing both.  Though it's just as satisfying filling them full of lead, too.

[Ghandi]

Just so you know, I completely hate you all.

Yeah, well I can't even run the pc version. I really do hate you all.

[JacksRag(e)]

I now know why my computer broke down forcing me to build a new one.  It was August 21st. 
His memory lives on.  And stuff.

[Cobra951]

Damn, that was fucking sweet. The atmosphere is incredible. It was really creepy. Controls are nice and tight, very intuitive, and felt spot on. The sound is beautiful. Love "somewhere beyond the sea" playing in the background there at the beginning. It fits the game perfect.

That's what Bobby Darin made popular.  The original song is French, and called simply "La Mer" ("The Sea").  Yes, it's perfect, and it shocked me to hear it in the game, more than "Greensleeves" in Overlord.  Heh.

I didn't know I could hack bots in the demo.  (How?)  I'll be playing it again soon enough.

[JacksRag(e)]

You disable the bots by stunning them with your electricity powers first then, you should be able to hack them with ease.  It's a neat little minigame to hack them also. 
They basically made the pipes game the hack.  Remember it?  Where you have water flowing slowly through a pipe and you gotta connect all the pipes from one end to the other.  Simple, but rather fun.

[Cobra951]

Oh yeah, Pipe Dream!  Nice.  How do I "focus" on the stunned bot to hack him?  (Maybe this is more obvious/automatic than I'm thinking.)

[JacksRag(e)]

All you really need to do is walk up to the bot, the option to hack him by pressing X should appear just above the bot.  It's essentially like if you were looting one of the bodies in the game.

[ScaryTooth]

Why can't you get it Que? I thought you had an XBox 360.

[JacksRag(e)]

Don't taunt the man who has no hard drive.

[Quemaqua]

Yeah, what he said.  I was stupid and bought a Core system.  It's okay, though, they're saying it's pretty likely that the PC demo is going to be out before the game launch, and it doesn't matter to me anyway because I wanted the PC LE, not the 360 (don't ask me why), and so now that it's sold out, I have no regrets.