We Talk To Ken Levine About BioShock Infinite

Who's the voice of the protagonist in the game? sounds familiar. 
 
EDIT - Love the pottymouth on Levine!

I'm officially hyped for this game now.

Who gives a shit about the name?! 
This game (already) looks brilliant!

Really not feeling the shakycam, guys.

OOOOOOOOOMMMM NOM NOM NOM NOM Jeff!
gg

I would like to see more interviews like this. 

Wow i didnt actaully think I would watch the whole interview but time just flew by and before it knew it, it was over, and it was awsome.

Very interesting interview. I hope to see more of these long ones.  
Also, I'm dying to play Bioshock now. The original.

Actually a really interesting interview.

I wonder if those other guys get paid to sit around and listen to Ken Levine talk.

" Really not feeling the shakycam, guys. "

I really enjoyed the interview, it was informative and interesting. Thank you.  

Fantastic.  I'm definitely coming around after watching the video that was just released.

" GO away sequels, please just go away....Can I get a new ip   Yes I know this is Bioshock 2.5...and why does Levine sound so confused about his own game/idea behind this game...maybe just coy..  It sounds like they are trying to pass on the Bioshock name to please the"bosses" but really wanna do something different...We will see.  

" @digitalsea87 said:

" @JohnRabbit said:

" @SkullcrusherMountain said:

" Irrational Games are sort of like the AC/DC of the game development world.  They take the same concept, mix it up slightly, and resell it again and again. "

welcome to the world of western game design: iterate on a concept until its become routine.  its unfair to say irrational is the only developer that does this.  they're just one of many. "

I don't want to start an East versus West argument, but if anything, I'd imagine the western developers being the ones who seek out innovation the most - you just need to look past big franchises such as Halo and Call of Duty.  And I hardly think anyone can call what we've seen from Bioshock Infinite 'routine'. Sure, it seems to retain much of the core conceptual feel of the original, but I share Jeff's prudent enthusiasm. This is shaping up to be something to keep an eye on. "

quite assumptive to think i'm only considering franchises like Halo and Call of Duty in my assement of western game design.  i could point to a dozen different studios and franchises that are built upon the (re)iteration of  a basic set of ideas, oftentimes with games from completely different studios being almost the same concept just with different window dressing.  i didn't say i wasn't excited for infinite, nor do i consider it to be locked into any kind of "bioshock" formula; despite its similarities.  my original point is that its silly to say irrational is guilty of re-iterating on an idea when there are plenty of better and more obvious examples. "

This game is going to be huge.

Tell us how you really feel about Bioshock 2, Ken. 

" GO away sequels, please just go away....Can I get a new ip   Yes I know this is Bioshock 2.5...and why does Levine sound so confused about his own game/idea behind this game...maybe just coy..  It sounds like they are trying to pass on the Bioshock name to please the"bosses" but really wanna do something different...We will see. "

The guy with the glasses who looked like a midget....why was he there?

Fantastic interview. Keep it up guys.

Ken Levine is great.  Fantastic interview, Jeff & Co.

very good interview. this game looks to be pretty awesome so far. making me want to actually finish bioshock 1

I'm so excited for this game. Ken Levine is awesome. Bioshock was one of the best 60 bucks I ever spent. I'd much rather have an absolutely amazing experience than a game that just gets all the bullet points. I'm glad it seems like he respects us enough to give us something that will really make our money feel well spent once again. 
 
Really awesome interview Jeff!

This was a fantastic interview.

wow, great interview. This has me even more excited for this game.

" @IrishBrewed said:

" GO away sequels, please just go away....Can I get a new ip   Yes I know this is Bioshock 2.5...and why does Levine sound so confused about his own game/idea behind this game...maybe just coy..  It sounds like they are trying to pass on the Bioshock name to please the"bosses" but really wanna do something different...We will see. "

You have no idea what the hell you're talking about. First, you say it's "BioShock 2.5" and then you say they're just slapping the BioShock name on it. You're just throwing blanket criticisms at the game with no regard for any kind of sense. Sequels are what keeps this industry alive so get used to them. Not to mention that as far as sequels go, BioShock Infinite looks to be one of the more original sequels in a long time.  "

Amazing interview, 45 minutes just flew by.  Ken is a genius, I could listen to him talk about game design all day, it just seems like he gets it more than anyone else.

Great interview, he has a lot of good points and I find the setting actually more interesting than Bioshock. I still think they should've just named it *shock, not BIOshock, though.

Ken knows what he's doing, his back catalogue is a testament to that. Great games take time. I'm glad some publishers recognise that and gems like BioShock are made with that mentality. Looking forward to seeing more on this.

" Really good interview. This is the sort of informative, intellectual content I enjoy from Giant Bomb, in between the funnys of course! "

Wow - that guy behind jeff on his left side.... not looking very happy. 

Great interview, really enjoyed viewing the video. More like this please!

Brilliant interview. This is the sort of great content I like to view on Giant Bomb, a candid and intellectual interview with a renowned member of the industry. More content like this please! 
 
I really do enjoy the silly shenanigans that comes with GB content but it's stuff like this that makes Giant Bomb a great source of gaming information.

What's up Chris Remo? Hanging out? Having a beard? Working on the East Cost? Nice to see ya! 
 
Wizard.

Flying big daddy looking things blew my mind

I always enjoy listening to Ken speak about his product.  That was an awesome interview.

That can't be Remo, that guy didn't say a single word

Holy shit, great GB content today!!

Great interview. Ken Levine seems like a really interesting guy and it's got me more interested in BioShock: Infinite. I just with he was involved in something else, something completely original.

I was kinda meh about the game, since I didn't bother to play any of the two previous ones. Then i saw the very last 20 seconds of this video with the monster landing on the roof. Fuck yeah, this looks awesome. It's like when you see the huuuuge dragon at the end of the Guild Wars 2 video. You just know you gotta have it.

I wasn't into the previous bioshock games, but this one is getting me kinda intrestead. I just don't wanna get excited since it's not coming out until 2012.

The guy on the right of Ken Levine is Chris Remo, formerly of Gamasutra now a community manager at Irrational. Honestly the questions were directed at Levine, so Remo really didn't have much to add. I assume a couple key folks from Irrational were in that room for the demo and then they remained there for the post demo interview.

Brilliant interview. Ken Levine is one well spoken, intelligent person. His views on multiplayer really made a whole hell of a lot of sense.

Jeff did not ask the question we all really want to the answer to. Why a Remo?