It's set in 1912 to take advantage of the "feel" of that time not because it's a prequel. And personally I would prefer it that they craft their own new world and new story instead of trying to find some cheap way to tie it into an existing one.   http://www.joystiq.com/video/9bffbc43  About half way in Ken Levine says how Bioshock Infinite is like Bioshock, but not. He says that "there are no Bioshock sacred cows" and that there are no big daddies and that the robot guy was not what it looked like. He states clearly that Bioshock Infinite is a Bioshock game in terms of gameplay motif and and the philosophy involved. "Bioshock is a lot more than Rapture. It's a first person shooter set in an amazing place with a story wrought with ideas that are tied to human history. Everything else for us is up for grabs." Meaning he doesn't have to stay in the same universe of Rapture. He sees the Bioshock name containing more of the gameplay style rather than the universe of Rapture. They called it Bioshock Infinite cause it looks and plays like Bioshock and not putting the Bioshock name in it would have been a cheat. He even compares it to Final Fantasy. "

Ah, but this was also said. "The setting for BioShock Infinite may seem even more fantastic and technologically advanced than rapture, but it's set in 1912, years before the events of the first game." So that means they're establishing it within the same timeline. And in reference to your quote, he was talking in terms of style and feel of the world. Not in reference to the universe. Comparing it to Final Fantasy was based around the fact that the location changes. He went on to talk about the changed assets and gameplay elements, in elation to Final Fantasy. Not the universal swaps. The rest of your post just seemed to be inconsequential fluff... Him talking about the Sacred Cows was in relation to things from Rapture transferring over.

" @KingDaniel97: I think his post makes sense. Levine has been constantly saying that they said everything they wanted to about Rapture and about those characters within the first BioShock. I won't surprised if there aren't any shared characters. "

" @Mr_Skeleton: He doesn't get enough credit for this! "

" Probably not, I think its just a look alike, or maybe is FATHER!!! "

" @RobotHamster said:

" Probably not, I think its just a look alike, or maybe is FATHER!!! "

YES! My god, it has to be... Doesn't it? "

That can't be Ryan. Although it does appear like it is.

I don't know about this. I know that Bioshock isn't a 'sacred cow' and that its world is absolutely right for the picking. It's such a grand concept that I'd take 3-4 in the series. However, the character of Andrew Ryan seems so tied to Rapture, so rooted to the architecture of that place, that I'm not sure I'd like to see him in another environment. In terms of the concepts of underwater; fear, enclosure, restriction, suffocation - all of these embody Ryan's character so much that to see him enlivened in the sky would somehow be to destroy the insular, petty nature of what has been one of videogaming's best characters of the past 10 years.

Maybe it's Andrew's Dad?

Maybe it's Andrew's Dad?

Andrew Ryan or maybe some dude with a mustache

infinite takes place in 2012 so there is no way that andrew Ryan would be twenty because he was like ten when he fled russia and for the obvious reason that would make him 68 in 1960 when he died....duh

infinite takes place in 2012 so there is no way that andrew Ryan would be twenty because he was like ten when he fled russia and for the obvious reason that would make him 68 in 1960 when he died....duh

Well, I've been doing some math on Ryan's age for a while, and when he dies he'd be around 61 - 60 at youngest age, making him at least 13ish when Bioshock Infinite takes place, since when he leaves Russian he's at least 20, so in my point of view it just doesn't seem possible. On top of that, from what I've observed in the game, I'm pretty sure that it's not the same universe as Rapture.

@haddietana: Welcome to the forums. Thanks for bumping this 2 year old thread speculating about a game that is already out.

@haddietana: You should probably play Bioshock Infinite instead of bumping ridiculously old threads.

@likeassur said:

I love these time capsules in forum form, when everyone's speculating what'll be in the game and what it's about. We should do this more often for newly released and finished games, go back to the original teaser trailer threads and see what wild ideas were floating around at the time.