Crave

Mark the Former Intern stops by The 404 studio today to shake us out of our slumber...maybe we do need Wilson's laugh after all! Today we steer through more news about the upcoming "BioShock" movie, CBS running a video ad in a magazine, Jessica Biel (that's all), Woofer, and more!

We haven't had Mark the Intern on in a while, so since Wilson is still gone we take the opportunity to reacquaint ourselves with the host of CNETTV's The Green Show. We're all a little sluggish this morning from severe lack of sleep and lingering illness, but we all know laughter is the best medicine, so we rip right into the new "BioShock" movie, slated to come out in 2075. Just kidding, but it's not far off considering the weekly changes we've been reading about in the news!

Next up, we take a look at a creative new video ad to run in Entertainment Weekly magazine this fall. The ad is the first of its kind to appear in print and can handle 40 minutes of video. You can even attach a mini-USB plug and recharge the batteries if you literally have nothing better to do. Although, something tells me Neil Patrick Harris giving the "peace" sign isn't exactly going to sell boatloads of Pepsi products...

After a Call from the Public (just one), we're very excited to talk about Woofer, another Twitter clone that requires each post to have a minimum of 1,400 characters, or roughly 500 words. Obviously, we don't expect the service to catch fire as quickly as Twitter, and in fact many of the early adopters are reaching the minimum by copying and pasting excerpts from the Gettysburg Address and the Old Testament. Go check it out, but you might want to brush up on your writing skills first!

Check out the show and please leave us a voicemail at 1-866-404-CNET and let us know what you think about any of the stories, or just tell us what's on your mind! If it's good, we'll play it on the show. Heck, even if it's awful, there's still a good chance you'll hear yourself on the air!

EPISODE 411

How do you follow up one of the most critically acclaimed video games in recent memory? 2K Games is facing that very challenge with its sequel to the 2007 hit BioShock. We recently sat down for an eyes-on preview of the upcoming BioShock 2 from the game's developers.

The original game succeeded by mixing a solid first-person shooter mechanic with a wildly imaginative fictional world, set in the ruined underwater city of Rapture. The art deco design of the 1940's city was a welcome break from the warehouses and space stations most games are set in, and the background story of a utopian social experiment gone wrong incorporated influences from Ayn Rand to Jules Verne--heady stuff for gamers used to a steady diet of zombies and elves.

The dangerous Big Sister, glimpsed in the darkness.

(Credit: 2K Games)

BioShock 2 keeps the underwater setting from the first game, but shifts the point of view from an amnesiac plane crash survivor to a prototype Big Daddy, putting you in the oversized boots of one of the most fearsome adversaries from the first game. Playing as a hulking man-monster, we're concerned that audiences won't be able to identify with the protagonist, and not be drawn into the story. Fighting seemed very similar to the original game, but instead of using a gun along with his various "plasmid" powers (essentially genetic engineering that looks and works like a magic spell), your Big Daddy sports a giant drill on the end of his right arm.

The demo level we saw, which may or may not be in the final game, gave us a basic overview of the game, and involved a meeting with a new super-powered adversary, the Big Sister. If you're familiar with the original BioShock, she's a Little Sister (one of a community of creepy little girls who harvest energy from dead bodies), who has evolved into something much bigger and more dangerous.

Genetic powers, such as this fireball, return in BioShock 2.

(Credit: 2K Games)

New plot aside, the settings, graphics, combat, and gameplay all seemed very familiar, and we could see BioShock 2 suffering from a case of sequelitis--without significant upgrades in the graphics, locations, and action, it feels at this point more like a downloadable add-on pack than a whole new game. Adding to our concern is that BioShock's original Creative Director, Ken Levine, apparently has only minimal involvement with this sequel.

Still, an overly familiar sequel to a great game is better than a sequel to a bad one, and we're looking forward to checking out more of BioShock 2, which should be available on Xbox 360, PC, and PS3 later this year, with further details to be unveiled at the upcoming Electronic Entertainment Expo trade show in June.

Enough with the lame updates

(Credit: Switched.com)

With Wilson at the auto expo in town, our good friend Kenley Bradstreet from "Heavy & Flow" joins us today on the show. We chat about Gore Verbinski's decision to make BioShock over another pirates movie and how that'll either be the best or worst thing he's ever done.

Justin then enlightens us about the logistical issues with sending feces through the United States Postal Service and how it isn't exactly a crime. First thing you'll want to do with the new OnStar system in the event of a car accident is Twitter about it as the service has found its way to the on-board vehicle communication system.

Next Kenley tells us about The Transcendent Man, Ray Kurzweil, and how he used to come visit the Bradstreet home on major holidays. Finally, we touch on some tech no-nos, a few tech-inspired faux pas (can you even pluralize that?) that we're all guilty of.

Make sure you keep sending in those stories of survival for a chance to win Tom Avery's incredible book, "To the End of the Earth". Leave us an email (the404 [at] cnet [dot] com or call in @ 866-404-CNET).

EPISODE 316

In a year dominated by game sequels, movie tie-ins and brand extensions, original video game ideas (referred to as original IP, or intellectual property) are hard to come by. Grand Theft Auto IV was on target to be one of 2007's biggest games before its recent delay, but two other franchise entries, Halo 3 and the latest Madden game, will clearly dominate the holiday shopping season. One of the reasons 2K's BioShock, released at the end of August, has generated such positive buzz among gamers is that it represents a rare high-profile stab at an original game.

Expect rush hour delays in Midtown.

(Credit: Sierra)

Fortunately, not every game publisher has given up on building new properties. We recently got a sneak peek at two new original games set to hit store shelves in 2008, and both looked surprisingly polished, even in early demo form.

Prototype takes place in an open-ended virtual version of New York City and tells the story of an amnesiac victim of a scientific experiment gone awry. That's pretty standard sci-fi fare, but the interesting twist is that the (anti-)hero can shape shift at will, either stealing the identities (and faces) of people he encounters or growing offensive appendages like giant claws. The stealth-plus-action mix sounds promising, and during the extended demo we saw, the in-game version of Times Square had just enough real-life touches to pass muster with the natives. Currently, the game is scheduled for Summer 2008 for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

A second original project we got a look at recently was Wet, a third-person action game from Sierra (also due in 2008) that mixes cinematic influences from Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill and Grindhouse to over-the-top Hong Kong cinema (the production team also snagged a writer from the hit TV series 24 to pen the script).

Wet's violence-prone protagonist, Ruby.

(Credit: Sierra)

It's got all the hallmarks of a modern shoot-em-up, from the slo-mo bullet-time gunplay to a franchise-ready hero in Ruby, a freelance "problem solver" who naturally solves most problems through a copious application of gunfire. While the violence-prone protagonist is clearly modeled on characters such as Lara Croft, the demo level we saw offered an impressive mix of acrobatics and shooting--most games can do one or the other well, but not both. We'll have to see more of Wet to make a call, but so far, it looks like an amusing pop-culture pastiche.

This PC got BioShocked.

(Credit: NeoGAF)

It's no big news that video games are a major, mainstream entertainment force, racking up more than $7 billion in U.S. software and hardware sales last year. Still, it's unusual when pretty much everyone in the industry, as well as the general public, all get behind the same game.

Last year, it was the free-roaming RPG Oblivion. This year, it's the underwater action/adventure BioShock, combining influences from Ayn Rand to Jules Verne. Collecting a spate of rare perfect scores since its release earlier this week, BioShock is a curious commercial hit that's neither a sequel nor a movie tie-in.

Of course, not everyone is having as much fun with the game as we are. A story rapidly making its way across the interwebs today tells the tale of a poor soul whose computer was, for lack of a better term, BioShocked by the game.

Was a Big Daddy to blame?

A gamer named "Epiphyte," on the message boards of game site NeoGAF, posted his story complete with photos. It reads, in part: "I got the demo downloaded, updated to the latest drivers, and settled down to play the BioShock demo...I was about 15 minutes into it, having very much enjoyed what I had seen so far...when suddenly BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM. It sounds as though a string of firecrackers has been detonated in my computer case, as well as each BOOM being punctuated with a bright blue flash coming through the case window."

Of course, this wasn't some sort of advanced DirectX10 audio/visual effect, it was the guy's computer frying itself. He continues: "I try to leap out of my chair, and finally ripping the power cord from the wall." The photographic evidence clearly shows some seriously melted components.

Epiphyte's conclusion says it all: "The game was so face-meltingly awesome it blew up my computer." Although some user comments seemed to think that his over-the-hill, 350-watt power supply might have played a role as well.

(Credit: 2K Games)

Easily the most-anticipated game of 2007 that doesn't have either 'Halo' or 'Grand Theft Auto' in the title. Since we first got a glimpse of the eye-catching underwater city of Rapture behind closed doors at last year's E3, the grass-roots buzz (as opposed to marketing-fed hype) for BioShock has been building.

Students of gaming history already know that BioShock's producer, Ken Levine, is best remembered for the System Shock series, which combined first-person shooting with puzzle-solving, adventure and RPG game elements. His company, Insomniac, couldn't nail down the rights to produce another game in the series, so BioShock is what we?d call a spiritual sequel, with much of the same thinking-man's shooter vibe.

(Credit: 2K Games)

Most gamers will be going in cold, so all you need to know is that the game starts with a mid-ocean plane crash, where the sole survivor miraculously finds a man-made station sticking out of the water, leading down to the decrepit ruins of an undersea city. The pseudo-1940's art deco vibe is a nice break from the warehouses and space stations that most first-person shooters seem to be set in, and the level of detail is impressive, from the faux period advertisements to the big band music playing in the background.

Naturally, all is not well in the city of Rapture, which was founded as a utopian experiment for scientists and artists. Genetic manipulation led to the citizens developing super powers, and a civil war ensued, leaving a handful of psychotically deranged survivors, most of whom are not exactly rolling out the red carpet for you. Traveling through the city in a somewhat linear fashion, you must use wits, guns and some of Rapture's patented genetic power-ups to survive long enough to find a way back to the surface. Much violence ensues, but we liked that you can choose to attack head-on, set traps or even use you newfound powers to pit enemies against each other.

We've gotten a few opportunities to play BioShock as a work-in-progress over the past several months, and the latest build here at E3 continues to impress, from the different every time enemy AI to the fantastic water and lighting effects that create real sense of underwater claustrophobia. With an August release date for PC and the Xbox 360, you'll likely be hearing a lot more about this game in the coming weeks.