Since being home from PAX, I've had a chance to get deeper into Bioshock, and it is, as many will tell you, amazing. Most people have been going on about it's environment, controls, graphics, and story, giving it rave reviews and as well as nominations for game of the year. Since that's all been done, I wanted to give a different perspective on why Bioshock is such a great game.
The great thing about Bioshock is that it's a new intellectual property. As gamers we often live off the sequel--the games that come from an already established franchise--and it can be extremely satisfying, but it's only so often that a brand new franchise is of such high quality that it can capture a whole generation of gamers. Most of our anticipated releases are the next game in a series--Halo 3, Metroid Prime Corruption, Super Mario Galaxy, MGS:4, the entire Final Fantasy library--I could go on and on. And while we need those great franchises to march on and keep giving us more great content, it eventually becomes predictable and stale.
That's one of the problems with Nintendo's fall line up this year. I feel like I'm playing all the games I played in middle school and high school all over again--Metroid, Zelda, Mario, Smash Bros, Mario Kart--these are the big releases for Nintendo. I don't doubt that I'll enjoy them, or that it's a good strategy for Nintendo, but I couldn't help but feel a little longing for one interesting new IP from them instead of all the rehashes (and while Wii Fitness looks great, I can't count that as a legitimate new franchise in the same realm of Zelda or Mario or Master Chief).
That's where Bioshock is like a breath of fresh air. Something that is both completely new, supremely immersive, and downright addicting. It's like when you first discovered Halo--no one knew that game was going to go on to become the success it was. Or go back further. Do you remember the first time someone introduced you to Super Mario Bros, or Street Fighter 2, or Final Fantasy, or any other game that you love? My point is, there's nothing like the first playthrough of an excellent franchise. And for that reason (perhaps more than any other), I'm taking my time with Bioshock, savoring every last morsel of a game that is sure to become a classic.
For more thoughts about being an adult gamer and growing up in the Nintendo generation, visit The Weekend Gamer.
Microsoft announced its financial results for Q3 of fiscal year 2026, including an update on its gaming Xbox business and more.
Not looking good. Hopefully Asha Sharma is able to turn Phil’s disaster around.
To me it's still quite remarkable how they can cash-in 5.3bn in revenue in a single quarter, since their hardware is basically dead.
The stock mark is what makes Microsoft remarkable, They have convinced every institutional and retail investor to just keep piling money into them. Like many big tech giants they are just a big growing pyramid scheme. As long as people keep dropping money into ETF's that cover the market Microsoft will always be liquid. At the same time it is completely stifling innovation and competition. People need to start being more discreet in how they invest their money as it's killing the system.
Riiiiight because people will just flock back to them for one or two games per year.
15+ years of bad performance is what they call irreparable in business. It is time for them to sell off the assets and get out of entertainment.
These declines are on the back of extra revenue received from releasing games like Forza horizon 5 on PlayStation. So I’m being sarcastic here when I said they should go back to exclusives. Killing off a revenue stream from Ps5 sales will only make things worse
The charity event will be streamed live from Gamescom in August.
Thanks to the slip-up of an artist working on the title, we now have more evidence that a new Injustice game is in the works.
