Console hit BioShock coming to Apple's iPhone, iPad this summer
The first installment of blockbuster first-person shooter franchise BioShock will make its way to iOS this summer, publisher 2K Games announced on Monday, the latest high-profile console title to reach Apple's mobile platform.
A screenshot of BioShock on iOS, courtesy of Polygon
BioShock's mobile implementation will sport an iOS-tuned control scheme and the graphics have been tweaked to run smoothly on iOS devices, according to Polygon. Among the alterations are the removal of the original game's fog and dynamic shadow effects.
"BioShock was such a huge game back when it released," 2K Games's Ben Holschuh told the publication. "With more and more people having iPads and iPhones and using that as their core gaming device, there has been a lot more demand lately for some more core experiences.
As with other recent console ports, the shooter will ship with support for iOS-connected game controllers that support Apple's "Made for iPhone" scheme.
BioShock is one of the most successful first-person shooter franchises in history, with all three editions -- including sequels BioShock 2 and BioShock: Infinite -- moving at least 10 million copies in total.
The studio has yet to reveal an exact release date, saying only that BioShock for iOS would hit Apple's virtual shelves this summer. The game is set to sell for a "premium" price.
A screenshot of BioShock on iOS, courtesy of Polygon
BioShock's mobile implementation will sport an iOS-tuned control scheme and the graphics have been tweaked to run smoothly on iOS devices, according to Polygon. Among the alterations are the removal of the original game's fog and dynamic shadow effects.
"BioShock was such a huge game back when it released," 2K Games's Ben Holschuh told the publication. "With more and more people having iPads and iPhones and using that as their core gaming device, there has been a lot more demand lately for some more core experiences.
As with other recent console ports, the shooter will ship with support for iOS-connected game controllers that support Apple's "Made for iPhone" scheme.
BioShock is one of the most successful first-person shooter franchises in history, with all three editions -- including sequels BioShock 2 and BioShock: Infinite -- moving at least 10 million copies in total.
The studio has yet to reveal an exact release date, saying only that BioShock for iOS would hit Apple's virtual shelves this summer. The game is set to sell for a "premium" price.
Comments
Ive played, bought, and completed 2 console games-
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic
XCom: Enemy Unknown
I loved both of them- worth every penny. I haven't played a console since the Playstation 1- Madden 97'- I'm loving these consoles on my iPad- because I only have time to play in a hotel or on an airplane.
Interesting. The first game used to bring the PC with a dedicated nvidia graphics card to its knees, back in the day. Mobile has come a long way.
that was 2007... and they still had to water it down.
The textures in the trailer video look muddy and ugly. If the touch controls handle well and the price is somewhat reasonable I would probably still get the game.
Ive played, bought, and completed 2 console games-
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic
XCom: Enemy Unknown
I loved both of them- worth every penny. I haven't played a console since the Playstation 1- Madden 97'- I'm loving these consoles on my iPad- because I only have time to play in a hotel or on an airplane.
Agreed. They're both perfect iPad games.
I worry that Bioshock will suffer from control issues. I had enough problems playing it on the Xbox 360, let alone on a touch device. Action games are the hardest to port to iOS.
If they had to alter the original's graphics and reduce effects, then iOS is not ready for this game. Why reduce the quality of your products just to get it out? They should just wait a few more years.
They should just wait a few more years.
This is called Leaving-Money-on-the-Table.
(And given that iOS games will be a HUGE mkt in itself, every major game company is intensely building skills and tools to port their classic hit games to iOS. This is called cashing-in-on-the-low-hanging-fruit.)
Yes. Metal is used in BioShoch and will be used by all games going forward.
The primary limitation is most likely the 2 GB app size limit. According to the iTunes Connect Develop Guide, iOS App binary files can be as large as 2 GB, but the executable file (app_name.app/app_name) cannot exceed 60 MB.
[VIDEO]
[B]"2K says its has no plans right now for an Android version"[/B]
[IMG ALT=""]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/46641/width/500/height/1000[/IMG]
Apparently there's a 2GB size limit for games so the textures were downsampled but it's not that bad as the screen is smaller. For big titles like this, Apple might want to consider relaxing that limit on a case by case basis in future though because some games simply can't be compressed that much without losing a lot of quality.
It's disappointing to see graphical downgrades but the water effects look like they are still there. Some blob shadows would have been nice given the removal of dynamic shadows as characters look like they are superimposed otherwise. I'd have thought the 2014 iOS devices would be able to include the fog and shadows, especially with Metal to help but maybe that's an announcement that will be delivered in September when they actually release iOS 8 and they can use this game to showcase the improvements on the latest devices. The game will currently be developed to support the current iOS 7 devices so it might need new hardware to arrive before they can add those features.
I'd still rather that Apple made an official controller. FPS games don't work well with touch when you have to shoot and aim with the same thumb. It doesn't have to be designed at all like standard controllers. It would be possible to make an iconic controller. At the very least, Apple could allow the XBox and PS wireless controllers to work so people who are already gamers can simply hook up a controller they already are comfortable with and likely own.
It has taken a while to get the ball rolling with full AAA games on iOS but this is probably the biggest port of its kind to make it over so it can only get better from here. The studio that made this closed down - the franchise is owned by the parent company - but Ken Levine who led this studio has decided to scale down his staff to work on digitally distributed titles. I suspect that some developers are going to start rethinking how they make and publish games. Although the PC audience is huge, the PC gaming audience isn't, most PC money comes from online game subscriptions. iOS lets developers do development, testing and deployment very easily.
I don't know how much you play PC games, but most allow you turn turn down, or turn off most effects. Most pc's don't do well with much of this either. And apps aren't written with the most current iPad in mind, just like PC games. It would be interesting to know what the target iPad is for this.
Let's hope that Apple helps 2K out in preventing a race to the bottom that Apple did not anticipate.
I bought a couple of controllers, and they're good. The problem is that even at the more relaxed prices of $79, they're still too expensive for a bunch of people. If prices drop to $59, which is not really out of line, I think controller gaming for iOS will begin to take off.
This is called Leaving-Money-on-the-Table.
(And given that iOS games will be a HUGE mkt in itself, every major game company is intensely building skills and tools to port their classic hit games to iOS. This is called cashing-in-on-the-low-hanging-fruit.)
If you release a good product, you will make money. Let's look at Blizzard Entertainment. They often delay their games they will not release anything until it is ready and they are very profitable.
The primary limitation is most likely the 2 GB app size limit. According to the iTunes Connect Develop Guide, iOS App binary files can be as large as 2 GB, but the executable file (app_name.app/app_name) cannot exceed 60 MB.
This might be a reason. I'm not a iOS developer so I didn't know about this size limitation.
I don't know how much you play PC games, but most allow you turn turn down, or turn off most effects. Most pc's don't do well with much of this either. And apps aren't written with the most current iPad in mind, just like PC games. It would be interesting to know what the target iPad is for this.
I don't game that much but I have played bioshock 1 and 2 on PC. I enjoyed both. I understand what you are saying about PC games but you do have the option to turn down graphics settings if your PC is slow. I get the impression from the article that 2K is only releasing a graphically worst version for iOS. If I want to run the game in a future iPad Air 3/4, the graphics won't improve at all. Maybe I'm wrong.
Yes. Metal is used in BioShoch and will be used by all games going forward.
What? Where did you read this, I couldn't find anything regarding Metal anywhere. I don't think it is as this is being released prior to iOS 8. Also, not all games will be using Metal, especially games that are ports or are made to be cross platformed. I cant wait though, it's going to be great, hopefully they'll all be playable at 1080P through the HDMI.
Interesting but frankly, this is a game meant to be played on a big computer screen.
Agreed and unfortunately iPads aren't really the best at playing games over the HDMI dongle. If tablet gaming is your thing then the new Nvidia Shield Tablet is the way to go, with it's new K1 CPU & GPU, built in HDMI with support for 4K and new it's new companion gamepad you couldn't ask for a better portable game machine. Steam is also releasing their entire catalog for it, I have been playing Doom 3 with the kids in my hospital for the last few days on this platform, really scary but also a lot of fun.
"2K says its has no plans right now for an Android version"
That's okay, there are still lot's of Steam titles like; Doom 3, HalfLife 2, Portal 1 & 2, etc. that are Nvidia Shield exclusives with a lot more Steam titles on their way to make the platform still worth while, add in 4K through the built in HDMI and there shouldn't be anything that Shield users need to be jealous of.