When you come right down to it, genetic engineering is about the only shot humans are going to have at developing real super powers. Which is why BioShock and BioShock 2 are more than just stories about some nifty underwater city gone wrong. When you have people that can move objects with their minds or blast fire from their hands and then stick them in a gorgeous dystopia, that's when you've got a story.
So what better way to celebrate that world than by bringing it into our own? With that in mind, we're offering up a mess of BioShock swag: one BioShock "Don't Wait! Incinerate!" women's shirt (size medium), one BioShock 2 Butterfly Hands men's shirt (size small), two different BioShock lithographs, and one extremely cool, handmade Splicer mask. Check out the prizes in the gallery below, and read the rules to enter.
Note: as a BioReminder, Rapture Radio is still active and broadcasting, and much thanks to Sony Legacy for supplying us with these nifty prizes. Their BioShock 2 soundtrack is still available in both Deluxe and Standard editions.
Update: We've chosen a winner! Thanks for entering everyone, and stay tuned for more Joyswag very soon.
Leave a comment telling us what plasmid power you'd want. Feel free to make up your own.
You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec, mostly due to our exclusion from a "statut particulier" status in Canada).
Limit 1 entry per person per day.
This entry period ends at 7:01PM ET on Monday, March 1.
At that time, we'll randomly select one winner to receive one BioShock 2 men'sbutterfly shirt, size small (ARV $10), one BioShock 2 women's "Incinerate!" shirt, size medium (ARV $10), two BioShock lithographs (ARV $15 each), and one handmade Splicer mask (ARV $50).
What is Joyswag? Since we don't keep the games and merchandise we receive for review or promotional purposes, it becomes "Joyswag," which is passed along to our readers. Please note that Joyswag may be in "used" condition. For more info on our policy, click here.
If you're in North America and you've been dutifully collecting Square Enix games, you may have some free stuff headed your way. The end of the current reward period for the Square Enix Members club is coming up on March 31, at which point Square Enix will ship out rewards depending on your "tier" rank -- a status awarded based on the number of games you've registered through the program.
For the mere seconds of work we just spent registering a single game, we hit "bronze" status and earned a postcard set featuring Final Fantasy XIII, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Daysand Star Ocean The Last Hope Internationalartwork. Silver members will get a desktop calendar with artwork from Final Fantasy XIV, Front Mission Evolved and other games; Gold members get a music compilation on CD; and Ultimate members will get an 8GB iPod Touch and a free Square Enix game to play on it!
This game was classified by the community with the following category scores - Violence=1/3, Sex=0/3, Mature Content=0/3. "Lost on a far away planet... thank God I brought my gun!"
This game was classified by the community with the following category scores - Violence=0/3, Sex=0/3, Mature Content=0/3. Guide the ball through tricky mazes and race with your friends to see who is the fastest while everyone tries to stop the others.
This game was classified by the community with the following category scores - Violence=1/3, Sex=0/3, Mature Content=0/3. Designed to help you improve your joystick control ability, help the mouse safely find his way to the end of the maze. Pick up cheese wedges along the way to satisfy his appetite and increase your score. Keep your mouse away from the edges though; they will zap him!
Presumably doing a little early spring cleaning, the team at Binary Tweed have released the complete soundtrack to its original Xbox Live Indie Game Clover. For the low, low price of free, those who download the soundtrack will be treated to a piano assortment composed and recorded by Chris Chillingworth (he's got a MySpace, so he's legit).
Nothing says "It's seriously snowing, again?" like a new trailer for MLB 2K10 focusing on the "real language" of baseball. Being pro chair sitters, we're not really able to vouch for the validity of this trailer's claims about the vernacular of the diamond, but we can make the claim that the uncanny valley of video games is being crossed by sports. We certainly aren't sports buffs, but some of the graphics look damn near real life. And yes, whatever the announcers are saying could be spoken in mistranslated Mandarin Chinese for all we know, but that doesn't make the visuals any less impressive.
Nope, we're not any more excited to play this game now than we were before seeing the trailer, but the baseball fans among you will assuredly find the video embedded above for this Tuesday's MLB 2K10 helpful in sating your desires for another few days. We'd say go play some baseball in the meantime, but, well, you know. All that snow.
If you've been putting off that trip to Hell for financial reasons, it looks like Target might lend you a hand next week. Starting this Sunday, Dante's Inferno will be on sale for only $39.99, a full $20 off the normal retail price. Not a bad deal for a game that has thus far drawn passable reviews.
The store is also knocking ten bucks off the the price of NBA 2K10, making it a cool $29.99. Just be warned, while the price is right, you might be waiting a while before you can play a proper game online. Oh, you can also snag a free Ho-Oh or Lugia Pokémon if you pre-order either Pokemon SoulSilver or Pokemon HeartGold. We suggest you do that and pick up Dante's Inferno. It'll be really confusing to the cashier.
If you and your buddies were wondering what the upcoming real-life kart racer (with realistic cars), Blur, has to offer in terms of multiplayer content, the latest trailer for the game was made specifically with y'all in mind. Like Super Mario Kart -- the game is often said to be a direct inspiration for Bizarre Creations' latest endeavor -- local split-screen seems to be a prominent component of the multiplayer experience, unlike the online-focused games we're so used to at this point.
Oddly, though, the trailer speaks repeatedly of the "social" aspect of the game, while no mention whatsoever of any online components are made (and what of that multiplayer beta, eh?). We're not exactly flummoxed quite yet though, as Blur still only has a "2010" release window and we've hardly seen it since last year's PAX Prime. That could always be, though, that, you know, we missed it. It is a blur, after all.
Honestly, taking the normal subway can be a pretty terrifying proposition. Those underground trains already play host to all kinds of unsavory creatures, so it's hard to imagine it being scarier. That is, unless you watch the above trailer for Metro 2033. If you thought the regular subway was bad, wait until you experience the subterranean horror that is the post-apocalyptic Russian metro system. Sure, that guy in the trench coat -- the one that smells vaguely of Vienna sausages -- is pretty scary, but he's got nothing on Metro 2033's giant bat creatures, explosions and hideous gray monstrosities.
Check it out in the video above. Oh, and if you want that massive automatic shotgun, you'll have to pre-order from GameStop. Metro 2033 hits the shelves beginning March 16.
We can't be gaming all the time, despite our best efforts, and from time to time we'll actually take advantage of the movie-playing abilities on our gaming systems. JBO features our top picks for XBL, PSN, Netflix's Watch Instantly and Blu-ray each week. Recommendation of the Week:
Clash of the Titans ($34.99 MSRP, much lower at most retailers) Kratos is coming back again soon for his final vengeance (and let's hope an anger management course or two) in God of War III (look for new interviews and a hands-on with the complete opening on Monday), and with Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and a massive-budget remake of Clash of the Titans on the way, this is the Year of Olympus. To get that rolling, we're totally recommending the original from back in 1981. Yes, it's dated. Yes, it stars Harry Hamlin, and yes, it's completely amazing. There's an all-star cast with Sir Lawrence Olivier, Dame Maggie Smith, Burgess Meredith, and Ursula Andress, among others, and the incredible stop-motion effects of wizard Ray Harryhausen. The film looks impressive (for 1981) on Blu-ray, includes a conversation with Harryhausen and a trailer for the remake, and is packaged in Warner's nifty Digibook format. We recommended this back on New Year's as an XBL purchase, but this disc just gets the whole Olmypus thing Kraken. (Get it?)
Read on after the break for the rest of our recommendations, and let us know what you're watching!
Remember those other awful Activision Transformers games based (in some part) on the Michael Bay movies? No? Good, let's work from there.
Transformers: War for Cybertron, developed by High Moon Studios (The Bourne Conspiracy, Darkwatch), takes its inspiration from the G1 universe of the '80s cartoon. Actually, that's not entirely accurate. It's more like what the new J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie is to the original. The characters are the same, their motivations are similar; however everything has a whole new (in this case, literal) paint job. Lead Designer Matt Tieger tells us the game presents "nothing that violates your expectations" and the studio worked closely with Hasbro to stay true to the original idea of the Transformers ... speaking of the original idea of Transformers, there will also be action figures based on the game's interpretations of the characters.
In War for Cybertron, players participate in two campaigns, one following the righteous Autobots and the other shadows the misunderstood Decepticons. Both campaigns take place on the Transformer home planet of Cybertron and, as Tieger puts it, "Ends up with them having no place to go."
Each campaign features three-player online (no offline or "couch") co-op. For the Autobots, the level we saw featured Optimus (not a Prime, yet) and Bumblebee meeting for the first time, and rolling along in the always awkward "third wheel" spot was Ratchet. The Decepticons included Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Soundwave and Megatron. Of course, in both cases, there are several more playable characters. For fans of the original series, many of the voices will sound wrong -- sadly, in some very important instances, the cartoon's original voice actors have passed away.
If you were hoping to infiltrate this post about Splinter Cell Conviction and find anything short of three trailers, then prepare to be totally satisfied. Ubisoft's established a correspondence with Joystiq, deploying three fresh new videos from April's Badass: The Game -- and like that totally accurate and brief description, these videos will bash your face against a mirror and leave you bleeding for dead on a men's room floor. OK, not really, but we're painting a picture, so work with us here. A picture with words.
Above, you'll find a brief overview of how the co-op game fits into the story and the four additional gameplay modes, but you'll need to sneak on past the break for the next two pieces of intel: one video is a closer look at Deniable Ops, while the other documents Persistent Elite Creation, the special series of challenges within the single-player and multiplayer framework. Basically, it's a fancy way of saying "unlockable junk for your stuff."
Do you like games where there's tons of stuff on the screen? Do you have a lot of patience? Do you like extremely technical gameplay? If all of the above is true, stop reading, go order Espgaluda II Black Label, and play till your thumb goes raw. If, however, you are just a regular old shmup fan, I suggest reading on.
Console versions of shooters back in the PS2 era were mostly cut-and-dry ports of their arcade counterparts. Thankfully though, in the HD era, it seems like the times have finally changed. Espgaluda II Black Label sports four new variations on the original game, and a whole new graphical upgrade.
The upcoming Transformers: War for Cybertron seems determined to impress with its rendition of the titular transforming robots' home world, Cybertron. But see, there's one crucial mistake made by the game, one that hasn't been entirely evident until now: No matter what planet he's on, no matter where he is, Optimus Prime is only allowed to transform into a truck and not Tim Burton's version of the Batmobile from 1989. Well, okay, we lied -- we'll also accept Optimus in gorilla form, too.
After you've checked out the trailer above, be sure to morph into our gallery below, which is packed with a bunch of new screens from the upcoming robo-brawler.
Talk may be cheap, but so is murdering people in 15th century Italy -- for now. Walmart is selling Assassin's Creed 2 at a discounted price of $36, both online and in-store. For some reason, the PC version of the game is still full price, but maybe that's not such a bad thing.
As for other titles on sale, it would appear this reduction in price is isolated only to Assassin's Creed 2.
This game was classified by the community with the following category scores - Violence=1/3, Sex=0/3, Mature Content=0/3. You've got the ultimate racing car, and an unlimited road to drive on. What else do we need to say? It's all about driving. Fast. No brakes, no limits.
CaptiveMotion has announced that it has completed work on the facial animation for Alan Wake. The company provided facial capture services for the developers at Remedy to use in the upcoming thriller. One of the more intriguing aspects of the announcement is that the facial capturing done by CaptiveMotion was actually done separately from the full body motion capture used in the game, which was completed six months prior. As a result, CaptiveMotion had to "present the data in a fashion that Remedy could easily integrate it into their pipeline."
The capture technology itself is called Embody, which allows up to 1,600 markers to be mapped on a single motion capture actor. See it in action in the (somewhat bizarre) video after the break.
You love explosions, right? You're a fan of head thrashing music, are you? Can't get enough of text flying at your face, you say? Well hold on to your underwear because the television spot for EA's upcoming Battlefield: Bad Company 2 includes all of those things and more.
Developed by DICE and coming soon to the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 hits stores March 2 and will probably feature more explosions and generic rock music. Hopefully the lines of accolades will be omitted during gameplay -- being obscured like that would ravage our kill/death ratios.
Thanks to the internet, the word "boycott" no longer conveys an element of gravitas. In fact, we're pretty certain that this collection of 1080 (and counting)Sonic fans doesn't actually understand the point of a boycott. The petitioners are upset about Sonic the Hedgehog 4, knowing full well from the leaked footage that it will "simply not be anywhere near as good as the original Sonic games." They're not going to stand for this and have threatened to hurt Sega where it hurts the most: sales. "We will not buy it," the petition explains. "We will in fact buy Sonic 1 on release in protest of Sonic 4."
Take that, Sega! Instead of giving you money, these people are going to ... give you money? Ha! Lesson learned. But in all seriousness, we do want to take a moment to offer some advice to the protesters: The best way to show Sega your disapproval isn't to buy another one of its games. Instead, satiate your desire to hurt Sega and needlessly throw away your money by sending a check or money order to: Andrew Yoon c/o AOL, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003. Thanks, Sonic fans!
Next week's Rock Band DLC is quite ... eclectic? Yeah, let's go with that. With such variety, there's sure to be something that people will love -- or love to hate, which is typically the case. There's a track pack from chart-topping band Disturbed, with three songs off its 10th anniversary edition of The Sickness album. Meanwhile, Grammy-nominated band Silversun Pickups also contribute a couple more tracks to the DLC pile.
Click past the jump for the full list of new additions!
If you've yet to play one of those rhythm games that exclusively features the work of a single band, but you're dying to temper your expectations for Green Day: Rock Band, you should probably consider picking up the similarly-titled Harmonix opus that focuses on the career of the Beatles. In fact, you should do it right now -- Amazon's offering Beatles: Rock Band for $28.49 on all three major platforms as its Deal of the Day. As an added bonus, the retailer is also selling the Premium Edition bundle, which includes all those sexy instruments, for just $139 (down from MSRP $200).
We recognize that The Beatles are no Green Day, but you should be able to emulate playing the upcoming Billie Jo Armstrong simulator by muting your television while playing Beatles, and just crankin' up the Dookie.
Just as promised, operative, you'll soon get your chance to bone up on your rocket car skills before entering the field, as the Just Cause 2 demo has been set for release next Thursday, March 4. The demo will arrive on Xbox Live, PSN and Steam and will grant access to 35 square miles of the Lautan Lama Desert -- one of the islands making up the game's promised 400 sq. miles of explorable Panau archipelago. So oil up that grappling gun and get your best black ops duds off to the dry cleaners. We want Rico looking mucho suavé out there!
Just Cause 2 is set to dive into retail on March 23 for the Xbox 360, PS3 and Games for Windows platforms.
You and your friends can unleash your inner Village People with the hot new trailer for Lips: Party Classics, which features 40 exhilarating songs from The Spice Girls, The B-52’s, Kiss, Gloria Gaynor, Village People and many more!
This game was classified by the community with the following category scores - Violence=1/3, Sex=0/3, Mature Content=0/3. "Lost on a far away planet... thank God I brought my gun!" 
This game was classified by the community with the following category scores - Violence=0/3, Sex=0/3, Mature Content=0/3. Guide the ball through tricky mazes and race with your friends to see who is the fastest while everyone tries to stop the others. 
This game was classified by the community with the following category scores - Violence=1/3, Sex=0/3, Mature Content=0/3. Designed to help you improve your joystick control ability, help the mouse safely find his way to the end of the maze. Pick up cheese wedges along the way to satisfy his appetite and increase your score. Keep your mouse away from the edges though; they will zap him! 
Clash of the Titans
This game was classified by the community with the following category scores - Violence=1/3, Sex=0/3, Mature Content=0/3. You've got the ultimate racing car, and an unlimited road to drive on. What else do we need to say? It's all about driving. Fast. No brakes, no limits. 
Download this trailer. 
Download the teaser trailer for Fallout: New Vegas! 
Get a sneak peek at the upcoming DLC campaign pack from Army of Two: The 40th Day entitled "Chapters of Deceit" available for download April 1, 2010. 
Download this trailer. 
You and your friends can unleash your inner Village People with the hot new trailer for Lips: Party Classics, which features 40 exhilarating songs from The Spice Girls, The B-52’s, Kiss, Gloria Gaynor, Village People and many more! 