Bioshock: PC or 360? [NO SPOILERS!]

[Noyb]

Looks like 2K rethought their activation policies:

How many computers can I activate this game on at once?

2K increased the maximum computers you can install the game simultaneously on from 2 to 5. We are also preparing a new “revoke application” that will allow you to de-authorize computers so that you may move the game to another computer without "using up" one of these activations. This increase in the limit will cover most users' issues, and the revoke application should alleviate remaining concerns. Of course, if you still experience any issues, please feel free to contact support.

[ThunderPeel2001]

:tdown:

Arrghhh!

Firstly, some fuckwit at the Oxford St. GAME tells me they had some of the limited editions (with figurine) in stock (I didn't even know about these "limited editions" until today - bah!), so I traipse there only to find out they didn't. At all, (No apology, naturally). I pick up the tinned edition.

When I do get my copy of Bioshock installed, it won't load - not problems with Securom (as it turns out), but problems with DirectX 10 it seems. Thankfully the Games profiler in Vista has a "play in DX 9" option - which thankfully allow me to play it... Yay... not great, but yay - at least I'm playing it. Then it only goes and crashes anyway when I reach the Medical Centre anyway.

Arse!!!

Like I said, none of these issues are to do with installing/activation/initial running, so they're nothing to do with the Securom protection... but I don't know what they ARE to do with. I hope they get them sorted. I'm not running any sort of anti-virus software or anything. I don't know what's causing it.

Also, one final bit of annoyance: Despite claims everywhere that this game was developed heavily with NVidia in mind, blah blah blah, when you boot up it tells you that the latest official NVidia drivers have "known issues"... so please upgrade to the latest BETA drivers instead.

Is this really how the game is meant to be played, NVidia??

:tup:

The game, or what I've been able to experience, is rocking. (Ken Levine loves the idea of being knocked out and guided by a stranger by radio, doesn't he?) It feels like a snazzier, jazzier System Shock 2. I hope it does well, because despite these technical annoyances (and FUCK are they annoying!) it's still looking like a brilliant game.

[ThunderPeel2001]

Also, for those still concerned about Bioshock's securom protection making it hard/impossible to play, Levine has announced that it will eventually be removed (meaning there won't any issues in the future for those who want to play it). Shack news speculate (hopefully correctly) once retail sales aren't majorly important (ie. its passed its popularity) that the protection will be removed.

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/48641

I seriously doubt that System Shock 2 was affected by piracy (surely word of mouth from lots of people - some of whom have bought it - is better than a smaller percentage of people raving about your product?), but I guess they're taking a hard line this time.

None of this solves my technical problems, however

[Roderick]

It's strange, but you can't get the Xbox 360 CE in the Netherlands -it's not released here bizarrely. The PC CE, however, is available, and you can buy it everywhere! It's still in stock all around. Of course, it's only been officially out a single day... but still.

[ThunderPeel2001]

It seems like an odd release. I went to GAME a few days before release and no-one bothered to tell me about the "Collector's Edition with figurine" thing. You can't buy the CE anywhere online (except eBay). There wasn't any mention of it on the Bioshock website and major shops like Virgin didn't have ANY CE's at all - apparently. Not even on pre-orders.

Very, very weird way to do things.

Plus my local virgin didn't even stock ONE copy of Bioshock for the PC on release day. What the hell were they thinking? Even four copies would do a small shop like that. Weird.

Finally, when I tried to take a picture of the Big Daddy in GAME on Oxford St, I was politely asked to stop by the member of staff who seemed positioned as its guardian. ("They're" being very protective, apparently.) I go to Virgin on release day and they got the same massive Big Daddy, but with no-one around to stop you taking photos... I don't get it.

[DanJW]

Moral of the story is: high street stores suck and should all die, and as they die they should be made to understand that it is their own fault.

[eljay]

It's not at all unusual. GAME and gameplay both sold the CE online, but as with every CE they have ever sold they are allocated a set amount and when the pre-orders fill that amount the product is removed from the catalogue to prevent people asking questions about something they can't have.

[Thrik]

Hee, yeah I found the NVIDIA driver thing quite amusing too. I always keep up with the beta drivers as they are invariably better than the officially released ones that've been through QA and everything, but the fact I actually have to do this (and have done for years) speaks very badly for the hardware driver scene in general.

And they definitely should have tried to time the BioShock-optimised drivers' official release with the game itself. Nobody likes to be told they need to download beta drivers to play a game affiliated with the graphics card producer properly.

I won't be playing BioShock until my holiday ends in a couple of weeks, but I'm not too bothered as hopefully an official patch will be out to fix any of the lingering crash issues, and they've also said they're going to officially implement the hack that lets you use a more optimal widescreen (at the moment they just literally zoom in and consequently cut off top/bottom of the screen, moving the HUD and gun around to compensate). Maybe new beta NVIDIA drivers too that pump up performance even more, as they tend to come out once a week.

[toblix]

(at the moment they just literally zoom in and consequently cut off top/bottom of the screen, moving the HUD and gun around to compensate)

No they don't. They designed it for 16:9, and then instead of cropping the picture, giving 4:3 users a tele view, they just extended it vertically, like Pixar did filling in the letterbox bars on Finding Nemo. Thus, widescreen players get what they're supposed to, and 4:3 users like me see a little more, but that's okay, because it balances out with not getting the exact image frame the game was designed for. I think it's a way better solution than cropping it.

[Thrik]

That is true (and what I originally pointed out elsewhere a few days ago), but regardless of what they designed it with the field of view is definitely smaller than is seen in the majority of FPS games, and apparently this has even led to some people getting motion sickness (HL2 had a similar problem).

It may be how the game looked during development, but it doesn't mean the net result isn't a more limited view than usual, and that it can't look better with an adjusted field of view (according to the majority who've used the patch it does improve the feel).

The upcoming official patch will be giving widescreen users the choice of a wider field of view that's more in line with genre conventions, and they even gave the lucky fuck who released the unofficial patch with the same functionality a free GeForce 8800.

[miffy495]

Not too bothered by the fact that I can't get a copy right now. I'm sure it's brilliant and everything, but it'll be just as brilliant in a month when I finally have some time to play it. Definitely going with 360 though. Aside from the fact that my PC is steadily becoming quite crap, I don't really want to have to bugger around with all this securom and other such bollocks. Especially as I use AVG.

[brkl]

My passively cooled 8600GT is not quite passively cooled enough, so I'll have to go and switch it to a noisy fucker version tomorrow. Ah well... At least Bioshock runs surprisingly well. I should get more/faster RAM and shit, but this'll have to do.