BIOSHOCK!!

[mr.Curmudgeon]

Out TODAY! On PC, you can download via Steam: http://steampowered.com/v/index.php?area=game&AppId=7670&cc=US
Or download the PC demo: http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/bioshock/

Be sure to update your nvidia drivers. These 163.44 Beta drivers were specifically updated for Bioshock.
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_163.44.html

[mrserv0n]

thanks for the drivers

[AtomSmasher]

Or update your ATI drivers: http://support.ati.com/ics/support/KBAnswer.asp?questionID=29041

It's taken a couple of hours, but the demo download is almost complete  

[mr.Curmudgeon]

I had already pre-loaded via Steam, just have to wait from them to let me activate it!   

[AtomSmasher]

I thought about doing that, but I have a bunch of Best Buy gift certificates that have been sitting around for a few months that I'm going to use.  The demo should be enough to satisfy me for tonight though...ooo download just finished, cya 

[somunny]

Pretty cool.  I've been playing the 360 demo since last week.

[AtomSmasher]

Pretty cool.  I've been playing the 360 demo since last week.

an fps played with a gamepad...

 

game takes a few minutes to install, so I'm still here for a while longer

[NIVO]

runs like buttah here at 1680x1050 and looks purty as well    Definitely one to buy folks

[somunny]

Pretty cool.  I've been playing the 360 demo since last week.

an fps played with a gamepad...

 

I used to feel exactly the same way.  After playing through HL2 on the original XBOX I found it wasn't that bad.  I think there's mouse/keyboard combos that work on the 360, aren't there?

[Glaine]

I'd agree that I can't get good accuracy or pull up all the various things I need in an FPS without a mouse/keyboard, but he's right - since Half Life and Halo, a whole lot of people are managing with a gamepad. I don't know how either...

And yes, there are adapters for a lot of consoles that let you use a mouse/keyboard now, so I'm betting 360 has 1 also. Never used one though, so I'm curious what most of the keyboard keys get mapped to, besides the numbers being weapon shortcuts, as usual.

O, and this smiley is awesome.

[shardian]

Halo is the ONLY FPS i have ever liked on a gamepad - and it took a long while before I was proficient at the controls. The main benefit of keyboard mouse is its like a duck to water - it just feels right.

[boykster]

Gears of War (not a FPS, but a TPS) is great with a gamepad....I couldn't imagine playing it with keyboard / mouse.

And yes, I am a FPS computer gamer, not a console fanboy.  It did take a while to get used to the feel, but now it's natural to me.  I haven't tried the bioshock demo yet, so we'll see

[mr.Curmudgeon]

And yes, I am a FPS computer gamer, not a console fanboy. 

LIES!!!!!   You won't play games that don't involve a recliner!!     

[AtomSmasher]

Well the demo was way too short, so I was forced to go and buy the game today   

I'm around 2 or 3 hours into the game now and it really is a great game, probably the best game I've played since Half-Life 2 (might even be better then HL2, but I'll need to get much further into the game before I decide on that).  They do an amazing job with the atomsphere and tension building, so this really is a worthy "sequal" to System Shock 2.  My only complaint is a minor one, and that is the level design feels a little too much on rails, but with so many scripted sequences to build the story and atomsphere, its understandable they had to do it that way.  I guess I just got used to a wide open feel after playing games like STALKER.  With so many different weapons and plasmids (special powers) even with a linear level design, the game still feels very fresh by giving you a variety of ways to handle each situation.  And the killing or saving of the little sisters adds a nice ethical dilemma to the game.  Oh, and did I mention the graphics are amazing, even on my two year old system.

If ever have enjoyed an FPS game before, then pick this one up because your sure to love it.

[gavkiwi]

any one hear about this 

From Slashdot:



Games: BioShock Installs a Rootkit
Posted by kdawson on Friday August 24, @08:36PM
from the drm-even-in-the-demo dept.Security

"Sony (the owner of SecureROM copy protection) is still up to its old tricks. One would think that they would have learned their lesson after the music CD DRM fiasco, which cost them millions. However, they have now started infesting PC gaming with their invasive DRM. Facts have surfaced that show that the recently released PC game BioShock installs a rootkit, which embeds itself into Explorer, as part of its SecureROM copy-protection scheme. Not only that, but just installing the demo infects your system with the rootkit. This begs the question: Since when did demos need copy protection?"

I wonder, if this is true, how to remove the 'rootkit'? hmmm, 

also, this is pretty interesting

http://www.gamingbob.com/2007/08/23/bioshock-installs-rootkit-including-demo/

[AtomSmasher]

also, this is pretty interesting

http://www.gamingbob.com/2007/08/23/bioshock-installs-rootkit-including-demo/

So I guess its not a rootkit, its a windows service that lets securom work when the user doesn't have admin rights.  It's still annoying, but no where near as bad.  Of course you could always just install the Steam version of the game and not have to worry about all of that copy protection stuff.

[gavkiwi]

it's just annoying that this is 'hidden' on a freakin demo 

I dont intend to buy the game, well atleast not for PC, maybe for 360

[AtomSmasher]

it's just annoying that this is 'hidden' on a freakin demo 

I dont intend to buy the game, well atleast not for PC, maybe for 360

According to the comments in the link you posted, it may not be included in the demo.  Several of the posts said they didn't have it after installing the demo.

[Dervacumen]

I think I like this more than Half Life 2.  Contrary to all the bad mouthing on the 'net, it installed on my PC with no effort.  This is a great combination of RPG and FPS.

[somunny]

This game does an incredible job of scaring the bejeezus out of you. 

[Glaine]

I just want to try to inform anyone who has no clue what this game is about just a little bit because I have had no clue and the trailers and this post don't really help (although the trailers do look really good). I don't really feel like any of this is spoiler material, but if you don't even want to know what the game is about then skip this. I for one was perplexed and have been wanting to know, though.

I only played it a bit at a friends house this weekend, but basically there is this underwater city sometime around the 1950's where there are practically no laws, but something went wrong and now it's a rather dangerous place to be. From what I've heard, it's largely due to people overdoing experimental injections that give them super-powers. So now most of the people there have become mutated monsters. And there are these creepy little kids that suck the DNA out of dead bodies or some such, which are protected by the big robot looking fellers you see on the game covers. Feel free to correct me on anything I'm wrong on, like I said I didn't play much and some of that plot was filled in by the friend who has played it a lot more than me.

[AtomSmasher]

Thats basically accurate.  The city was created to be a scientific utopia where people were free to study advances in science regardless of where it took them.  The little girls you mentioned are genetically engineered to suck out "adam" from dead bodies, which was their biggest scientific breakthrough allowing them to give people superpowers.  Unfortunately the use of these powers eventually caused people to go mad.

The storyline is actually very reminiscent of the book Atlas Shrugged and they even make some very obvious parallels to the book (For instance, in the book people often asked "Who is John Galt?", in the game there are posters all over that say "Who is Andrew Ryan?".  And the name Andrew Ryan is remarkably similar to Ayn Rand, the author of the book. ).  As one review I read put it, instead of Atlas Shrugged, this game is Poseidon Shrugged.

[mr.Curmudgeon]

Tweak Guide's Bioshock Tweak Guide: http://www.tweakguides.com/Bioshock_1.html

[Samstag]

The storyline is actually very reminiscent of the book Atlas Shrugged and they even make some very obvious parallels to the book (For instance, in the book people often asked "Who is John Galt?", in the game there are posters all over that say "Who is Andrew Ryan?".  And the name Andrew Ryan is remarkably similar to Ayn Rand, the author of the book. ).  As one review I read put it, instead of Atlas Shrugged, this game is Poseidon Shrugged.

It seems to me like a sequel to Atlas Shrugged, where we find out exactly what happens when you trust everyone to live by their own moral code.  I liked the book, but asking me to believe a bunch of tough-guys could coexist in a nearly female-free utopia and getting along fine is silly.  Rapture is what happens when you assume everyone will behave just because it's the "right thing to do".

p.s. Bioshock ROCKS!

[AtomSmasher]

The storyline is actually very reminiscent of the book Atlas Shrugged and they even make some very obvious parallels to the book (For instance, in the book people often asked "Who is John Galt?", in the game there are posters all over that say "Who is Andrew Ryan?".  And the name Andrew Ryan is remarkably similar to Ayn Rand, the author of the book. ).  As one review I read put it, instead of Atlas Shrugged, this game is Poseidon Shrugged.

It seems to me like a sequel to Atlas Shrugged, where we find out exactly what happens when you trust everyone to live by their own moral code.  I liked the book, but asking me to believe a bunch of tough-guys could coexist in a nearly female-free utopia and getting along fine is silly.  Rapture is what happens when you assume everyone will behave just because it's the "right thing to do".

p.s. Bioshock ROCKS!

Well, to be honest I'm only about a 1/4 of the way through the book, so I was mostly going from what the reviews said about it, and is why I only pointed out similarities from early in the book and the authors name.

[Dervacumen]

The only thing that has disappointed me in Bioshock is that I decided to read the manual before loading up the game for the first time.
The manual says there are "anti-personal" bullets.  I was really, super, intrigued about what cool kind of bullet these must be.  I must've spent about 5 minutes trying to image what they could possibly be used for.  Maybe some wierd way of not shooting stuff?  Like "no tea" in The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy?  Since I never played the demo I just assumed it was another noteworthy original idea.  I couldn't wait to find them.

So I load up the game and find they're really just "anti-personnel" bullets.  Blew my expectations all to hell.  If the manual didn't have that typo I wouldn't have got all excited about them.

[ahofle]

What is the consensus on minimum hardware requirements for the PC version?  I have an aging P4 3.0 ghtz (which I believe is just below the minimum requirements for UT3 which uses the same engine).

[AtomSmasher]

What is the consensus on minimum hardware requirements for the PC version?  I have an aging P4 3.0 ghtz (which I believe is just below the minimum requirements for UT3 which uses the same engine).

That cpu should be fine (the box lists p3 2.4ghz or better as minimum), but it's the video card that has the strict minimum requirements.  It's needs to be capable of shader model 3.0 or higher, which basically means Nvidia 6600, ATI x1300 or better.  They are working on a way to play on older video cards (look at the last page of Mr. C's link), but it's still very buggy.

[ahofle]

Thanks!

[tommy]

This game sounds really cool. As soon as i'm ready to drop 500.00 on a new video card    i will have to look into this.

[boykster]

This game sounds really cool. As soon as i'm ready to drop 500.00 on a new video card    i will have to look into this.

You could get an xbox360 for $350 and play it

[tommy]

This game sounds really cool. As soon as i'm ready to drop 500.00 on a new video card    i will have to look into this.

You could get an xbox360 for $350 and play it

Nice multi-thread association. I think i will not buy a broken XBOX. 

[AtomSmasher]

This game sounds really cool. As soon as i'm ready to drop 500.00 on a new video card    i will have to look into this.

I bought my video card 18 months ago for $150 and it plays the game with smooth frame rates with the graphics almost turned to maximum (with antialiasing off of course).  (if your wondering, its a Radeon X1600XT).  You don't need a top of the line card to play this game.

*edit* looks like my card now sells for $70-$90 link

[tommy]

I only have an agp slot, but after looking at your link i may be able to find a decent enough card at that price for my rig.

[Dervacumen]

I only have an agp slot, but after looking at your link i may be able to find a decent enough card at that price for my rig.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't think any PCIe cards have Shader Model 3 but you better check that.  This game does require SM3.  I was in the same boat as you last year.  I found that even though most of my computer would be fine for playing current PC games I needed to finally upgrade to a board with PCIe slots so I could use a next-gen graphics card.   Even if I was willing to accept less performance.  It also allowed me to make a massive jump in CPU power.

[AtomSmasher]

I only have an agp slot, but after looking at your link i may be able to find a decent enough card at that price for my rig.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't think any PCIe cards have Shader Model 3 but you better check that.  This game does require SM3.  I was in the same boat as you last year.  I found that even though most of my computer would be fine for playing current PC games I needed to finally upgrade to a board with PCIe slots so I could use a next-gen graphics card.   Even if I was willing to accept less performance.  It also allowed me to make a massive jump in CPU power.

Huh?  I'm guessing you meant you don't think any AGP cards have SM3, but there are plenty of them.  SM3 is on the cards GeForce 6600, Radeon x1300 or better, and it looks like available cards for AGP go up to GeForce 7950GT and Radeon X1950XT.  Maybe your thinking of Shader Model 4.0 and DirectX 10, because there are no AGP cards for those.

[AtomSmasher]

Ah crap.  AVG just identified the copyprotection in the bioshock.exe as a virus and deleted the file.  Restoring the file didn't seem to work, so now I'm reinstalling.  I don't know whether to be mad at AVG for wrongly identifying a virus or Bioshock for going to such extremes with their copy protection stuff.

*edit* brilliant.  after getting errors when reinstalling bioshock, I did a little search online and it looks like I have to uninstall AVG before I can reinstall the game.

[shmokes]

God, Atlus Shrugged was a piece of ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---.  What dreck.  Bioshock looks great, though.

[Dervacumen]

I only have an agp slot, but after looking at your link i may be able to find a decent enough card at that price for my rig.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't think any PCIe cards have Shader Model 3 but you better check that.  This game does require SM3.  I was in the same boat as you last year.  I found that even though most of my computer would be fine for playing current PC games I needed to finally upgrade to a board with PCIe slots so I could use a next-gen graphics card.   Even if I was willing to accept less performance.  It also allowed me to make a massive jump in CPU power.

Huh?  I'm guessing you meant you don't think any AGP cards have SM3, but there are plenty of them.  SM3 is on the cards GeForce 6600, Radeon x1300 or better, and it looks like available cards for AGP go up to GeForce 7950GT and Radeon X1950XT.  Maybe your thinking of Shader Model 4.0 and DirectX 10, because there are no AGP cards for those.

My mistake.  I'll be quiet now.

[Samstag]

The storyline is actually very reminiscent of the book Atlas Shrugged and they even make some very obvious parallels to the book (For instance, in the book people often asked "Who is John Galt?", in the game there are posters all over that say "Who is Andrew Ryan?".  And the name Andrew Ryan is remarkably similar to Ayn Rand, the author of the book. ).  As one review I read put it, instead of Atlas Shrugged, this game is Poseidon Shrugged.

It seems to me like a sequel to Atlas Shrugged, where we find out exactly what happens when you trust everyone to live by their own moral code.  I liked the book, but asking me to believe a bunch of tough-guys could coexist in a nearly female-free utopia and getting along fine is silly.  Rapture is what happens when you assume everyone will behave just because it's the "right thing to do".

p.s. Bioshock ROCKS!

Well, to be honest I'm only about a 1/4 of the way through the book, so I was mostly going from what the reviews said about it, and is why I only pointed out similarities from early in the book and the authors name.

Doh!  Sorry if I spoiled anything. 

[tommy]

I only have an agp slot, but after looking at your link i may be able to find a decent enough card at that price for my rig.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't think any PCIe cards have Shader Model 3 but you better check that.  This game does require SM3.  I was in the same boat as you last year.  I found that even though most of my computer would be fine for playing current PC games I needed to finally upgrade to a board with PCIe slots so I could use a next-gen graphics card.   Even if I was willing to accept less performance.  It also allowed me to make a massive jump in CPU power.

Huh?  I'm guessing you meant you don't think any AGP cards have SM3, but there are plenty of them.  SM3 is on the cards GeForce 6600, Radeon x1300 or better, and it looks like available cards for AGP go up to GeForce 7950GT and Radeon X1950XT.  Maybe your thinking of Shader Model 4.0 and DirectX 10, because there are no AGP cards for those.

No, i meant that the link provided only had PCIe cards and i could only use an agp card. I can find what i need though.

[shmokes]

My poor computer.  It was so extravagant when I got it, the ATI X800 was the fastest card around.  Look what it has been reduced to.  LOOK!

So, yeah, I knew that my computer was getting to be a little bit older, but for the first time I have tried to play a game (demo) on it that it simply could not handle.  Too bad.  Looks like my PC gaming days are officially over, as I highly doubt that I will be replacing or even upgrading this machine until I'm finished with school three years from now.

Tommy, you're weird.  You act like MS is run by some evil supervillain who deliberately unleashed a defective product on the world and is now sitting back in his lair cackling like a madman.  The console simply has a design flaw, and it's costing the company millions of dollars.  They're no happier about it than anyone else.  But they seem to have taken every appropriate measure, and acted in good faith.  They're taking care of the systems that are already out there and they've redesigned the system altogether to make sure future purchasers don't have the same problem.  Why are you so agro about MS.  They made a mistake, but beyond that they do have the system with by far the most excellent games on it.  That ought to count for something with someone who presumably enjoys excellent games.

[tommy]

Tommy, you're weird.  You act like MS is run by some evil supervillain who deliberately unleashed a defective product on the world and is now sitting back in his lair cackling like a madman. 

That's not how i act, and if you read anything from me about my feelings about MS you would know that is not what i think at all. I know they don't want this to be happening, that''s just a silly thing to say, and not the point at all.

I just feel for a such a big company to put out a console with such major problems they obviously did not do their jog somewhere along the lines and i simply will not buy that console and will always try to warn people before they support a company who did not test their console enough to find a simple problem like this. MS rushed out their console to be the first one out and did not put in the time needed to find what problems could arise from prolonged use of their console. period. This is not acceptable.

[AtomSmasher]

I only have an agp slot, but after looking at your link i may be able to find a decent enough card at that price for my rig.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't think any PCIe cards have Shader Model 3 but you better check that.  This game does require SM3.  I was in the same boat as you last year.  I found that even though most of my computer would be fine for playing current PC games I needed to finally upgrade to a board with PCIe slots so I could use a next-gen graphics card.   Even if I was willing to accept less performance.  It also allowed me to make a massive jump in CPU power.

Huh?  I'm guessing you meant you don't think any AGP cards have SM3, but there are plenty of them.  SM3 is on the cards GeForce 6600, Radeon x1300 or better, and it looks like available cards for AGP go up to GeForce 7950GT and Radeon X1950XT.  Maybe your thinking of Shader Model 4.0 and DirectX 10, because there are no AGP cards for those.

No, i meant that the link provided only had PCIe cards and i could only use an agp card. I can find what i need though.

I understood what you meant, I was just responding to Dervacumen.

[shmokes]

Tommy, you're weird.  You act like MS is run by some evil supervillain who deliberately unleashed a defective product on the world and is now sitting back in his lair cackling like a madman. 

That's not how i act, and if you read anything from me about my feelings about MS you would know that is not what i think at all. I know they don't want this to be happening, that''s just a silly thing to say, and not the point at all.

I just feel for a such a big company to put out a console with such major problems they obviously did not do their jog somewhere along the lines and i simply will not buy that console and will always try to warn people before they support a company who did not test their console enough to find a simple problem like this. MS rushed out their console to be the first one out and did not put in the time needed to find what problems could arise from prolonged use of their console. period. This is not acceptable.

No console manufacturer finishes their product and then shelves it for a full year to test long term viability, including Sony and Nintendo.  All you have to do is read developer interviews.  First gen software is started on PC's and then initial development kits are finally delivered that bare little resemblance to the final product, and developers tend to get final kits just a couple months before the console ships.  In fact, neither Nintendo or Sony have had their systems on the market long enough to tell if a similar fate awaits them.  It probably doesn't.  MS just had some bad luck.  But give a guy a break.  It would be one thing if the original Xbox had similar quality issues, but that wasn't the case.  Matter of fact, it was the PS2 in the last generation that had a chronic problem with the lasers in their disc drives becoming misaligned and refusing to read media.  And, frankly, I don't believe that Sony had the gumption to step up and fix the problem no matter what, regardless of warranty status.

I'm no MS fanboy.  I own a Wii, and hope to get a PS3 this gen.  I'm planning to sit MS out this time around (assuming that the PS3 drops in price and becomes a serious competitor in the next few years).  But you can't seriously take this ring-of-death thing as far as you're taking it.  It's just an unfortunate thing, and MS has been a total standup company about it.  They've owned up to their mistake and are being totally honorable about fixing it. 

[ahofle]

You act like MS is run by some evil supervillain who deliberately unleashed a defective product on the world and is now sitting back in his lair cackling like a madman. 

HAHAHAHHAHA!
Oh...wait...I thought you were being serious and talking about Bill Gates and MS Windows.   

[tommy]

Tommy, you're weird.  You act like MS is run by some evil supervillain who deliberately unleashed a defective product on the world and is now sitting back in his lair cackling like a madman. 

That's not how i act, and if you read anything from me about my feelings about MS you would know that is not what i think at all. I know they don't want this to be happening, that''s just a silly thing to say, and not the point at all.

I just feel for a such a big company to put out a console with such major problems they obviously did not do their jog somewhere along the lines and i simply will not buy that console and will always try to warn people before they support a company who did not test their console enough to find a simple problem like this. MS rushed out their console to be the first one out and did not put in the time needed to find what problems could arise from prolonged use of their console. period. This is not acceptable.

No console manufacturer finishes their product and then shelves it for a full year to test long term viability, including Sony and Nintendo.  All you have to do is read developer interviews.  First gen software is started on PC's and then initial development kits are finally delivered that bare little resemblance to the final product, and developers tend to get final kits just a couple months before the console ships.  In fact, neither Nintendo or Sony have had their systems on the market long enough to tell if a similar fate awaits them.  It probably doesn't.  MS just had some bad luck.  But give a guy a break.  It would be one thing if the original Xbox had similar quality issues, but that wasn't the case.  Matter of fact, it was the PS2 in the last generation that had a chronic problem with the lasers in their disc drives becoming misaligned and refusing to read media.  And, frankly, I don't believe that Sony had the gumption to step up and fix the problem no matter what, regardless of warranty status.

I'm no MS fanboy.  I own a Wii, and hope to get a PS3 this gen.  I'm planning to sit MS out this time around (assuming that the PS3 drops in price and becomes a serious competitor in the next few years).  But you can't seriously take this ring-of-death thing as far as you're taking it.  It's just an unfortunate thing, and MS has been a total standup company about it.  They've owned up to their mistake and are being totally honorable about fixing it. 

I bet you next time they will test it properly and not want to put their customers through hell and waste their own time and money getting it right after the fact.

[shmokes]

Yes, I imagine they will not want to put their customers through that next time.   Though, I imagine, they didn't want to put their customers through it this time.  And I imagine they will probably test it extensively and try their hardest to keep this from happening again.  Wait . . . where exactly are you going with this?

[tommy]

Wait . . . where exactly are you going with this?

Oh, i don't know, just back to my original argument that they should have made sure it was tested the first time so this sort of thing would not happen.

I will give them some credit for standing by their console but in the same sentence, if they did not stand by it they would be finished as far as console buyers go.

[shmokes]

Sony didn't stand by the PS2.  They just let people go out and buy a replacement.  And people did.  I know quite a few people who bought two PS2s over the last five or six years because their first one broke out of warranty.

[Glaine]

I bet you next time they will test it properly and not want to put their customers through hell and waste their own time and money getting it right after the fact.

O wow. This strikes me as comedy gold, because MS has been doing just this with each new OS release, in my opinion. Why else did XP have a error report button on all of it's crashed windows. Thats always said to me - "Hey, stuff crashed, but would you mind writing an error report? Cuz even though this is a finished product, you are technically beta testing it for us. " - even if I'm exagerating.

That dulls in comparison to having an expensive console just brick on you, though. I'm glad they've got that fixed now. MS is good stuff - a few years after release, when they finish making their products.

[SavannahLion]

also, this is pretty interesting

http://www.gamingbob.com/2007/08/23/bioshock-installs-rootkit-including-demo/

So I guess its not a rootkit, its a windows service that lets securom work when the user doesn't have admin rights.  It's still annoying, but no where near as bad.  Of course you could always just install the Steam version of the game and not have to worry about all of that copy protection stuff.

Oh ugh. I was really looking forward to Bioshock too. I guess I'll wait until the hack comes out.

I'm of the camp that most software, especially games, really have no need to fiddle with basic functionality of your standard PC, much less require (as some users report) you to disable both your fire wall or AVS to either complete the install or even function.

And no, I'm not getting the Steam version.

[RayB]

I just tried the demo through Steam and it DOES NOT WORK for me. My video card is a 9800 Pro, which does not support 3.0 shaders. I figured even so, I could turn all sorts of options off, and set qualities to LOW, but nope. I don't even get a mouse cursor in the menus. In the game, I see the beginning in a plane, then the screen goes black, and he's in the water (still black). I can see a ring of fire and smoke, but that's it. Everything else is black, with glitchy artifacts everywhere. OH WELL! No Bioshock for me.... :-(

[AtomSmasher]

I just tried the demo through Steam and it DOES NOT WORK for me. My video card is a 9800 Pro, which does not support 3.0 shaders. I figured even so, I could turn all sorts of options off, and set qualities to LOW, but nope. I don't even get a mouse cursor in the menus. In the game, I see the beginning in a plane, then the screen goes black, and he's in the water (still black). I can see a ring of fire and smoke, but that's it. Everything else is black, with glitchy artifacts everywhere. OH WELL! No Bioshock for me.... :-(

Have you tried using the workaround/hack that lets older video cards play it?  Last I heard its still very buggy, but the game is playable.  Mr.C linked to a page with the info on it a while back.

[crashwg]

I went through hell trying to install this game last night (drinkin me grog) but my GeForce 8300 GS 128 mb couldn't handle it even with all the GFX settings off.

Moral of the story is you'll need a beefy graphics card if you want to play this game.

[patrickl]

I can't get that silly song out of my head

[AtomSmasher]

I went through hell trying to install this game last night (drinkin me grog) but my GeForce 8300 GS 128 mb couldn't handle it even with all the GFX settings off.

Moral of the story is you'll need a beefy graphics card if you want to play this game.

At first I thought that was very odd because I assumed my video card was less powerful then yours (since I thought all 8XXX cards were), but I've never heard of the 8300 GS and looking online I can't even find any reviews for it, only specifications.  It looks like that card isn't made for gaming, but is just a cheap card to put into workstations.  A quick check on ebay (the only place I could find to buy the card) and it looks like they sell for around $10.  I bet you'll have no problem playing the game if you spent $40-50 on a better video card.

[crashwg]

good if

At first I thought that was very odd because I assumed my video card was less powerful then yours (since I thought all 8XXX cards were), but I've never heard of the 8300 GS and looking online I can't even find any reviews for it, only specifications.  It looks like that card isn't made for gaming, but is just a cheap card to put into workstations.  A quick check on ebay (the only place I could find to buy the card) and it looks like they sell for around $10.  I bet you'll have no problem playing the game if you spent $40-50 on a better video card.

Good information!  Makes sense about the not being such a good card.  Was the cheapest option on my new computer.  Picked it because the only thing I play on my computer is Diablo II.  Maybe in a little while when the $500 cards of today are $150, I'll try out Bioshock.  Until then it's not a big deal.  I'm way past the "I've got to have the latest and greatest" period of my life...

[Glaine]

I'm way past the "I've got to have the latest and greatest" period of my life...

Me too! Whats lame is no matter how many times I explain that waiting to buy the current system till the next system comes out allows me to buy most of the good games of their favorite system for less than they paid for just the system, they roll their eyes. That, and it oddly feels cooler when it's not trendy anymore, probably because no one can say you are just playing it because it's current. It's the gotta-have-it generation and anyone with patience can save a load.

</Rant>