Ken Levine Admits BioShock Vita Not Coming Soon

[Karloff]

Ken Levine Admits BioShock Vita Not Coming Soon

"It's out of my hands," says Ken Levine about BioShock's Vita edition.

"I've got people to pay," says Ken Levine as he explains why BioShock Vita edition isn't coming any time soon; nobody's signed any checks, and until the money's on the table, the Vita isn't going to Rapture.

"I've got my fingers crossed that that's going to happen," says Levine, "because it's something I want to do, but until somebody starts signing the checks, there's nothing I can do." Take Two Interactive isn't about to start work until the arrangement starts looking financially attractive, and even though the Vita deal has been on the table for a while - since E3 2011, in fact - there hasn't been any sign of real enthusiasm on Sony's part. "It's out of my hands," sighs Ken Levine.

That's a pity, since the Vita could really use some love, particularly from a top-tier franchise like Take Two's BioShock. "We're having a more difficult time than we had anticipated in terms of getting support from third-party publishers," said Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studio President high production costs [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/118990-Vita-Having-Difficult-Time-Attracting-Third-Party-Support] have - to date, anyway - prevented Sony from really competing with its cheaper rival.

Source: IGN PlayStation Podcast [http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/02/25/bioshock-infinites-ken-levine-on-ps4-vita-and-marketing]


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[VanQ]

Well that's sad to hear. Oh well, Vita has a nice shooter already in the form of Stranger's Wrath and the upcoming Killzone is hopefully going to be as good as it looks. As nice as it would be to see this I still would prefer to see more good RPGs and localizations on the Vita.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Who's clamouring for Bioshock on the Vita?

Surely everyone who's wanted to play it already has by now, I mean it's been on the PS3, PC, 360, so unless you haven't got the current gen, or only use handhelds, you've had plenty of time to play it.

 

[Erttheking]

And nothing of value was lost.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Honestly this would have been a good game choice for me to want to purchase a Vita.

That and a new Star Wars Battlefront cough cough >.>

 

[VanQ]

Why would you sit 10-15 feet away from your TV?

You wouldn't. His example was bad but that doesn't make your presumption that it's impossible to be immersed in a handheld game any less silly. I've found myself just as immersed in many excellent handheld games as I have high end PC games.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I think the best time to have really pushed for a Bioshock Vita edition would have been when they were making...or repackaging Bioshock and 2 into that bundle...uh, Ultimate Rapture Edition. Including a Vita edition of 1&2, even if it was just digital, would have at least been something.

Slightly off topic but I'm kind of surprised the Ultimate Rapture Edition (or Infinite for that matter) wasn't announced for the Wii U...I mean when you consider that it's got several other older games released already and a few more announced coming out...though granted nothing quite as old as Bioshock 2.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

Honestly this would have been a good game choice for me to want to purchase a Vita.

This is why I purchased a Vita. :/

Now just waiting to hope that some good comes out on it that take advantage of the touch screens rather than just using them to use them.

 

[SonOfMethuselah]

Hang on...

"We're having a more difficult time than we had anticipated in terms of getting support from third-party publishers," said Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studio President Shuhei Yoshida.

Okay, fair enough. But then...

Take Two Interactive isn't about to start work until the arrangement starts looking financially attractive, and even though the Vita deal has been on the table for a while - since E3 2011, in fact - there hasn't been any sign of real enthusiasm on Sony's part. "It's out of my hands," sighs Ken Levine.

So, Sony's complaining that they've been having trouble getting third-party developers on board with the PS Vita, but then they aren't very 'enthused' about getting a series with widespread recognition like Bioshock, from a man with a resume like Ken Levine's, onto the handheld?

Speaking as a Vita owner, a ([n] inexplicable) Sony fan, and someone with a fair amount of excitement for the PS4, what on earth is Sony doing? How can you not be enthused about getting a handheld entry in the Bioshock series, from Levine and his team? This is why we can't have nice Sony things!

Guess I'll just go back to playing Megaman Maverick Hunter X. It was free through PS+ last week, and at present, is really the only thing worth playing on the Vita.

 

[RicoADF]

Why would you sit 10-15 feet away from your TV?

You wouldn't. His example was bad but that doesn't make your presumption that it's impossible to be immersed in a handheld game any less silly. I've found myself just as immersed in many excellent handheld games as I have high end PC games.

I didn't mean to say it was impossible, I mean to say why would you prefer to play a game on a Vita that you already have on a console? Bioshock isn't a casual game.

The games I play on my PSP aren't casual games, I'd assume most people using hand helds want proper games just in a portable package. if we wanted casual games then we would use our smartphones etc.