In response to a question thrown his way on Twitter, Geoff Keighley, host of the 7th annual Video Game Awards, revealed that there are about ten unannounced games we can expect to see for the first time at VGA 09. One of these is a new shooter by 2K Games.

The teaser for this new game (shown below) opens with several shots of what appears to be the city of Dubai in a war torn state. The narrative comes from the perspective of a stranded soldier, who mentions a failed evacuation attempt and cites a high number of casualties as the camera pans by several individuals hanging from highway street lights. We possibly get a glimpse of the character we’ll be playing as in the final seconds of the clip.

My guess is, anything big enough to hang you from a street light is definitly not human. Could this be a sci-fi type battle set in the future? You can catch the event live on Spike TV December 12th. Don’t forget to get your voting in before then!

Way back in March of 2008, we reported on a pretty impressive Bioshock 2 fan art collection by then student Ben Mauro. The art was so well done that it caught the attention of 2K Games Community Manager Elizabeth Tobey. That was just the beginning for a kid who “never expected anything to come” from his school assignment.

Shortly after discovering our post, Elizabeth contacted us asking how she and 2K could “track down the artist, and thank him for his work”. We happily helped out and suggested they thank him by offering him a job. In fact, my exact words were:

“I’d love to be able to report that this talented kid was able to land something with your team. Even if it is just an internship. He is very talented and humble as well.

When I told him you were looking to contact him he seemed shocked and said he never expected anything to come out of his assignment.”

A few months later I shot an email over to Elizabeth asking if they ever pulled the trigger on hiring Ben. She responded letting me know that they “didn’t hire him or anything but he did get some big kudos from [the team].”

Unfortunately, kudos don’t pay the bills. As it turns out though, Ben got his break anyway. According to his updated blog, portfolio site, LinkedIn profile, and countless other social networking interweb devices sure to be monitored from this point forward by news hungry bloggers, Ben is working on some pretty exciting game related projects.

Two projects under the client “Insomniac Games” titled “RCF2″ (most likely likely Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time) and “R3″ (guessing Resistance 3 on this one), recently caught the attention of Joystiq’s Ludwig Kietzmann. Ludwig then proceeded to contact “the parties concerned” at which point Ben wisely removed the info from his personal blog.

Well, I’m happy to say that I finally got to report on the successful hiring of Ben Mauro. Sure, it wasn’t for 2K as I had originally hoped, but as the title says, 2k’s loss is Insomniac’s gain. On that note, I look forward to the possibility of stomping around in a Ratchet & Clank Future 2 or Resistance 3 Ben Mauro inspired level with weapons blazing.

Congratulations Ben, you deserve it.

2K Games released a new BioShock 2 trailer full of bolts, bullets, blood, and gallons of upon gallons of water. The hands-on preview embargo lifts Thursday so look for more in-depth opinions then. Sleep now … your day is done.

Yes, you may be one of the few people posting pictures and video of yourself holding a PC version of Borderlands on the web, but the laugh’s on you if you actually try to play it. It seems that a few retailers out there jumped the gun and “accidentally” sold the title to PC hungry gamers (and maybe a few unsuspecting parents with good intentions) before its scheduled October 26th North America and October 30th International release dates.

In response to this news, 2K Community Manager Elizabeth Tobey, wrote the following on the company’s official forum:

Hey guys,

Yesterday we learned that a fraction of the PC copies of Borderlands were accidentally sold to consumers in some countries but that gamers could not activate their copies yet. Since we learned of this problem, we have been looking into the issue to find the best possible solution for everyone.

I’m going to be completely honest with you guys right now. It is not possible for us to move the planned release date of the game forward. We could not possibly get the games into stores worldwide and out for digital distribution any earlier than planned. Less than 1% of all copies were sold, and if we unlocked the game today, illegal versions would most likely appear on torrents by the evening. I am sure all of you want our PC launch to be as successful as possible, and we simply won’t be able to manage that any earlier than already planned.

I want to apologize for those of you who have gotten the game ahead of our release date, and ask for your patience and understanding. The game will be ready in the US and Canada at midnight eastern standard time on Monday, October 26th, and internationally by Friday, October 30th.

-Elizabeth

This is truly unfortunate if you believe the majority of the consumers who forked over the cash were clueless to the actual PC release date. I personally don’t but hey — to each their own. Moving forward, we should push to implement rights managed payment options. Money that doesn’t become spendable until we are satisfied with our purchases. Sounds good to me.

Source: forums.2kgames.com

If you have been following our coverage of fan reaction to 2K’s PS3 Bioshock demo, then you are well aware of some gamers voicing complaints about a pixelated Daddy and unsatisfactory graphics (although I frankly find it a bit much), and you are also aware that 2K has responded to the collective cries for help.

Well, a few hours ago they responded again. This time, the post by 2K community manager, Elizabeth Tobey, promises a patch for the game. Anticipating that the public would want to know the exact release date of the patch, Tobey proactively stated:

I do know this will not be until after the game’s launch, and I will update you with details on that date as I receive them.

Tobey adds that a complete list of fixes has yet to be finalized, but assures the community that the texture/pixelation and white bar issues are definitely on the list.

Hit the jump to read her full statement.

UPDATE (October 14):

Hey guys,

I have good news from the dev team about a patch for BioShock PS3! They have been working on a patch to address the concerns some of you on the forum have talked about. As work is in progress I do not have a definite date for when this patch will be released as it needs to be tested and clear certification with Sony before it is scheduled and released. I do know this will not be until after the game’s launch, and I will update you with details on that date as I receive them.

I’ll be releasing the entire patch list when it’s all finalized, but for now I’m sure you’ll be happy to see that these two fixes are included:

Big Daddy Bouncer and Elite Bouncer Textures Appeared Pixelated
Fix for an issue where large blocky pixels would show up whenever viewing the Bouncer and Elite Bouncer variants of the Big Daddy.

White Bars
Fix for an issue where white/discolored bars would show up at the right and bottom sides of the screen during the plane crash / water scene at the beginning of the game.

I’m sure many of you are eager to see what Big Daddy looks like after this fix, so here are two screenshots of him in his patched glory!

Source: forums.2kgames.com

A few days ago we reported that 2K Community Manager, Elizabeth Tobey, had responded to complaints voiced by gamers on their forum regarding the visual quality of the company’s PS3 Bioshock demo. Specifically, there were concerns that the textures in the PS3 version were not on par with that of the 360 version.

Last night, Elizabeth issued an update to her initial post, following up with readers and giving them some additional insight into what was being done to resolve the issues.

Her full statement, complete with in-game screens presented to help better illustrate the final state of the game, is available after the jump.

A message from the team about the visuals in BioShock PS3

Hi there,

Last Friday some of you expressed some concerns and asked me some questions about the BioShock demo, and how BioShock would look on the PS3. I promised that the team was looking into all the issues brought up on Friday, and now I am reporting back with the latest news. Everything below is directly from the team – they took the comparison screenshots for me and we talked at length about all of these issues, and those conversations are exactly what I am reporting to you now.

Many of you wondered about BioShock’s graphical performance on the PS3, and whether it was comparable to the 360 version. The team wanted BioShock to be the same experience on the PS3 as on the 360. Of course, the PS3 is a very different machine to code a game on, and so the team used a combination of optimization and filtering to maximize the overall visual experience of the game. These optimizations improved frame rate and added the slight “blur filter” that some of you have pointed out in comparison screenshots. This solution offered the best performance benefit with minimum visual cost or change from the 360 version.

When making the decision on how to balance game performance and visual quality, the team did a lot of research, which included looking at implementation strategies and gamer reactions for other games that had brought a title to the PS3. One of the major goals for the team in creating the PS3 version of BioShock was to match the visual experience of the 360.

Below are a few comparison screenshots of BioShock on both the 360 and PS3, taken by the team. I have included the Big Daddy texture that concerned so many of you on Friday. However, the Big Daddy texture is not a good measure for the entire PS3 experience, and so I have a handful of other comparison shots of the 360 and PS3 version of BioShock.

Another issue people asked about was the appearance of “white bars” when using certain settings on certain TV configurations. This is a legitimate bug, and we are currently working to fix this issue and plan on distributing that fix along with the Additional Content game update. For the short-term, some have recommended changing the TV’s overscan setting as a workaround.

Also, some of you asked about the resolution of BioShock PS3. The team decided to include 1080 support for the game specifically for the benefit of some older-model HDTVs that don’t correctly respond to 720 and force the user to play on 480 instead. Our 1080 implementation is a scaled version of what you see in 720p, so therefore, the discerning gamer may notice the visuals are a bit less sharp when compared to the 720 mode. We did investigate rendering to true 1080 mode, but were not able to support it given the game’s memory demands.

We believe the BioShock PS3 demo fairly represents the performance and user experience of the full BioShock PS3 game, and is an accurate representation of the final product. We will continue reading and looking into any new comments that come up on this forum. I hope this post and the following screenshots help clarify some of the questions asked last week. Again, thank you for your diligence and devotion to the game.

The images shown above also came with the following note:

Note: These images were taken from the final game. There is a slight discrepancy in some shots because for the 360 version the images were taken before the patch was applied, which means they are using the original widescreen format, but the PS3 version ships with the 360 patch’s widescreen change.

Another user on the forum then asked for clarification regarding the “blur” overlay that many have noticed on the PS3 version, to which Tobey responded:

i’m sorry if i didn’t explain this well enough in the original post, but it’s not just a blur “filter” applied to the graphics. based on how this game works with the PS3 hardware, and our desire to make the best graphics without sacrificing gameplay or framerate, these graphics are what resulted. when compared to the 360, you will notice it looks slightly “blurred” but this is not a simple blur “filter” that we overlayed on the graphics. it is just a result of how we developed the game on this new and unique piece of hardware, trying to keep framerate, gameplay, and graphics optimal and true to the game’s vision.

Personally, I think the game looks great, and as a PS3 owner myself, I would have no problem picking up the title when it hits stores. That said, it’s refreshing to see 2K taking the time to respond to the concerns of their community with such a high level of detail.

Afterthought: What say you? Was this a non issue in your opinion, or where you grateful for the response?

HEY. You there. Reader. Fancy yourself an artist? Do you like BioShock? If so, 2K Games has got a deal for you.

Now is your chance to win some sweet customized BioShock swag in honor of the release of the PS3 version of the deep sea dystopian adventure. Hit the jump for details on this awesome contest.

2K is looking for gamers to design an image that represents BioShock, Rapture and the Cult. Use any imagery from the game you want, but make sure its an original work. No screen caps, you lazy surface dwellers!

Submit your design to BioShockContest@2KGames.com with the subject line “Cult of Rapture T-Shirt Design Contest” before July 25th to get your name and your design in the running. One grand prize and two three runner-ups will be announced at the end of July.

Of course, any contest is only as good as the shit you can win, and this one is a doozy.

Here it is, straight from the Big Daddy’s mouth. (Do they have mouths? I’m going to assume for the sake of this they do.)

GRAND PRIZE: Winning design displayed on the Cult and shirts made for devoted members, two exclusive BioShock figurines, 10 of the winning shirts (you choose the sizes), a BioShock artbook, and a limited edition BioShock poster signed by 2K Marin.

THREE RUNNER-UPS: Designs made into wallpapers and downloadable on the Cult of Rapture, a winning shirt in the size of your choice, and a BioShock artbook.

In case you’re having trouble coming up with ideas, here are a couple designs from a previous contest to get those creative juices flowing.

Also, official contest rules. To make sure you do this legit.

Now, equip that artistry plasmid and get cracking!

Source: Cult of Rapture

The original Mafia game was a bit overlooked in the wake of GTA3 and its ilk, but I thought the old-timey setting, vintage cars and weapons, and Scorcese-like story were pretty awesome. Now, long overdue, comes the sequel.

These screens are jaw-dropping. Of course, I bet if GTA4 was rendered on a high-end PC, it’d look pretty stunning as well, but I am holding out hope that this serious open world crime game will live up to my fond memories of the original.

In the original Mafia, you could drive outside of the city limits and into the countryside for spectcular shoot-outs, and this was ages before San Andreas. One mission had you speeding through abandoned city streets at night in an ancient Formula 1 racing car, just so you could sabotage it for a race the next day. Even the ending stayed with me for a long time, because of its last, great twist. Enjoy these screens of Mafia 2.

When Gamecock stormed the stage at the Video Game Awards earlier this month, they prevented Ken Levine, lead designer of BioShock, from giving his acceptance speech after winning the award for Game of the Year. For the first time since the event, Levine has given a short interview on the matter.

When asked about what was going through his head during the incident Levine responded:

All I really gave a crap about was that the judges (who were all top journalists) chose us from the field. The rest is kind of gravy.

When asked what he was hoping to have a chance to say, before he was so rudely interrupted, Levine said:

I had a tireless, amazing team who was on a mission to make BioShock great. We didn’t have 300 people or five years. We had an insane amount of passion. I’d like to thank the people who made it with me, the families that patiently waited while we did our thing, the publisher with the guts not to make us change it, and the fans who showed that gamers have a much broader range of interest and intellect than anybody in certain parts of the media or the political space is comfortable giving them credit for.

Read the full interview by 1UP here.

With mega-company Take 2 taking home top honors at the Spike Video Game Awards, indie publisher Gamecock was desperately vying for attention. But what’s sadder than “Game of the Year” body art? How about crashing Ken Levine’s acceptance speech in red capes and masks?

Check out the video– the surprised and subdued crowd reaction says it all. Gamecock has since apologized for the stunt, saying that they’d rather have crashed the Fueled By Mountain Dew category instead.

We know these guys want to stand out from the crowd, but upstaging one of gaming’s greatest designers was maybe not the smartest move. Gamecock will rise someday, perhaps, but it might take a bit longer thanks to this stunt.

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Via: Joystiq

Our next, slightly controversial entry on this list has led me to question what exactly constitutes a weapon. The Darkness, the evil entity that spawns from our anti-hero Jackie Estacado in the game of the same name, is a living, breathing thing. It’s biological, despite its supernatural origins. It has a voice and a full range of emotions (anger, malice, rage).

So what exactly are the requisites for a badass weapon? It has to cause pain (check!). It’s got to make onlookers gasp in horror and/or inspire fits of uncontrolled vomiting (check!). But on that token, doesn’t Britney Spears’ MTV Video Music Awards performance qualify? The answer: Yes, but, the Darkness can kill you, and until some long-term variable controlled studies are conducted to prove the contrary, Spears’ music hasn’t been documented to be life threatening.

The Darkness isn’t really that much unlike the Mafioso strong men it so viciously slaughters. It loves eating Italian (or “Italians” rather), gets off on controlling people and favors the use of colorful language. The two elongated eel like appendages that jut out of Jackie’s love handles are some versatile killing machines, that much is certain.

Feel like turning a Bowery hitman into a human shish kebab? Well, it’s just one button click away. Want to knock out the lights so that your prey can only hear the snarl between your razor sharp teeth before causing a permanent case of deadness? No problem.

Hell, you can even develop a gravitational field powerful enough to engulf electromagnetic radiation as stated in Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Black holes sure are fun. The Darkness doesn’t just make you feel stronger; it makes everyone else seem weak. Most games have you fighting monsters. This game transformed you into one.

The Darkness is a freight train of suffering powered by the devoured hearts of its victims, with Mike Patton of Faith No More providing the creepy voice. And let us not forget that Faith No More was the band responsible for the video “Epic”, which depicted a landlocked fish gasping for air as the closing keys carried out on a somber piano. The fish, as it turned out, was the pet of Icelandic pop sensation Bjork.

So there you have it, folks. The Darkness tortured Bjork’s goldfish. And for that simple fact, it makes its pure evil way near the top of this list.

Top Ten Most Badass Weapons List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

Allow me to paint you a picture: First came the wheel, then the alphabet, followed soon after by television and the Internet. There were horses and camels and elephants, which were mostly used to raid barbarian villages and wage wars between nations. Precious gems were extracted, rice and wheat were traded, and Civilization was born.

Excuse me if I’m glossing over the details. Human history is a little too complicated to encapsulate in one limited experience, but the Civilization games have been doing just that since the series began in 1991. Formerly only found on PCs, Civilization begins anew on nearly all current consoles with Civilization: Revolution, featuring sixteen classical civilizations and a slew of gameplay changes.

If my rundown of human events over the last ten thousand years or so seemed overly simplified, you should probably expect that same level of reduction from the console version. To streamline the controls and gameplay, Civilization: Revolution will hasten the speed of mankind’s development to a furious pace. Blink, and you might just miss the Renaissance.

There are certain advantages to tinkering with Civilization’s grand scale, like enabling a three or four hour playthrough from chariot wheels to tank treads. Playing through human history on the couch could get tiring faster than playing from an office chair, so shorter games could be an advantage here.

Also, some of the more difficult to manage aspects of running a civilization, like corruption, pollution, and forced revolution have all been dropped. It’s funny that a game called Civilization: Revolution would drop the ability for your subjects to overthrow your imposed system of government, but apparently the scientists working at Take Two have discovered irony.

The cultural impact of your civilization has also been overhauled, as you can now gain a cultural victory by accumulating great people. When your high culture score causes an unhappy competing city to join your civilization, you’ll end up converting the unhappiest city regardless of their distance from your borders. These kinds of changes could disrupt the finely tuned balance of the series, but with Sid Meier on board as the lead designer, hopefully these changes won’t cause Civilization to crumble.

Civilization: Revolution looks like it holds a lot of promise for a streamlined console version, and the game should play the same across all systems regardless of graphical power or interface. Bonuses like a standardized Game of the Week for online competitions on the Xbox 360 and touch-screen control for the Nintendo DS seem like they might even make the game worth checking out on multiple platforms. We’ll have the complete story on this new era in gaming when Civilization: Revolution comes out next year.

“Who’s your Big Daddy?”

There hasn’t been an enemy character in a first person shooter for a long time that carries the same impact as Bioshock’s Big Daddy. They’ve got loads of health, a disorienting roar, and a powerful rivet gun that will make you go through every last first aid kit, but the Big Daddy makes a big impression before they even come into view.

That’s because with Bioshock’s extraordinary attention to audio detail, you can hear the whale-like song of these lumbering creatures from several rooms away. Every thud of their heavy metal boots rumbles your eardrums, and if you’re close enough, the controller too. They’re the protectors of the Little Sisters, who are your key to unlocking more abilities and resources in the underwater mega-mall of Rapture. And they’re the defining characters in a utopia that placed perfection over humanity. In this way, the Big Daddies are the perfect combat foes, and the Little Sisters are the perfect victims.

The plot of Bioshock is fairly straightforward and linear, with little deviation in the way abilities are achieved but a great deal of strategy in choosing what to use, when. The security system of Rapture, for example, is easily hackable (with a Pipe Dream style minigame that is a nice distraction from the action, if a little simplistic), and there’s no greater joy than watching chaos ensue from a Big Daddy fighting off three or four hovering security bots. You can even cause the Big Daddies to fight each other, with a plasmid power-up that causes one Big Daddy to protect you as they would their Little Sisters.

Compared to the Big Daddies and Little Sisters, the other enemies you encounter are fairly limited and plain. There are splicers that carry wrenches, guns, bombs, and hook-wielding enemies that climb on the ceiling. You can research these foes with a camera, but most of the time you’ll end up shooting them on sight. Other than the splicers and the occasional human boss fight, the best encounters are between the Big Daddies and the environment.

Oil, water, and even bees are the elements which contain most of the fun of Rapture’s firefights. You can light objects aflame, use telekinesis to rearrange traps, or fool enemies into fighting each other. You can also shock water, sting with insects, and booby-trap health stations. This all adds up to one of the most cleverly designed combat arenas in recent memory.

As close as Bioshock comes to being a perfect game, there are still a few minor problems which keep it from achieving a perfect score. The plot, while mature and engrossing, is still extremely linear, with little room for exploration or alternate paths. The major branching path in the game comes from whether or not you exploit the Little Sisters, but in gameplay terms the result is almost the same (you get half the resources for “rescuing” as you do for “harvesting”).

As beautiful as the game’s interiors are, setting the entire game in Sea Lab means that there’s not a grandiose sense of scale or adventure. Many times you are forced through arbitrary gates that open and close only upon reaching certain objectives. As great as the scripted story moments are, it would be nice to see less scripted action and more player-defined moments.

Another thing which keeps this game from achieving absolute perfection is the absence of multiplayer. While Bioshock is without a doubt one of the best single player experiences available so far this year, what keeps the game from infinite replayability is the lack of underwater multiplayer deathmatch. The traps, environments, and weapons seem well suited for melee matches, and perhaps we can hope that a sequel or spin-off allows for some type of online play.

Still, the production values are top notch in Bioshock and it plays like a dream throughout. There are many disturbing moments, several stunning revelations, and one of the most compelling stories ever seen in a game, much less a first person shooter. It’s right up there with Half Life 2 and System Shock 2 in terms of a complete gameplay experience told through a first person narrative.

The great thing about scoring a game in the upper eschalon of the review scale is that it invites endless debates about what would work better, what little tweaks or changes could possibly make it truly perfect. I’ve suggested a couple here– multiplayer mode and a more open environment– but every player who experiences Bioshock will likely come away with their own take on the subject. Perhaps the game relies too much on scripted events, or the audio logs, to tell the story, but it’s still a story that goes so far beyond “saving the princess” or “stopping the terrorists” that it qualifies as thought-provoking entertainment. From start to finish, and hopefully long after, Bioshock deserves a place on your shelf and in your Xbox 360.

2K, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. announced today Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Gold Edition for PC. Containing 2005’s PC Game of the Year Sid Meier’s Civilization IV and its first expansion set, Civilization IV: Warlords plus an impressive list of bonus items.

“Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Gold Edition is a great way to get into the award-winning Civilization IV series,” said Christoph Hartmann, President of 2K. “Gamers will now have the chance to change the course of world history and relive battles from every era of the past with both Civilization IV games in one box – in stores just in advance of the highly anticipated second Civ IV expansion pack, Beyond the Sword.”

Gold Edition includes these bonus features:

• Exclusive fantasy-style poster from world-famous artist Greg Hildebrandt (illustrator of the original “Star Wars” fantasy-themed “Clash of the Titans” movie poster, “Lord of the Rings” calendars and posters and other seminal artwork)
• Behind-the-scenes DVD with developer interviews, insight into the Civilization IV development process and a short feature on Sid Meier’s video game history
• Tech-tree poster featuring the paths to researching and discovering all of the technologies needed to advance in Civilization IV
• Civilization IV Game Manual

The Gold Edition allows gamers who have not yet experienced the thrill of ruling the world to now own the two most recent games in the world’s greatest strategy franchise for one incredible value. Developed by Firaxis Games, 2K’s world-renowned development studio, Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Gold Edition ships to retailers in North America on July 17, 2007.

For more information, please visit www.civilization.com.

Who needs a dog when you have The Darkness!! Ain't that right Jackie?

Today we had the pleasure of sitting down with the one and only Marc Silvestri, renowned illustrator and creator of the character behind the upcoming game The Darkness which is due to hit stores towards the end of this month. We picked his brain about the new game, the comic, his influences, and the state of the comic book and video game industry today. Enjoy.

Mad: What did you want to be growing up?
Marc: Oddly enough I wanted to be a doctor, and then I realized you had to be smart for that.
Mad: Ha-ha.
Marc: It wouldn’t have worked out, trust me. I don’t even remember why I just wanted to be a doctor for a while. Then an astronaut, of course when I started to grow beyond 6 foot that wasn’t going to happen.
Mad: Well some of us never hit 6 feet so you should be happy!
Marc: Ha-ha, so yeah I just wound up in comics, it seemed like an easy gig so that is where I went.

Mad: How did you get started in comics?
Marc: You know, I wasn’t a huge comic book reader when I was a kid, my cousin was, to this day he has an enormous collection. I would go to his house to hang out on the weekends and pick up something that I looked cool and usually it was something by Jack Kirby or Neal Adams, something like that and read those comics. Unfortunately back then I would usually only read one part of a two or three part story because I never really got to see them in any real order, but yeah that was my exposure back then. I would go over his house, hang out and check out what I thought looked cool.

Mad: What was your favorite comic?
Marc: You know I was a big fan of Kirby’s stuff. I loved the horror stuff, the old E.C. Comics, all the black and whites. They had some amazing art and some really cool stories, really cool writing. That is what I was really drawn to.
Mad: Very cool.
Marc: I remember being drawn to the dynamics that John Buscema had brought to the field. I thought Neil Adams stuff was kind of interesting at that time. All the old illustrators of course anything that Frank Frazetta did, I snuffed that out and loved it. To this day he is a main influence on what I do. Later on I got to appreciate guys like Walt Simonson and Buscema was always with me all the way through my comic career. I was into his work, all the stuff that he did but that was primarily what I was checking out. Those guys, if they did something I would ask my cousin, hey any issues with so and so and he would pull them out for me.

Mad: What was your inspiration for The Darkness?
Marc: As a kid, again I always dug the horror stuff. I loved Dracula, Frankenstein, Wolf Man, and all that stuff. I always wanted to do something that kind of scared me. Around the time we were doing Witchblade, in fact The Darkness was created before Witchblade, the concept for it anyway, and I kind of put it in a drawer and didn’t think about again until Witchblade became popular. But I always wanted to do something that was super hero horror, which was not what anyone else was really doing … Marvel wasn’t doing anything like that, and DC wasn’t doing anything like that. I was always fascinated by a character that would have to live in the dark both literally and figuratively. I started to think more about what was scary about the dark and what was scary about the dark part of us as human beings. Stuff just started to come to the forefront and the more I thought about it the more I kind of liked the idea. I remember pitching the idea to David Wohl who was Top Cow’s Editor and Chief at that time. He kind of responded to it so I pulled it back out of the drawer and with the success of Witchblade we thought, you know what there is a market for this super natural super hero stuff going on, so let’s find ourselves a writer. Let’s look for somebody that could bring a fresh spin to this kind material and Garth Ennis’s name came up. He was just starting to blow up at that time; people were starting to take notice, so we gave him a call.

Mad: In terms of the game how big of a team has Starbreeze Studio dedicated to the design and the development of The Darkness?
Marc: You know, I am not sure of the exact number but I do know that they were using this game to kind of help grow the company staff wise. I do know that as the game started going on and on and the excitement level was increasing. We moved over to 2K as a publisher, and more money started coming in for the game. They began ramping up and staffing up, and the game became more of a priority for them to get the game to not only look as good as it possibly could, and it looks amazing. They have really taken advantage of the next generation platforms and I think it’s going to blow people away.

Mad: In developing the game, how important was it to you that the developers stick to the comic storyline as much as possible?
Marc: Well I think the main thing we were looking for was not so much someone to stick to the storyline, but stick to the concept of the character and the world that he inhabited, meaning we wanted Jackie to be in the game and we wanted The Darkness to be in the game. Those were our priorities. We had been approached over the years to do something with us, The Darkness, Witchblade what have you, and nobody really came to us understanding what The Darkness really was and how he could be turned into an entertaining game experience until Starbreeze came along. They did so much incredible preproduction work that just blew us away when we saw it. These guys just got visually what The Darkness should be, and then they pitched us the idea of how the game would work. They were very respectful to us, and very respectful to The Darkness, and very respectful to all the history that we have had with that character and how important that was to us. We realized you know what; these guys have done Riddick which obviously impressed the hell out of everybody. They were ready to step it up to the next level. They really wanted to have a game that proved that Riddick was not a fluke, and that they could not only do it again, but do it better. So it was like wow ok so far so good here. So, to get a developer like Starbreeze, AND they get it, AND they want to make it … so it was like ok, let’s go! Another thing we had to tip our hat to them on was the fact that they actually wanted someone closely associated with The Darkness to work on the game with them, which was Paul Jenkins who actually wrote the game and for fans of the book, he actually wrote a lot of the issues of the book too.

Mad: That kind of leads us in to the next question. Does the game follow a specific series of events that are outlined in the comic, and if so what issues do you think it touches the most?
Marc: Actually, oddly enough that is something Paul did although I never asked him directly (ha-ha) but a lot of what he put in there kind of follows some of his story lines in the book. I don’t want to give too much away because a lot of that is revealed in the game play, and for those who have not read the book I don’t want to spoil that for them. The brilliant thing that Starbreeze did was that they managed to make an origin game, in that they teach you what The Darkness power is and they teach you about Jackie’s world while you are playing the game which is really entertaining. There is no need for a lot of explanation; you just kind of get it organically and we thought that was really smart of them, especially when we saw HOW they did it. It was like wow you guys actually pulled it off. It sounded great on paper, but they actually pulled it off. So for us it was like, here is the concept, here is the feel for Jackie’s world, here is the feel for Jackie himself, you take it from there. Having Paul work closely with them, and he did work very closely with them, he literally wrote the game with them and he worked closely with us. I think that fans of the comic are not only going to NOT be disappointed, but they are going to be pretty impressed that Starbreeze was able to stay so close to the spirit of what The Darkness is and Jackie especially.

Mad: Did you contribute any sketches or storyboards for the games cinematic sequences?
Marc: Well we were so impressed with what they had done artistically, that we kind of just went you know what, you guys just do what you need to do … you obviously know what you are doing, certainly better than us. I think one of the things that also was very fun for us was that Starbreeze pulled a lot from our library of Darkness books. They actually used a lot of our artwork as inspiration, whether it was my work, or whether it was Dale Keown’s work, or some of our other guys, you know they pulled from that. So a lot of what The Darkness is in the comic is translated into the game. In fact the ONLY difference actually that people would notice who are familiar with the comic is that Jackie is not technically in his super hero costume in the game. He is wearing a trench coat, which we thought was a very smart move on Starbreezes part ... that was their suggestion.
Mad: Ok, that is a little bit different from the comic.
Marc: Yeah, I mean he still looks like Jackie, although he just isn’t wearing a costume in the game, which is cool with us because there is so much other stuff that Starbreeze put in there that IS about The Darkness. That was something we talked about very early on in the development because they were kind of worried, like I said they were very respectful of us and the property. They said we would kind of like to NOT have Jackie in the costume and this is why, all these cool things are going to be happening around him. Make him just a regular looking guy, like he is in the comic, and then have all this really cool darkness crap going on with all these demon guys running around and that’s all you really need. And you know what, they were absolutely right, that wasn’t something we had to go back and forth about.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Darkness Video Game Trailer - Click To Play

Mad: How many villains from the comic will be in the game and can you name a few?
Marc: Recognizable villains that people will see in there from the comic; Uncle Paulie who was a fixture in the comic, especially in the Paul Jenkins issues. He is kind of the main mortal lord in the book and he has his guys that work for him and then there is another place, another part of the game which we have hinted to in the press, called The Other World, which is the supernatural world of The Darkness. You as Jackie will play two fifths of the game in that level, which is actually pretty cool supernatural villains for Jackie to go up against so he’s not just fighting mobsters the whole time.
Mad: Ok.
Marc: Starbreeze was really smart in making sure that Jackie, when he goes up against junior antagonists, there are a lot of them and they can do a lot of damage to Jackie. They were also very smart about taking it to another level when you get to the point that Jackie is fighting these OTHER things that are NOT people. So that was pretty cool.

Mad: Having seen the game in progress, what are your thoughts? It sounds like you like it a lot.
Marc: You know, we have had experience with working with other media, and working with people with various levels of success you know, and it’s always a crap shoot. Before I got any taste at all of the movie or TV business I always wondered how anyone could spend so much money on a movie and still have it come out like crap, ha-ha.
Mad: Ha-ha, yeah.
Marc: So once I got into the business and saw how things operate, I completely reversed my thinking and went WOW, how do they even make a good movie? You know?
Mad: Yeah.
Marc: There is so much going on, and so many people with their input that the chances of coming out with something good are so loaded against you, it’s not funny. So when we got into something like a video game, which is not all that different from going into a movie or a TV show deal, you kind of go you know what, all we can really do is get the best people in play that we feel understand whatever it is that we are producing with them, and hopefully they are the best there is at what they do, and in the case of Starbreeze I believe that is true. Then we work with them as much as we can and kind of just sit back and let them do their job to be honest.
Mad: That is a great outlook.
Marc: Yeah, it came out terrific. You know, all you can really do at a certain point is cross your fingers and hope that you made the right decisions and you are involved with the right people. In the case of The Darkness game, you know what, without sounding like I am hyping it too much, it FAR exceeded any expectation I could have hoped for. The end result was just amazing to me.
Mad: Well you just answered my next question.
Marc: Ha-ha.
Mad: So it exceeded your expectations.

Mad: Did you get a chance to play the game at various stages in its development cycle?
Marc: Yeah, they actually showed us early builds of the game almost from the get go. They had started doing work on it pretty quickly. So even three years ago, we got to see some early builds of it and even back then before any kind of polish was done to it, it was already impressive. The work that they had done, the fact that they are artists over there at Starbreeze as well as programmers which I think is a great advantage for them. So not only are they gamers and programmers, but they are artists as well. So the world that they were building, even in its early stages, was very tactile and very immersive, and that was already a great start. Then as the months went on they would show us more and more. Each time we saw it we got re-blown away by it. It was like; man I thought it was cool last month. It was an interesting process for me because it’s not a world that I am used to. To see how it improves almost on a monthly basis. Even the things we saw, they go back and tweak it and polish it and fix it. You may have thought it was great before, it becomes something even that much greater.

Mad: That actually brings up another question. How different is the world of video game production from the world you experienced previously with comics?
Marc: As far as the differences are concerned, for a comic book, for me it’s like I am completely in charge of that process. I can stick my nose in there as much as I want. It’s a business that I completely understand. If we create something we think is cool we put a team together, if it’s not me it’s somebody else, and we publish the book, it’s that simple, and the cost compared to video games and other media are really relatively small. In fact they are just a fraction of the cost of putting together a video game. And the time involved is also a fraction of the time. Literally we can put out a comic book within six months, from conception to hitting the stands. With a video game like The Darkness, they have been working on it for three years by the time it comes out. And they have spent millions and millions of dollars on this game, which is something we don’t do in the comic book business. No matter how expensive that book, no matter how much advertising you put behind it, it’s not going to cost you millions and millions of dollars. So that’s something to me that’s so startling. You’ve got a company that literally spends three years creating something, spending all this time, spending all this money, and they have so much riding on it that you go WOW that is a scary business to be in. These guys know what they are doing, we knew that from the get go and we have all the confidence in the world that people will not be disappointed by it.

Mad: In terms of the game itself, if you had to pick one thing, what would you say impressed you the most?
Marc: The thing that impressed me the most about the game was just, how they captured the spirit of Jackie Estacado. How they captured the spirit of what The Darkness can be, and how they pull that together into something you can actually play. It’s one thing to do a graphic illustration of the world. It’s one thing to write a description of the world. But what they had to do was both of those things PLUS make that world playable. Make that world so immersive that when you grab the controls and you are looking at the TV, you feel like you actually ARE Jackie Estacado and you are in that world. The fact they were able to do that, and I can’t really single out one scene because there are so many really cool ones, just the fact that they were able to make that happen, to make that transition from a comic into a playable video game, that’s what really impressed me the most, because that’s just not something that is easy to do.

Mad: Do you play a lot of video games yourself?
Marc: No, I make a great target in Halo. Ha-ha.
Mad: Ha-ha.
Marc: We have it set up over at the office, and all the guys when we are working late nights, will challenge each other and get together. Four or five of us will get on the monitors and play. I play some games at home. Honestly, from what I have played and what I have seen, The Darkness and what Starbreeze has done with it really takes all that stuff to a new level. I am just really pleased to be a part of all of that.

Mad: Outside of Halo, are you familiar with any other first person shooters on the market?
Marc: Let’s see, what have I played. I have played things like FEAR, Grand Theft Auto, and Tomb Raider. I play a lot of those games. I don’t play them for hours and hours on end, but I definitely have played them enough to say well this is pretty cool, or this is kind of interesting. Yeah, I certainly feel I have played enough games to compare what Starbreeze has done with this.

Mad: Do you have any plans to work on any other video games in the near future?
Marc: Yes. We would love to work with Starbreeze again in the near future. It has been such a pleasure working with them. They have been so collaborative and so concerned that WE are ok with everything they are doing. We would love to do more with them and 2K has been great. We do have a couple of projects that we are working on right now that hopefully we can make someone else move on, but I think as the technology improves, and the developers out there are getting better and better and can interpret what we do more and more into video games, yeah you are going to see a lot more stuff.

Mad: Do you believe that comics have become increasingly more violent in the last twenty years or so, having been in the industry?
Marc: Well I think there has been an increase in a lot of things in all media, and I think that just happens ... naturally. I remember when I was a kid if you saw somebody get hit with a gunshot, even if it was just moving their clothing, you were shocked by it.
Mad: Yeah.
Marc: Today certainly, that’s not going to shock anybody. You know, in the case of The Darkness in both the game and the comic, here it’s his world … and we have to kind of be true to that world, or you are not really being true to that character. So, you know I think you can probably say that everything around us has probably been wrapped up a little bit. I don’t think it’s to the point where anyone is desensitized by it. I think people still react, and always will react to the real thing as opposed to something that is manufactured. So if there are any concerns there, it’s not really concerns with me. I think it’s just part of the way things move.

Mad: So that brings me to my next question. What do you think of all the criticism surrounding violence in video games today?
Marc: I don’t think there is a real ground for it. Again, I don’t think that people have a problem separating fantasy from reality, and if they do, well that’s a whole other issue.
Mad: Exactly.

Marc: I think it’s up to the individual. I think the vast, vast, vast majority; if not all but a few, realize its entertainment and once entertainment is done its put away. I don’t think there are a whole lot of people out there that can’t make that distinction. I think it’s a whole different social issue that really doesn’t have anything to do with video gaming.
Mad: We agree with you.

Mad: Now we have three questions from readers on the site.
Marc: Sure.

Mad: Derek asks: Will we see any other marvel characters in the game as enemies?
Marc: Marvel characters?
Mad: Yes, Marvel characters. Ha-ha.
Marc: Um, no we aren’t going to have any Marvel characters in our game, ha-ha. There isn’t going to be any cross pollinating with other publishers there.
Mad: So there are no crossovers whatsoever, even outside of Marvel?
Marc: No, not with the game.
Mad: Ok.
Marc: Not currently anyway.

Mad: Ok this question is comic related. Arha asks: Will Capris play a greater role in the next volume of the Darkness after the level issues? And will we see a return of Ripclaw from Volume 1? They were amazing characters.
Marc: I am going to answer a tentative yes on that, only because we do have plans and I can’t stand spoilers.
Mad: Ok.
Marc: I don’t want to say anything that is going to make somebody go “oh you just ruined it for me!” but keep your eyes peeled.

Mad: Ok, the last question is game related again. Spider78 asks: Will there be any hidden Easter Eggs in the game you can tell us about?
Marc: I think there are things that people can find in there. I think Starbreeze was very clever in giving people some rewards if they looked around. It’s not a game that has to be played in any linear fashion I don’t believe. I believe it is very free roaming. I think, as far as I know, that if someone looks around, if they’re smart, they can find some things.

Mad: Ok. That’s it Marc. Thank you very much for your time.
Marc: My pleasure. I appreciate your support of the game.
Mad: Thank you.