Bioshock is coming to iOS, for some reason...

[yourbeliefs]

In today's "Who asked for this and why are we bothering" news...

http://www.cnet.com/news/bioshock-heads-to-apples-ios-as-premium-priced-mobile-game/

 

[Zookster]

Could mean PS Vita owners will finally be getting that Bioshock game they've been waiting for -- a port of the original.

 

[king3pj]

I can't imagine trying to play a FPS like Bioshock on my iPad with touch controls. A Vita port would probably be doable because of physical buttons but it obviously doesn't have the huge potential market of iOS users.

 

[Zookster]

I can't imagine trying to play a FPS like Bioshock on my iPad with touch controls. A Vita port would probably be doable because of physical buttons but it obviously doesn't have the huge potential market of iOS users.

I hear you. One of my first app purchases for my first-gen Kindle Fire was an Uncharted-like TPS game that had actually gotten decent reviews. Those touch controls for aiming and shooting drove me batty and I gave up after 15-20 mins., as excited as I was to play it, and I never bought that kind of game again for a pad.

 

[yourbeliefs]

Like I said, this makes NO sense. Awful control issues aside (although the game IS gamepad compatible) who would want to play this on their iPad or iPhone? The world of Rapture is beautiful and to force it down to a 8.9" screen (at the most) is like being forced to listen to the entire Beatles catalog in Real Audio 2.0 format. Also, while the iDevices are getting better graphics chips, they still can't compare to the consoles and PC, so it'll look small AND bad. Finally, they said it will be a "premium priced game." I'm not sure what that means, but if it's $15 or more it will serve no purpose as you can get the regular versions for that price, if not cheaper. So for the same price, I can get the game with better graphics, that I can play on a bigger screen, and with better controls? So what is the appeal of it? That I can bring it anywhere? Wow.. Bioshock on my 4" iPhone screen that I can bring on the bus with me. Finally, even if I DID fall on my skull and logic shifted to where this was a justifiable purchase, I can't get it because it's not compatible with my iPad 3. What a compelling reason to upgrade.

 

[Zookster]

I don't know about a 4 inch screen, but if any AAA shooter can work on a 7-10 inch screen it may be Bioshock given the tight spaces most the action takes place in. Even Uncharted Golden Abyss, which was created specifically for the small 5 inch Vita screen got to be a pain in many places due to the longish draw distances and the teeny, tiny enemies off in the distance Nate had to shoot at. In fact, it seemed just every other shootout area provided the player with a sniper rifle with adjustable scope to get through it. Bioshock can even be played using melee combat almost the entire time if you upgrade properly and use the right tonics. Who would buy it is anyone else's guess. Maybe Apple plans a decent marketing campaign.

 

[yourbeliefs]

Well I guess it's best played on a 4" screen because quite frankly the game looks awful. It looks like if they made it for the PS2. So it's basically everything great about Bioshock made less great, but you can play it wherever you want.

 

[yourbeliefs]

Here's a side by side comparison of iOS with Xbox 360.

 

[yourbeliefs]

Available now for $14.99, which is the same price to get it new on a last gen system.

http://www.polygon.com/2014/8/28/6078135/bioshock-ios-release-date-price

 

[yourbeliefs]

Well here's an interesting update...

So apparently Bioshock on IOS hasn't been functional for anyone that upgraded to iOS 8.4 (this update came on June 30th.) The devs said that they were working on a fix, but as of today the game is no longer on the App Store, and people who bought the game previously can't even re-download it. No word on when/if it'll come back and it looks like users can't get refunds either (at least not easily.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/3m72qr/bioshock_pulled_from_ios_app_store_it_has_been/

Update: 2K acknowledged the take down and is promising to bring the game back, fully functional.

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/...-app-store-leaves-owners-out-in-the-cold.aspx