Ghost Story Games

Ken talks BioShock Infinite with Kotaku

on March 25 2011

16 comments

“You can’t have a society without a battle of ideas.”

That’s the crux of this Kotaku interview with Irrational creative director Ken Levine. Kotaku’s Stephen Totilo delves into the inspirations that underpin BioShock Infinite‘s city of Columbia and the forces that are tearing it apart. Those disparate inspirations include historical labor conflicts, Sinclair Lewis’ It Can’t Happen Here, Ridley Scott’s film Alien, and…a picture of a dead horse.

Touching on some ground covered during Irrational’s PAX East panel on world creation, Ken described how BioShock Infinite once revolved around “a rift between technologists and Luddites.” That conflict didn’t quite hit home, however, and the “battle of ideas” eventually coalesced into the current factional battle between the city’s nationalist Founders and the insurgent Vox Populi.

The interview is punctuated with historical photography captioned by art director Nate Wells, who explains how the reference material informs BioShock Infinite‘s development–both in terms of direct visual inspiration as well as environmental storytelling methods.

Nate’s moustache does not make an appearance.

Posted on March 25 2011 12:19 pm, under Insider
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Comments (16)

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  • patcheschance | March 25, 2011 12:32 pm

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    “Nate’s moustache does not make an appearance.”

    Sadface.

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  • insectswarm | March 25, 2011 3:11 pm

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    Its amazing how a simple photograph can inspire you.

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    • rybow73 | April 24, 2011 4:58 pm

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      Exactly this!

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  • 1srkarkan | March 25, 2011 5:46 pm

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    But i want him doing an appearance! 😛

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  • magicmaker | March 25, 2011 10:31 pm

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    I don’t think you guys were looking close enough….

    [img]http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5018/5559641475_fafc5286f2_z.jpg[/img]

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  • magicmaker | March 26, 2011 9:08 am

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    Here’s a direct link, like I was saying, if you look for the mustache, it will come, now look closely..you may have to squint…

    http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5018/5559641475_fafc5286f2_z.jpg

    ….or not.

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    • IG.Chris | March 28, 2011 3:09 pm

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      Well done.

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      • magicmaker | March 29, 2011 10:09 pm

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        Thanks, hopefully got a chuckle from you IG guys/gals. The funniest part for me was when my girlfriend asked “Why are you photoshopping one of the Village people into that photo?”. Couldn’t help but laugh.

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  • maximus | March 26, 2011 2:11 pm

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    BioShock Infinite will be the best game ever

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    • rybow73 | April 24, 2011 4:59 pm

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      Seconded.

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  • zenoverse | March 26, 2011 2:13 pm

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    Incredible, just how different Columbia is from Rapture. From the dark, twisted halls of Neptune’s Bounty to the grandiose sophistication of Olympus Heights – Rapture was a monument to the grounded ideals of Andrew Ryan. Yet, Columbia is another entity in itself, the product of an entire nation’s philosophy.

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  • bobogoldman | March 29, 2011 8:25 pm

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    What I see in this picture is two sides of society.
    We see in one side of the picture the children and beyond them are the other class. The men with their suits and horses.
    With two distinctively opposing sides of society a battle ensues and the result is: kids looking menacing, poor but tough over a dead horse

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  • nintendoll | March 30, 2011 2:48 pm

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    GIANT IMAGE IS GIANT.

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  • Quancro | April 9, 2011 11:08 pm

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    this sound cool

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  • cainabel | July 14, 2011 7:08 pm

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    The horse is the horse Elizabeth tries to save … hmm, interesting.

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