CNN recently sat down with Ken Levine to talk about BioShock Infinite, or more specifically, the time period it’s set in, its influences, and the America that could have been.
With the 1893 World’s Fair used as an influence, the discussion turned to the famous Columbian Exposition, examining how some ideas found in BioShock Infinite stemmed from the work of Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse. “When you go back to that time period and start examining the fiction being written, the art, the early science-fiction – there were all these images of cities floating in the sky,” says Creative Director Ken Levine. “That’s where we got this idea from, and really ran with it.”
Care to discover more about the influences of BioShock Infinite? Would you simply like to know how some pioneers of science helped direct the creation of Booker and Elizabeth’s adventure in Columbia? Head over to the Geek Out blog on CNN for the entire interview.
icegrove | November 23, 2011 5:34 am
I wait for the surprises in the game.
japester | November 29, 2011 2:01 am
This article doesn’t ruin any surprises, icegrove.
😉
Steampunk has become so trendy that I have a negative knee-jerk reaction to it whenever I hear it brought up. It didn’t occur to me that it might apply to BioShock. I thought it was specifically about Victorian tech (hence the “steam” part of it), but maybe the author is right about it pertaining to any period in history.
quancro | November 30, 2011 1:57 am
nikola tesla a fogotten scientis ,,,, a great, amazing, and brillant guy ..edison destroy him …hope he still alive in Columbia ..
magicmaker | December 25, 2011 8:24 pm
Yeah steampunk is so mainstream now, a few years ago it was almost unheard of.
joshimarston | August 12, 2013 1:37 pm
Steampunk is so mainstream now, but this doesn’t mean that wherever it is, the “Steampunk” , is excellent as in Bioshock..