To the get the bad news out of the way, Bioshock Infinite will now be releasing on February 26 2013, instead of the original release planned in October this year. As with most delays, Irrational the developer has said that the game is need of some further tweaks and improvements, both of which will help to ensure that the finished product ends up being ‘extraordinary’.

Don’t forget that 2K Games is owned by Take-Two, who are also in charge of Rockstar Games and their Grand Theft Auto franchise. After the news broke out regarding the Bioshock Infinite delay, word has quickly spread that this may have a knock on effect on the hugely anticipated GTA V game.

At the moment, Rockstar has remained very quiet on GTA V info and we really haven’t had much to go on since they unveiled the trailer for the game way back in November last year. Analysts Wedbush Securities have said that we may now see an faster development time on Grand Theft Auto V, so that it is now ready for a release in October this year, in place of Bioshock Infinite.

Considering that many of you are expecting a 2013 release for Rockstar’s next GTA title, this will come as a big surprise if GTA V is ready for release in a matter of months. E3 2012 obviously holds all the answers at the moment, so it will be interesting to see what happens. Could it have purely been a business move by Take-Two to release GTA V first ahead of Bioshock Infinite? Let us know your opinions on this – would you be surprised with an October release or not?

Irrational Games are the developers behind Bioshock Infinite, and they have announced on the PS Blog the PS3 exclusive features that the game will get, when it launches on October 19th, or October 16th in the US.

If you pick up the PS3 version of the game, 2K Games are bundling a free copy of Bioshock 1 on the PS3 as well on the Blu-Ray, at no extra cost. If that wasn’t good enough for you, they have also confirmed that the PS3 version will benefit from an additional gameplay experience thanks to included support for the PS Move controller.

As far as we can tell, the Bioshock 1 offer appears to be exclusive to the PS3 only, so we imagine a lot of you will now be getting the PS3 version instead of PC or Xbox 360, as who doesn’t like a free game? A few things to point out which we’re yet to clarify – 1) There is no mention on whether Bioshock 1 will come in disc format on the Blu-ray, or if it will be a voucher code to redeem on the store. 2) At the moment, this is only confirmed for US orders with no mention of EU purchases yet – hopefully the deal will apply all over, as that would be fairly upsetting if not.

We also hope that there isn’t a repeat of the infamous Battlefield 3 and BF1943 situation, in which EA tried to backtrack on their offer but ultimately gave in after some major heat from PS3 owners. If you are planning to get Bioshock Infinite – it now has to be the PS3 version you are getting right?

The name of the game mode doesn’t give much away, but this recent VG247 post tells us a little more. To summarize 1999 will be a game mode designed to satisfy “old school”, hardcore gamers, it will do this by forcing gamers choose permanent decisions which will in-turn deal out unforgiving consequences later on in the game.

Ken Levine claims that this game mode suits the way he likes to play games, apparently in recent studies 56.8% of respondents suggested that they wanted decision making to play a part in BioShock Infinite, which is why 1999 mode was added. We’re not sure why it’s called 1999 mode, but someone over at VG247 suggests that it may be something to do with System Shock 2, a game which Irrational Games finished developing in 1999 – perhaps the name of the mode suggests how we would have played BioShock Infinite back in 1999.

Not only will decision making be important in 1999 mode, but whilst playing this mode gamers will be able to “get tweaks and features” unavailable in normal game modes, currently no further details regarding these tweaks and features have been divulged, therefore we will have to keep you posted as we hear more.

Whilst talking about BioShock Infinite Ken Levine went on to talk about the importance of choosing between upgrade options in previous games, therefore it would be fair to say that Infinite will implement a similar system.

What do you expect from 1999 mode? Will you play it? Let us know below…

Currently people seem most hyped about Grand Theft Auto 5, and rightly so, previous games in the series have received great reviews from critics and earned multiple ‘Game of the Year’ accolades, but if you think it’s going to be a one horse race think again.

A recent article over at EuroGamer is an interesting read, here we get a chance to see what games game developers are looking forward to, luckily they don’t mention their own upcoming titles – which means we get a true representation of what will be hot in 2012. This allows us to build upon our article back in October which was titled: ‘Best game of 2012, GTA 5 most anticipated?’.

Greg Kasavin at Supergiant Games is most looking forward to BioShock Infinite and Matthew Prior from EA Sports agrees, whilst Ivan Buchta from Bohemia Interactive can’t wait to get his hands on Dishonored as he thinks it will be very imaginative. Lee Perry from Epic Games is most looking forward to Mass Effect 3 and David Jaffe from Eat Sleep Play is most looking forward to Darksiders 2. Craig Duncan at Rare is most excited about Kinect Star Wars (which surprises us, but perhaps he is just looking forward to seeing Kinect being used for a more serious game genre), whilst Dino Patti from Playdead and Geremy Mustard from Chair Entertainment are keen to see how good a job Team Ico’s developers do with The Last Guardian. As you would imagine GTA 5 didn’t go without a mention – both Peter Molyneux from Microsoft Game Studios and Stewart Gilray from Just Add Water think this is the game which they want the most.

As you can see the opinions are pretty mixed, but one game came up more times than any other, this is Diablo 3. Ken Levine at Irrational Games, Richard Garriott (the creator of Ultima) and Brad Muir from Double Fine were looking forward to this game more than any other, the good news is that beta testing seems to be going well so Blizzard Entertainment should be able to stick to the Q1 2012 release plans.

Games which didn’t receive a mention include the next Call of Duty installment, Far Cry 3, Max Payne, Hitman: Absolution, Halo 4 and Final Fantasy XIII-2 – what games are you most shocked not to hear mentioned?

For years I have been looking forward to Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, but I must admit that I have spent so much time waiting I have lost my enthusiasm, also Ubisoft hasn’t done much of late to build the anticipation for the title, so I guess my most anticipated title of 2012 is a toss up between GTA 5 and BioShock Infinite – how about you?

During the Sony E3 2011 press conference it was clear that Irrational Games‘ founder Ken Levine wanted to send a strong message to PlayStation 3 gamers and left them with a parting gift. He says that the next installment from Irrational Games will support the Playstation Move controllers. Levine was very brief and did not explain how they would be used in the game but did admit that he underestimated Sony’s motion controller at first.

As well as this news, there was also a big announcement that the games company would make another title for the Playstation Vita, Sony’s upcoming handheld console. Little more was said about this title and more was said about the release of BioShock Infinite. Levine continued to tell us that there will be an offer on all new Infinite games for the PS3, where the original BioShock game can be collected free with the new title.

The Irrational Games spokesman was fairly brief and did not go too far into detail on the breaking news, however the confirmation is a good sign that more information will be released at a later date we would hope. During his time on stage Ken also showed us the official BioShock Infinite trailer which uses in-game footage only it has been embedded bellow for you to watch, do you like the look of the upcoming game?

Are you happy that Irrational Games and Sony seem to have a better relationship than previously?

If you check out this link you can see a three-page preview which includes screens, the official trailer video and some detailed insight into what to expect.

We have embedded the trailer video below, after watching it you can’t help being left a little confused, there is no sight of the dark and dingy surroundings we are used to seeing, instead there is a bright and vibrant scene where you appear to be falling off a suspended city.

There are three screens to check out, which again show a contrasting atmosphere to previous BioShock games, you can see this here, here and here.

In BioShock Infinite you play as Booker DeWitt on the floating island of Columbia, here you must find a missing girl called Elizabeth. In terms of gameplay Infinite is said to have a much more open feel, in previous BioShock games you were often in tight, dark claustrophobic areas, however in Infinite you are in large, open areas.

We have raised some of the main points made in MTV’s fully detailed preview, however we would recommend checking out the source link below for full details.

Check out the trailer video embedded below and let us know what you think of BioShock’s new look.

Source: MultiplayerBlog