Strange New World: Tech Picks of the Week
"Bioshock" allows players to decide how to play -- and win -- the game.
Sept. 6, 2007 — -- It's getting nippy here in the Strange New World. Fall is definitely in the air, and that means it's time to channel our inner teenager by heading back indoors for two of our picks of this week — getting ready for some football on a fab new better-quality LCD TV and playing what is probably the hottest video game right now: "Bioshock."
And for our third pick — just to stay at least a bit grown-up — first there was teller-less banking, now we have bank-less banking. Big consumer banks are warming to the idea of offering account information and services on mobile devices. The systems are in early tests, so only a few banks are trying it, but sometime soon you'll be balancing your checkbook, well, anywhere.
Here, then, are our picks for this first week of September 2007:
We don't know how you spent your Labor Day weekend, but we confess that we spent ours exploring the Ayn Rand-inspired underwater world of "Bioshock", the first-person shoot'em-up from Take 2 Interactive ($49.99).
"Bioshock" is a wonder of modern gaming hardware and design that even game-aloof adults can admire.
You are set afloat off a bizarre island — a la "Lost," but with an early mid-20th century American Gothic vibe — ditched after a fantastically realistic ocean plane crash. Then you fight for your life in a way cool underwater megalopolis. Not only is the game great — every object such as walls, boxes and windows is in play — but the story is compelling and catered just to you.
Players use a combination of bio-engineered capabilities and good, old-fashioned guns and ammo to conquer a blizzard of enemies. And we couldn't give away the story line if we tried: With more than 40 different power and weapon combos, the game can be beaten in many, many different ways. Viewer-decided gaming plot lines have always felt contrived to us, but not here. "Bioshock" pulls off the amazing trick of seeming to offer a different experience for each and every user.
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