An anonymous reader writes at Slashdot:

"Sony (the owner of SecureROM copy protection) is still up to its old tricks. One would think that they would have learned their lesson after the music CD DRM fiasco, which cost them millions. However, they have now started infesting PC gaming with their invasive DRM. Facts have surfaced that show that the recently released PC game BioShock installs a rootkit, which embeds itself into Explorer, as part of its SecureROM copy-protection scheme. Not only that, but just installing the demo infects your system with the rootkit. This begs the question: Since when did demos need copy protection?"

If you have installed BioShock on your PC, then you will want to follow the alternate link to use Microsoft's Rootkit Revealer to check your PC for malware infection.
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From gamers to critics to investors, people at every level of the games industry have developed an unashamed love for Take-Two and 2K Games' new shooter BioShock. But not everyone is happy.
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In case you wanted to creep yourself out at will, you can now download the eerie orchestral score from BioShock.
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The local Massachusetts paper where Irrational Games is based examines the shock value and moral dilemma of killing characters that resemble young girls in the recently released BioShock for Xbox 360 and PC.

Steve Adams of Quincy's Patriot ledger writes, "[BioShock] is testing the limits of the ultraviolent gaming genre with a strategy that enables player to kill characters resembling young girls."
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Aug 24, 2007 2K Games has been pretty quick to respond to issues with BioShock on PC raised by gamers, in particular addressing complaints about copy protection and activation problems and widescreen frustrations. In brief, BioShock's SecuROM copy protection has come under fire for, among other things, only allowing two simultaneous installs of the game on different PCs and issues the copy protection raises with reinstalling the game. On the widescreen front, it emerged that the way the image ... » Read More

Here are the latest scores from Edge magazine for games like Heavenly Sword, Warhawk, BioShock, Stuntman Ignition and Medal Of Honor Airbourne:
Heavenly Sword - 6
Bioshock - 8
Warhawk - 8
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2K Games has loosened the DRM copy protection on the PC version of BioShock by raising the activation limit from 2 to 5 installations per copy. The move is a response to complaints that the copy protection was too restrictive.

If players still have issues, 2K says they should contact SecuROM, the company who created the copy protection software, to request re-activation and other fixes.
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2K Games' Bioshock may be Game of the Year material, and it could possibly even be among the highest rated games ever, but this horror FPS title isn't without its share of trouble. In fact, complaints are piling up about issues in the PC version - from widescreen woes, to extremely prohibitive copy protection schemes. Some meticulous gamer calls out that 2K is in a worse pinch, stating that 2K Games conflicts against the game's own End User License Agreement (EULA).
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Because everything looks better in widescreen. At this point, players playing BioShock in widescreen are actually getting less picture. Instead of expanding the field-of-view to see more on the sides, the image is simply cut on top and bottom and zoomed in.
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Once again Ken Levine comes out of the top-secret Levine-cave full of wondrous gadgets where he dwells in his imagination to address a major issue with 2K's new baby, BioShock. The concerns over SecuROM copy protection issues will soon be a thing of the past. In a thread posted on the 2K forums by a user named BioshockClassAction, Levine lays it on out
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Following the rise in the Take-Two stock price, Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey tells GameDaily BIZ that BioShock is "not the next GTA" and he thinks investors are "getting carried away." Hickey says he expects BioShock will beat sales expectations (which were originally under 1 million units) and land somewhere in the 1.5 - 2 million range. He says, "However, with the stock up over 20% in the last few days, we have heard of expectations in the 3-4 million unit range, which we believe are unrealistic... keep in mind that Bioshock is only being released on one console platform (Xbox 360), and will likely be limited by its intense, hard-core, first-person-shooter style of game. The game is very dark, very complex, and will have a hard time penetrating the mass market, in our view."
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Another little tidbit found is that the PC version of BioShock mentions the PS3 in the PC demo code. Currently the game is only confirmed for the PC and Xbox 360, which we're sure sits very well for Microsoft given the buzz and acclaim. We also know that Microsoft isn't afraid to buy exclusive content, specifically with Take-Two. So even if this is leftover code for a PS3 version, that project may have been unceremoniously squashed many fathoms ago -- but there is no way to know at this point if this code is leftover by 2K Boston or Epic in their Unreal Engine 3. Take-Two will not even comment on this issue, and it's a special kind of no comment too. They won't comment to the point where there's not even an official "no comment" to the question of what this coding means.
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Aug 22, 2007 Were in for one of the hottest winters on record, and not just because of global warming. The sheer quantity and quality of games coming out before January completely boggles the mind. Nothing, however, is as huge or important as the release of Halo 3 this September. The trilogy capper to one of the most successful videogaming franchises of all time is almost guaranteed commercial success. Okay, okay, it is guaranteed. But just because Halo 3 will be the biggest seller doesn't ... » Read More

When asked if BioShock would be coming to PS3, GamePro's contact informed them that it'd be wrong to think the game wouldn't be released on Sony's console at a later date.

The statement validates news from Tuesday, where eagle-eyed BioShock demo owners discovered a snippet of code listing both Xbox 360 and PS3 as consoles under a file setting.
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Both AMD and Nvidia have released new drivers that help to ensure optimal compatibility with 2K Games' must-play title.

AMD's driver update is available as a hotfix and installs on top of your existing driver. It's said to fix stuttering, missing surfaces and/or display corruption in the game. You can download the update for both 32-bit and x64 versions of Windows XP and Windows Vista from an AMD knowledge base page.
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Bioshock Creative Director, Ken Levine has made an official reply over at the 2K forums regarding the cropping of the top and bottom of the screen slightly in widescreen.
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Forget about finding a copy of BioShock at your local Game Stop, Circuit City, Target, Best Buy, or any other electronic or video game store, because BioShock is most likely sold out everywhere. Amazon still has it, at no. 1 on its popularity chart.
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2K Games has identified a small percentage of Big Daddy figurines that have been damaged in transit to US and Canadian retailers. 2K Games is in the process of setting up a replacement program to ensure customers who are affected by the damaged figurines are issued replacement figurines as quickly as possible.

Since redemption will not be immediate as replacement figurines are currently beginning production, 2K Games will be also sending affected customers a complimentary special printed edition of the BioShock art book, "Breaking the Mold," to enjoy while the replacement figurines are produced and shipped. Additionally, 2K Games will cover all shipping costs for the figurines and art book.
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What's wrong with this picture? Well the normal area shows what the BioShock demo looks like on a widescreen monitor. The red areas show the extra space added when the game is played in standard 4:3 ratio. This is not how widescreen is supposed to work. Instead of slicing the top and bottom off of the image, widescreen should allow players to see more on either side.
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People are keen for the PC version of BioShock. They're gagging for it. This being the internets, some were bound to try and bend the rules to get hold of it early. That's what happened on IGN's Direct2Drive, where a bunch of people found a way to pre-purchase the game AND start playing it, without waiting for the game's official release date. Some may have pulled it off, but most had their downloads cut off when IGN detected the loophole. End of story, right? These were all paying customers, this is the internet, Direct2Drive improve their security and we move on. Right? Nope! IGN have brought the hammer down, sending an email to all users they detected jumping the queue and trying to get the game early.

IGN are now threatening these users with legal action if they don't delete the game even though they paid for it. Which they legally purchased. Their defence? That using Direct2Drive subjects you to certain conditions, of which jumping the queue violates.
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