Enter, BioShock

By Tyler Barber

"...a day which will live in infamy." Roosevelt may have delivered that line after the pivotal Pearl Harbor invasion, but I think it's more applicable here.

Today, BioShock for the Xbox 360 debuts to the world. Last week a megaton demo of BioShock dropped on Xbox Live, and instantly — with only half an hour of stick time — gamers everywhere are declaring BioShock the apex of gaming today.

Fear not hyperbole reader! Review scores for BioShock have been pouring in, weighing it on a scale of the good ol' 1-10:

10 - 1up
10 - GameSpy
10 - Game Informer
10 - GameDaily
10 - Eruogamer
10 - Games Radar
10 - Yahoo! Games
10 - GamePro
9.7 - IGN
9 - GameSpot

But enough numbers — all you'll ever get from Number's is crabs — the real reason to get this game is because it feels, well, real. When you play BioShock, there's this dissonance where you feel drowned in the game's world and in its story, but at the same time, there's this awareness that someone meticulously crafted this world for you to enjoy (or for you to be terrorized in).

With the current generation of gaming coming in the HD era, where the average gamer is a 29 year-old male and where it's not uncool to play games, we're finally seeing the maturation of the industry. Like the Beatles' White Album to rock and roll, BioShock is undeniably taking acid (no not really). BioShock is a game that gamers are pointing to and saying: "see, games are more to us than entertainment." When the Beatles first got together, they were practically a boy-band, playing fun, light-hearted songs. It wasn't until later that the Beatles, along with many other bands, started creating music that not only defined what we consider rock and roll, but also defined its own culture. And like the rock and roll culture pre-Blackbird, the gaming culture is relatively young. We're still convincing our parents that we're not wasting our time.

Enough preaching. If you're so inclined to pick up BioShock today, you shouldn't have problems finding a copy. Everyone is going to be stocked like crazy for the release of BioShock. Don't have an Xbox 360? Now's a good time to buy, as there has recently been a price cut across all Xbox 360 skus. I recommend the Pro (formerly known as the Premium) or the Elite. I wouldn't recommend the Core pack to my worst enemy. Do the math yourself: no wireless controllers, no hard drive (a lot of games coming out, like GTAIV, will require a HDD, or run better on a machine with one), and no HDMI output.

Too bad BioShock hit on a deadline week for the Free Press. Woe is me!