Episode 12: User Testing and Moral Choices in the Bioshock Series

Unlocking Games

Bioshock is one of the most critically lauded games of all time. Released in 2007, today it still holds a place in Metacritic’s top 25 games ever. The game’s story, all about an underwater city that fell victim to a mix of Objectivist thinking and superpowers, is still largely hailed as an unusually mature experience among games. But does it deserve that praise? And did Bioshock: Infinite improve on anything when it showed up in 2013? This week we talk about Bioshock’s approach to moral choices (especially in comparison to Papers, Please), transferability of training, and whether or not the studio’s approach to user testing made any sense.

Show Notes & Links

• During recording I couldn’t remember how many Little Sisters are in the game. There are 21.
• Bioshock on Metacritic
• Bioshock Collection on Metacritic
• Ken Levine’s Rolling Stone interview
• Transfer of Training
• The effect of a persuasive social impact game on affective learning and attitude
• Persuasive Games, by Ian Bogost
• Early interviews and articles about Bioshock: Infinite’s 1999 mode: Engadget | Game Informer | Irrational Games
• How Many Test Users in a Usability Study? By Jakob Nielsen

Other games mentioned in this episode

• Bioshock 2
• System Shock 2
• Spec Ops: The Line
• Metal Gear: Solid
• Mass Effect
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
• Papers, Please