The first real piece of DLC for the BioShock series debuted yesterday: the ‘Sinclair Solutions Test Pack’. This DLC enhances the multi-player aspect of the game by raising the level cap to 50, adding a third upgrade for each weapon, and unlocking 20 more trials and 2 more playable characters.
Good to know when I’m ready to start the looooooonnnnnnng journey of leveling my BioShock 2 character. 
You can buy this DLC package for 400 MS Points/$5 for PS3er’s.
I’m going to break down the following sequence of events in time line format. You see, my friend, Jacob, claimed I could finish Bioshock 2 on hard with vita-chambers turned off by noon the next day. What followed was one man’s epic battle against machine.
10:00 PM, Friday – Nicole and a group of our friends go out for dinner and subsequent bowling happiness. While dinner was most delicious, to our dismay, the wait time for bowling is over an hour. This is unacceptable. To satisfy our insatiable lust for parlor games and booze we hit a local pool hall.
11:30 PM, Friday – It turns out Karaoke is in full effect, prompting Nicole to sing ‘Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked’ and ‘Suddenly I See’.
11:45 PM, Friday – In a drunken stupor, I explain to Jake, that I can’t stop thinking about Bioshock 2. I then go on to boast that I’ll probably beat it later on in the night. Jake cordially calls bullsh*t, and claims that the manner in which I’m playing (hard difficulty, vita chambers off) combined with my being relatively early in the game makes that impossible. I then demand retribution and Jake (being the gentleman that he is) promises to buy me a burrito from Chipotle should I man up and complete the game by noon the next day. I drink something with a vaguely grape-ish flavor as my vision blurs further and tell him the game is on!
Final Fantasy for iPhone Looks Fantastic – via Destructoid
360 Scores the Only Final Fantasy XIII Bundle Outside of Japan – via Kotaku
Uncharted 2 Gets New Multiplayer Maps, Skins & Trophies on Feb. 25 – via Kotaku
Microsoft X Convention Top 10 Reveals – via VideoGame Geek
Bioshock 2′s Widescreen Bug is Strangely Familiar – via Destructoid
Marvel Teases Us With New ‘Avenger’ Promos – via Geeks of Doom
Penny Arcade Book Tour – via Penny Arcade
Wil Wheaton to Give Keynote at PAX East – via Destructoid
Fav4.org is a Dead Simple but Very Attractive Start Page – via Lifehacker
Top 10 Google Settings You Should Know About – via Lifehacker
Google to Offer ‘Ultra High-Speed’ Broadband in US – via BBC News
Sexist Vintage Ads – via PBH3
The End of the World? (Infographic) – via Pixlmonster
Finally, Live Webcast Goes Wrong – via MakeUseOf
So here you can see most of the finished product. Adam and Eve? Check. Bloody New Years’ mask? Check. Old jewelry, bloody leggings & garter, dress thoroughly destroyed? Check. More pictures below!
I requested to work the midnight launch of BioShock 2 since BioShock is one of my all-time fave games, and because my manager is awesome she’s also letting me and a couple of my co-workers cosplay as splicers. Of course I’m going to be a spider splicer!
Tonight I was doing some research for costumes and masks and I stumbled across this interesting fellow: Walter Yeo. Apparently he was a WWI soldier who sustained awful facial injuries, and is thought to be the first patient to ever undergo plastic surgery. Sir Harold Gillies was Yeo’s “surgeon” and developed “tubed pedical”, a type of skin grafting. Even without BioShock’s influence this picture is horrifying enough, but if and when you get to play BioShock and encounter Dr. Steinman for the first time, you’ll see why this gives you the chills even more. In the game Dr. Steinman is a lunatic doctor who despises symmetry and admires Picasso – so he attempts to create his own masterpieces on people. Check out the similarities!
There will probably be video and pictures to come like I did with my Silent Hill nurse’s costume, so stay tuned!
As I write this, I’m sitting at at my desk in the basement with only the sights and sounds of Bioshock behind me. Nicole’s played, I’d say no less than 7 hours or so today, meticulously working through a strategy guide to research every last splicer, recover each and every audio log, and rescue every last little sister. Normally I’d implore her to pop in something we can both play together, but not tonight. No, tonight I’m simply as fascinated watching her play through Andrew Ryan’s twisted and derelict underwater dystopia as I was the first time I entered that fateful bathysphere over two years ago. So why am I so enthralled at the adventure I’ve already experienced? Is it because the sequel is just around the corner, launching next week? Certainly, but it’s more than just that. Read on if you’d like to know more about why I hold Irrational Games’ masterpiece in such a high esteem.