Many were disappointed--but not necessarily surprised--to see BioShock Infinite delayed to 2013. In an open letter to fans, studio head Ken Levine promised that "BioShock Infinite is a very big game, and we're doing things that no one has ever done in a first-person shooter... The great can be made greater, and we owe it to both ourselves and to you, our fans, to take this opportunity."

To keep the team focused on meeting its new 2013 date, Levine said that the team will skip media events like E3. But what could the team be so fervently working on?

Read more: Multiplayer for BioShock Infinite? »

BioShock Infinite is going through some "tweaks and improvements," according to Irrational's Ken Levine, forcing the company's upcoming shooter into a Q1 2013 release. Oh, and don't plan on reading about it from E3 or GamesCom, either.

Read more: Now we wait until Feb. 26 »

Besides a brief mention at E3 last year, we haven't really seen hide nor hair of BioShock Vita. We know it's a new title rather than a port of the existing games, but other than that we're in the dark. Irrational's Ken Levine says the studio's focus is on BioShock Infinite, which may explain the silence for its little sibling.

Read more: 'Not as focused on the Vita game as we will be' »

Two video game movers and shakers are getting high-profile attention from outside the video game sphere, as part of Time's Top 100 Influential People. Irrational head and gaming luminary Ken Levine and Zynga co-founder Mark Pincus share the honor with political figures, entertainers, and thought leaders across a broad spectrum.

Read more: Levine in second place so far »

A new trailer for Bioshock Infinite shows off a new enemy type players will have to contend with while galivanting around the floating city of Columbia. The Sirens--floating, banshee-like ethereal creatures--have the ability to bring back enemies back from the dead to do some more fighting.

Watch: The Siren raise the dead »

BioShock Infinite includes a constant companion in contrast to BioShock's fairly constant silence. That companionship leads to more dialogue -- a lot more dialogue. And Irrational head Ken Levine has addressed just how much more we can expect.

"Just one level of BioShock Infinite writing and the character interaction we have is probably three or four times as much writing as in all of BioShock 1," Levine said,

Read more: 'Overwhelming' script for Levine »

Now that BioShock Infinite has a release date, it's time to start cranking up the marketing engine and reveal a little more. The cloudborne shooter's 'Heavy Hitter' special enemies are under scrutiny in a new trailer series, starting off with a look at the delightful Motorized Patriot.

Watch: He'll kick you apart, he'll kick you apart »

Irrational Games hopes to rapture us away to the cloudborne city of Columbia on October 16, the date publisher 2K Games has announced BioShock Infinite will drift onto PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in North America. The international release will follow on October 19.

Watch: The 15-minute E3 gameplay demo, again »

Do you long for the days when games put the hard in hardcore? BioShock Infinite's newly announced "1999 Mode" is for you, then.

"We want to give our oldest and most committed fans an option to go back to our roots," director Ken Levine said in the announcement. "In 1999 Mode, gamers face more of the permanent consequences of their gameplay decisions. In BioShock Infinite, gamers will have to sweat out the results of their actions. In addition, 1999 Mode will demand that players pick specializations, and focus on them."

Read more: No more respawning »

There's a lot to be excited for in 2012, and the Shacknews staff each have five games on their radar. The editorial team at Shacknews outlines their most anticipated games of 2012 individually. Next up we've got east coast editor Andrew Yoon and his list of 2012 titles.

Mass Effect 3

There's almost no way for Mass Effect 3 to match the heights reached in Mass Effect 2. And I'm okay with that. The first two games have made me incredibly connected to that universe, and I'm excited to see the consequences of my decisions. Will saving the Rachni help me in the final battle against the Reapers? Will going against Cerberus in both games—especially in the climax of the second game—drastically change my ability to save the galaxy? Will Liara appreciate the fact that I didn't get tempted by anyone else in the second game? Also, what will happen to that annoying "fan" that made an appearance in the first two games?

Even if Mass Effect 3 is a total flop (which I doubt), I've become so committed to this franchise, that I have no choice but to have ME3 on my list of 2012 must-plays.

Read more: The rest of Andrew's picks for 2012 »

There's a lot to be excited for in 2012, and the Shacknews staff each have five games on their radar. The editorial team at Shacknews outlines their most anticipated games of 2012 individually. Next up we've got editorial director Garnett Lee and his list of top 2012 titles.

Sound Shapes

I'm a certifiable house head. Actually, make that all electronica. Within a couple minutes of playing around with Sound Shapes, I knew I'd found just the tool to let me unleash the inner producer I've been pretty sure has been trying to get out. The music creation tool in Sound Shapes is no "game" in the sense of being limited to fit a play mechanic. It packs a full library of sounds from which to assemble complex compositions. It just happens to do them with a friendly interface that takes advantage of the Vita to make it incredibly easy to quickly put together rhythm, percussion, and melody.

Read more: The rest of Garnett's picks for 2012 »

There's a lot to be excited for in 2012, and the Shacknews staff each have five games on their radar. The editorial team at Shacknews outlines their most anticipated games of 2012 individually. Next up we've got staff writer Steve Watts with his list of 2012 titles.

Final Fantasy XIII-2

I don't think I'm in the minority when I say that I had my share of problems with Final Fantasy XIII. The overlong tutorial, the few and far between likable characters, the completely nonsensical plot -- by any measure it should've been a game I hated. But the combat system was so fast and frenetic that it kept bringing me back. The game didn't get much right, but it made battles fun and engaging for a more modern RPG audience.

Read more: The rest of Steve's picks for 2012 »

There's a lot to be excited for in 2012, and the Shacknews staff each have five games on their radar. The editorial team at Shacknews outlines their most anticipated games of 2012 individually. Next up we've got staff writer Alice O'Connor's list of 2012 titles.

Dota 2

"That guy is permanently invisible," I explain. "No, this one bought an item that lets him teleport," I add. "And yes, that lady's spell does one-shot kill you at this point."

I've been playing an awful lot of the Dota 2 closed beta with former Shack writer Nick Breckon, trying to teach him a little of what I learned from hundreds of hours in the original DotA mod yonks ago, and it's been awkward. When you start, it's not at all clear who any of the characters are, what they do, what their items do, what your items do, why you're supposed to attack your own allies, and how you died in two seconds when three enemy heroes materialised out of thin air.

Read more: The rest of Alice's picks for 2012 »

There's a lot to be excited for in 2012, and the Shacknews staff each have five games on their radar. The editorial team at Shacknews outlines their most anticipated games of 2012 individually, starting with staff writer and indie expert Jeff Mattas.

BioShock Infinite

The next title from developer Irrational Games, Bioshock Infinite, pulls the series out of the ocean setting of the first title and places it above the clouds in the floating city of Columbia in an alternate version of 1912. In Bioshock fashion, the floating city has degenerated into dystopia due to a war of ideals amongst its citizenry. The conflict between the Columbia's two remaining factions--the theocratic Founders and the Vox Populi (Latin for "Voice of the People")--remain, and players will find themselves in the middle of a philosophical conflict that seems to bear more than passing similarities to the ones on display in modern American politics.

Read more: The rest of Jeff's picks for 2012 »

There's few surprises in the Spike TV Video Game Awards trailer for BioShock Infinite. However, there is a lot of gameplay footage set to some soothing tunes. See Irrational Games' unique mix of FPS action and American history in the latest trailer, after the break.

Watch: The VGA trailer »