The rumor has been circulating ever since a document attributing an X-COM title to then-Irrational Games, now-2K Boston and 2K Australia was found last year. The current projects of the studios behind BioShock (PC, X360) are unknown, though Levine is known to be participating in the production of BioShock 2 at the recently-founded 2K Marin office.

Further anecdotal evidence of a new X-COM game emerges from Levine's undying love of the X-COM franchise, which he has referred to as "sort of like my first love," as well as studio owner Take-Two Interactive's 2005 purchase of the X-COM property.

Apart from the supposed existence of a new X-COM, the OXM article did not unveil any new specifics or details, according to the Kotaku report.

"I know that's hard to hear, because you care about it a lot.. But the audience has no reason to be predisposed positively."

Despite the harsh words, the 2K Boston creative director and former Hollywood screenwriter was jovial throughout his lecture, taking the audience packed with gaming press and developers through an interesting dissection of storytelling in the video game medium.

"There are so many missed opportunities in the primary experience to tell a narrative," Levine noted, stressing that the game world itself is the best storyteller of all. "What is a player looking at most of the time? When you're not forcing him to engage in a cutscene? He is engaged in the world."

Another key concept: the pushing or pulling of information. The veteran developer argued that games which require players to pull story information are ultimately more engaging than those which push their narratives onto players.

"Hat-tip to Valve.. I think Half-Life was the pioneer here," he added, noting... Read more

The title will, unsurprisingly, be centered around music. Similar to NanaOn-Sha's import-only cult classic Vib Ribbon (PSX), it is said to create custom levels based on a player's own music.

"While the majority of Harmonix built the juggernaut that is 'Rock Band,' a second, smaller team set to work on a game that turns a player's own music collection in an infinite variety of gameplay 'levels,'" reads the description for the session led by senior designer Chris Foster. "Their new title faced unique challenges: beats would not be authored by tech-savvy musicians, but would instead be algorithmically generated, and the game would lack the dedicated peripherals that were critical to the success of the Guitar Hero series."

Other notable talks include a discussion of in-game storytelling by BioShock creative designer Ken Levine, titled "Empowering Players To Care About Your Stupid Story," and a presentation from EA's Richard Evans on the new AI techniques used in the upcoming The Sims 3.

Game Developers Conference 2008 runs February 18-22 at San Francisco's Moscone Center.

Update: Ken Levine has contacted Shacknews to clarify that the player in the prior revision of BioShock's story did not necessarily reprogram a lesbian character; such actions are merely examples of the sort of tasks actual deprogrammers are hired to perform in the real world. Irrational's earlier story was more political in nature, with a deprogrammer being hired by a senator.

Original story: BioShock's creative director Ken Levine detailed the bizarre former premise to Shacknews during an extensive interview about BioShock, its world, and its fascinating and deranged denizens. The interview is packed with spoilers, however, so here are his remarks presented in a safe setting:

"There was another story before that about a cult deprogrammer," Levine explained. "I don't know if you know what a cult deprogrammer is... Read more

"At some point we'll move back from online activation," Levine stated. "If people want to play BioShock ten years from now, they'll be able to play it." Based on his wording, it's presumed that SecuROM activation will be disabled when retail sales of the game are no longer a pressing factor.

Levine then ended the brewing Betrayaltongate 07 scandal, conclusively vowing that there is no PlayStation 3 version of the Xbox 360 and PC game. "I promise you, there is no secret plan about the PS3 that we're keeping from people," he said. "There's no PS3 development going on that we're hiding."

As for the PS3 mention in one of the demo's configuration files? ... Read more

Responding to the concerns, steadfast 2K Games community manager and soon-to-be mental patient Elizabeth Tobey explained the issue in a thread on the 2K Games forum.

"You can uninstall and reinstall this game, and if, by chance, you have 2 computers you want to simultaneously play this game on, you... Read more

The BioShock demo will be of an impressive 1.84GB in girth that you will be able to eagerly gulp down at FileShack. The demo will also be available on the new FileShack Quicksilver system for Mercury members with support for download accelerators with multiple connections.

In a following update on the company's Cult of Rapture website, BioShock creative lead Ken Levine warned users away from potentially spoiler-filled forum posts and implored users not to post spoilers themselves.

"Please don't ruin other people's experience by revealing secrets in unmarked threads, and if you want to enjoy the game to its fullest, stay away from any threads that might ruin the fun for you," wrote Levine. "With a game like BioShock, it will really make a difference.

Look for a new Shacknews interview with Levine in the coming days.

Take-Two claims change will result in no loss of creative control for the companies. "We're proud to be part of the 2K Games family and enjoy the new opportunities and artistic freedoms this strengthened relationship provides," said Irrational president Ken Levine in a statement. "The name change signifies our growing position as a central part of 2K Games, and we plan to ensure our future titles continue to set new standards of quality and innovation for the industry." 2K and Irrational 2K representatives were unavailable for comment.

In a separate announcement, Take-Two announced BioShock has gone gold. The game will be available for PC and Xbox 360 in North America on August 21 and in Europe on August 24.