BIOSHOCK 2 OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED

UPDATE: A Take-Two representative has confirmed to Shack News that Ken Levine will be involved in the BioShock 2 project in some capacity, saying "[Levine] is critical to BioShock." Reassuring news, though it�s still unclear how closely Levine will be working with the 2K Marin studio during development, especially since he almost certainly has his own new projects to work on with his team at 2K Boston.

ORIGINAL STORY: Consider us not very shocked at today�s announcement from Take-Two Games that a sequel to last year�s uber-successful BioShock is on the way. Take-Two says they are aiming for a fall 2009 release for the game, sticking to their previously-revealed desire to release a new BioShock game every two years.

As had been heavily rumored, BioShock 2 will be developed by the brand-new 2K Marin studio, which was formed by a group of BioShock developers late last year. That means that 2K Boston and presumably BioShock lead brain Ken Levine will not be directly involved in the sequel.

In addition to the hardcore-exciting BioShock news, Take-Two also passed along some scraps for the casuals. Bragging that their Wii minigame collection Carnival Games has sold over one million units since its August 2007 launch, 2K Play announced two new games in the franchise. First off is a portable Nintendo DS version of Carnival Games due out this summer, followed by the brand-extending Carnival Games: Mini-Golf for the Wii this fall.

We�re all excited for the Mini-Golf, no doubt, but what we really would like to know is whether or not that rumor about the next BioShock game actually being a prequel is true. After all, how else is a return visit to Rapture going to be possible? Hopefully more information will be forthcoming shortly.

Credits: XGC Chandler XS, 1UP