Ken Levine plays video games. Shocking, we know! Speaking with IndustryGamers, Levine, who is currently working on a super-secret project, listed his ten favorite games. Occupying the top five spots in descending order are: World of Warcraft, Civilization, Beyond Good & Evil, Ultima Underworld and Company of Heroes.

Back in 2007, Levine produced a similar list for MSNBC. His top five have apparently shifted in the last two years, though, as Heroes of Might and Magic 2 and Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past have fallen even beyond the BioShock developer's top ten. How hast these games forsaken thee, Ken? What hast they done for thou to banish them from thy heart likest so?

"Yeah, that and 90 percent of the other games released every year," you retort.

Okay, we hear you, and trust us, we get it. It's not exactly earth-shattering that a 2K Boston job listing indicates that the follow-up to the studio's big-hit shooter BioShock would be another shooter. But do you remember the part where 2K Boston made BioShock? Yeah, you better believe we're going to tell you everything we learn about it until we have it in our trembling, grateful hands. (Speaking of which, it's also hiring a multiplayer level designer, for your info.)

Besides, we weren't positive it was going to be another shooter. It could have been another Freedom Force game, for all we knew. Actually, 2K Boston ... could you go ahead and make that too, while you're at it?

[Via Gamespot]

GamePro has a photo set of the statuette based on BioShock's homicidal artist, Sander Cohen, given to 2K Boston employees by the studio's Creative Director Ken Levine. The sculpture was created by "Irrational" artist Robb Waters, produced by Patch Together and infused with mental instability by Fontaine Futuristics.

2K Boston is currently working on a secret project while 2K Marin (and a half-dozen other studios) try to get BioShock 2 out the airlock.

Though you may see characters and a world you recognize when you pop in BioShock 2 next year, don't expect to encounter that distinctive Ken Levine flavor, that Zest of Kenny L, if you will. "I make no claim to anything on BioShock 2, and I think it's important that that's their product, and their culture," Ken Levine told Gamasutra. "Because you can't just clone a studio. They're working on BioShock, but it's got to be their project. They've got to put their stamp on it."

While we can't wait to see 2K Marin's stamp, we just hope it leaves room for Arkane Studios, 2K Australia and Digital Extremes' stamps too. Man, we'll be able to ship this thing to Jupiter with all the postage it'll be packing.

We're still not sure why anyone would want to retrofit video games with last-gen tech and turn them into books, but sci-fi/fantasy publisher Tor has apparently had a lot of success with the practice lately, with franchises like Halo and Dragon Age. The next game to get the dead tree-ment? BioShock, which will be the subject of a 400-page hard- and softcover release this fall.

Currently, the book's author is listed as Ken Levine, but we're pretty sure that's a placeholder, because we don't live in a magical alternate dimension where we can make things happen just by wishing for them. We'll let you know when we find out more.

We're here at the MIT Business in Gaming conference this afternoon to watch Ken Levine – who holds the title trifecta of "co-founder, "president" and "Creative Director" at 2K Boston (née Irrational) – take the hotseat in a Q&A format (that, for some reason, is being billed as a "keynote"). No bother – given an opportunity to hear the BioShock developer discuss the current state of the industry (not to mention regaling us backstage with amusing yarns about Strauss Zelnick's protein-centric diet), we took our spot in the front row, laptops at the ready.

After an introduction by one of the show's sponsors (get off the stage, bub!) the Q&A was handed over to MIT graduate student Dennis Fu, who peppered Levine with a series of questions inspired by the day's panel topics: digital distribution; in-game advertising; MMO business models; and serious games. Fu stepped right into the deep end, asking Levine "What can you tell us about BioShock 2?" As he's said before, he's keeping himself intentionally in the dark so that he can play it "as a fan." "We're sort of keeping ourselves at a distance," he explained.

During his Q&A at the MIT Business in Gaming conference, Ken Levine revealed the cost of some of his projects and hinted at the cost (and scale!) of 2K Boston's latest, still secret, project.

"Freedom Force was $2 million; System Shock 2 was $600K, it was nothing. BioShock, I think it's been published, was $15 million," Levine said. When we asked how much, on that scale, his new project would cost, Levine teased, "It's more than System Shock 2."

He elaborated, "It's a fair amount of money. Our goal is to build experiences." Referring to the craft of building experiences, Levine noted that BioShock "didn't have the best shooting compared to Call of Duty" and "it didn't have the most revolutionary AI." What it did have was an "experience [gamers] couldn't get anywhere else." It was something "that people can look at it and say, 'I can't have this experience anywhere else.'"

Here's the thing: "Generally those experiences cost a fair amount of money to make," Levine says. Of course, he can't say how much – "because I would probably get fired before I walked out the door" – but he assures us "It won't be the cheapest product ever made." So we've got a ballpark here: Somewhere between $600K and infinity.

It's okay, Kenny L., we're nerds too. We know what it's like owning the I, Claudius box set and no one understanding. In fact, if we wrote to A Life Well Wasted with pictures of all our stuff and thoughtful descriptions for each image, we're absolutely sure that A.) Robert Ashley wouldn't return our emails and B.) No one would like us, even if he did post it.

But alas, we are probably more interested than we should be in the marvel of the BioShock creator's collection, put together for a feature called "Stuff I Can't Live Without." Somewhere between the plastic guitar leaning against his stack of various board games and the eloquent reverence he uses to speak of his wife, we fell just a little bit harder for ol' Ken. We'd love to show you all there is, but why not check out the original post yourself?

Focusing on riveting hot-button issues like "digital distribution, marketing, and in-game advertising," the MIT Sloan School of Management is kicking off its first ever "Business in Gaming " Conference (BiG) with BioShock magnate Ken Levine as inaugural keynote speaker.

We'll be there, Big Daddy statues and permanent markers in tow, and when we're not ogling KennyL we'll likely check out the panel featuring ex-Boston Red Soxer Curt Schilling of 38 Studios speaking about MMO business models. Hey, maybe he'll talk about that game his company's been making for three years! Code-named Copernicus? No? You don't remember that one? Yeah, neither do we.

It appears that 2K Boston may be going back to its original name, Irrational Games, soonish. This evening, at a social event held by the developer's PR company, several 2K Boston employees were wearing the above shirts, promoting that jobs are currently available at the developer. When we confronted several 2K Boston folks about why the two URLs were on the shirt, they were ... well, let's just say they were a little cagey. If it happens, it means Irrational switched its name and back again in under two years.

2K Boston is looking to staff its next project and is blaring that information quite publicly -- a bold move in this economy. The company approached us with images of a postcard it'll pass out next week at GDC on a recruitment mission. It sounds like the developer is casting a wide net for talent and will sift through the candidates to find what the studio is looking for -- we do not envy that human resources person. Almost nothing is known about 2K Boston's next project, other than that, in Ken Levine's words, it's "very, very, different."

According to the flip side of the card (found after the break), the company is currently looking for ... well, it appears it's looking for everyone under the sun. The company has "dozens of openings in programming, design, art, audio and production." Remember to check for typos (like we should have with our headline -- guess that rules us out, blargh) before submitting your resume to the email address found on the card.

Now, let the speculation begin on why the image -- seemingly of a Big Daddy helmet -- was used for this promotion. Best of luck to the applicants!

We know how it is. You're standing at your local department store/Cracker Barrel gift shop/hotel mini-bar and you just can't find the perfect gift for that special video game blog in your life. Hey, we've all been there. This year, we're going to make it easy on you: You should get us ... err, rather, your favorite video game blog, whichever that may be, this new BioShock art book.

Breaking the Mold: Developer's Edition is 174 pages, $24.99, is now available for pre-order and will make us love, prize and cherish you above all other readers from now until the end times. Did we mention there's free shipping?

So, what happens when you stick game developers Ken Levine (BioShock) and Todd Howard (Fallout 3) in a room with two outspoken games journalists for an hour? You get a fascinating discussion on how Eastern Europe has become a new haven for PC games, how Bollywood perfected The Lost and, of course, a lesson about Horse Armor. That, and Howard reveals Bethesda is working on an iPhone game. MTV Multiplayer's Stephen Totilo and Newsweek's N'Gai Croal grilled both Levine and Howard on everything and anything gaming, and we were there to absorb it all.

When asked about what he thought the most notable game of last year was, Levine answered he was intrigued with Russian dev Katauri Interactive's King's Bounty: The Legend. He pointed out that Eastern Europe has been thriving with PC games, noting that games like King's Bounty are good reason to keep an eye on the region.

Todd Howard was asked by a fan where he draws the line on DLC, using Oblivion's Horse Armor as an example of seemingly unnecessary content, or content which should have been integrated initially. Howard responded saying that people shouldn't complain about the inclusion of DLC, as devs can't always include certain content within their given schedules. They're really extras for fans, he said; however, he ascribed merit to complaining about how much that content costs.

One last interesting discussion of the afternoon included a glimpse into how companies are using Achievements/Trophies in more ways than just giving you – the gamer – an ego. Game companies are using these accolade systems to check up on completion rates on their games (determined by the number of gamers who've received endgame Achievements). Levine revealed that 50 percent of BioShock players finished the game, while Howard noted a 30 percent completion rate for Fallout 3. Both those titles represented a notch up from the average 20 percent.

2K Global President Christoph Hartmann says BioShock could have plenty of sequels, but he promises the company won't "cash in" on the franchise. Speaking with MCV, Hartmann states that with the "right twist of innovation," the series has the potential to span, oh, six parts ... "as Star Wars did." (BioShock 6: Revenge of the Lil' Sithsters, anyone?)

Although Ken Levine might be giggling all the way to the bank with sequel royalties, we'd like to see how BioShock 2: Sea of Dreams turns out before we get excited about a six-part aquatic epic. Also, wasn't Star Wars just a trilogy? Please, join us in our denial.

Besides working on "Super Secret Project That We're Dying to Find Out About X," Ken Levine also has an involvement of some sort with the follow-up to his hit BioShock, as well as the upcoming film based on the license. Heart-breakingly, he recently told OXM his work with BioShock 2 isn't really "material," that he's only "informally engaged in certain scenes."

His involvement with the film is even harder to pin down. Levine said, "My job there is to be a friend to [director] Gore [Verbinski] and [writer] John [Logan], be a resource for them and kick ideas around with them. At the end of the day John's the writer and Gore's the director. I'm not the traffic cop."

...Umm, if KennyL is hiring himself out as a friend, shouldn't we have been his first choice? Or at least been allowed to make an offer? We think he would have found our salary of numerous hugs and adoring stares very competitive.