Audio Diary

__NOTOC__
Audio Diaries (or Audio Logs) are the main narrative device in BioShock, BioShock 2, and Burial at Sea. They were recorded by citizens of Rapture, either as notes for themselves or as messages for other residents. Picking up an Audio Diary stores it automatically in the associated in-game menu while offering to play it by entering the key associated to the last one found. However, a handful of plot-crucial diaries throughout the games play automatically as soon as they are picked up.
The recording device which plays Audio Diaries is the Accu-Vox Personal Voice Recorder, a product of Fontaine Futuristics, which started manufacturing it more than five years before Rapture's Civil War.The Accu-Vox Personal Voice Recorder advertisement.
==Help Caption==
===BioShock===
==Audio Diary Listings==
==Gallery==
BioShock demo Sander Cohen message.jpg|The original format for the Audio Diary messages, seen in the 2006 E3 BioShock Tech Demo.2006 BioShock Tech Demo @ 13:33
Accu-Vox Poster .png|Advertisement for Accu-Vox recorders in BioShock and BioShock 2.
Pristine Accu-Vox Personal Voice Recorder Poster.png|Pristine Accu-Vox Personal Voice Recorder Poster.
AudioDiaryReal.jpg|Real-life Accu-Vox recorder given to There's Something in the Sea event participants in Las Vegas, NV.
Bioshock-AudioDiaryFrame.png|The frame appearing over the recorded citizen's photo in BioShock.
audiolograpture bsi.png|Accu-Vox recorder in Burial at Sea.
Audio Device (Bio 2).png|The device used by Subject Delta and Subject Sigma to listen to Audio Diaries.
Audio Diary Frame (Bio 2).png|The frame appearing over the recorded citizen's photo in BioShock 2.
BioShock Rapture Sticker Sheet.jpg|BioShock-themed real-world stickers, featuring the Audio Diary.
==Bugs/Glitches==
*After either a radio transmission or another playing of an audio Audio Diary, a previously obtained Diary will play directly after on its own (without having selected it from the menu). The reason this happens remains unclear. This occurs in both BioShock and BioShock 2. For example, picking up the Agnus Dei Audio Diary automatically plays it; after it finishes playing, the Alone at Last diary (if picked up previously in the same area) will start too.
==Behind the Scenes==
*Early in the development of BioShock Audio Diaries were planned to be "squishy, organic things, with lips and ears" instead of tape recorders.Five Cut Features on IrrationalGames.com
*The transcripts of Audio Diaries provided in the games often have errors or discrepancies with the actual words of the audio. This has been corrected in the transcripts on the BioShock Wiki.
*Accu-Vox devices are advanced for their time, as compact audio-tape technology were not marketed until 1962, two years after the events of BioShock.Compact Cassette, History on Wikipedia
*The Accu-Vox recorders are ridiculously large compared to the average person, which is purposefully done by the game designers so that the recordings are easier to locate.
*Rick's Custom Props was commissioned to make four Accu-Vox recorders for the There's Something in the Sea participants."Bioshock 2 audio diary" Build log documentation (Archived)
*The model features five buttons where most real world portable tape recorders had at least six. Presumably, Pause (⏸) is omitted and Stop (⏹) is used at all times. This is actually reflected in the audio that precedes and follows activating a diary, where distorted junk sound is is recorded on the tape as the motor reaches speed (which the pause button is deigned to prevent).
==References==
de:Audio-Tagebuch
es:Diarios
fr:Enregistrements audio
tr:Ses Kayıtları
ru:Аудиодневники
 
Category:BioShock Items
Category:BioShock 2 Items
Category:BioShock 2 Multiplayer Items
Category:Burial at Sea - Episode 1 Items
Category:Burial at Sea - Episode 2 Items
Category:Rapture Inventions