Our Long National Nightmare Is Over? Duke Nukem Has A Release Date?

from the i'll-believe-it-when-i'm-playing-it dept

The video game Duke Nukem Forever has been a perpetual joke in video game circles. A decade ago it was already being mocked as Vaporware. At some point, Wired had to “retire” it from its annual vaporware list, giving it a “lifetime achievement award.” But that was back in 2003, and after strong demand, it was added back to the list later. Finally, in 2009, we thought it had gone into permanent vaporware mode, after the developer, 3D Realms, shut down. There was a fascinating post mortem of the effort, which talked about the rather perfectionist views of 3D Realms boss, George Broussard, who kept having the team effectively start over to avoid being “behind” the state of the art.

However, Take Two got into a bit of a legal fight with what was left of 3D Realms, and finally cleared the way for Take Two to release a game called Duke Nukem Forever, though I imagine many won’t feel it’s the “real” Duke Nukem Forever (because that game is a myth). Either way, Peter Suderman noticed that Duke Nukem Forever actually appears to have a release date on Amazon of May 31st of this year. I’m not sure I really believe it, but considering it’s not the old team involved any more, perhaps it can actually happen. Either way, in my head, Duke Nukem Forever will always be vaporware.

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Comments on “Our Long National Nightmare Is Over? Duke Nukem Has A Release Date?”

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34 Comments
Parkar says:

some errors in the article

First of all the legal battle ended with both parties withdrawing their suits. The game and ip was sold to gearbox who is now developing the game with T2 still as the publisher.

Second, the core team is the same guys that worked on the game at 3D Realms. In fact they kept working on it through out the legal battle even though they didn’t know if the game would ever be released. So its also the same game and not just dnf in name.

Derek (profile) says:

Not the real Duke Nukem?

“…though I imagine many won’t feel it’s the “real” Duke Nukem Forever (because that game is a myth).”

Not really, you should read the extensive Wired article that talks about how this release actually came to pass, this is the same game they were working on, and the old developers were in general consensus that the game would be largely what they had envisioned. Granted that Take Two will put a few of their own tricks in the bag.

Also from reading the Wired article, its pretty apparent that George Broussard is an idiot who does not know how to run a company. They recreated the game like 4 times, imagine being at Duke 4 by now!

Anonymous Coward says:

I doubt DNF will be as great as it’s predecessor (Duke Nukem 3D). It’ll just be a watered down, “consolized” version of the original. I think it could be fun, but it won’t be Duke Nukem.

It will either be too short, too easy or too buggy (or all of the above). And on top of that, it probably won’t have a COOP mode (the main attraction of D3D for me).

To be an Epic game (in my opinion), DNF would have to be on par with F.E.A.R., Clive Barker’s Undying, Half-Life and DooM (yes, the original one/DooM 2, not that crap they call DooM where you throw around magic cubes to kill bosses, and where the shotgun feels like it is made of paper).

I doubt DNF can come any close to those.

Anonymous Coward says:

Finally to the rescue!!! Yea 3D dev really sucks now. The video card manufacturer have such great graphic cards are out of the reach of most gamers. As a father and provider I am sick of buying new video cards every time they come out with new games and as a result I bet sales are wayyyyy downnnn.
Too bad because 3D had a promising future and may still once the battle is over on the basics for the video cards.

DubLBareL (profile) says:

Think a little bigger...

National nightmare? In which country do you reside that claims Duke for his own? A bit presumptuous don’t you think?

Duke Nukem enjoys international fame. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find a more recognized video game personality with exceptions to perhaps Mario, Donkey Kong and Pac-man.

Duke Nukem is an absolutely American character, however he is loved by people around the globe, and not for the generally perceived low brow appeal of partial nudity and a liberal use of profanity. Beneath his testosterone drenched, hard boiled exterior lies a hero that is every bit if not more patriotic than Captain America, every ounce as chivalrous and compassionate as Sir Gawain, and as adventurous as Odysseus. Duke Nukem is an amalgam of every hero that ever existed. In his world and his reality though, which is but a slightly twisted reflection of our own, Those characters barely existed. Duke is the only symbol of all that is heroic and masculine in his 3D realm. He alone sits atop that throne, and he alone accepts the glory. Hail to the King baby!

BigKeithO (profile) says:

Re:

This is such an old school BS argument against PC gaming. I don’t know why everyone insists its true, it isn’t the year 2000 anymore!

The current gen consoles have been out for 5 years (Xbox) or 4 years (PS3, Wii doesn’t count for graphics). Video cards are typically released on a 6 month cycle, the only problem with this picture is that console gaming is hugely profitable. Since it is so profitable developers develop their games with the console in mine, they are developing for hardware that is 4 and 5 years old now! A modern PC simply destroys anything a console can do, if you have a decently modern video card (4 years old or less) you can run any current game at at least console resolutions (720p, 1280?720).

If you are buying new video cards every time a new game comes out could you send some of the old ones my way? Yours must be way newer than mine!

duderino says:

Borderlands

look at product features:

Choose from an arsenal of hundreds of thousands of weapons, each with their unique manufacturers, specifications and advantages; a revolutionary new content generation system provides for near infinite tools of destruction
[[[this part —>]]]Borderlands is built from the ground-up to be an exciting and intuitive co-operative multiplayer experience that rewards you for executing advanced strategies and tactical maneuvers
Earn experience and gain proficiency in a number of specialties as you do battle with enemies
Get behind the wheel of and engage in intense vehicle-to-vehicle combat, complete with extensive damage modeling and spectacular explosions

Anonymous Coward says:

Clearing up a few things:

Randy Pitchford, one of Gearbox’s founders, worked for 3D Realms on and on the expansion packs of Duke Nukem 3D. He and George Broussard of 3D Realms remained friends. After Duke Nukem Forever was killed by a legal fight between Take 2 and 3D Realms a group of unpaid former 3D Realms developers who were housed at Gearbox’s offices continued to work on Duke Nukem Forever. Gearbox negotiated to take over the entire Duke Nukem franchise including the code for DNF. Gearbox gave money to 3D Realms and Take2 backed off it’s lawyers because Gearbox promised to have the game out in 2011. Gearbox and Take2 have a good relationship because of their work together on Borderlands and a currently unannounced project.

Anonymous Coward says:

Think a little bigger...

your dam right its american. in Dukem 3D, you see american made products and even tv shows like bevis and butthead. for example in the secret multiplayer level duke burger( come get some lol) ,in the drive through speaker you can hear bevis saying “your gonna have to leave because the place is like closed”. and you notice coke cola bottles laying on the ground in some levels.

btrussell (profile) says:

“That was surprisingly quick. Gearbox Software has announced a release date for Duke Nukem Forever. The game will come out on May 3, 2011, exactly eight months after the company revealed that it had taken over development from 3D Realms. Duke Forever will come out simultaneously on the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3; an international release will follow three days later.”
http://techreport.com/discussions.x/20276

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