Rock, Paper, Shotgun

It’s always fun to hear about what new retro sweetmeat has found its way to Good Old Games‘ DRM-free servers – to sigh and think of times gone by, to think of how silly our hair was in 1995 and to wonder whether the Manic Street Preachers would be any good today if Richie hadn’t gone missing.

Today, it’s the turn of Duke Nukem 3D, along with a host of other old Apogee stuff. It’s almost odd to think of people paying hard cash for Duke 3D these days – so many FPSes of that era simply haven’t aged as well as their less graphics-reliant strategy, RPG and adventure contemporaries. Of course, Duke earned some 21st century stripes last year, with the well-received XBLA port, so it’s nice to see him back on his original home too.
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Blurry low-res screens, but screens nonetheless. Two of ‘em, one showing Duke and some cavorting womenfolk, and the other some sort of tenta-beast thing. Duke4.net has ‘em, acquired by one of their members by unlocking every achievement in the new (and reportedly excellent) Xbox Live Arcade port of Duke Nukem 3d.

Still not doing much to wow me – especially after that grrrrrrubish teaser trailer – but there is a bit of bottom on show, which someone will probably get excited about.

When I saw the thread over at Qt3, I presumed I was about to be Rick-rolled. But no. Really. Footage. Hence the blurry grab of the footage of the game that is known as Duke Nukem Forever in the autoplaying footage which you can see beneath the cut.

The end time is nigh.
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It’s Wolfenstein 3D’s 16th birthday. Happy birthday Wolfenstein 3D! Now you can have sex with the other games.

Despite being an id game, it was published by Apogee, now 3D Realms, and they’ve taken it upon themselves to celebrate this momentous age.

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Just a brief note on something we really should have mentioned a couple of days back – Shacknews have, they claim, actually seen Duke Nukem Forever in action. Like, with their eyes and stuff. The very scant report they gave had some calling shenanigans, but 3D Realms’ George Broussard later popped his head into the thick of it to offer some apparent corroboration.

All the detail on offer is this:

“We actually got to see the truth of Duke curator George Broussard’s many past claims, including environmental puzzles and interactivity, a host of finished weapons, the existence of an in-game forklift, and plenty of heads and arms being blown off. We both confidently agree that after seeing this demonstration, Duke Nukem Forever is looking great, and will easily stand apart from the crowd in both visual and gameplay styles.”

An in-game forklift! Stop the fricking presses!

I jest, of course. The info-embargo is understandable, and it’s good to hear more evidence that DNF is at last on its way, even if there’s nothing whatsoever to yet prove if and how it’s a triumph.

IGN delivered an interesting quote in yesterday’s Scott Miller interview, regarding the direction 3D Realms are taking with the new projects they’re working on:

While Prey pioneered the portal concept, Valve’s Portal took it to an all-new level. It really shows what you can do when you focus on a single core cool gameplay concept. So, while Portal impressed the heck out of us, it has also inspired us to return the favor to Valve and hopefully leapfrog them as they did us. We believe we have new ideas for portals that will keep the portal race interesting.

That’s an interesting statement: “The Portal Race” could be an awesome period of FPS development history.

The keen-eyed super-spies at Shacknews spotted some briefly-appearing proof that a sequel to Prey is in development. The news slipped out when a website for a new production company, Radar Group, named some of the games on which it would be working. The company, set up by 3D Realms founder Scott Miller and his buddy Jim Perkins, intends to work with developers to take original ideas, and develop them into giant, cross-media megaliths. Two of the games they named were 3D Realms titles, the forthcoming Earth No More, and the surprise appearance of Prey 2.

It’s all been hurriedly pulled down, the evidence swept under the carpet. But this is the internet, and under the carpet is where we all live! So fortunately the brief description and tiny piece of concept art are right here.

“This time, abandoned and framed for the disappearance of his family, Tommy escapes an Earth that no longer wants him for a future that cannot survive without him.”

Er, ok, so that’s not much really. But still, it’s funny when games get announced before the publishers want them to, and we’ll always have that.

The Dallas Business Journal claims that Duke Nukem Forever is “confirmed” for release on the PC and consoles in 2008. It goes on to back up this report with a somewhat less definitive quote from 3D Realms’ Scott Miller:

“We haven’t formally announced any platforms for DNF,” wrote 3D Realms President Scott Miller in an e-mail exchange. “But, of course hitting the big three makes the most sense (PC, PS3, 360).” Miller added a note of caution on the 12-years-coming sequel and its release window, claiming, “we may miss the mark by a month or two, but I feel very confident that we’re on target this time.”

It’s looking like it might just happen this year. Maybe. Probably. Yes.

Or not. Update on Shacknews:

“3D Realms has informed Shacknews that a release date and platforms for Duke Nukem Forever were not confirmed in its interview with the Dallas Business Journal. A more detailed response is expected later today.”

Hrm.

I’ve been a full-time games journalist for close to a decade now, and it amuses and surprises me every time I think that Duke Nukem Forever was already a delayed and mysterious thing when I joined this dark fraternity. We were making Duke Nukem Taking Forever jokes back in 1999, for Christ’s sake.

Of course, that’s one reason why I eye-roll a little at the general scorn that surrounds the game. I’m bored of Duke Nukem jokes as much as I’m bored of waiting for Duke Nukem. More so, in fact. 3DRealms are acting like creators in control of their own destiny, for better or for worse. We’re acting like…

Well, “Vapourware”. It’s a fascinating, vile phrase which stinks of misplaced entitlement.
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PC gaming’s favourite joke is trying to give the impression that next year’s promise of a release is really, really, really true this time. And at around 6pm (UK) today, the “first” teaser trailer will be released. You know, after the trailer released in 2001. Six years ago. 3D Realms bossman George Broussard appeared on the company’s forums to announce the exciting news that gaming’s most unreleased game is going to receive a teaser, and to offer a screenshot of said short (their servers are too busy to show it, so here it is below).

“Gameplay footage?” the world asks in excitement? Or ironic excitement if you’ve been listening to 3D Realms’ nonsense about this alleged game for the last decade. “Um,” quickly comes back the reply from Broussard.

“This is a teaser. It’s not a full blown trailer like the 2001 trailer (but something like that is coming). I tried to be clear about that in the message board post, so just bear in mind that it’s a teaser.”

So a render? Any footage at all? Or just Duke growling at the camera? Come on 6pm! How can we ever wait?!