The King is… Dead?

 

Always bet on Duke.

I was still hoping that someday I will see Duke saving babes from evil aliens. I think I saw the E3 2001 trailer in 2002 or so, and the moment I saw it, I told myself, “This is going to be awesome!”

Years passed, more years passed, and now, after 12 years from the initial announcement of the game… 3D Realms have closed shop for financial reasons. They still own the Duke IP (intellectual property) and their publisher, Take-Two, still holds publishing rights, but as far as everyone is concerned, now we may never see the game at all.

What makes Duke special? Well, he is the man. Duke Nukem 3D was one of my favourite games. I played it at friends’, in school (Oh yeah!) and on my PC and PS. I played the 3rd person PS games that came out and I even played the Manhattan Project side-scrolling game on the PC. I was really waiting. I am patient, very patient.

So, what’s in the future for Duke? This maybe the greatest publicity stunts ever and a month or so later we all get surprised with the game being released! Or some other company can buy the rights from the now defunct 3D Realms and finish the game and release it. And last but not least, this may be the true end of the Duke.

Hail to the King, baby…

In the past 4 or 5 days, I have seen screenshots, gameplay footage (leaked of course) and plot details than I have ever seen in all the past years. Make sure you head there and there. And if you want to really have a few big laughs, head over there and read about what happened in the 12 years of DNF development, including a pre-order receipt for the game!

Ooops, it seems that the leaked gameplay footage was pulled offline. But it’s available on Youtube. I am not going to host it here as it has some nudity in it. This is a family-safe blog!