Duke Nukem Forever

Duke Nukem Forever is an action first-person shooter video game for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 that was developed by 3D Realms and finished by Gearbox Software. It is a sequel to the 1996 game Duke Nukem 3D, as part of the long-running Duke Nukem video game series.

Press coverage

Wired News has awarded Duke Nukem Forever its Vaporware Award several times. It placed second in June 2000 and topped the list in 2001 and 2002. Wired created the Vaporware Lifetime Achievement Award exclusively for DNF and awarded it in 2003. George Broussard accepted the award, simply stating, "We're undeniably late and we know it. In 2004, the game did not make the top 10; Wired editors said that they had given DNF the Lifetime Achievement Award to get it off of the list. However, upon readers' demands, Wired changed its mind, and DNF won first place in 2005, 2006, and 2007. In 2008, Wired staff officially considered removing DNF from their annual list, citing that "even the best jokes get old eventually", only to reconsider upon viewing the handheld camera footage of the game in The Jace Hall Show, awarding the game with first place once again. In 2009, Wired published Wired News' Vaporware Awards 2009: Duke Nukem Forever was excluded from consideration on the grounds that the project was finally dead. Duke made a comeback with an unprecedented 11th place award on Wired's 2010 Vaporware list.

Duke Nukem Forever has drawn a number of jokes related to its development timeline. The video gaming media and public in general have routinely suggested several names in place of Forever, calling it "Never", "(Taking) Forever", "Whenever", "ForNever", "Neverever", and "If Ever. The game has also been ridiculed as Duke Nukem: Forever In Development, "Either this is the longest game ever in production or an elaborate in-joke at the expense of the industry".

When the GameSpy editors compiled a list of the "Top 25 Dumbest Moments in Gaming History" in June 2003, Duke Nukem Forever placed #18.

Development

Intended to be groundbreaking, Duke Nukem Forever has become infamous in the video games industry and become synonymous with vaporware due to its severely-protracted development schedule; the game has been in development since 1997. Originally in development under 3D Realms, director George Broussard, one of the creators of the original Duke Nukem game, first announced the title's development in April 1997, and various promotional information for the game was released between 1997 and 2008.

After repeatedly announcing and deferring release dates, 3D Realms announced in 2001 that it would be released simply "when it's done". In May 2009, 3D Realms was downsized for financial reasons, resulting in the loss of the game's development team. Statements by the company indicated that the project was due to go gold soon with pictures of final development. Take-Two Interactive, which owns the publishing rights to the game, filed a lawsuit in 2009 against 3D Realms over their failure to finish development. 3D Realms retorted that Take-Two's legal interest in the game is limited to their publishing right. The case was settled with prejudice and details undisclosed in May 2010. On September 3, 2010, after 13 years, Duke Nukem Forever was officially reported by 2K Games to be in development at Gearbox Software. It was originally confirmed to be released on May 3, 2011 in North America, with a worldwide release following on May 6, 2011. This has however been delayed by a month to June 10 internationally with a North American release on June 14. On May 24, 2011, it was announced that Duke Nukem Forever finally went gold after 14 years. After going gold the launch trailer for Duke Nukem Forever was released on June 2, 2011. Duke Nukem Forever was released in Australia on 9th June 2011, one day earlier than scheduled.

Promotion

Duke's First Access Club is joined by using a code, obtained from either the pre-order of the game, the Borderlands Game of the Year Edition, or Borderlands on Steam (if bought before the club was announced), on the Duke Nukem Forever website. Members are granted access to wallpapers, the demo, concept art, artwork, podcasts (which are added often), the theme song, and screenshots.

E-mails were sent asking members to "please help [Gearbox] obtain the most accurate up to date information for your First Access profile." Members were then prompted to choose their preferred platform of choice for the Duke Nukem Forever demo by May 15, 2011. It then stated that "users that currently live in a territory where the demo may not be supported on console will automatically be defaulted to the PC Steam option. Gearbox sent a second e-mail to First Access Members in conjunction with a video showing that the Duke Nukem Forever demo was released on June 3, 2011.

A special limited Collector's Edition will be available upon release called "Balls of Steel Edition" for all platforms. This version will include a five-inch bust of Duke Nukem, a 100-page hardcover artbook following the development of the game, postcards, sticker, a comic book, playing cards, dice, poker chips and foldable papercraft, and with every item being marked with the Duke Nukem Forever logo. Another edition called the "King Edition" was made available exclusively for pre-order from EB Games in Australia and New Zealand. It comes with bonus Ego Boost DLC, Duke Playing Cards and Duke Bubblegum.

Two themes, avatar items, and a gamerpic pack are available for download for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 systems. The premium theme for the Xbox 360 showcases the inside of Duke Burger during the alien invasion. The avatar items for said system include Duke's outfit, his throne, the Freeze Ray, a Pigcop mask, and a pet Octobrain while the gamerpic pack features "babes, aliens, and the King himself." The official Duke Nukem Forever website hosts the free PlayStation 3 theme, which includes three wallpapers and an icon set.

2K Games launched a website titled "Boob Tube" to promote the game. The website features videos and features to download. On May 19, 2011, a flash game was released via the website titled Duke Nudem where players have to shoot targets against a cpu bot 'woman' of their choice, and if successful will have a part of clothing taken off the girl until she is topless. However if the player loses, they will become naked.

Reception

Reviews for the game were mixed: PC Gamer gave the game it an 80/100, noting that "years of anticipation will spoil Duke Nukem Forever for some. The Guardian gave the game a 2 out of 5 citing that despite it's throwback nostalgia, it suffered from grainy visuals, clunky controls, framerate issues, repetitious gameplay, overused gags, occasional bugs/glitches, long load times and a hard difficulty. Aus Gamers awarded the game a 5.0 out of 10, praising the one-liners and solid interactivity, but panning the dull visuals, long loading times and weak AI.