Duke Nukem Forever is an iconic example of vaprware. In fact, it defines this term. Over ten years in making, and still nowhere near the completion. This is a sad lesson in how not to develop commercial software. Someone should probably write a book based on the project’s ability to delay release indefinitely due to internal and external influences. The game has been a joke for years now, and no one takes it seriously anymore. Except 3drealms of course.
You doubtlessly have seen the teaser they released yesterday. If you didn’t, here is the youtube vid:
What do you think? This doesn’t really even look all that great. Personally I don’t believe this game will ever see the light of the day but perhaps I’m wrong.
I know we just had a poll, but it has to be done:
A lot of us have fond memories of playing the original but we already have a generation of gamers who know Duke only by reputation. And not by the reputation as a kick-ass, no holds barred, campy romp but as the ultimate vaporware. Will the younger gamers who grew up playing serious, story driven FPS games like HL2 or Halo series will care about Nukem? Can they make this game fun enough to make up for the disastrous 10+ year development cycle and appease both the old guard with their annoying nostalgia, and the new audiences with their demanding tastes? Once they release it they can hardly blame bugs and inconsistencies on “rushing it into production”.
I think the smartest thing they could do would be to cut their losses now and just scrap the project. But I might be wrong.
[tags]duke nukem, duke nukem forever, dnf, 3drealms, gaming[/tags]
If it gets released it’ll sell some on the basis of “oh my god it’s finally here!”
But then it’ll fail to live up to expectations – probably a decent game, but not exceptional.
If it doesn’t get released… well sooner or later we’ll reach the stage where all those who remember the glory days of Duke Nukem have gone on to that great games convention in the sky, at which point (if not before) it’ll probably be scrapped. Spending that many decades in development would be absurd though.
I guess it’s really living up to its name. “Forever” indeed.
I’m pretty sure even if the game sucks there’s still going to be a shitload of people who’ll buy it to make it worth the 10year development =]
Hell. They should start taking preorders now, so that when they finally do release the game; noone will remember paying for it.
Or their second strategy: Anyone will buy a game with strippers in it.
PS: your anti-spam script rickroll’d me
I voted he’s for old people because he is. And when I say that I mean me. The first experience I had playing a FPS online was DN3D head-to-head via direct-dial modem vs 1 of my friends. And we were in our mid-20s then. Get off my lawn!!
Funny that the anti-spam word would be “fail” this time. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but Duke Nukem FOREVER refers to the amount of time it will be in production. If it does come out, I don’t think people will be as flattered by the concept that smoking a cigar (while working out with the exact kind of dumbbell I have!) makes him “cool.”
Their best bet now is to make it Duke Nukem XXX and go overboard.
@Matt` – if it’s half decent then fine, but I’m afraid that while the FPS genre moved forward quite a bit, the DNF may still be stuck in the past with respect to gameplay and ideas.
@tash – Oh wow… I love the preorder idea. They could make tons of money this way, provided that anyone would be silly enough to order a perpetual vaporware. Perhaps if the price was low enough, and they kept cranking out trailers every few weeks to keep up the excitement… They could make a living out of this. :)
@Teague – Well, we used to play Doom on deathmatch over a serial cable on DOS machines. :P That was around my freshman year in HS, and the hardware we used was relatively ancient by then. :P
@Ian – that’s exactly what I mean – Duke probably needs attitude readjustment to fit in better in these more subtler times. ;)
Your reply just made me realize that the initials for Duke Nukem Forever are DNF… which stands for “Did Not Finish” in racing.