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Readers pick best webcomic: Surprise!
It makes a whole lot of sense, now that we think about it -- but we're not going to spoil the revelation for you, just check out God Mode Online's comic on the matter. Their observational skills netted them the rather dubious honor of webcomic of the week.Second place goes to goats for their throwback to adventure games (huzzah!), while 2P Start narrowly edges out Penny Arcade for third place by a mere two votes. (See? Your clicks do matter.) We suspect next Saturday might have a few more Master Chief references. Thanks to everyone who voted, and be sure to let us know of any game-related webcomics you stumble upon this week!
Duke Nukem could be on his way to XBLA
We knew that there were talks about bringing Duke Nukem 3D to Xbox Live Arcade, but now there's even more talk. Shacknews confirmed that 3D Realms would be interested in bringing the Nukem's 3D outing to XBLA if Microsoft is interested. But, like they said last year, it's not as easy as shipping over the code and getting a nice check. 3D Realms says they have "some people that would port it" and they are just waiting "on the good word from Microsoft to continue."This would typically be the part where we go into a discussion of when Duke Nukem Forever is coming out and wonder openly if it will ever happen. But we'll simply give you this handy-dandy little link to our Duke Nukem Forever happy 10th un-birthday post and let you think about what you were doing ten years ago when the game was first announced. With any luck, by the time you snap out of thinking back ten years, the XBLA version of Duke Nukem 3D will be ready.
3D Realms wants Duke Nukem on the XBLA
In a comment discussion over on ShackNews about Duke Nukem 3D and its possible appearance on the XBLA, 3D Realms employee George Broussard confirmed that their company is interesting in porting the game, but is waiting on Microsoft's approval. Commenting on the status of such a port, Broussard stated that "Truth be told, we've talked to Microsoft about it and have some people that would port it. Just waiting on the good word from Microsoft to continue". So, in effect, we'll definitely be seeing some hot Duke Nukem action on the Arcade ... that is if Microsoft allows and / or wants it enough. But seriously, how could anyone turn down Mr. Nukem?[Via xbox360.dcemu.co.uk]
Duke Nukem Forever pic sighted in Game Informer
Remember when we said another Duke Nukem Forever image prior to summer's end would indicate an "imminent apocalypse?" Time to prepare your shelters because 3D Realms threw in a new picture of DNF in the latest issue of Game Informer alongside the unveiling of Earth No More.The picture itself is rather non-revealing -- even more so than the previous two pictures of Duke and a Pork Nemesis. Over at the DNF forums, 3DR staffer Joe Siegler said that he cannot post a higher-resolution image online but agreed to the suggestion that the screenshot's inclusion in the magazine might get more people to read about Earth No More. Sneaky tactic, indeed -- at least Duke is being used somehow.Just a reminder, we are now in the year 10 A.D. ("After Duke"), a decade since the unveiling of DNF.
3D Realms announces Earth No More for the PS3
3D Realms, the company behind the videogame punchline Duke Nukem Forever, has just announced the development of a new shooter for the PS3, PC and Xbox 360. Titled Earth No More, the action title game will supposedly feature a robust conversation engine for communicating with teammates and NPCs, as well as strong story thats 'part 28 Days Later, part War of the Worlds.' Making the game are ex-Max Payne developers, Recoil Games. This appears to be their first title under their own development label though, so it's hard to judge their true pedigree. Also, besides hints of a storyline that consists of a pissed-off Earth who's trying to kill us and some vague team mechanics, very little is known about the game. It won't be coming out until 2009 though, so there is a lot of time for us to learn more about the game. Of course, at the rate 3D Realms publishes games, there's always the possibility that we won't see it until 2015.[Via Joystiq]
Duke Nukem won't be 3D Realms' next 'big announcement'
3D Realms has some big announcements coming in the next six months, but nothing about Duke Nukem Forever, according to new creative director Raphael Van Lierop."I can say that we have a big announcement coming in the next four weeks, and I'm not sure, but I believe we have another major announcement coming in the next four to six months," he said in an interview with Gamasutra. "While I can't say exactly what these are, are they about Duke Nukem Forever? No."Since beginning the DNF project just over a decade ago, the company has managed to release 12 titles, which can be summed up as Prey, two Max Paynes and nine Duke Nukem iterations. Van Lierop said that their business model benefits from a "very collaborative relationship" with other developers. If DNF isn't one of the company's next two big announcements, then we'll likely see another partnership, perhaps the Prey sequel that 3DR's CEO Scott Miller told Firing Squad in February was already mapped out from a "high-level story standpoint." The first big announcement will coincide with this year's E3 Media and Business Summit. Fun fact: In the span of two questions, or 521 words, in the interview, there are 9 mentions to Duke Nukem Forever, totaling 27 words (with only one of those references by the interviewer). That's over 5% of the words used in that section!
Duke Nukem Forever image again released via job posting
Get out your magnifying glass, Grandma, because we've got yet another nano-image of Duke Nukem Forever via a job posting on Gamasutra. This proof of existence leads us to only one extremely logical conclusion: that to cut back on development time, 3D Realms is going to use a native resolution 200 pixels wide. Oh, how clever they are!Of course, we're not serious (hopefully), but those still holding on to the dream of Duke have another blip of hope. A previous DNF picture came from a Gamasutra job posting in January, just three months prior. Should we get another Duke sighting before the summer ends, we may be seeing the warning signs of an imminent apocalypse.
Rumor: Oblivion composer to score Duke Nukem Forever
It sounds like brothers Jeremy and Julian Soule will bring music to 3D Realms' Duke Nukem Forever. 1UP believes so, and lays out its case with two intertwining pieces of evidence: 3D Realms developer Raphael Van Lierop discussed in his blog about a recent visit from Julian Soule. In an Insiders-only interview with IGN, Jeremy left one hint about his secretive upcoming project: "When it's done!!!" Okay, that alone would be enough of a confirmation since Duke Nukem Forever, still one of the most ironic titles in the history of entertainment, has kept to a release date of "when it's done." Add to that previous relations when Jeremy Soule composed the soundtrack for 3D realms' Prey. Is Duke Nukem Forever really in full production? Minuscule screenshot notwithstanding, we'll have to see to believe it.
Duke Nukem 3D ported to DS
A homebrew gamer named GPF ported the GP2X version of 3D Realms' Duke Nukem 3D to the DS as an entry in a coding contest, and released it to the public yesterday. So, in the time since the announcement of Duke Nukem Forever, the following events have occurred (developments not directly related to this port, like the Saturn Duke and the N64 spinoffs, have been left off). The Game Boy Color was released. The Game Boy Advance was released as a followup to the Game Boy Color. The Game Park GP32 was released. The followup to the GP32, the GP2X, was released. The Nintendo DS was released as a followup to the GBA and GBC. Duke Nukem 3D was ported to the GP2X. The GP2X version of Duke Nukem 3D was ported to the DS. See you in 20 years, when Duke Nukem Forever shows up on the Hyper QS (Quad Screen)![Via DCEmu, thanks Wraggster!]
The top 5 "secret" games coming to 360
According to Planet Xbox 360, the latest Official Xbox Magazine dishes out what its editors believe to be the top 5 games being secretly made for the Xbox 360. More or less the list is a wish list of games that most of us would like to see make an appearance on our beloved console. Many of them have been rumored for quite some time, but it's a nice list nevertheless. Check it out after the break.
Duke Nukem and the battle against depression
No, Duke Nukem Forever hasn't received a name change (or a release date) -- but there's now a possible explanation for why you've been getting pwned by bubbly 12-year-olds on Xbox Live. Dude, you're depressed.According to a study by the US National Institute of Mental Health, depression sufferers were outperformed by their "healthy" peers in a test that used scenes based on Duke Nukem. It would seem that tests relying on spatial memory -- in this case, locating landmarks in a virtual gameworld -- might provide a method for quantifying depression. Apparently subjects suffering from deep levels of depression located the least number of landmarks. Previous research suggests that depression might be associated with a shrunken hippocampus, a part of the brain that processes spatial memory.[Via Engadget]
Duke Nukem-like video game to help measure depression?
Contrary to popular belief, the lives of gamers aren't necessarily all lame and depressing. In fact, recent studies from the US National Institute of Mental Health shown that depressed people pwn less than non-depressed people in video games that test spatial memory. Depression has been associated with a shrunken hippocampus, a part of the brain that influences spatial memory performance. USNIMH researchers have developed a video game based on scenes from Duke Nukem where players navigate around a virtual town trying to hit up as many landmarks as possible in a limited amount of time. The depressed players averaged at 2.4 locations in comparison to "healthy" players with 3.8 locations. Players suffering from deeper depressions yielded lower scores -- an indicator that these tests may someday lead to quantitatively measuring different levels of depression. Of course, it's hard to quantify how much a continued lack of Duke Nukem Forever might have tainted these results.[Thanks, Matthew S.]
Ritual not done with SIN just yet
When developer Ritual was acquired by casual games producer MumboJumbo, we figured that SIN Episodes had gone the way of the Mexican landfill. It turns out that it may just be taking a seat next to Duke Nukem on the bench of the infinitely postponed. Fielding questions from fansite Ritualistic, Ritual co-founder Richard "Levelord" Gray reveals that while the initial episode performed decently at retail (150,000 units in sales), it wasn't enough to fully fund a second. Development on the follow-up episode was already underway but came to a halt as the well ran dry.Gray goes on to say that Ritual is still interested in returning to SIN at some point in time and that perhaps MumboJumbo's casual outlook will play a part in it.
Duke Nukem Forever screenshot: prepare to squint
It's very small, you see. Spotted in a Gamasutra job listing and then discussed in a Shacknews forum, a puny proof of life for 3D Realms' perpetually unreleased Duke Nukem Forever has now been placed under the internet's collective microscope. "That's an in game, real-time shot of Duke standing in a random hallway," says George Broussard, posting on the official 3D Realms forums. "I'm glad some of you enjoyed it, and we'll show more later as we start to wake from our slumber and decide how best to show the game off."For a start, bigger screenshots would be nice. [Via Game|Life]
Navy develops 8-Megajoule railgun, Nukem bows down
The mere mention of the word brings back visions of the original first-person-shooters to grace our now-antiquated machines, and now the US Navy is getting real personal with a realized version of the pixelated railgun we all love and adore. Presumably ripped straight from the (admittedly lacking) storyline of Quake, an 8-Megajoule railgun has been officially created, fired, and deemed worthy of flanking our naval ships, which should strike fear in the hearts of anyone wishing us harm. The gun was showcased this week at the Naval Surface Warfare Center at Dahlgren, Virginia, and utilizes massive quantities of electricity rather than gunpowder to propel "nonexplosive projectiles at incredible speeds." The weapon is powerful enough to equal the damage inflicted by a Tomahawk cruise missile, and the device's project director compared the impact to hitting a solid object "going 380 miles-per-hour in a Ford Taurus." Moreover, the railgun touts a 200 to 250 nautical-mile range, compared to the 15 nautical-mile range that current five-inch guns sport now. Interestingly, the weapon should "only" cost around $1,000 per shot once loaded onboard, which is chump change compared to the cool million that vanishes each time a cruise missile is deployed, and if everything goes as planned, we'll be seeing a 32-Megajoule prototype in June, with a 64-Megajoule rendition adorning our ships by 2020.[Via Slashdot]
Gauss' GP-219 electromagnetic pistol fires steel projectiles silently
Sure, mechanical sentries and AirSoft turrets are novel, but there's nothing like whipping out an electromagnetic pistol to show folks you mean business. The Gauss GP-219 looks like it came straight from level 5 of Duke Nukem 3D, and rocks a PIC microcontroller, dual coils with "precision pulsing" to fire steel projectiles, twin infrared sensors to assist in positioning, and even a laser sight to keep your enemies pegged. Powered by an NiCd battery pack, this bad boy also features a bar display to track "capacitor bank charge progress," battery and fault LED indicators, and is "completely silent" when fired. The wildest part about this science-fiction dream come true is how effective it actually is, so be sure to click on for a few more pictures, and hit the read links for all the nitty gritty and even a few live action videos. Read - Gauss Pistol GP-219 Read - Pistol whipping in action, Nukem-style
NEC and Takara unveil Duke Nukem-approved notebook: the TYPE-N01
What better to control a ginormous army of robot overlords than a notebook ripped straight from the confines of a science fiction control lab? To get those 'bots a-marchin', just boot up the NEC TYPE-NO1, load the commands (stored on your USB Pocket Rocket, of course), and unleash your best impression of an evil dictator's laugh. NEC has teamed up with Takara to create the presumably mad scientist-approved machine, which sports all the token stickers, labels, and even wallpapers that make this device so similar to those seen laying around Duke Nukem laboratories. Beneath the facade is a LaVie G type L laptop, sporting a 15.4-inch WXGA display, 1.6GHz AMD Mobile Sempron 3200+ processor (Turion 64 X2 TL-50), 1GB of DDR2 RAM, 80-100GB hard drive, dual-layer DVD burner, 802.11a/b/g, and the likely dangerous "FeliCa" port. Flanked on the side is the very necessary "Emergency Button," which apparently shuts down the machine in case of unexpected intruders. The highly secretive TYPE-NO1 can be reserved starting today, and considering that they'll be limited to 300 units, you should probably make haste if you plan on throwing down your ¥145,530 ($1,231) to ¥174,510 ($1,476).[Via Akihabara News]
Duke Nukem on XBLA has "already been discussed"
"Mr. Broussard, do you have a minute?""Make it quick, I'm in the middle of a WoW raid.""I'm sorry ... quick?""You know, the opposite of slow?""Right! Well, Doom was released on Xbox Live Arcade just recently.""Oh, I know, I was playing it all day yesterday. Good stuff.""That's the general consensus, yes. Which is probably why every gamer ever now wants a port of Duke Nukem 3D as well.""Hmm, I like that idea. Provided Microsoft wants it too, I'm sure we could make that happen ... right after I level up some more."At least, that's how we imagine such a discussion to go down within the finely decorated offices of 3D Realms. Following Doom's successful outing on Xbox Live Arcade, fans have already begun a clamorfest (not an actual word) for an Xbox 360 port of that other FPS classic, Duke Nukem 3D. Commenting on the official 3D Realms forums, staff member Joe Siegler assured visitors that the idea had been favorably considered, but that getting a game onto Microsoft's service wasn't as easy as e-mailing them the original code. "I talked about this yesterday with George, he's all up for the idea, but we don't have the time to do the port ourselves, plus there's the issue of whetther [sic] Microsoft would really want it. Don't just assume they would, there's a big submissions procedure to go through. Plus their release schedule is booked solid for quite awhile now, even if we delivered it to them today, I would imagine it wouldnt' [sic] come out for awhile anyway."Imagine that. Still, if Microsoft were to eventually give the game their stamp of approval and a developer like Nerve were tasked with porting the game, it would probably be well worth the wait. [Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
Duke Nukem on XBLA sounds cool, they know
This is really the sort of thing that would be perfect for Richard's "That should be on XBLA" series, yet here we are. Some of you correctly guessed Doom as the secret Xbox Live Arcade franchise, so good for you. Some other forward thinking Fanboys guessed Duke Nukem 3D which, I think we can all agree, would be similarly welcomed. Anyone who's spent sleepless nights playing multiplayer Duke knows how great Arcadification could be. Well, we're not the only ones who think it would be cool. The guys at 3D Realms are well aware how great Duke Nukem 3D was ... in fact, they've been working on a sequel for some time*. Following the release of Doom on XBLA, the prospect was raised on the 3D Realms forums to which a patient staffer replied, "It's already been discussed here. Whether it happens or not I can't say. It's ultimately up to Microsoft as to whether they want it or not." He elaborates here and here.Indeed, the XBLA approval process (as we know) can be pretty intense. The porting process and integrating Xbox Live is no cakewalk, and that's if the title even passes portfolio muster. With the big dog of early FPSs already on the platform, shouldn't Microsoft be looking elsewhere? Not to mention, we'd rather not have 3D Realms do anything to further delay Duke Nuke Forever. Let's just keep our eyes on the ball ...*Nominee for understatement of the year award.[Thanks, Shizzle]
XBLM seeks its Prey (demo) [update 1]
Hey, remember that game, Prey, that 3D Realms has been working on for like 10 years? The one with the reluctant anti-hero/Native American guy? Well, 3D Realms insists that this game is actually coming out this year. What's more, they claim a demo is going hit marketplace on June 21st 22nd. That's a mere two days away for those who are keeping score. Frankly, I'll believes it when I sees it. Seriously though, this game looks pretty fun and the demo is supposed to be 5(!) levels long. And, unlike some games, I have faith that it will release this year. [Via QJ] Update 1: It looks like my source had it wrong, and the demo is actually coming out on June 22nd, not June 21st. Joe Siegler of 3D Realms was kind enough to inform me of the mistake. Thanks, Joe!
