3DRealms
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Solid gold soul walking
If the picture didn't clue you in, then know that Prey has gone gold according to GamePro. The game will hit stores in a few weeks, and the demo is scant days away. All of your spirit walking dreams are about to come true. Color me excited. Wow, it's weird to see the 3D Realms logo on a video game again, isn't it? [Via openXBOX360]
DNF: what's happened these nine long years?
We all know what George Broussard and his team at 3D Realms have been up to since they officially announced development of Duke Nukem Forever: they've been switching engines, winning awards, and remaining mum on when (though always insisting that it is coming) we'll get to see something -- anything -- about their increasingly long-in-the-tooth FPS. Now that another E3 has come and gone with nary a Bruce Campbell-cribbed peep from our favorite (at least he used to be ... I think) video game protagonist, one dedicated gamer decided to update "The List" of things that have happened since DNF was announced. Included in "The List":"When Duke Nukem Forever was announced, the fastest processor available to consumers was a 233Mhz Pentium. Since then the clock speed of consumer processors has increased over 16 times (32 times counting dual cores), and the fabrication process has decreased from 250nm to 65nm."But that's not all folks! Just to pour salt into that open wound, they've added a list of things that have taken less time than DNF has been in production, like: "The Beatles formed, released every single one of their albums and broke up. During this time they also toured the world several times."No pressure, guys. I'm sure these past ten years have been well spent, right? Right?![Thanks, Eli]
Prey demo hands on
Gamespot got their hands on an early PC copy of the upcoming Prey demo. The preview manages to unearth some new info concerning the game's portal system. For example, you won't necessarily retain your previous orientation when you pass through a portal. That is to say, you could walk through a portal and instantly fall toward what looked like the ceiling moments before. Also, your character can even change size when passing through a portal -- making your enemies and environments gigantic. Multiplayer gets a few breaks from typical FPS fare thanks to the gravity defying physics and the addition of weapons that are unavailable in the single player campaign. Gooey biomechanical chaingun? Yes, please.Hit the read link to enjoy the whole preview and some fresh videos. [Via openXBOX360]
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!
$500,000 offered to finish Duke Nukem Forever this year [update 3]
In an SEC filing, Take-Two brought up a rather sore (yet infamous) subject: Duke Nukem Forever. The uber-delayed project, in development since 1997 (remember 1997? Titanic won an Oscar) has been given some incentive to complete and release the game by December 31, 2006 -- $500,000 worth of incentive. While it may not seem like much (most commercial video games have multimillion dollar budgets), 3D Realms is currently being offered $4.25 million from Take-Two for the title's eventual release, down from the $6 million promised in their original -- apparently lapsed -- deal. See update 3 for the skinny on this mess.Does this mean we'll see Duke before 2007? Doubtful, but we could be wrong ...[update 1: where there was confusion, there is now clarity][update 2: silly Gamespot, the actual SEC filing says dollar amounts are listed in thousands, so their figure of $4,250 is off by a factor of, you guessed it, one thousand. With the $500,000 promissory, that means 3D Realms can still collect nearly 80% of their original contract ... if they manage to finish this thing. Thanks, nonpareil.)[update 3: newish games blog Metafuture has gotten to the bottom of this little mess. It wasn't just the figure that we had wrong, it was the payee as well. Indeed, Gamasutra reported on this over two months ago writing:"One other notable payment was the renegotiation of a $6 million charge due [to former publisher GT Interactive, now owned by Atari] upon delivery of the final PC version of Duke Nukem Forever back in March 2005. The epic delay of 3D Realms' shooter has meant that $4.25 million of the final milestone payment has already been paid, alongside the promise of a final $500,000 upon the commercial release of Duke Nukem Forever prior to December 31, 2006."So the $4.25 million has already been paid to Atari and the $500,000 is being offered to Atari and not 3D Realms. Got it? I think we do now. Apologies for the confusion.]
Duke Nukem for never!
If you're anything like us, you're at least five years past caring about what 3D Realms has to say regarding its Duke Nukem Forever project. Even 3D Realms' George Broussard knows this: in the company's latest statement on the subject of the definition of vaporware, George says that "the problem is that when we show it, people are going to be like, 'Yeah, whatever'." George can hardly blame "people" for not caring about a game that's been in development for nearly ten years, but at least he's being realistic about the situation. At the moment the game's publisher, Take Two, seems to be the only group at all interested in the game. The company has paid out a total of US$4.25 million in the hope that they may see some sort of return. Good luck to them (and their dwindling stock) we say!
Porting Prey
The coders and artists behind the Xbox 360 version of Human Head's Prey comment on the specific challenges of bringing the game to the next-gen console (The logos above are from the game's Xbox Live achievements). Predictable issues, but still an interesting read. According to these guys, the PC version of the gravity-defying FPS is already "pixel perfect." Having heard great things about this effort, I'll be praying that Prey is a flawless port. [Via Team Xbox]
Duke Nukem Forever "in full production"
Yes, folks, it's still alive and kicking - everyone's favorite vaporware is "in full production" according to George Broussard, co-founder of 3D Realms. In an interview with 1up, towards the end, Broussard chats about the status of Duke Nukem Forever, the unfortunately-apt title to the game over a decade in development. Hail to the King, baby! According to Broussard, "there's a lot that's finished. All the guns are finished. Most of the creatures are finished...we're just basically pulling it all together and trying to make it fun." So, there you have it, an actual status update on Duke Nukem Forever. If they get their act together, 2006 may be the year pigs fly - then again, we predicted that Duke Nukem Forever still would not come out in 2006, and whose to argue with us?[via Voodoo Extreme; image taken from the 2001 trailer]
