Friday, May 18th, 2012
Ian Keddie on how one of the biggest gaming icons has suffered yet another delay, Duke Nukem is now a by-word for non-existence.
Today a collective groan could be heard from almost any gamer over 21, as we learnt that perhaps the most anticipated, and certainly the longest anticipated, game of all time will be delayed a little while longer. Duke Nukem: Forever will no longer meet its’ release date of May 6th and, instead, will be available internationally on June 10th.
I can remember playing the original when I was 12 and this game has been in development since then, 14 years and counting. Over the years the game became synonymous with non-existance and won a lifetime ‘vapourware’ achievement award from Wired magazine in 2003, with the consensus being that the game would never see light of day.
Plagued with legal disputes, publishing problems, and downsizing of Take Two Software, Duke has always survived where lesser gaming icons have fallen by the wayside. We are so close to seeing the icon of our (misspent) youth reborn, and to tease us with another delay is almost too much.
A cynic like myself would say that perhaps this ‘delay’ has been planned ever since the announcement of a release date, and that this is just a clever piece of marketing from Gearbox or perhaps the Duke is just clinging on before being born naked and afraid into a world of gaming three decades removed from his heyday.
Did you have a misspent youth playing the first Duke Nukem? Do you think gaming icons like Duke deserve attention after so many delays? Comments welcome.
Ian Keddie is a wowdewow writer.
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Tags: anticipated game, clever piece of marketing, collective groan, duke nukeham, gaming icons, gearbox, misspent youth, take two software, vapourware, wired magazine
[...] editors rather than long-time video games comms pros, but I guess when you’re PR-ing the ‘longest’ if not ‘most heavily anticipated’ video game of all time (“FOREVER is a reference to how long its been in development) the pressure might be [...]