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Duke Nukem Forever Due This Year?
nz17 writes "Under the original deal, 3D Realms was to receive some $6 million from Take-Two to develop the title. Now the Texas-based developer will receive only $4,250 for the oft-delayed game when it is completed. Just the same, 3D Realms has a fairly large incentive to get Duke Nukem Forever done by the end of the year; Take-Two has offered the studio $500,000 in the form of a promissory note if the game sees commercial release by December 31, 2006."
Sorry folks, this is over 2 months late.
So you /do/ confirm that DNF will ship before Windows Vista?
My first program:
Hell Segmentation fault
haha, $4,250 for it. Freakin' hilarious! I'm sure I'm not alone in the "like I even give a rat's ass about this supposed game anymore" club.
There are basically three positions you can have with respect to Duke Nukem
1: It will never be released, in which case no, not this year.
2: It is honestly being worked on, in which case maybe.
3: It's about to be done, any day now, in which case yes.
Obviously these positions are rather broad, and one might even say baseless, but that is just the point. We don't have any way to distinguish between them, we can only guess. All we know is that they keep saying that they are working on it and making progress, but honestly that is compatible with all three positions. Personally I hope Duke Nukem will never come out, for if it does I will have to re-write all my vaporware jokes.
Philosophy.
Prey went from vaporware to a title that people loved at E3. It is actually going to ship. 3DRealms has to make money to stick around.
DNF will ship. Who knows how good it will be, or what condition it will be in. They can make money after the fact with expansions.
The only thing that surprises me is that 3DRealms is making any money at all after how they have handled this. If I was the publisher, I would have canceled the project and taken it to another development house long ago.
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
$1 for each day of development?
The grass is always greener on the other side of the light cone.
Is it really a good idea to give a company this kind of an incentive? I mean, if they don't release it by the end of the year, they basically get nothing. If they release it by the end of the year they get a decent amount. Maybe not as much as the original deal but $500,000 compared to less than $5000 is a pretty decent incentive. Are there stipulations as to the quality of the software? I mean, they could just crank out some crappy version or one with way too many bugs, but they released it before the end of the year so they get their money. I'm hoping the contract specifies a few things like this.
But why is the rum gone?
I am working on an amazing response to this article. Trust me, it'll be great--not just funny, but incredibly insightful. It will take your breath away. It is destined to be the most talked-about Slashdot posting of 2006. Unfortunately, it's not ready to post yet, but it will be ready within about 10 minutes. I just wanted to give everybody a heads up. Look for it here!
Arr! Read The Government Manual for New Pirates!
It's more than just $4,250: on the 10-Q, all dollar figures (with the exception of per-share amounts) are listed in thousands. Quoting the financial statement notes, the "In March 2005, the Company renegotiated a $6,000 contingent obligation due upon delivery of the final PC version of Duke Nukem Forever through the payment of $4,250 and issuance of a promissory note in the principal amount of $500." That would actually, then, be four-and-a-quarter million dollars rather than a paltry 4K.
Having to boot into Linux just to play some Duke3D has gotten really old. I gotta say though that its worth it. There's a lot of seriously neat and fun gameplay packed into that game.
The amount of Linux play I get out of the Duke3D Platinum Pack that I picked up for $10 is phenomenal. For a "DOOMish" type game, it is just superb.The http://www.icculus.org/duke3d Linux engine is really good.
Hail to the King baby!
Clickety Click
2006: Duke Nukem Forever Due This Year. .. .. ..
2007: Duke Nukem Forever Due This Year.
2008: Duke Nukem Forever Due This Year.
2009: Duke Nukem Forever Due This Year.
2020: Duke Nukem Forever Due This Year.
Unlike Microsoft, the DNF folks have been consistent. They haven't changed their stance over several years....
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
I doubt that DNF will be any good. For a very simple reason.
... 5 years? Longer? Don't remember. But what I remember is the way software development works. Think back 5 years, and the way games were back then. Forget graphics for a moment and just think of gameplay. Would you play a game with 5 year old gameplay?
The game has been "under development" for
Because that's what DNF will have. The idea, the plan, the layout, it's 5 years old. Yes, of course they will "add" stuff to make it "current", but it will be plugged into it and feel attached rather than a core part of the game.
Graphics will probably be current. It's not a big deal to adjust an engine, even though you have to rewrite some parts of the code over and over.
And, finally, they already sunk a ton of dough into it. In other words, it has to be finished cheaply, so it can at least come close to breaking even. Whoever is in the unhappy position to finish this game is very short on funds. And probably also quite frustrated, and as odd as it may sound (for a game that's been delayed forever, hence the name, I guess) under heavy time pressure. If it's announced that "it's being worked on", people do expect it SOON, simply because "hell, they already worked SO long on it, it's gotta be almost done".
My guess is that they want to get that albatross off the ramp, no matter whether it flies or not.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Guys! Don't you know? The only reason they took so long developing it is because they had to recode the whole thing for its exclusive release for the Infinium Labs Phantom!
Duh!
of when or why or how it ships. The gamers self-produced hype is just too much. There is no way that whoever is developing it now can live up to the expectations of peoples own imaginations. It doesn't matter how awesome the graphics or sound is, or how amazing the gameplay is. There is no way that they can live up to the expectations of pretty much anyone on planet Earth.
Had they managed to squeeze this one out a few years ago, then maybe. It would've been like Doom3, lots of talk and generally a fun game but nothing to lose sleep over. However, since DN3DF has been in development for like a decade it's gone from being a game and becoming some kind of mythic beast instead.
Sure, it might sell a few units, but it will be on novelty value alone.
I enjoy large posteriors and I cannot prevaricate.
3DR comments on this: http://forums.3drealms.com/vb/showthread.php?t=183 00.
Joe Siegler
Webmaster - 3D Realms & Black Sabbath Online
In related news...
Windows Vista is to ship this year.
We will no longer have to wait for Godot.
The second coming of Christ will come this year.
The US will pull out of Iraq this year.
The US will find Osama.
You mean DOA?
Duke Nukem, Forever Due 'This Year'...
Mozy, free online backup service
--
Its got nothing to do with DNF, but this article (part two, part 3) about the development of the Superman movies had me in tears I was laughing so hard. I know very little about the development of DNF, but if it was anything like Superman Returns, I'll cut them some slack...
You, sir, have not been paying attention.
on my new AMIGA then I'm gonna be pissed.
Yes - all of them.
This is how Electronic Arts grows. EA has cash, but it hasn't really innovated since 1984. As someone who's previously worked in the games industry and still has lots of friends at EA and other game companies, let me lay it out for you:
The games business is a hit driven business, with most innovative titles coming out of small publishers (with only one exception right now - Blizzard).
Step 1: Small publisher (Origin, Jane's, Crystal, etc...) comes out with a hot new title. It sells like gangbusters.
Step 2: The now 'successful' publisher, hires up more people to work on their next hot title. Founders become 'industry visionaries' and appear on many CGDC panels. One of three things happen with this next 'hot' title...
2a) The title ships in time for Christmas and is a big success. Great! Return to step 2 and try again. The odds of this happening is low.
2b) The title ships in time for Christmas but is a flop. Advance to step 3.
2c) The title misses the Christmas ship date and has to go out in the spring, where volumes are much smaller. Advance to step 3
Step 3: You now have a payroll crunch because of lots of employees/investors to feed and no new income (remember, this is a hit driven business). EA will come to you and say, "I'm going to write a number on a piece of paper - I think you'll agree it's fair." Hint: It's not fair. You'll say no, because you just need to get that second 'backup' title finished and you'll be okay again.
Step 4: If the backup title succeeds, you've dodged a bullet - go back to step 2 and try again. Otherwise, EA will come back to you and say "I'm going to write a number on a piece of paper. It's not going to be as large as last time, but I think you'll agree it's fair." Hint: It's still not fair - its going to be much lower than last time. Unfortunately, you'll have to take it because you are out of cash. Congrats: You are now an executive producer for a new division in EA. Most likely, you'll never be allowed to make an 'risky' game again.
The chances of repeately doing step 2 successfully are very low.
TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE, INC. and SUBSIDIARIES
Notes to Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
(Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)
In March 2005, the Company renegotiated a $6,000 contingent obligation due upon delivery of the final PC version of Duke Nukem Forever through the payment of $4,250 and issuance of a promissory note in the principal amount of $500. The payment of the promissory note is contingent upon the commercial release of such product prior to December 31, 2006.
Firstly it's obvious after a decade that this has game _NOT_ been in development.
Secondly the companies/[eople responsible for this situation squandered a great opportunity.
Lots of folks (me included) found the cheeky, irreverent & slightly racy tone of this game to be a refreshing change from the deadly serious juvenile stuff that was around at the time. DNF's big contribution was it injected _FUN_ into the gaming experience. Sadly missed...
Actualy, they are looking forward to replacing Solitaire in vista with it ;)