"We won't rush Duke Nukem forever"

[Hivetyrant]

lol, 3D Realms President says he "wont rush Duke 3D"

Late last week, Take-Two Interactive filed a 10-Q earnings statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Buried inside of it, the company noted that it had renegotiated its agreement with developer 3D Realms to publish the long-in-the-making shooter Duke Nukem Forever. According to the 10-Q, the two parties agreed to new financial terms, which were listed in the 10-Q in thousands of dollars (figures have been updated to reflect real numbers): "In March 2005, the company [Take-Two] renegotiated a $6,000[,000] contingent obligation due upon delivery of the final PC version of Duke Nukem Forever through the payment of $4,250[,000] and issuance of a promissory note in the principal amount of $500[,000]. The payment of the promissory note is contingent upon the commercial release of such product prior to December 31, 2006." With Take-Two holding out a $500,000 promissory note as a carrot to get Duke Nukem Forever, some PC gamers became hopeful that the project would be finished in time for the 2006 holiday season. Others worried that the storied title, which has been in development since 1997, would be rushed into production before it was truly ready. Now, it seems the former group has had their hopes dashed--while the latter group has had its fears allayed. In a post on the 3D Realms forums started in part due to a GameSpot typographical error (which has since been corrected and apologized for), Broussard has dismissed the prospect that 3D Realms would be tempted by a half-million-dollar sum. "As for the 500k completion bonus, I don't even know were that came from," said the outspoken executive. "I do know that we never cared or asked for it, and I think it was just tossed in as part of some other agreement. We're certainly not motivated by that amount of money, after all this time, and getting the game right is what matters. I would never ship a game early (even a couple of months), for 500k." Broussard went on to outline the current status of Duke Nukem Forever. "Our deal is simple," he said. "We're making the game. It'll be done when it's done. We've funded 99.999% of the game (aside from a very, very small advance from GT Interactive, years ago, before Take 2 bought the game from them). It's our risk, our necks and our gamble. Under the deal we should be earning royalties from about unit 30,000 or so (that's a real small number)."

[Dundee Slaytern]

The number of puns you can have on the game's title alone...

"The Making of Duke Nukem... Forever."

"Duke Nukem Forever in the works!"

"The fans are waiting for Duke Nukem Forever."

etc...

[Bozos of Bones]

Ofcourse, you realize, this will be Daikatana on the second power, right?

[Zebodog]

With an almost 10 year development cycle, I can't see how this game can work. If they based it on top end hardware from even 2 years ago it would be hopelessly out of date when released.

Developers today are rushing their half completed, should-be-beta products to store shelves just so that the graphics are cutting edge for a week and a half before the next GFX card is introduced with all new features.

Take KOTOR2. The potential for a truly great game, but much of the content had to be cut to get it shipped. Had they waited any longer, the graphics would be considered sub-par by their target demographic who, for the most part, buy based on looks.

The bottem line: Daikatana will be an A-list titled compared to this.

[Lucern]

Fear of that is probably what's holding it back all these years Zebodog...they've changed engines every few years, including a change that probably amounts to a full data scrap a year ago.

For me, best case scenario: it's still a Duke Nukem game and I won't buy it lol. I tend to not buy shooters where you regularly take more than one shotgun blast and continue to function unless there's a good reason.

[Hivetyrant]

Lol, i'm just the opposite Lucern, I will probably buy it because its a duke nukem game

[Lucern]

haha...don't get me wrong, I had as much fun as anyone tipping strippers in a virtual world, I just doubt I can get back into it [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Hivetyrant]

Indeed, I am hopefull that it will do well, it has certainl made a name for itself, but if the game is unfinished..... They will NEVER hear the end of it.

[Kakero]

Take their time, they have all the time in the world they need. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Thoran]

There's little chance they'll end up with a viable product... too much time. Daikatana part two as noted earlier.