Dale Weir's blog

Duke Nukem Forever may never see release, but I know that, like me, you've been dying to get a look at the actual game. Whether it was ready for release or not, you want to see something. And here it is.

Now, graphically, it looks like it stands up. I love seeing Duke's legs, arms and hands when he climbs, runs or falls. Lots of shiny sweat on said arms and legs. It looks like they were incorporating all of the visual bells and whistles. And (most of) the enemies look nice, but it's the AI that doesn't seem at all smart. What definitely don't stand up are the one-liners. I don't know if they were added for this demo or what, but they sound canned. Imagine that, the bread and butter of the Duke Nukem franchise just sound out of place and antiquated.

Again, this is a demo and isn't necessarily indicative of the entire game—but having nothing else to compare it to—we have to look at this brief look and come away a little disappointed. Ah, well.

Who could have imagined that the next evolution or revolution in maps would have been influenced by videogames?

We could, actually.

Of course, ours involved three-dimensional, cybernetic, holographic overlays ala Dead Space or Grand Theft Auto.

Jack Schulze and Matt Webb, creators of the "Here and There" map, were indeed influenced by games—even some not so obvious ones—but games were just one of many influences. (This is probably a good thing given how limited most in-game maps actually are.)

So far it is simply available in poster form, but a 3D-perspective melded with a top down view would seem to have profound applications outside of gaming. Not that gaming wouldn't see a benefit. Gaming worlds are getting bigger and navigating them can be as daunting as navigating the streets of Manhattan for some of us. A "Here and There"-influenced map would be a godsend.

The Army Experience Center is the latest effort by the Army to use games to recruit teens and young adults. This has drawn the ire of parents and anti-war activists.

This goes up on the cool wall.

Game-Artist got some computer artists together for a competition to see who could come up with the most authentic, real-time environment from a movie. The winning entries were from Bladerunner (seen above), Steven Spielberg's Hook, Aliens, X-Men 2 and I am Legend.

I won't spoil who won—you can probably figure it out though—because you really have to see more of these recreations for yourself.

I'm not going to defend Bolt Creative, the US-based creators of the very popular Pocket God game for the iPhone. I don't find it offensive myself, but I support the right of any group to vocalize their oppositon to anything they find offensive.

It occured to me that views like this would not only leave us without a popular iPhone app, but also without some of the classic games or gaming characters that we love.

"...there is a kegger down the hall. We can go as soon as I desecrate this corpse. I'm sorry Marge, where are my manners? Did you want to taunt my kill also? Press the "X" button."  - Homer Simpson

If you're like me, on the one hand you're thrilled to see The Simpsons parodying videogames... outside of its own videogames (The Simpsons Hit & Run and The Simpsons Game). On the other hand, you sigh sadly with the realization that the masses are seeing one of the less savory sides of interactive play. Why couldn't the writers lampoon Shadow of the Colossus or Flower? Ah well, it was a pretty funny clip.

We all know we'd do it too if we could. Growing up I had an intense urge to take apart my Atari 2600, NES, SNES and N64, but about all I could muster was the courage to open up my SNES controller. And that was largely because it was not working right.

Reinier van der Ende, the X-ray Technician, did what we wished we could but also managed to spare our warranties while giving us something really cool to look at.

Over one decade after announcing Duke Nukem Forever, 3D Realms has to close its doors taking the industry's most famous piece of vaporware with it.

In a prepared statement, Take-Two VP of communications Alan Lewis said:

"We can confirm that our relationship with 3D Realms for Duke Nukem Forever was a publishing arrangement, which did not include ongoing funds for development of the title. In addition, Take-Two continues to retain the publishing rights to Duke Nukem Forever."

A representative for Deep Silver and Apogee Software said they "are not affected by the situation at 3D Realms. Development on the Duke Nukem Trilogy is continuing as planned."

Duke Nukem Forever was not the only project that 3D Realms had worked on, but it was probably the one that the developer was most known for.

Given these tough economic times, the performance of titles like Prey and ongoing development costs, 3D Realms finally had to lay off its entire staff.

After the launch of Sega's ridiculous Sonic and the Black Knight, it is fitting that I came across this video (posted on Sega's PR blog no less). It is a speed run done in Sonic Unleashed for the PlayStation 3, by an unknown Japanese gamer who displayed a level of skill and reflexes in the game that definitely deserved recording and saving for prosperity.

In the level, the unknown player puts Sonic through his paces at breakneck speed. From the word "GO!", he is a blue blur and more amazingly, the world around him is nothing but a beige blur. Okay it is just a speed run, but when you watch enough of them starring Sonic, and especially those taken from the new Sonic titles, if you're like me, you get an intense feeling of nostalgia.

Given enough time (and interest?) there is a developer out there that might be able to do something impressive with the Dead Rising franchise on the Wii. Apparently that developer wasn't contracted by Capcom to develop this "port".