Recently Gearbox Software revealed that forever doesn't necessarily mean forever, as the company showed that development on Duke Nukem Forever was coming to a close during PAX 2010. Long-term Duke fans who patiently waited thirteen years for the sequel finally received hands-on gameplay or watched the big reveal via 2K Games' streaming event. Even more, eager fans learned that the game would finally arrive in “early” 2011.
Now retailers such as Amazon and GameStop are listing Duke Nukem Forever with a release date of Tuesday, February 1, 2010. The date reflects the typical North American distribution process for console and PC games, releasing most of the week's new titles on Tuesday. However the date doesn't necessarily mean it's etched in gold-- a Gearbox representative even stated that any currently listed date is merely used as a placeholder.
Last week brought reports that a Gearbox forum member named “fresch” was currently re-making the original Duke Nukem 3D PC game using Epic's Unreal Engine 3. Called Duke Nukem Next-Gen, the game is receiving a major graphic overhaul with highly detailed textures and additional architecture. Footage from the newly-updated opening rooftop scene can be seen over on YouTube here.
In addition to the possible release date, Monday also brought new Duke Nukem Forever video footage from a live demo conducted at the Firstlook gaming convention in Amsterdam. The demo shows Duke taking a rather lengthy leak, playing with the bathroom faucets, drawing and erasing on a marker board, grabbing the Devastator and "duking" it out with a Cycloid Emperor in a football stadium again, and more. The clip--seen below--also contains a rather numerous ending, indicating that Duke may be a console gamer.
