If you bet on Duke this year you busted with Duke Nukem Forever. Gearbox now has the rights to Duke Nukem but did they buy a bad fish? The taste of Duke Nukem Forever will take some time to wash out if it ever does. With that game being worked on for 15 years it's hard to imagine people will forget the Duke disappointed. We asked the Gameplay Today staff this week what the future of Duke can be, and of course what their playing this weekend.
Austin Cox: Duke Nukem easily still has a place in gaming and while many critics will argue I'm wrong on this, it's DNF that fell flat, not the entire franchise. If a series was killed by a bad game with high expectations, we'd never have the return of Tomb Raider, Sonic the Hedgehog, Super Mario and so on. Gearbox was stuck pushing out a product for the sake of putting it out. (N/A)
AJ Lysiak: Duke Nukem is better left in our memory as both a game and character that was once great. Duke Nukem Forever should be a sign to end it while we still can, before it takes a route similar to that of Crash Bandicoot. I'm not saying the franchise won't ever make a great game again, but critics and longtime fans will never be able to hold it to the same spotlight the originals were. Maybe in another twenty years I'll be ready for more Duke. (Mortal Kombat this weekend. Maybe something else, who knows!)
Samuel Evans: I loved Duke Nukem 3D but since then it's been downhill from Duke. People act as if games haven't come out in the Duke series since then but they have just not Forever specifically. Duke is a franchise that still matters but Forever will be a large stain on his resume. Gearbox will come back with something they can make from scratch in the years to come. (Magic 2012)
Nick Geahart: Duke Nukem was a pretty damn good series back when it was originally released and is even fun to return to now and again. With the recent release of Duke Nukem Forever we saw that the series seems to still be stuck in the 90s. While nostalgia is a good selling point for DNF, that is not all that you want from a game. The series should stay as a classic and should not have any more games made. (This weekend I will be playing Assassin's Creed Brotherhood and with some luck, possible You Don't Know Jack.)
Sean Talarico: Duke Nukem should really just retire now. He can spend the rest of his days hanging out with other video game characters forced into retirement for their own good like sonic the hedgehog (hopefull in the future). That being said I haven't tried duke nukem forever yet but I play on atleast downloading the demo when it has a public release on steam. (This weekend I will be playing Deus Ex and Pride of Nations for PC.)
Stephen Byzek: DNF is a fan service plain and simple. It's a 90's classic HD remake. I don't foresee much of a future for him, though. Not as a retail release. His crude humor and garish ways are lost on the current generation. We don't have the over the top manly men movie stars like we did back in the early to mid 90's. To try to relate, you'd have to make some sort of sparkly twilight wizard something or other. And that game would suck. Duke could survive in episodic format as an arcade release to pay homage to the older fans. But sadly, I don't think a follow-up would be in the cards. (This weekend will be Shadowrun, Child of Eden, Rogue Warrior.)
Erin Gibson: I'm probably one of the worst people to ask about Duke Nukem. I was never compelled to even try one of the Duke Nukem games, yet I can't see a long running franchise and a recognizable name like that just disappearing. I expect a hiatus, but nothing close to 14 years and then a return. (Playing: Pokemon Black)
Carnage: I just cant believe how much the DNF failed. I haven't played it but Ive heard from many people to stay away from it. How could they work on this game for 10 years and come out with this? I cant see a future in this game anymore. I use to play Duke Nukem with my brothers on the ps1 in splitscreen multiplayer. That was fun. (Playing Infamous, Portal 2, and NASCAR 2011 all on ps3)
