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25th Mar '13 10:45:16 PM Xtifr

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15th Jan '13 8:47:09 PM LtFedora

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12th Jan '13 9:52:09 PM EarlOfSandvich

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George Broussard showed off another video of [[http://kotaku.com/5013638/first-duke-nukem-forever-gameplay gameplay footage]] during his late-May/early-June 2009 appearance on ''The Jace Hall Show''. Gamers remained jaded after seeing it, however, since ''DNF'' never seemed to break out of alpha stages (as 3D Realms would often restart from scratch when it didn't find itself satisfied with the results). Several from-scratch restarts ''did'' happen during 3D Realms' development of the game; ''[[http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/12/fail_duke_nukem/ Wired]]'' detailed the history of the people who designed, developed, and ultimately failed the project. To make a long story short ([[Film/{{Clue}} too late]]): ProtectionFromEditors served as the downfall of 3D Realms.[[hottip:*:George Broussard's notable ProtectionFromEditors led to the opposite problem of most instances of the trope -- rather than blocking out all criticism, Broussard's perfectionism led to endless revision of ''DNF'' to avoid flaws in the final product, regardless of the budget or any lingering deadlines.]]

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George Broussard showed off another video of [[http://kotaku.com/5013638/first-duke-nukem-forever-gameplay gameplay footage]] during his late-May/early-June 2009 appearance on ''The Jace Hall Show''. Gamers remained jaded after seeing it, however, since ''DNF'' never seemed to break out of alpha stages (as 3D Realms would often restart from scratch when it didn't find itself satisfied with the results). Several from-scratch restarts ''did'' happen during 3D Realms' development of the game; ''[[http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/12/fail_duke_nukem/ Wired]]'' detailed the history of the people who designed, developed, and ultimately failed the project. To make a long story short ([[Film/{{Clue}} too late]]): ProtectionFromEditors served as the downfall of 3D Realms.[[note]]George Broussard's notable ProtectionFromEditors led to the opposite problem of most instances of the trope -- rather than blocking out all criticism, Broussard's perfectionism led to endless revision of ''DNF'' to avoid flaws in the final product, regardless of the budget or any lingering deadlines.[[/note]]

12th Jan '13 5:09:26 PM Tuckerscreator

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7th Dec '12 8:14:33 PM Antwan

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2nd Dec '12 3:46:47 PM EarlOfSandvich

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10th Oct '12 4:37:38 PM FearlessSon

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8th Sep '12 7:27:23 PM gameragodzilla

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4th Jul '12 5:21:32 PM StevieWillShowYou

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Just as numerous game developers [[ThirdIs3D named the third installment of a popular series "3D"]] back in TheNineties, 3DRealms decided to extend the trope to Duke Nukem's fourth game by titling it ''Duke Nukem Forever'' ("4-Ever"). Little did they know at the time the other potential meaning -- because when they said ''Forever'', '''''[[DevelopmentHell they]] [[{{Vaporware}} weren't kidding]]'''''.

''DNF'' was ''the'' prime example of {{Vaporware}} by way of DevelopmentHell, and widely considered the videogame equivalent of ''[[Music/GunsNRoses Chinese Democracy]]'' (the sessions for the album started in 1994 and it was ''finally'' released in November 2008; ''actual'' Chinese democracy is, sadly, [[UsefulNotes/{{China}} still]] in DevelopmentHell) or the infamous ''[[DangerousVisions The Last Dangerous Visions]]'' anthology (originally announced in 1973; HarlanEllison [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Dangerous_Visions still insists he intends to get the book out]]).

The game was given the [[http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,66195,00.html Vaporware Lifetime Achievement Award]] by ''Wired News'' for its continued delays, an award created specifically for ''DNF'' (as it was winning the Vaporware Awards too often). When readers complained against its removal, the game returned the following year to win some more awards.

To grasp the scale of ''DNF's'' development cycle, take a look at [[http://duke.a-13.net The Duke Nukem Forever list]]; this page (last updated in 2009) lists off major events which happened between the announcement of the game and the page's last update; perhaps the only thing that ''didn't'' happen since the game's announcement is [[UsefulNotes/{{Baseball}} the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series]], and LasVegas probably laid odds on which would happen first. ([[ButtMonkey Those poor, poor Cubs.]])

3D Realms released numerous trailers and teasers throughout development, including [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDlB2P1leRM this 2001 trailer]] featuring footage tailored together from non-interactive cutscenes (according to a former 3D Realms developer) as a "proof of life" for the game. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWuteFLUPSY Another teaser trailer released in 2007]], combined with the surprise release of ''{{Prey}}'' (3D Realms' ''other'' vaporware title), suggested ''Forever's'' development might have finally gotten somewhere.

Another video of [[http://kotaku.com/5013638/first-duke-nukem-forever-gameplay gameplay footage]] was shown in George Broussard's late-May/early-June 2009 appearance on ''The Jace Hall Show''. Gamers remained jaded after seeing this, since the game's development history never seemed to break out of alpha stages (as there would be a chance 3D Realms would restart from scratch because they weren't totally satisfied with the results). Several from-scratch restarts ''did'' happen during 3D Realms' development of the game; [[http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/12/fail_duke_nukem/ this Wired article]] details the history of the people who designed, developed, and ultimately failed the project. To make a long story short ([[Film/{{Clue}} too late]]): ProtectionFromEditors ended up being the game's downfall.[[hottip:*:George Broussard's notable ProtectionFromEditors led to the opposite problem of most instances of the trope; rather than blocking out all criticism, Broussard's perfectionism led to endless revision of ''DNF'' to avoid flaws in the final product, regardless of the budget or any lingering deadlines.]]

A few months after the 2009 trailer premiered, Take Two pulled the plug on 3D Realms' funding and [[AuthorExistenceFailure released the development team]] -- and since the company retained the rights to the ''Duke Nukem'' name, it sued 3D Realms for damages (the lawsuit ended in a settlement). A [[http://www.shacknews.com/featuredarticle.x?id=1154 countersuit filed by 3D Realms]] suggests ''Forever'' was slated for a 2010 release on PC and {{Xbox 360}} (and later announced for PlayStation3) -- and another ''Duke Nukem''-related game was in the works as well (under the working title of ''Duke Begins'').

This would normally be the end of the story -- there's no development team, the game's easily the biggest joke in the gaming world, and no gamer alive expects the game to ever be released in any way, shape, or form -- but we all should have remembered one simple fact: ''[[MemeticMutation always]]'' [[MemeticMutation bet on Duke.]]

After 3D Realms' development ended, [[http://kotaku.com/5609770/rumor-borderlands-studio-reviving-duke-nukem-forever Gearbox Software]] (the makers of ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'', ''BrothersInArms'', and ''{{Half-Life}}'' {{expansion pack}}s ''Opposing Force'' and ''Blue Shift'') picked up the scraps and ''finally'' wrapped up development on the game. (Gearbox's first involvement with the franchise, incidentally, involved developing ''[[http://kotaku.com/5314491/gearbox-named-as-developer-for-scrapped-duke-begins Duke Begins]]'' before it was cancelled -- and Gearbox founder Randy Pitchford himself was a former 3D Realms employee; [[OneDegreeOfSeparation who knew that he would complete the game 3D Realms started just after he left them?]])

At PAX 2010, ''DNF'' made a surprise appearance with [[http://pax.gamespot.com/story/6275192/duke-nukem-forever-hands-on-impressions a playable demo]], marking the first time any member of the general public ''ever'' managed to play a version of the game during its ridiculously long development cycle. After a fourteen year wait (and a minor hiccup at the end of development before going gold), Take Two released ''Duke Nukem Forever'' on June 10th (internationally) and June 14th (the United States)…[[AntiClimax to a tepid critical reception]]. The game sold well enough for Gearbox to say ''Duke Nukem 5'' will likely sooner or later, however -- and this time, they'll try and make the gap between sequels a bit less than sixteen years.

As an aside: [[http://media.photobucket.com/image/duke+nukem+preorder+/kaplan23/duke-nukem-pre-order-receipt.png if you know of the picture of the famous preorder receipt from 2001,]] you should also know that it belongs to a PennyArcade forumite by the name of "slash000" -- [[http://i.imgur.com/OPAcC.jpg and he kept it]]. Videogame retailer [=GameStop=] told gamers [[http://www.gamepro.com/article/news/219705/gamestop-will-honor-all-duke-nukem-pre-orders-even-decade-old-ones/ they would honor any legitimate preorder receipt for the game (even decade-old receipts)]], so slash000 managed to secure his preorder discount -- [[http://www.neoseeker.com/news/16679-gearbox-honors-slash000s-10-year-old-pre-order-with-duke-nukem-forever-swag/ and he snagged a bunch of swag from Gearbox, to boot]].

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Just as numerous game developers [[ThirdIs3D named the third installment of a popular series "3D"]] back in TheNineties, 3DRealms decided to extend the trope to Duke Nukem's fourth game by titling it ''Duke Nukem Forever'' ("4-Ever"). 3D Realms probably didn't anticipate how the other potential meaning might come into play -- because when they said ''Forever'', '''''[[DevelopmentHell they]] [[{{Vaporware}} meant it]]'''''.

''DNF'' became ''the'' prime example of {{Vaporware}} by way of DevelopmentHell; numerous industry pundits thought of ''DNF'' as the videogame equivalent of ''[[Music/GunsNRoses Chinese Democracy]]'' (the sessions for the album started in 1994 and the album itself finally dropped in November 2008; ''actual'' Chinese democracy, sadly, [[UsefulNotes/{{China}} still sits]] in DevelopmentHell) or the infamous ''[[DangerousVisions The Last Dangerous Visions]]'' anthology (originally announced in 1973; HarlanEllison [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Dangerous_Visions still insists he intends to get the book out]]).

''Wired News'' gave the game a [[http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,66195,00.html Vaporware Lifetime Achievement Award]] for its continued delays; as ''DNF'' kept winning Vaporware awards too often, ''Wired'' created the award specifically for ''DNF''. When readers complained about this move, ''DNF'' returned the following year to win more awards.

To grasp the scale of ''DNF's'' development cycle, take a look at [[http://duke.a-13.net The Duke Nukem Forever list]]; this page -- last updated in 2009 -- lists off major events that happened between the announcement of the game and the page's last update. Las Vegas probably laid odds on which would happen first: the release of ''DNF'' or [[UsefulNotes/{{Baseball}} the Chicago Cubs winning a World Series]] (pretty much the only thing that didn't happen during ''DNF's'' development cycle; [[ButtMonkey those poor, poor Cubs]]).

3D Realms released numerous trailers and teasers throughout development, including [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDlB2P1leRM a trailer in 2001]] that featured footage tailored together from non-interactive cutscenes (according to a former 3D Realms developer) as a "proof of life". [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWuteFLUPSY The company released another teaser trailer in 2007]] alongside the release of ''{{Prey}}'' (3D Realms' ''other'' vaporware title), which suggested that ''Forever's'' development might have finally gotten somewhere.

A few months after the 2009 trailer premiered, Take Two pulled the plug on 3D Realms' funding and [[AuthorExistenceFailure released the development team]]; since Take Two retained the rights to the ''Duke Nukem'' name, it sued 3D Realms for damages (the lawsuit ended in a settlement). A [[http://www.shacknews.com/featuredarticle.x?id=1154 countersuit filed by 3D Realms]] suggests it had ''Forever'' slated for a 2010 release on PC and {{Xbox 360}} (and later announced for PlayStation3) -- and that it had another ''Duke Nukem''-related game in the works (under the working title of ''Duke Begins'').

This would normally mark the end of the story -- the publisher fired the development team, the game has become an industry-wide joke, and no gamer alive expects to see the game released -- but everyone should have remembered one simple fact: ''[[MemeticMutation always]]'' [[MemeticMutation bet on Duke.]]

After 3D Realms' development ended, [[http://kotaku.com/5609770/rumor-borderlands-studio-reviving-duke-nukem-forever Gearbox Software]] (the makers of ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'', ''BrothersInArms'', and ''{{Half-Life}}'' {{expansion pack}}s ''Opposing Force'' and ''Blue Shift'') picked up the scraps and ''finally'' wrapped up development on the game. Gearbox's first involvement with the franchise came from early development work on ''[[http://kotaku.com/5314491/gearbox-named-as-developer-for-scrapped-duke-begins Duke Begins]]'' before its cancellation -- and Gearbox founder Randy Pitchford himself once worked at 3D Realms employee ([[OneDegreeOfSeparation even he probably didn't think he would complete the game 3D Realms started just after he left them]]).

At PAX 2010, ''DNF'' made a surprise appearance with [[http://pax.gamespot.com/story/6275192/duke-nukem-forever-hands-on-impressions a playable demo]], which marked the first time any member of the general public ''ever'' managed to play a version of the game during its ridiculously long development cycle. After a fourteen year wait (and a minor hiccup at the end of development before going gold), Take Two released ''Duke Nukem Forever'' on June 10th (internationally) and June 14th (the United States) -- [[AntiClimax to a tepid critical reception]]. The game sold well enough for Gearbox to say ''Duke Nukem 5'' will come out sooner or later, however -- and this time, they'll try and make the gap between sequels a bit less than sixteen years.

As a final note: [[http://media.photobucket.com/image/duke+nukem+preorder+/kaplan23/duke-nukem-pre-order-receipt.png the famous preorder receipt from 2001]] belonged to a PennyArcade forumite by the name of "slash000" -- [[http://i.imgur.com/OPAcC.jpg and he kept it safe throughout the years]]. Videogame retailer [=GameStop=] told gamers that [[http://www.gamepro.com/article/news/219705/gamestop-will-honor-all-duke-nukem-pre-orders-even-decade-old-ones/ it would honor any legitimate preorder receipt for the game (even decade-old receipts)]], so slash000 managed to secure his preorder discount -- [[http://www.neoseeker.com/news/16679-gearbox-honors-slash000s-10-year-old-pre-order-with-duke-nukem-forever-swag/ and he snagged a bunch of swag from Gearbox, to boot]].

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20th Jun '12 11:50:34 AM FELH2

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Changing namespace stuff of DOOM...

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