The huge news of the days is the exciting reveal of Duke Nukem Forever at PAX 2010.  For all of you that don’t know, this game has been over 10 years in the making and was the butt of many industry jokes.  Seriously, 10 years!  A lot has happened over that time.

Let’s take a walk down memory lane:

July 1991 – Duke Nukem, a side scrolling shooter is released for PC.  Available on 3.5″ floppy!

August 1991 – The Super NES debuts, 2 years after the Sega Genesis.  Marking the beginning of Nintendo’s fall in to ‘kiddy’ games.

August 1992 – Mortal Kombat is released in the arcades.  Virtual disembowelment has never been this realistic!

December 1993 – Duke Nukem 2 is released for PC to little (if any) fanfare

May 1995 – The Sega Saturn debuts!  Stock in fork lifts soar as consumers have to use them to carry their Saturn controllers around.

January 1996 – Forever’s predecessor, Duke Nukem 3D is released for PC, pubescent teens everywhere (including your’s truly) were giddy over the strippers, toilets and masturbatory jokes

March 1996 – After 7 months, the Virtual Boy is discontinued.  Nobody cares.

September 1996 – The Big N releases the Nintendo 64 with launch title, ‘Super Mario 64′

January 1997 – Final Fantasy VII is release for Sony’s Playstation (yes, there HAS been 6 Final Fantasy’s before a sequel to Duke Nukem)

April 1997 – Duke Nukem Forever is announced to MUCH fanfare.  It is scheduled to be released no later than Summer 1998.

June 1998 – 3D Realms decides to switch Forever from the Quake II engine to the Unreal engine.  Effectively restarting the project.  Pricks.

Sometime around 1999/2000 – Someone (anybody?) at 3D Realms actually does some work.

October 2000 – The Playstation 2 is released, will go to sell over 6 times as many units as the Gamecube, released a year later (and still counting!).

June 2001 – A trailer is released at E3, fans are excited, ecstatic even.

June 2005 – There are rumors the game will be shown at E3.  Much to the surprise of nobody, it doesn’t.  Nobody cares anymore.

January 2006 – George Broussard is interviewed by 1up.com. Declares the game is close to finished.  It isn’t.

November 2006 – The curiously named ‘Wii’ is released and flies off the shelf.  Grandmother’s everywhere go bananas for them.  No actual games are sold.

December 2007 – Another teaser is released

May 2009 – Development suspended due to lack of funding *yawn*.

September 2010 – Game shown in playable form at PAX 2010, release date set for 2011 for PC, Xbox 360, and PS3.  I’ll believe that when I see it.

I am officially 100% addicted to Borderlands and feel it is a crime against the video game universe that it has been lost in the media marketing storm that Modern Warfare 2 has created.  What?  You don’t know anything about it?  Well let me enlighten you.

Borderlands is a first person, Action RPG shooter set in a post-apocalyptic, cell-shaded wasteland.  It’s like someone painted the walls of their room Fallout 3, the ceiling World of Warcraft, then accidentally spilled a bucket of Crackdown everywhere.  In this game you assume the role of somebody, travel around some planet, fighting some creatures.  The beauty of Borderlands is that all that stuff doesn’t really matter.  All that matters is that you finish this one last mission so you can level up before going to bed.  I assume you run out of missions at some point, but that is OK.  You can start up a new game with one of the 4 different character classes (no doubt numerous DLC to be available soon)  There are tons of ways to develop your character and countless hours of addictive gameplay.  So what are you waiting for?  Get it now, it’s $10 off!

Screenshots have surfaced that hint that the soon to be released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will not allow players to participate in party chat while in a multiplayer game.  This has drawn the ire of some fans, and the praise of others.  While some fans feel that party chat helps shield them from the unwashed masses, allowing them to enjoy casual game time with their buddies, others recognize that party chat, much like video’s doomed relationship with radio stars, killed the social side of XBL. 

Gone are the days of entering a room full of mature, knowledgeable adults sharing some Halo time between sips of tea and intelligent debates of the socio-political climate in Central Africa and the UN’s indifference to the mass genocides occurring there.  Logging on now, gamers are greeted with complete silence.  If you do happen to find a room with other stragglers, it will become apparent rather quickly why the other players have nobody to party chat with.  Also, you will come to know the sheer joy of getting your ass handed to you and your ‘lone wolf’ buddies by a group of people on party chat who play together all the time and lack the integrity to not call out your positions from the 3rd party cam after they have died.

SPECULATION and SPOILERS BELOW!!!

Infinity Ward has gone the extra mile to immerse the players in the war experience.  Included in this game are EMP grenades, which will disable the enemies communication.  This would not be possible if users were in party chat and would effectively render them useless.  Also, Call of Duty does things like being able to hear enemy chatter from distances, and other things that party chat would disable.

So gripe all you want fellow gamers, but I am completely in favor of this move by Infinity Ward.

Rockstar has announced the next episode of their crown prince franchise.  ‘The Ballad of Gay Tony’ will follow Luis Lopez, the right hand man of one Tony Prince, a legendary nightclub owner.  The press release says this episode “injects Liberty City with an overdose of guns, glitz, and grime” as gamers explore the high end of nightlife in Liberty City.  ‘The Ballad of Gay Tony’ is set to be released in the Fall at a price of 1600 MS Points ($20).

Also included in the press release is the announcement of Grand Theft Auto: Episodes.  A disc containing both ‘Lost and Damned’ and ‘Ballad of Gay Tony’ episodes.  This disc will retail at $39.99 and will not require a copy of GTA IV to play.

Gamestop has released the MSRP and release date of Tony Hawk: Ride via their website.  Tony Hawk: Ride is supposed to rejuvenate the series by including a wheel-less skateboard for your gaming pleasure.  The game, which is set to release on 10/13, is set to be priced at a whopping $120.  This pricing model is inline with other Activision peripheral-driven games.  However, this Tony Hawk fan hopes that the game will be released without the peripheral, sporting classic controls and at a reasonable price.

Gamestop Product Details:
http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=74927

Revenge is like a ghost.  It takes over every man it touches.  It’s thirst cannot be quenched.  Until the last man standing has fallen…

I don’t know where the creepy trailer guy grew up, but in my neck of the woods ghosts just kind of hover around making creepy noises, or peeking out of windows behind curtains.  Nonetheless, this is how trailers are supposed to be made!  If this doesn’t get your gaming blood flowing, you better check your pulse.

Comes out November 11.

I recently had some time away from the family.  With several kid (and wife) free nights looming ahead of me, I began wondering what I would spend them on.  My mind was adrift of all the gaming goodness I would be experiencing over the next few days.  I had visions of all-night gaming sessions playing Call of Duty 5 or GRAW 2 online with my XBL friends.  But, I still haven’t finished Call of Duty 5, Resident Evil 5, or GTA IV.  Maybe I should pop one of those in and just get sucked in, immersed in an experience that was not to be had a few years ago.

What is an older gamer to do when this opportunity presents itself?

Sure, I still had to go to work.  But, that still leaves 16 hours with which I could game (and sleep a little).

Suddenly an idea.

I called a buddy that I grew up with.  He lived down the road from me and we played video games all the time.  I remember all-day gaming sessions on games like Metroid, The Legend of Zelda, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the top-down pain in the ass one).  This was back when we were content to sit and watch each other play.  Helping each other out, making snarky comments, and having a great time (without the help of alcohol).  We didn’t need to be playing co-op or online.

This particular friend happens to be unattached (single) and just recently I have moved within driving distance of him.  I don’t remember the particulars of the conversation, but I am sure it went something like this, “get over here, the family is gone and we are going to do some gaming”.

He came over and I downloaded the remake of Bionic Commando, another game that we had spent plenty of time playing in our youth.  The game is a blast to play.  It plays exactly as I remember the original.  It has simple mechanics, responsive controls, yet it is still very challenging.  I highly recommend it for fans of the original. 

It was the perfect game for the situation.  We had a blast playing through it and it really took me back to the simpler days of playing video games.  Before life, and graphics, got in the way of pure gaming pleasure.  We laughed and made fun of each other all the way through the game.  I need to schedule regular times to do this.  To get back to my gaming roots.

e-play, a movie & game kiosk provider, is putting up kiosks in Walmarts nationwide to buy back used games from savvy gamers for store credit.  This replaces the traditional system of having to walk into Gamestop and actually talk to someone when you are getting bent over for your decrepit games.  Don’t even think about gaming the system as it has numerous safeguards in place to prevent hell-bent heathens from scoring some virtual cash.  In fact, you will be looking to get the damn things to work at all, according to jazzking2001 at neocrisis.

They are already being placed in Walmarts in the Northeastern US, so look for them in your local store soon!

I for one wish Tony would just stick to the status quo.  Here’s hoping he indulges us old school fans and includes classic controls.  I couldn’t look at myself is the mirror after pretending to ride a skateboard with no wheels in the middle of my living room.  That’s assuming the damn thing wouldn’t break if I stood on it.

When are they going to stop calling this stuff innovation?

This reminds me, I need to finish Splinter Cell: Double agent, and try and figure out a way to get the 17 seconds of my life back I spent watching this video.