Weekend Edition - What I'm Playing

The year-long video game release schedule is one that is constantly in flux and confusing to me. Not all of it is so alien. Games released during the months leading up to Christmas are logical. This year’s holiday schedule is so jam-packed that it’s a wonder if we’ll have enough time to play the same game for more than a week. This year we’ll see Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Battlefield 3, Twisted Metal, Batman: Arkham City, and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, all in this year’s fourth quarter. That's a lot of heavy hitters in a short amount of time. The months after the holiday make sense as well. People that received money as a gift want to go out and spend it.

Duke Never Comes Early

Duke Nukem Forever, the game that was considered the definition of vaporware, has been delayed again. The release date of May 3 was been pushed back to June 14 for North America, and June 10 internationally. The disparity between dates is apparently due to the retail industry in America. When asked about the release date gaps, 2K Games PR Manager Charlie Shinhaseni said, “We have a commitment to our fans to get the game out as early as possible, and every day counts. New games are available on Tuesday in North America, so we’re getting the game out as early as possible in this territory. The international markets do not adhere to this release timing, and it just happens that they will be able to release the game a few days before North America. We don’t want to hold it back, we want to get it into the hands of consumers as soon as possible.” Gearbox Software President Randy Pitchford released a video to console Duke fans stating, Duke never comes early. Duke Nukem Forever will now be available on June 14 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

PAX East 2011: The "Other" Us: If We're All Gamers, Does Our Gender Matter?

The topic of females and female characters in games has been a hotly debated topic for many years, but the subject was brought to the forefront last year when former G4 Senior Games Content Producer Abbie Heppe, now Community Manager for Respawn Entertainment, wrote her review of Ninja Theory’s Metroid: Other M. The review, which you can read here, points out the characterization flaws of Samus Aran, the main character, and her subservient attitude towards her former commanding officer, Adam Malkovich. Other M was the first game in the Metroid series to include a voice for Samus, and as Abbie put it, it sounds, “like a 12 year old girl scrawling in her Lisa Frank diary,” rather than a Bounty Hunter who saved the galaxy at least four times already.

Hell Freezes Over and the Dead Walk?

The Return of the Duke

After 12 years of proverbial development hell, Duke Nukem Forever is finally being released. On May 3rd, players will be able to experience the game that redefined the term vaporware.

The Duke Nukem series began in 1991 as a side-scrolling shooter. Several follow-ups and iterations were released until its last appearance in 1996 as a first-person shooter, titled Duke Nukem 3D. Then developer, 3D Realms, promised a sequel to be released within the next few years, titled Duke Nukem Forever. However, several unsubstantial release dates came and went. 3D Realms later said in 2001 that the game would be released when it was done, denying to announce any more possible release dates.