Duke Nukem back after 14 years

By Dan Whitworth
Newsbeat technology reporter Duke Nukem Forever has been in development for 14 years Duke Nukem was one of the first big name characters in the video games industry - and now he's back.

The sexist, cigar smoking, alien-stomping Duke won millions of fans thanks to three big selling games in the 1990s.

Development on the new title started way back in 1997 but has only just come out.

The competition it faces is very different to 14 years ago, but Randy Pitchford, the game's executive producer, is confident Duke Nukem Forever can attract new fans as well as hold on to old ones.

'Icon and legend'

"Somehow he's become very important to the video game industry," says Randy.

Twenty-one-year-old gamer James won't be buying the new Duke game

"He's become an icon, a legend, an internet meme."

But if he thinks it's going to be easy to win over the current generation of gamers he may be disappointed.

James Matthews, 21, from Birmingham, is one of those who won't be buying the new game.

"I know what it is but I haven't heard a lot about it," he says. "I didn't know it was coming out.

"I like sporty games, Call of Duty games, that's all I really play."

Another question mark facing the game is whether or not it can compete with the rivals it's going to face in 2011.

There will be the question of whether the technology is as up-to-date as gamers demand, if the graphics are as good as will be expected, and if the plot provides something people want to engage with.

Producer Randy Pitchford told Newsbeat the new game would definitely be up to modern technical standards: "The software behind it is very sophisticated, very advanced stuff.

"It's absolutely a triple A, modern, advanced game for this era."

Michael Detores, 28, is another gamer who's unsure about whether it can live up to the years of expectation.

"It's been a long wait," he says.

"I don't think it's going to be worth it because is it going to be able to compete with things like Battlefield and Call of Duty?

"The answer, in my opinion, is no."

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