It takes a lot to bring me out of the cave these days, but god damn dudes -- lay off interceptor.
RoTT was awesome. It had everything that the AAA gaming houses don't have -- post launch support, mod tools, map maker, et al. Mind you, Interceptor was put together to release Duke 3D reloaded for FREE.99 as a labor of love and when gearbox put a stop to it, they salvaged the team and turned into a full production house. Not only this, but they stayed true to their vision of bringing back one of the founders of FPS games. Fast, slick, fun. Mission accomplished.
This is doubly impressive since they don't have a home base and all the members are scattered throughout the world.
For the person that said RoTT reminded them more of Martyr than RoTT, you're crazy or just never really played RoTT because the RoTT remake was probably about the best and most true remake to date from any production house.
For the people scared about Duke MD being a top down game with RPG mechanics -- I have one thing to say to y'all.
TOMB RAIDER.
So what's the strategy here? The same as it was with the failed series Tomb Raider. After the collapse of nothing but mediocre games, crystal dynamics decided it was time to do other things with Lara. Things that would bring the character back to a mainstream audience, new people, get people to like the branding again before the big reboot. So what did CD do? They release "Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light" a top down twin stick puzzle shooter, fresh off the heels of Tomb Raider Anniversary, which was a mediocre game and they knew it -- hence why they went back to the drawing board and made the fantastic Tomb Raider (2013).
So lets see, how did Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light do?
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Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light was well received by critics. The Xbox 360 version of the game holds an average score of 85/100 and 86.36% on the game aggregate sites Metacritic and GameRankings. Critics felt that the game was an excellent fit for Lara Croft.
And it was, and did exactly what it was supposed to do, prime a new audience for an old character while the big reboot was in production. We can talk about Tomb Raider (2013) until we are blue in the face, but nothing changes the fact that it was an absolutely amazing game, as was Guardian of Light.
So basically, interceptor is doing this with Duke, and it's going to work, and it's going to rock. How do I know this? Interceptors team is made up of industry veterans that went all in because they weren't necessarily happy with the AAA market and how modern games are published. Interceptor is LESS concerned with making booku bucks and more concerned with making fantastic and fun games, and their studio has the chops to prove that they know what "Fun" is. The evidence of this is the sheer fact that Interceptor exists at all. Plus the stellar reboot of Rise of the Triad.
And lets be real about it; RoTT was awesome. The story was intact, the maps were similar if not even the same at times, the speed was on point, the physics were on point, the art style was the same but next gen, if you don't like the new RoTT, quite simple, you don't like the old RoTT.
Furthermore, Jon St. John -- On board, that doesn't mean much, but lets face it, Duke is only the king because of St. John. The best caveat of them all however; Scott Miller, co creator of Duke is also on board. Oh, and lets not forget -- the man who ruined DNF, George B, has no involvement.
Gearbox is pumped right now about Duke MD, why? Because they are opportunists. They take stabs when the setup for easy cake is there. They also have a pretty solid track record when it comes to in house developed games. Aliens:CM was outsourced. This was a mistake, they know it.
Lets look at their in house games, shall we? Half-Life: Opposing Forces -- the chronicles of the most bad ass character in the HL series, Adrian Shepard. The "Brother in Arms" series. Borderlands. Every single one, box office hits. Their only misses are when they choose to outsource projects.
What proves gearbox are opportunists? HL: OP Forces for one. Back then; it was very easy to create new IP and new studios would rather have worked on an IP they own rather than a licensed property, yet -- gearbox KNEW money train, so they hopped on it. Brothers in Arms... They made this game based on the Popularity of the HBO show Band of Brothers. They knew it was another money train for the that time frame, they capitalized and basically made a video game version of the highly successful HBO series. Even more evidence they are opportunists, Aliens: Colonial Marines.
Now you guys go, Hawhat? But this means you don't understand business or strategy. They took this property even though they were overburdened by work on Borderlands and Furious Four, KNOWING they didn't have the capacity to produce it, so they outsourced it, knowing they would make bank because the License was HOT. It didn't matter if the game was any good, and despite the outcry, Aliens:CM was NOT the terrible P.O.S. everyone made it out to be. I bought it, I wasn't as disappointed. The MP was fun as hell even though there wasn't any dedicated servers. The SP A.I. got patched pretty quick, and the final version of the game was a pretty solid Aliens shooter. While it not being the best shooter of all time, it most definitely IS the best licensed Aliens shooter of all time.
More proof that they know how to cash in on a solid opportunity.
Need another example? Duke Nukem Forever. They knew the game was mediocre, at the same time, they saw they could snatch the property out right, so they did. Not only did this finally deliver 3D realms horrible game to the fans that were waiting for it, but it did give them the ability to turn out new Duke games going forward. If you think Randy dropped 20 million on a property and ISN'T going to capitalize on that investment, you're outside of your mind. The history and track record of Gearbox is evidence of the contrary.
So why no new Duke game? Well -- They are most assuredly working on one. However, it's low priority in the pipe for good reason. Their focus right now is on Furious Four. They are also smart to let the wave of DNF's stink fade; which is why they are allowing 3DR, Apogee, and Interceptor to do this new Duke top down spinoff game. They know it's in great hands at interceptor, they know it worked for Tomb Raider, and it gives us something of a fan fare to play around with while the clock ticks on the DNF stink. Expect a 2016 Duke FPS Reboot, which -- mark my words -- WILL be Duke Begins, an origin story of sorts, JUST like Tomb Raider. Guardian of Light hit Market in 2010, Tomb Raider's origin reboot hit three years later in the early back half of 2013. Which was 4 years from anniversary. DNF is Duke's anniversary in this analogy, which dropped in 2010.
The road map is clear, the King is priming for a solid return, and Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction is the first move in the chess game that is Duke's new history.
If you fail to see this; you're blinded by your duke fandom and your hate for George B. You also lack insight into business and how to maximize success of a property in disarray. These types of things are long term solid plans, like the Marvel Universe movies. They are destined to fail without solid planning. Y'all wanna see Duke rocked up and ready to swang his cock out, just be patient, because it WILL be delivered. Jon St. John has a lot of money coming to him in the future, he's just not allowed to tell you that.
Every single one of you needs to chill; it's also not like Duke hasn't been modeled off of Batman and Tomb Raider for his entire modern existence. All those PSX Duke games were Tomb Raider clones, let us not forget that. It's also not like Duke hasn't had spin off games for years and years, this one is no different other than it's following a model that is WAY more solid than the PSX Tomb Raider model.
*Ahem*
So I say again, chill the fuck out.
P.S.
The Commander, on 10 February 2014 - 11:46 PM, said:
EDIT: What other sites where around back in the days, I can only remember totalconversions.com oddly and there were many geocities fan sites.
This is proof that you need to lay off. I bet you don't remember me either, and I had some premiere maps that were played tons and tons when duke was being played on TeN. [Not the porn channel, but the online gaming tunnel.]
The simple fact that you can only remember totalconversions.com is proof enough that such a long time has passed that 99.9% of the community has been forgotten and lost. You talk about credibility, yet you have
NONE.
P.S.S.
This is directed at Frederik Schreiber of interceptor, and I probably don't have to say this, but I feel like it anyway so I'm going to...
Community interaction is important, it's what separates mediocre dev houses from incredible dev houses, but it's still quite important to pick your battles wisely. It's almost never the smart play to feed the trolls. Did you honestly expect them to not attempt rip you to pieces?
I love you guys at interceptor, I'm a proud owner of RoTT, and even though I wasn't the biggest fan of the original, although I had it when it came out, I bought it out of respect for what you guys are trying to do as a studio. You hit all the right notes, perfect key outside of the mildly buggy launch -- but look; you guys turned it around and fixed it up so nice that it shames all these other industry bean bucket houses. You guys really kept your word and made it run like a champion, something blizzard can't even do with Diablo III, something Hideo Kojima hasn't done yet for Metal Gear Rising's PC port. Something Valve has repeatedly dropped the ball on in CS:GO.
You guys even pop in the forums that aren't even affiliated with you to interact with us.
This is exactly why I put my faith in Interceptor. It's so clear to me that you guys are the absolutely PERFECT studio to handle any kind of game, most especially the ones that need some TLC like Duke. Don't worry about these trolls, when MD drops, they'll buy it, play it, love it, complain it's not Duke 3D2, but when the Begins drops they'll lap it up -- it's cyclical. Always remember, you NEVER have to prove your chops, let your games do that for you.
Good day, and massive respect to you and the rest of interceptor. If you guys need a moderator or something for your forums, I'd be honored to help you guys out, just send me a PM or something. The one thing outside of design that I know how to do better than breathing, is Public Relations. I know how to be professional, I can put together the best press releases the industry has ever seen, mark my words on that.
I'm the guy who made Hi-Rez Studio's Tribes: Ascend profitable, btw.