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[Spoo]

I saw this posted by a NeoGAF member (credit goes to Atruvius) in the FPS revival thread:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/report/...ukem-reloaded-project-still-cleared-for-non-c

In short, it's Gearbox stating that they were (and are) okay with Interceptor Entertainment following through with their hard-won right to non-commercially (read: for free) release their updated Duke Nukem 3D product. All of that doesn't line up, though, with what Interceptor's CEO Friderich Schreiber said here:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/report/...an-ambitious-beautiful-re-telling-of-duke-nuk

So, to me, this stinks. It sounds to me more like Schreiber and co. got offered a deal by Apogee while they were knee-deep in development of this Duke Nukem product, and they jumped on it because -- hey, it's money, so why not? Not a problem. The problem for me is whether or not they're being intellectually honest here about why they stopped working on it. RoTT remake is a fine game, but I would've preferred their DN3D remake, and it seems a bit unfair that they get to "sit on it", I guess.

Would be neat to see Interceptor's PR face (Dave) take a whack at why these two stories seem to not line up, but I wouldn't expect it. What say GAF?

 

[Raptomex]

All this bullshit. Let them finish and release it now before it becomes another DNF.

 

[Alec]

I believe that they probably couldn't get a clear answer (or didn't understand the legalese) when inquiring about the finer details of what their release could look like. Without a clear picture, they stopped development.

Well, now there seems to be a clear picture. Make it happen, it looked awesome.

 

[Spoo]

I believe that they probably couldn't get a clear answer (or didn't understand the legalese) when inquiring about the finer details of what their release could look like. Without a clear picture, they stopped development.

Well, now there seems to be a clear picture. Make it happen, it looked awesome.

That's the thing, though -- it smells like a bullshit. You don't really start a project like that, with that kind of backing, develop a website, get a group of talented guys together only to not understand what it is you're in.

What they said is that Gearbox cock-blocked them. That it was all Gearbox's fault, and they wouldn't let them distribute the project freely. It's clear for all to see that this isn't the case, so wut do?

 

[Big_Al]

That's the thing, though -- it smells like a bullshit. You don't really start a project like that, with that kind of backing, develop a website, get a group of talented guys together only to not understand what it is you're in.

What they said is that Gearbox cock-blocked them. That it was all Gearbox's fault, and they wouldn't let them distribute the project freely. It's clear for all to see that this isn't the case, so wut do?

Maybe around the time they couldn't get a clear answer from Gearbox because DNF was going to make an appearance and hence they couldn't get a firm ok ? But now, Dukes had a major reputation hit, DNF is a bit shit and the game can do nothing but improve things so it's now all of a sudden 'ok' to release. Yeah not fishy at all.

I find it hilarious that you're laying the blame at Interceptors feet when Gearbox have fuckin shown themselves to be a lot shadier than them.

 

[Alec]

That's the thing, though -- it smells like a bullshit. You don't really start a project like that, with that kind of backing, develop a website, get a group of talented guys together only to not understand what it is you're in.

What they said is that Gearbox cock-blocked them. That it was all Gearbox's fault, and they wouldn't let them distribute the project freely. It's clear for all to see that this isn't the case, so wut do?

Apparently the non-commercial license said the team could work on the game, and Gearbox wouldn’t shut them down, but there were no details on how it could be released, if at all.

Just sounds like a lot of non-communication to me.

 

[Spoo]

Maybe around the time they couldn't get a clear answer from Gearbox because DNF was going to make an appearance and hence they couldn't get a firm ok ? But now, Dukes had a major reputation hit, DNF is a bit shit and the game can do nothing but improve things so it's now all of a sudden 'ok' to release. Yeah not fishy at all.

I find it hilarious that you're laying the blame at Interceptors feet when Gearbox have fuckin shown themselves to be a lot shadier than them.

What's this crap about 'not getting a clear answer' from Gearbox? I mean, that's just flat out not true. They got an answer. I was on the DNF forums when this whole thing was getting brewed up, and when Gearbox awarded them the non-commercial license, and when they started, and when they began more-or-less a media push with podcasts, etc. I mean, the notion that it was "fuzzy" as to what their relationship was with Gearbox here... sorry, that's just not even historically true. So, yeah, Gearbox may not be a great company, but there was *never* a question about what the rules set in place for this game were.

I say again: you don't start something of this magnitude without having a clue about what you can and cannot do. Schreiber and co. made it clear early on what it all meant, so the idea that it's all Gearbox being shady -- well, you can't leverage that at this point; ball is in Interceptor's court.

edit: I mean, you can't expect me to believe that they got as far as they did with it, and then one day upon contacting Gearbox they were told "Oh, you guys were just allowed to make it. not let anyone play it trolololol"

 

[polyh3dron]

Came into this thread not knowing what the hell DN Reloaded was and now that I know... meh.

 

[FrostuTheNinja]

Duke's releases are cesspools of drama. I wonder how often things like this happen and we just don't hear about it.

 

[Big_Al]

What's this crap about 'not getting a clear answer' from Gearbox? I mean, that's just flat out not true. They got an answer. I was on the DNF forums when this whole thing was getting brewed up, and when Gearbox awarded them the non-commercial license, and when they started, and when they began more-or-less a media push with podcasts, etc. I mean, the notion that it was "fuzzy" as to what their relationship was with Gearbox here... sorry, that's just not even historically true. So, yeah, Gearbox may not be a great company, but there was *never* a question about what the rules set in place for this game were.

I say again: you don't start something of this magnitude without having a clue about what you can and cannot do. Schreiber and co. made it clear early on what it all meant, so the idea that it's all Gearbox being shady -- well, you can't leverage that at this point; ball is in Interceptor's court.

edit: I mean, you can't expect me to believe that they got as far as they did with it, and then one day upon contacting Gearbox they were told "Oh, you guys were just allowed to make it. not let anyone play it trolololol"

Honestly ? I could fair well believe it because right now I believe Gearbox to be an extremely shady company especially with folks like Randy Pitchford at the helm. Am I being incredibly cynical ? Well yes of course I am, I would like Dave/Fred to come in here and talk about it more though as they both have accounts.

As for Triad, according to them anyway, there was no money involved or at least very little from Apogees side. They had an opportunity to make a 'retail game' but had to fund it themselves which resulted in folks selling their cars and other items to keep funding the game. You can listen to the history of the team on a 4PlayerPodcast. Of course I'm just taking their word for it and they could be lying but I see no reason to lie about Triads development. Apogee is literally just a few people now who handle licensing of their older games, it's not really a big company who can fund a game these days. So regardless of what happened to Duke they didn't ditch it for 'big bucks' It's basically a make or break game for them.