2003

This is a sub-page of Prerelease:Duke Nukem Forever.

This page is rather stubbly and could use some expansion.
Are you a bad enough dude to rescue this article?

To do:
Interviews, Screenshots, (original) sources, etc

February 2003#

Take-Two would announce that it is taking a $14.5 million write-down; $5.5 million of this being thanks to Duke Nukem Forever.¹ Miller would provide commentary on this in the comments of a Shacknews article.²

The write-off has to do with the fee that Take2 paid to Infogrames to buy the rights to DNF. 3DR got no part of this money -- a total of $12 million.

The reason Take2 did this is that it's a smart revenue management move: Take a markdown now while Vice City is super successful and overall revenues are sky high, then when DNF comes out it's 100% pure profit (because they took the write-down well before the game came out).

Genius.

May 2003#

May 9th#

Computer Gaming World in their June(?) issue would publish a piece about ways to sneak into E3, one suggested method is to pretend you're George Brouusard. 3D Realms republishes this on into their website.³

Say You're George Broussard

The most recent Computer Gaming World magazine (June 2003 issue), lists their top 5 ways to sneak into E3. One is "Be a Booth Babe", but another one is "Say you're George Broussard". Here's what the article said..

Say you're George Broussard: What the hell, this one's worth a try. After all, Duke Nukem Forever and George haven't been seen in about five years. If someone asks you to prove that you're really working on the game, give them a copy of the Duke trailer from E3 2000.

May 29th#

Jeffery Lapin, then CEO of Take-Two is asked the following during a meeting with Take-Two's investors.⁴ ⁵

Analyst: Regarding Duke Nukem Forever for the PC, any chance - any possibility under the sun - that we see that this holiday season? Or at what point do you guys just pull the plug on that?

Jeffery Lapin: I think in terms of possibilities under the sun for this holiday season, the answer to that is 'no.' With regards to next year, we're in a wait and see mode at this point. You know, last quarter we wrote it down substantially, so we generally already pulled the plug. And right now we're just hopeful that the team in Dallas will finish it.

George Broussard would issue a response on Shacknews with these classic comments.⁶

Exactly. Take-Two needs to STFU imo.

We'd find a new publisher so easily it isn't even funny.

Just bear in mind that 3DR funds DNF 100% out of our own pockets. Take Two does nothing. If we didn't have utmost confidence in our abilities and the future of the game, then why would we continue to fund it ourselves? We could easily quit, scrap it, and do some other game.

All we want to do is keep quite [sic], work on the game, and emerge later and show you what we're working on. We don't want hype. We don't want drama. We don't want Take Two saying stupid ass things in public, for the sole purposes of helping their stock.

But just remember, it's our time and our money we are spending on the game. So either we're absolutely stupid and clueless, or we believe in what we are working on. In the end, you guys will judge the final results. For now, all we want to do is keep quiet and work.

December 2003#

⁷ ⁸ As a younger man, I played and very much enjoyed the original Duke Nukem. Is it true you did the level design for this game? If so, does this mean we’ll be seeing some special Scott Miller DNF levels?

I created all of the levels that were in the game’s first episode, which was the entire shareware version of the game. I also created all of the game’s sound effects. This was the last game in which I was heavily involved with content creation – a part of the process I still miss today, but I leave those matters to the experts.

As for DNF, I’ve seen how much effort goes into making those levels, and with all the detail involved, it would take me a full year to construct a halfway decent level! Not gonna happen.

Finally, is there anything you’d like to say to all the Duke fans reading this?

When it arrives, all questions will be answered. Or something like that. ;-)

Gameplay Footage#

Footage of a build from this year was featured in the final game.

Watch on YouTube

Screenshots#

References#

To do:
Incorporate/reference this information below into article.

'Grand Theft Auto' pays for Take Two - CNN Money, February 27 2003↩︎
Comments of Take 2 Results - Shacknews, February 27th 2003↩︎
Say You're George Broussard - 3D Realms, May 9th 2003↩︎
The Fall Of Duke Nukem - Eurogamer, May 30th 20023↩︎
Duke4 Not A 2003 Game - Shacknews, May 29th 2003↩︎
Chatty thread - Shacknews, May 29th 2003↩︎
100th Strife celebrations - Interview with Scott Miller - This Stife, December 2003↩︎
It's Interview Time - 3D Realms, December 4th 2003↩︎