Does Duke Nukem deserve another chance?

[Kane99]

Duke Nukem hasn't been popular in years, and I suspect his popularity has gone down in recent years. His most recent game, Duke Nukem Forever was a mess of a game that didn't deliver what fans were waiting for all those years. It came and gone like that. But, could Duke Nukem ever make a comeback? Personally I don't see it, as his character has not aged well, and probably wouldn't fly in today's political climate. As well, I kind of feel Duke is a bit played out and would rather they went back to the original style of gameplay. 

What do you guys think? Do you think Duke Nukem could ever make a comeback in his own game again? 

[Shagger]

I think you've pretty much summed it up. Like it or not, Duke Nukem was made by a world, for a world that just doesn't exist any more. Duke Nuke Forever was underwhelming mostly because of the development hell that brought forth a painfully average game at best, but I don't that game is to blame for fact it's highly unlikely Duke Nukem will be brought back. Duke in gaming today would be like the re-make of Dumbo with the crows included. Even if most people had a sense of humour and understanding of the character, somebody would take exception to it.

[m76]

The people who played Duke3D as kids still exist, and probably have disposable income now, so they'd be great target for a new Duke game. But oh no the pretentious  twitter dwellers wouldn't like it very much. Too bad developers care more about them than their potential audience.

Who cares if a few blue checkmarks take offence? As Richard Dawkins has said, just because you're offended doesn't make you right.

I'd be interested in a proper comeback, not one where the character is diluted to pander to the twitterites. Gaming should not be concerned with politics. And frankly nobody should but that's another topic entirely.

Funny enough this thread reminded me of Jill of the Jungle, as I've used to play that parallel with Duke Nukem. Now that could be an interesting comeback.

[Crazycrab]

11 hours ago, Shagger said:

I think you've pretty much summed it up. Like it or not, Duke Nukem was made by a world, for a world that just doesn't exist any more. Duke Nuke Forever was underwhelming mostly because of the development hell that brought forth a painfully average game at best, but I don't that game is to blame for fact it's highly unlikely Duke Nukem will be brought back. Duke in gaming today would be like the re-make of Dumbo with the crows included. Even if most people had a sense of humour and understanding of the character, somebody would take exception to it.

 

I'd have to disagree with you there, I think there is definitely still a market for Duke Nukem.  Duke Nukem Forever was a development shite show that went through something like 5 different developers over 12 years and THAT's why it failed.  I think with a focused development cycle, some tweaking and better writing I could see Duke Nukem making a comeback in the same way that Lara Croft, The DOOM Slayer and William Blazkowicz did.

[skyfire]

Duke Nukem had a lot of popularity back in it's prime. But now a days if they revamp it with better graphics and offer modern gameplay and overall flow, they have a chance of making it. 

[Shagger]

1 hour ago, Crazycrab said:

 

I'd have to disagree with you there, I think there is definitely still a market for Duke Nukem.  Duke Nukem Forever was a development shite show that went through something like 5 different developers over 12 years and THAT's why it failed.  I think with a focused development cycle, some tweaking and better writing I could see Duke Nukem making a comeback in the same way that Lara Croft, The DOOM Slayer and William Blazkowicz did.

 

The thing about those other characters you brought up is there were much easier to modernise. The very essence of Duke Nukem is rooted in everything that would need to change to make him fit into this world. He's not even a character, more a charachur of an 80's action action star. A muscle bound, misogynistic, emotionless brute, so even in his hayday he was dated deliberately to make him funny. He has to be that way, otherwise he's not Duke, no halfway and no compromise with this character. The sad truth is this world doesn't have enough good spirit and a sense of humour to take Duke for what he is and not take him too seriously.

[Crazycrab]

2 minutes ago, Shagger said:

He's not even a character, more a charachur of an 80's action action star. A muscle bound, misogynistic, emotionless brute, so even in his hayday he was dated deliberately to make him funny.

 

You just summed it up why the fact that he is dated doesn't matter, even back then he was never meant to be taken seriously!  When I said "tweek" I never meant they should make the deep guy with feelings.  Instead of just the run of sex jokes that he had in Forever, go for some politiccal and/or social satire.

 

Put this intentionally dated character up against the more modern social standard of things like misogyny and cancel culture.  I think that has the potential to bring out some of the betteFor example Duke is fighting aliens that are invading and killing everyone but nobody cares and they instead are all on him ogling a woman's breasts, or not wearing a mask while fighting the aliens because they think they're contagious.  If done well that kind of thing would be hilarious!

[m76]

1 hour ago, Shagger said:

 

The thing about those other characters you brought up is there were much easier to modernise. The very essence of Duke Nukem is rooted in everything that would need to change to make him fit into this world. He's not even a character, more a charachur of an 80's action action star. A muscle bound, misogynistic, emotionless brute, so even in his hayday he was dated deliberately to make him funny. He has to be that way, otherwise he's not Duke, no halfway and no compromise with this character. The sad truth is this world doesn't have enough good spirit and a sense of humour to take Duke for what he is and not take him too seriously.

I think most of the world still has the capability of understanding satire and humour, and doesn't take offence at everything. The ones who loudly proclaim how offended they are  are only a minority who probably never was the target audience anyway. And this goes for both sides of the current political division.

[Shagger]

On 10/8/2020 at 10:51 AM, Crazycrab said:

 

You just summed it up why the fact that he is dated doesn't matter, even back then he was never meant to be taken seriously!  When I said "tweek" I never meant they should make the deep guy with feelings.  Instead of just the run of sex jokes that he had in Forever, go for some politiccal and/or social satire.

 

Put this intentionally dated character up against the more modern social standard of things like misogyny and cancel culture.  I think that has the potential to bring out some of the betteFor example Duke is fighting aliens that are invading and killing everyone but nobody cares and they instead are all on him ogling a woman's breasts, or not wearing a mask while fighting the aliens because they think they're contagious.  If done well that kind of thing would be hilarious!

 

On 10/8/2020 at 11:58 AM, m76 said:

I think most of the world still has the capability of understanding satire and humour, and doesn't take offence at everything. The ones who loudly proclaim how offended they are  are only a minority who probably never was the target audience anyway. And this goes for both sides of the current political division.

 

You're both right, if your faith in this world is well-placed, but I'm just a long way from convinced that it is. Even if the majority do see it for what it is, it's the much louder, easily offended minority and the equally loud and obnoxious opposite extreme that get heard whilst common sense gets drowned out.

 

I'd personally not be that interested in a new Duke Nukem game, but I wouldn't object to it and wouldn't take it as a social/political statement, it would just be a laugh, but people these days are too entitled to simply accept something can exist for itself and those who want it. Everything has to be taken seriously, everything has to be regarded as a statement and everyone needs their view to be heeded above all others. That's really why a new Duke Nukem game wouldn't work in this world. It would either be just as "offensive" as it would have to be to still be Duke or ruined buy a political correctness filter but causing an outrage either way because both sides take this shit way too seriously.

Edited October 9, 2020 by Shagger

[Kane99]

I think another problem with Duke Nukem, is that no one really seems to care about him anymore. Yeah there may be some fans still in support of the franchise, but these days, I can't see people really going out of their way to purchase a new game in the series. Plus, with how long it took Forever to take out, I doubt fans are interested anymore. 

A remaster of the original game would be pretty dope, but I just don't see a new Duke Nukem coming out. 

I believe a YouTuber had this idea, but he suggested that a future game be with an older, out of touch Duke, who is still his old self, but has lost his fans, the ladies, and the respect he had in the past. I think this would be the only acceptable way to make a Duke game these days, because lets face it, he has not aged well, and many would cringe at the humor. Forever was a bit too late, and many of the jokes were outdated by the time of release. 

You see so many movies where a famous character comes out of retirement to redeem himself. Maybe that can be a future Duke game. I could see that working. 

[skyfire]

14 hours ago, Kane99 said:

I think another problem with Duke Nukem, is that no one really seems to care about him anymore. Yeah there may be some fans still in support of the franchise, but these days, I can't see people really going out of their way to purchase a new game in the series. Plus, with how long it took Forever to take out, I doubt fans are interested anymore. 

I think new games coming every now and then kind of made many even the millenials forget about 90s games. So that could be one reason too. I noticed especially for some of the strategy games. 

[Kane99]

The thing with Forever, is that it took forever to get out there, so a lot of people moved on from it. Only devoted fans went for it, and even they were disappointed. Personally, I would like to see Duke Nukem make a comeback, but the inevitable is that his character will have to change, or adapt to the new world. That's why i think it'd be cool if some people made a game where Duke is old, and cranky. I could see a game where you play old Duke, an old out of touch guy who has mostly been forgotten. And maybe he can have a character arch where he makes redemption for his past. Fans might not like it, but I just don't see him surviving in this new world otherwise.