Exclusive Duke Nukem Forever Demo Arrives June 3

[Earnest Cavalli]

Exclusive Duke Nukem Forever Demo Arrives June 3

Come June 3 the public will get its first chance to play a bit of Duke Nukem Forever, assuming the public is willing to front the money for a pre-order.

Earlier today developer Gearbox Software detailed plans for the long-awaited release of the official Duke Nukem Forever demo, as well as its surprisingly restrictive distribution plans.

Despite that catchy first sentence, there are actually two ways to earn access to the demo. First, as stated above, fans who pre-order Duke Nukem Forever will join what Gearbox has dubbed "The First Access Club," and through that will have access to the demo.

Likewise, codes redeemable for access to the demo can be found in the Game of the Year edition of Gearbox's hit open-world shooter Borderlands.

As Giant Bomb points out, it's very likely that the Duke Nukem Forever demo will inevitably become available to the general public, though so far neither Gearbox, nor publisher 2K Games has hinted at any plans to that effect.

In case you've been living under a particularly isolated rock toward the back of an exceedingly quiet cave for the last two decades, Duke Nukem Forever is an endlessly anticipated first-person shooter originally in development by the now-defunct 3D Realms. I say "endlessly anticipated," because fans of Duke Nukem's over-the-top, 80s-throwback, hyper-masculine action hero style have been waiting to play this game since Bill Clinton was in the White House.

It has survived numerous engine changes, personnel changes and the collapse of a development studio [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/91526-Updated-3D-Realms-Shutting-Down]. Currently, Duke Nukem Forever is scheduled for release on Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on June 14.

Source: Giant Bomb [http://www.giantbomb.com/news/duke-nukem-forever-demo-drops-june-3-if-you-pre-order/3204/]

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[The Bandit]

Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of a demo? Isn't the point to find out if you want to buy the game? If you're already buying the game... then... I just... no sense...

 

[gigastar]

I pre ordered on Steam literally an hour ago, does that mean im in on this?

Also someone needs to send in a reality check to the game companies and remind them that a demo is supposed to be free.

 

[Trogdor1138]

I expected this demo to be out at least a month before the game, from the way they were talking about it. This seems to me like they didn't even want to release one but had to keep their promises.

I have a code when I bought the Borderlands GOTY recently, might as well download it even though I'm likely going to get the game sometime.

 

[Quiet Stranger]

It's about fucking god damn time!! I feel like i've been waiting forever!

 

[Sebster 105]

Buying the terrible game boredomlands paid off

 

[Mouse_Crouse]

Same thing I posted in the unofficial thread applies the same here.

The vast majority of demos goes live on release day or shortly thereafter. The access to the demo beforehand is simple a pre-order bonus. The same as the thousands of other pre-order bonuses. They are not withholding anything from you expecting you to pre-order. They are simply giving a bonus to those who did.

 

[endnuen]

Can not wait for this game to come out!!!

 

[Sixcess]

Currently, Duke Nukem Forever is scheduled for release on Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on June 14.

I like the use of the word 'currently' in that sentence.

Gearbox must be unbelievably tempted to stage one more delay... just for the hell of it.

 

[Cowabungaa]

Same thing I posted in the unofficial thread applies the same here.

The vast majority of demos goes live on release day or shortly thereafter. The access to the demo beforehand is simple a pre-order bonus. The same as the thousands of other pre-order bonuses. They are not withholding anything from you expecting you to pre-order. They are simply giving a bonus to those who did.

Still, it makes little sense. The purpose of a demo is often to get a glimpse of the game, a tool to help you decide whether you want to buy it or not. Now the people who already bought it get that tool early. That's pretty silly.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

Well, good. Once you've gotten the demo you can decide wether to go out and pre-order it or-- wait a minute.

 

[AngryFrenchCanadian]

I got a code for the First Access club, but I had only bought Borderlands.

 

[wooty]

June 3rd? The day I head off to Japan ay?
Ah well, I guess I'd be a bit more annoyed if I cared about this game.

 

[mjc0961]

Well, good. Once you've gotten the demo you can decide wether to go out and pre-order it or-- wait a minute.

Since I got a code from the Bulletstorm GOTY edition, yes, that's exactly what I can do. Play the demo and decide if I want to preorder Duke Nukem Forever after I play it.

Giving early demo access to DNF pre-orders as well is probably just a way to say "Thanks for preordering, here's an early taste of the game." Usually demos come out at about the same time as the actual game, so it makes sense that they might offer the demo to those who preordered early as a small thank you.

Plus, get this. You can cancel a preorder. So you can preorder, get a First Access Club code, try the demo, and if you don't like it, cancel the preorder. Or you could just wait for the demo to come out to everyone, and if you like it, just go buy a copy because the game will likely be out by the time the demo is out for everyone else. Preordering isn't the only way to buy a game. I don't see what the fuss is all about here. People are raging as if the game had been delayed again.

 

[Earnest Cavalli]

There are other ways of getting into the First Access Club. Check your facts first. Also, pre-orders aren't that much.

Calm down Ephy, I never said there weren't.

 

[Doclector]

Uh-uh. No way. I'm not doing it.

Alice madness returns comes out pretty much the same time, if i play the demo, I'll get excited and get that instead, and regret not having the money for alice about a week later. I am not. Falling. For that one. Again.

 

[Electric Alpaca]

Bizarre.

Back in the good old days demos were given away on the front of magazines and used as a way of reaching your customers and maybe getting them to purchase a game they might not have given a chance to normally.

Now we have today, we get demos to games that we have already confirmed our desire to purchase - essentially giving us the opportunity to literally waste time as we'll undoubtedly play the same section straight after having the full retail arrive.

Missed opportunity in my case at least - I am not trusting enough to purchase this game before reliable feedback. The most reliable being first hand experience of course.

 

[icame]

Looks like I'll be grabbing Borderlands GOTY...

 

[Vern]

It really doesn't seem that odd to me. For the most part demos are only released once the game is out, and as long as they do that here I have no problem with it. If they don't release a demo then I'm not sure what their logic is. I can see it from this perspective: If you have to pre-order or buy another one of their products to play a demo, then they get your money either way. However the alternate, and the route I'd probably take is if I don't get to play a demo I probably won't buy the game, or I'll wait until it goes on sale. Therefore if they get my money it'll be less than if I could decide to buy it new based on a demo, or possibly none at all.

That being said, I didn't buy the GOTY edition of Borderlands, just the first release as the GOTY hadn't been released yet, in a Steam sale and I still have the first access code in my DLC tab. I didn't buy all the DLC either, I skipped Claptrap's Robot Revolution and Mad Moxie. They were all on sale at the time too. So just saying, if you just have Borderlands and not the GOTY edition, you may still have it.