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All Articles: Bombshell
Bombshell will be released for the PC on January 29; “Retro FPS Prequel” announced
3D Realms and Interceptor Entertainment have announced that Bombshell, an isometric action RPG that began life as Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction, will be released for the PC on January 29, 2016.
Bombshell stars Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison, a one-armed mercenary who has been enlisted to fly across the galaxy and save the President. And in Duke-like fashion, she’ll do it with a scowl and plenty of sarcasm.
Players interested in joining her on this adventure will be able to purchase Bombshell through Steam or GOG.com in a standard edition ($34.99) or a Digital Deluxe Edition ($39.99). The Digital Deluxe Edition will include the game, as well as a Digital Soundtrack, Digital Art Book, Digital World Maps, and beta access to Bombshell: The Washington Project, a “retro FPS prequel” built from the ground up with the Build Engine. The Build Engine was used to create Duke Nukem 3D, so you know Bombshell: The Washington Project will be authentically retro.
Bombshell is also in development for the PS4 and Xbox One and it’ll launch sometime in 2016.
Continue Countdown #4 – Xbox One Ditches Kinect, Halo 5, Sunset Overdrive, More
Nicole Kline dominated everyone in this episode of “Continue Countdown.” You’ll hear plenty of her big opinions as she, and the rest of the Warp Zoned staff, sat down to discuss Microsoft’s decision to unbundle the Kinect sensor from the Xbox One, Sunset Overdrive‘s less-than-impressive initial trailer, and Halo 5‘s delay.
From there we moved on to the possibility that Wolfenstein: The New Order could spark a resurgence in Doom-style first person shooters (consensus: maybe), what Naughty Dog is working on next (consensus: probably something brand new), and whether or not Dragon Quest X will appeal to an overseas audience (consensus: probably not). The home stretch of this week’s episode asked what we’d like to see from Darksiders III and Rockstar’s next-generation project.
Finally, the episode concluded with the echoing cries of “Why?” as the “Continue Countdown” crew talked about 3D Realms’ Bombshell.
9 Topics… 30 Minutes… And Go!
Posted in Etcetera, PC, Podcast, PS3, PS4, Top Story, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Bombshell, Darksiders III, Dragon Quest X, Halo 5: Guardians, Sunset Overdrive, Wolfenstein: The New Order
Duke Nukem gets a sex change for Interceptor’s Bombshell
February’s non-announcement of Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction, a top-down action RPG for the PC and PS4, was one of the strangest things I ever saw (or rather, didn’t see). After very publicly selling the rights to the character to Gearbox in 2010, 3D Realms launched a teaser site and countdown for a brand new Duke Nukem game. Understandably, Gearbox sued 3D Realms over this rather blatant breach of contract. The countdown was put on hold and the lawsuit pushed Interceptor Entertainment’s parent company to purchase 3D Realms (Interceptor was previously teased as the developer behind Mass Destruction).
So here we are today staring down at an official announcement for Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction. Except it’s not a Duke Nukem game anymore. Say hello to Shelly “Bombshell” Harrison, the star of Bombshell and a take-no-guff intergalactic bounty hunter. She’s on a mission to save the President from an apocalyptic alien threat in a top-down action RPG for the PC and PS4.
The game’s debut trailer is above and you can practically see the seams where Duke was removed and “Bombshell” was pasted in. A news ticker even includes a dig at Duke’s penchant for chewing bubblegum and kicking ass (“Kick-Ass BubbleGum sales plummet as only customer has ‘too much ass to kick.'”). But she’s got a Skrillex-style haircut and a bionic arm, so she’s clearly an entirely new character.
Bombshell will be on display at this year’s E3 Expo and 3D Realms and Interceptor plan to release it in early 2015.
3D Realms officially responds to Gearbox’s Duke Nukem lawsuit
The baffling Gearbox Software/3D Realms lawsuit continues to baffle. When we last left the litigants, Interceptor Entertainment had purchased 3D Realms after 3D Realms was sued by Gearbox over an unauthorized contract to allow the Duke Nukem character to be included in Interceptor’s Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction. Now, 3D Realms has publicly responded to the lawsuit and they’re acting like the last three years never happened:
On March 17, 2014, 3D Realms filed its answer to the complaint by Gearbox Software in Dallas, Texas. 3DR denies all allegations set forth in the complaint. In its answer, 3DR has submitted evidence showing that Gearbox at no point intended to enter into good faith negotiations but instead sought to force former owners, Scott Miller and George Broussard, to improperly surrender what rightfully belonged to 3DR.
It is our position that 3DR retains the right to develop the tentatively titled “[Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction]” game for specific platforms. This game was previously licensed for development to Interceptor Entertainment. Furthermore, it is our position that the Trademark for “Duke Nukem” was never assigned to Gearbox, but remains the sole property of 3DR.
So let’s recap. 3D Realms believes that Gearbox somehow forced them to hand over the rights to Duke Nukem. But they also state that this deal never actually happened even though the two companies jointly announced the acquisition at the time. Oh, and don’t forget that Gearbox still holds a letter from Miller and Broussard stating that the Duke Nukem character belongs to Gearbox.
In a separate statement, Interceptor Entertainment said they were “quite shocked” that Gearbox would choose to sue and that they believe they entered into a legal deal with 3D Realms to license the Duke Nukem character. And again, the company entered into this deal after the very public sale of the character to Gearbox in 2010.
Can’t we just settle this with an old-fashioned Duke Nukem 3D deathmatch?
[Source: Polygon]
What? Interceptor Entertainment buys 3D Realms while lawsuit with Gearbox continues
Say what you will about 3D Realms, but you have to admit, a news story about them is never boring.
The company is currently embroiled in a lawsuit With Gearbox Software over the rights to the Duke Nukem franchise. Specifically, whether or not it was legal for 3D Realms to license the franchise rights to Interceptor Entertainment to produce Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction, an action RPG rumored to be in development for the PC and PS4. Now comes the news that Interceptor’s parent company, SDN Invest, has purchased 3D Realms.
“3D Realms has always been a defining part the PC games industry.” said Frederik Schreiber, CEO of Interceptor Entertainment. “Getting 3D Realms under our wings is a huge step for us and we are extremely excited about the acquisition.”
The question is, what exactly did Interceptor/SDN Invest buy? Over the years, 3D Realms has sold off the majority of their properties including the aforementioned Duke Nukem, Prey (now owned by Bethesda), and Rise of the Triad (now owned by Apogee Software). 3D Realms does still own the distribution rights to many of their past successes including Duke Nukem 3D, the Commander Keen series, and Shadow Warrior, which was rebooted last year by Flying Wild Hog. Beyond that, there’s not much value in the 3D Realms name.
But then, Atari survived for years as a name that various publishers used to prop up their video game divisions, so you never know.
Gearbox suing 3D Realms over Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction
3D Realms famously sold the franchise rights to Duke Nukem to Gearbox Software in 2010. And yet, earlier this month, a teaser website promoting a new Duke Nukem game co-developed by 3D Realms and Interceptor Entertainment began counting down to a reveal planned for February 25. The game, an action RPG for the PC and PS4, is expected to be called Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction. So what’s Gearbox’s connection to all of this?
It looks like they’re suing 3D Realms for attempting to make a new Duke Nukem game without their permission. The complaint reads:
“Apparently, after selling its Duke Nukem IP rights to Gearbox in 2010, 3DR sought to privately convince others that the sale never happened. The result is the unauthorized development effort that reportedly exists between 3DR and Interceptor.”
In addition to the copyright infringement claim, Gearbox also released a signed declaration from 3D Realms’ George Broussard and Scott Miller stating that they are aware that Gearbox is the rightful owner of all intellectual property related to Duke Nukem.
So with all this evidence (again, the Duke Nukem IP sale in 2010 was very public), it makes you wonder exactly what 3D Realms and Interceptor were thinking. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when the Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction countdown expires tomorrow…
Rumor: New Duke Nukem game developed by Interceptor in development
A new Duke Nukem might be coming our way, according to some rumors. DSO Gaming is speculating that the new game will be developed by Interceptor, a studio that had previously worked on a “free remake of Duke Nukem 3D that would be powered by Unreal Engine 3,” which went from being on hold to not being released.
Frederik Schreiber, the CEO of Interceptor, had some very specific ideas in mind for Duke, including making him less silly and more of a serious badass. “Give us a Duke game without strippers, a great sinister villain than can break Duke (Think Bane from [The Dark Knight Rises]), a slightly older, and way more badass/gritty Duke, and a galactic plotline that can be taken seriously, and I’m Sold!”
The article ends with an update, seemingly confirming just what form the new Duke game will take: “This new Duke Nukem game will be called Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction and will be a top-down action RPG that will be powered by Unreal Engine. Thanks Mark!”
More details can be found in this image, which comes from a (now-offline) teaser site and gives plot details and states that the game will be available on PC and PS4. Hopefully this is not just an elaborate hoax – Duke fans don’t need anymore disappointment.