Last week we were lucky enough to get some time with Gearbox co-founder Randy Pitchford to discuss the studio’s current project, Duke Nukem: Forever. Gearbox made quite a name for itself with 2009’s classic shooter Borderlands, and later ended up taking over the reins for the long awaited sequel to Duke Nukem 3D from 3D Realms. 

MyGaming: First of all, did you have any idea that Duke had fans in SA? 

Randy Pitchford:  It’s amazing to me how Duke has become a world-wide phenomenon.  It’s very exciting to know there are fans in South Africa and I’m excited to talk with you and them about the game.

MyGaming: Just how aware are publishers of emerging markets like SA? Obviously utmost attention is given to established regions like the US and Europe, but do you see a place like SA as a potential growth region?

Randy Pitchford:  As a gamer, I know that video games are the most interesting form of entertainment on the planet.  I’m very excited that more and more of the world is discovering video games.  As an entertainer, it gives me great pleasure and humility to know that I can now reach people in places I’ve never reached before.

MyGaming: Gearbox feels like a perfect match for picking up the DNF franchise. How do you balance retaining a link to the old game, while creating something new and fresh?

Randy Pitchford: It’s a challenging balance, for sure.  It’s really important that Duke Nukem Forever contains enough of the kinds of experiences that made Duke Nukem 3D so great.  We *must*, for example, find a shrink ray and use it on an evil monster so that we can step on him with our mighty foot.   We *must* find a freeze thrower so that we can turn an alien invader into a block of ice and then break him into tiny ice cubes. These are fond memories that must be re-lived in high fidelity with state-of-the-art graphics and technology. At the same time, the overall experience must be entirely new. We must be surprised and excited at every turn and to do that we’re going to have to make sure there are new things that were unexpected and interesting and compelling and entertaining. I’m happy to report that Duke Nukem Forever delivers on all fronts.

MyGaming: A lot of time has passed since Duke Nukem 3D, and the industry has matured. How confident are you that there is room for a personality as brazen as Duke Nukem in the gaming world of 2011, which is mostly inhabited by less colourful and more realistic/serious hero archetypes? 

Randy Pitchford: Before I purchased the franchise, I thought about this very question very deeply.  What I discovered was that Duke Nukem has become an icon for the game industry.  He is really important to all of us – he’s kind of like our Chuck Norris.  And what’s interesting about this is that he didn’t get this way because of all the great Duke Nukem games that have come out over the years.  There haven’t been any!   What’s caused it is something uncontrollable – something in the gamer culture.   It has to do with the character and what he stands for and how sticky and simple and interesting that is.  He succeeds because he is gloriously one-dimensional.   What is really interesting is to consider that Duke was created as the hyper exaggerated blending together of the action heroes of the 1990’s and that today, when all of the other heroes in entertainment have become complicated and emotional with human problems that Duke is now somehow very fresh and unique. There is a bit of irony in that – the man who began as the amplified summation of the cliché is now one-of-a-kind and stands far apart from the rest of the crowd.

MyGaming: Will DNF be a straight up shooter, or will there be any RPG elements – similar to some of the features established in Borderlands?

Randy Pitchford: Borderlands and Duke Nukem Forever are entirely different creatures. Duke Nukem Forever is an action adventure with a lot of focus on shooting. You’re going to become Duke Nukem and you’re going to save the world.

MyGaming: Will DNF follow a linear narrative, or will there any be room for decision making and exploration?

Randy Pitchford:  It’s a linear presentation, but it’s punctuated by a variety of game play styles and a pacing between action and puzzle solving.  Exploration and problem solving become critical parts of the equation as you play. It’s very gratifying and because of the variety, at any given moment you can’t help but think to yourself, “I can’t WAIT to see what happens next!”

MyGaming: How many hours of gameplay are we looking at in DNF?

Randy Pitchford: We’re finding that the average gamer who has not played before is taking about 15 to 16 hours to finish the campaign. Competitive multiplayer can be endless, of course. I think that the campaign could be a little longer for players who are very careful and patient and want to explore and do everything. I think the campaign can be shorter for players who want to just burn through the content and not take much time to stop and look at things.

MyGaming: Will multiplayer be an important part of the DNF experience, or is there more of a focus on the single player component?

Randy Pitchford:  There is Duke’s story and adventure in the campaign and there is also a very robust competitive multiplayer game with several game modes, a bunch of maps and all kinds of secrets and game play to discover there.   

MyGaming: Would you ever want someone to make a Duke Nukem movie? 

Randy Pitchford:  That could be fun to watch if done right. We’ve been approached and I know that Scott Miller at 3dRealms had been pursuing such a thing for some time. His game, Max Payne, was made into a movie, after all.

MyGaming: Does DNF have a ‘lead’ development platform?

Randy Pitchford:  No.

A huge thanks goes to Randy for his time, and to Megarom for organizing the interview. 

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