Duke Nukem Forever First on 2600

Well, we've said for a long time that we would not release any info on Duke Nukem Forever until it was time. Well, it's time. We're proud to announce the release of Duke Nukem Forever for the most classic of gaming systems - the Atari 2600!

This is how 3D Realms' news page greeted visitors yesterday. The news story went on:

Duke Nukem is a classic game, and what better system to release it on first than the most classic of consoles? Sure, you have your Xbox, your PS2, and other modern era consoles, but for true gaming fun, you'll want to play Duke Nukem Forever on the Atari 2600 - a console exclusive to boot!

Many folks have wondered why it's taken us so long to get any information out on the game. Well, the reason for that is that we've had to spend an enormous amount of time and effort figuring out how to make the Unreal engine work on the Atari 2600 system.

Here's a partial list of features unique to the Atari 2600 version of the game:

Multiplayer - Link together your Atari 2600 system with your friends' 2600 system by use of the special included DukeLink attachment.

Unique ragdollTM physics system - you've never seen blocky pixels move like this. UT2K3 has nothing on this game!

Plus much much more we can't reveal at this time.

In addition, we spent a lot of time simplifying the game interface so it works with just the Atari 2600 joystick and a single fire button. You'll be amazed at how cool the new interface is - and you'll wonder why you ever bothered to play with a keyboard/mouse combo - the PC port of the Atari 2600 version will also feature this new interface.

For now all we've been able to cram onto the cartridge is the title screen (see video by following download tab). Don't worry, though - we figure we have plenty of time to do this right, so no matter how long it takes, or how much money we have to spend, we will cram 2 gigs of info onto a 2600 cart. In fact, in our programming tools, we found that the bank switching techniques of the 2600 have allowed us to do some really special things with this platform - especially the strippers!

The release date of this game is still When it's done, but we felt it was time to share some information with you. In addition to the cartridge scan above, we have some pictures and a video for you to check out. All the materials are below. Follow the download tab above in order to get the goods.