Duke Nukem
Duke Nukem was first released as two side scrollers under Duke Nukem and Duke Nukem II, respectively in 1991 and 1993. The titles were generally lost in a horde of other side-scrolling shoot-'em-ups, but it would be in 1996 that Duke would come into his own. Duke Nukem 3D built on the runaway success of first person shooters (FPS) like Doom and Wolfenstein 3D, but added a lot more, in that its protagonist--Duke Nukem himself--talked. Whereas Doom was more of a horror game and Wolfenstein a parody of bad World War II grindhouse movies, Duke Nukem was an over-the-top homage to bad 80s action movies.
Duke himself was roughly based on Bruce Campbell's Ash Williams from the Evil Dead movie series (specifically Ash in Army of Darkness), with a little bit of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris, and Rowdy Roddy Piper's character from They Live thrown in. There isn't much in the way of plot for Duke--a dystopian Los Angeles in the "early 21st Century" is being invaded by aliens, who are taking Earth's women (specifically, Earth's "hot babes") and mutating its people. And Duke just isn't going to stand around for that. Besides, they destroyed his ride.
Like most 90s-era FPS, there isn't much for the player to do besides run around and shoot things, but Duke Nukem broke new ground in that the player could interact to a certain extent with their environment. Duke could drink from water fountains (or toilets) to regain health, he could play a game of pool, he could tip pole dancers...and Duke always had a good quip for the moment. The designers threw in a ton of pop culture references, including lines and situations from Aliens, the OJ Simpson "white Bronco" chase, and even a dead Space Marine from Doom at one point.
It was good, mindless fun, and though there was criticism for its occasional delve into near-pornography and objectification of women, the criticism was muted because at no point was Duke Nukem to be taken seriously. It was supposed to be stupid. Made on a budget of less than half a million dollars, it made well over $6 million back, and spawned a huge number of expansion packs and ports. If Doom ushered in the age of the FPS, Duke Nukem took the ball and ran with it.
When you see Duke Nukem wandering around the halls of Anime Central, you take his frickin' picture. Because it's Duke Nukem, and there's no telling what he'll do. And he's all out of bubblegum.
Kidding aside, I'd never seen a Duke Nukem cosplay before, so this was way cool.
Duke Nukem
Duke Nukem was first released as two side scrollers under Duke Nukem and Duke Nukem II, respectively in 1991 and 1993. The titles were generally lost in a horde of other side-scrolling shoot-'em-ups, but it would be in 1996 that Duke would come into his own. Duke Nukem 3D built on the runaway success of first person shooters (FPS) like Doom and Wolfenstein 3D, but added a lot more, in that its protagonist--Duke Nukem himself--talked. Whereas Doom was more of a horror game and Wolfenstein a parody of bad World War II grindhouse movies, Duke Nukem was an over-the-top homage to bad 80s action movies.
Duke himself was roughly based on Bruce Campbell's Ash Williams from the Evil Dead movie series (specifically Ash in Army of Darkness), with a little bit of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris, and Rowdy Roddy Piper's character from They Live thrown in. There isn't much in the way of plot for Duke--a dystopian Los Angeles in the "early 21st Century" is being invaded by aliens, who are taking Earth's women (specifically, Earth's "hot babes") and mutating its people. And Duke just isn't going to stand around for that. Besides, they destroyed his ride.
Like most 90s-era FPS, there isn't much for the player to do besides run around and shoot things, but Duke Nukem broke new ground in that the player could interact to a certain extent with their environment. Duke could drink from water fountains (or toilets) to regain health, he could play a game of pool, he could tip pole dancers...and Duke always had a good quip for the moment. The designers threw in a ton of pop culture references, including lines and situations from Aliens, the OJ Simpson "white Bronco" chase, and even a dead Space Marine from Doom at one point.
It was good, mindless fun, and though there was criticism for its occasional delve into near-pornography and objectification of women, the criticism was muted because at no point was Duke Nukem to be taken seriously. It was supposed to be stupid. Made on a budget of less than half a million dollars, it made well over $6 million back, and spawned a huge number of expansion packs and ports. If Doom ushered in the age of the FPS, Duke Nukem took the ball and ran with it.
When you see Duke Nukem wandering around the halls of Anime Central, you take his frickin' picture. Because it's Duke Nukem, and there's no telling what he'll do. And he's all out of bubblegum.
Kidding aside, I'd never seen a Duke Nukem cosplay before, so this was way cool.