Take-Two talks Duke Nukem

During its quarter-ending conference call today, Take-Two Interactive executives discussed the console fate of its upcoming Duke Nukem games. As expected, Duke Nukem Forever, the long-anticipated first-person shooter from 3D Realms, will not ship in Q4 of this year and is currently on a vague 2002 release schedule. Company executives reiterated that the game will be released on the Sony PlayStation 2 and the Microsoft Xbox, but it failed to mention the Nintendo GameCube version. However, earlier this year, Take-Two announced the game for Nintendo's console, and during today's conference, it reiterated that its studios have already begun work on GameCube games.

Addressing the concerns regarding the recent financial troubles facing N-Space, which is involved in the development of Duke Nukem Forever for the PlayStation 2, Paul Eibler, president of Take-Two Interactive, said that the company expects to work with N-Space in completing the game. "At the moment we haven't severed any links with N-Space," Eibler said. "We've always planned a Duke Nukem Forever game for the PlayStation 2, as well as Duke Nukem: D-Day for that console. We're expecting N-Space to produce Duke Nukem Forever for us at some stage." Eibler said that Duke Nukem Forever has the potential to be one of the company's biggest franchises and, as such, it wants to ensure that everything about the product is right before it is released to market. Further information on Duke Nukem: D-Day was not released. However, it is known that the game will play primarily from a third-person perspective and will feature Duke in an all-new adventure.

Take-Two executives also discussed the release schedules for a variety of its games. Currently, the company plans to release Grand Theft Auto 3 for the Sony PlayStation 2 in late September, several weeks earlier than the original mid-October release date. The release of GTA3 will be followed by Smuggler's Run 2: Hostile Territory, which is being developed by Angel Studios. In late October of this year, the company will release Max Payne for the PS2. As reported previously, the game is also in development for the Microsoft Xbox. In the handheld space, the company has two Game Boy Advance games, Tang Tang and Duke Nukem Forever, planned for release this year.