What will we do when Duke Nukem Forever is actually released? Akin to the Rapture, many had faith that the day would one day come—a faith so based on faith and faith alone—as opposed to one based upon eye-witnessed miraculous tech demos. So when that day does eventually come, it will be a surprise even to the most devout believers, a feast for the entire corporeal kingdom of man.

New Duke Nukem Forever Teaser Trailer Debuts [primotech]

This just in from George Broussard over on the 3D Realms Forums:

"Last Saturday we had our annual company Christmas party. It was a lot of fun as usual but it featured one special surprise. It turns out that several people had been secretly working late nights and into the wee hours of the morning preparing a special video for those at the party. They created a short teaser for Duke Nukem Forever.

After seeing the teaser we thought it was something we should share with all of you and while it's just a teaser, rest assured more is coming.

Tomorrow, Wednesday the 19th, around noon CST, we will release the first teaser trailer from Duke Nukem Forever. To tide you over until then, here is a screen shot taken from the teaser.

Thank you for being fans of the game and for your continued patience.

I'd like to thank the people on the team that worked so hard to create this teaser and the friends of 3DR that helped create it (Jeremy Soule and Julian Soule, Frank Bry, Jason Evigan and of course, Jon St. John)."

That's right, it's the end of times. Now translating that from 3D Realms Central Time that means we should be checking out the video around 2 p.m. Mountain, 2027.

Teaser Video Coming 12/19/07, Noon CST [3D Realms Forums, thanks Caine36 ]

As a self=proclaimed Mass Effect fanboy AND Zero Punctuation cult worshipper, I feared the viewing of this clip would either:

a. Make my head explode
or
b. Make my head explode AND cause a chain reaction leading to the destruction of the galaxy, then Universe and then space/time continuum

For whatever reason, both my head and the Universe are still intact. Maybe because this week Yahtzee has upgraded his metaphors to bacon filled sandwiches as opposed to the...less enticing prospects of weeks gone by.

Zero Punctuation [theescapist]

A post over at Next Gen Boards has a slew of pictures take from a recent trip take to Chernobyl. The images are pretty creepy, but also do a good job of illustrating how well Infinity Ward captured the feel and look of the actual place in Call of Duty 4.

I mocked up the image above using shots from the thread, which were taken in game and in city. Pretty neat.

A Map in Real Life [Next Gen Boards]

NCsoft has released information on the character classes available in their upcoming MMORPG Aion: The Tower of Eternity. Players will be able to choose from four initial classes - Warrior, Scout, Mage, and Priest - which then branch off into two different advanced classes. For instance, the Scout can choose between Rangers and Assassins, while Mages morph into either Spiritmasters or Sorcerers. It's pretty much a watered-down version of the system already in place in games like Everquest 2 (before the changes) and Tabula Rasa, but who cares? Look how pretty it is! I've been avoiding Aion like the plague since it was first announced, because I don't want to get my hopes up about another pretty MMO that winds up playing like crap...but every time I see screenshots I wind up with a little puddle of drool on my desk. Just look at the detail on that armor! Gah! Must focus. Hit the jump for the full story on the character classes in the game if you can get past the pretty, pretty screenshots.

Remember that Duke Nukem teaser trailer we told you about? It's here! As of right now both 3D Realms' and Shacknews' servers are getting hammered, so viewing is a bit slow going. We'll be getting it up shorty for your own enjoyment. If 100 years plus 30 more minutes is just too long to wait, then hit the link and enjoy.

Duke Nukem Teaser [shacknews]

Developers are telling us that they are starting to create their games on PS3 first and take advantage of the hardware capabilities and then port down to other platforms so we are seeing tremendous progress from the third party community in terms of what they are able to do with our development kits.

Lovers of Crysis, physics and red barrels, this one goes out especially for you. Because while everyone else was drooling over the game's graphics and furrowing their brows at its system specs, you were probably imagining, like this guy, what it would be like to stack 3000 red barrels on top of each other then knock em all down. Just for, you know. Shits and giggles.

Classy, I kinda like the subtlety of Sony Computer Entertainment of America's holiday card. Maybe they should hire these people to do their commercials. The card also included a $20 PSN gift card, very cool. More pics after the jump.

It makes no sense to single out any one single cause of obesity, which is a complex problem.

The lads at Rare seem to be taking the piss (am I doing it right?) in their new Christmas card, which not only features Viva Piñata stars Hudson Horstachio and Fergy Fudgehog alongside Banjo and Kazooie, but a teaser stocking that reads "KI3." Clearly, it's in reference to the Rare fighting game series Killer Instinct which hasn't seen a release since Killer Instinct Gold hit the Nintendo 64 over ten years ago.

Are Rare hard at work on a third combo-filled fighting game? Not according to them, at least, as of this summer, when Rare responded via its Scribes letters page "Purely out of contractual obligation, no, we're not working on KI3." Despite that dismissal, I'm pretty sure I can make out Cinder in the fire there. Of course, I'm just teasing (as I'm fairly sure Rare is, too).

New Banjo-Kazooie pic for Christmas [CVG]

VGMWatch tonight decided to spill the not-so-breaking news that Matt Casamassina, long-time editor-in-chief of the IGN Nintendo Team, is married to Edie Kissko. This is, in these times of games journalism head-scratching, a bit interesting. Kissko is the vice president of Golin Harris, which also happens to be Nintendo's PR firm.

Neither Casamassina nor Golin Harris have commented on the article, but Casamassina's long-time marriage to Kissko isn't exactly a secret. While his readers might not be aware of it, most in the journalism community and certainly the readers at Neo-Gaf are.

I don't doubt Casamassina's desire to keep his personal and work lives separate, but the problem with conflict of interest is that it's not always about the reality of the situation, but also about appearances.

Both IGN and Golin Harris were contacted for comment, neither have yet responded. We will update this post when and if they do.

IGN Editor Married to Nintendo PR Executive

Update: Golin Harris has responded:
"All GolinHarris employees who work on the Nintendo account sign and adhere to a strict confidentiality agreement."

Update 2: Matt has responded:
"While I would prefer to keep my wife and kids out of the public spotlight, the fact that Edie and I have been happily married for several years is no secret. Nintendo and IGN / FOX have been aware of our relationship since we first started dating. We're professionals. Both of us have signed strict confidentiality agreements with our respective employers and, incidentally, we leave what happens on the job at our home's front door.

The original article makes the suggestion that my marriage to Edie violates the trust of IGN's dedicated readership, but I think my body of work speaks for itself. Over the years, I have remained one of Nintendo's biggest fans and harshest critics and have also developed hundreds of reliable of sources within the industry, none of them Edie."