I made a note of it. After all, it was a big occasion. 3:35pm, 9th June, 2011. The exact moment it became real, when a courier arrived at my door with a package it would be fair to say I’d been waiting some time for.
A week and a half, that is, since I’d filed the necessary legal documentation to secure the release of my advance copy of – gasp! – Duke Nukem Forever.
Despite signing my life away to 2K Games, the publisher apparently still didn’t feel comfortable enough sending the game out until less than 12 hours before its general release.
Non-Disclosure Agreements and review embargoes are standard fare in the games industry. But Duke Nukem Forever, needless to say, is no ordinary game. As Eurogamer reviews Editor Oli Welsh quipped in a recent podcast: “13 years in development; one day to review it.”