You have to sort of translate for Randy, he tends to ramble and not really make himself clear. What he is saying is that the game is not really a review score game, it's going to be an event and important for what it is and be enjoyed for what it is, not be a critical darling. Which I think is entirely accurate.

Saying that publications will be held accountable to their readers is pretty much inciting a flame war. We all know there is a mentality about people that if they pay $50 for a game they want it to be good, no one wants to admit they paid that money for complete crap. Just look at the Dragon Age 2 supporters. Not the people who fairly enjoyed it but the ones who are adamant that Dragon Age 2 is far better than Origins.

I'm not saying Duke will be bad, I hope it will be good but I think Randy is being a bit too clever here. He's basically saying if the game gets a 9 the reviewer gets it, if it gets anything lower then the reviewer doesn't. He is trying to influence high scores.

Maybe the CEO of 2K hold a gun to his head and force him to say that .

Eh, to be honest, I think he's right on the money here. Just look at the divide in the opinions over the demo. Personally, I think it looks promising. I'll likely wait, but that's more because I don't have a huge amount of money right now, although that should be changing now that I'm out of school again and able to work.

This is in many ways a life event for gamers, I'm not sure what to relate it to because this is the first game ever released after a decade in production. Whether it be good or bad, just playing it at release is going to be something that gamers are going to be able to talk about in the future.

Is anybody actually shocked that the head of the company that is developing Duke Nukem Forever is stirring up some controversy?

I, for one, was expecting more hookers.

Not really......most companies that review will either ignore it or use it to make themselves some more PR for the most part. And maybe publications should be held accountable a bit more to their readers, and not just be paid shills for game companies or sensationalist "hate" critic pieces?

As for scores, he is saying he won't be bothered by those who give the game a 2/10 or around thereabouts just to shock people into reading/writing about their magazine & reviews, and also those who give low scores because the game isn't "cod/mw/hip" enough for them or their readers. And I tend to agree with him......of course i'll also be judging the game based on it's own merits and not just on the reviews...shining or shitty.And some sort of visual aid, perhaps on poster paper, about how Randy is going to make you submissive to him in some derogatory fashion......

It's not an event, it's a f**king joke.

Whether the full, final game turns out to be amazing or just mediocre, there's going to be nothing in it that justifies the extended development time. Nothing. It's going to be another first-person-shooter, that's all. (Although I'm hoping it'll be a good one.)

It's just a terrible and hilarious example of what can happen when you give an unfocussed and badly managed development team a stupid budget, and don't keep them on the task at hand.

It's a bad sign when a developer needs to go on preemptive damage control.

Odds are, any journalist who actually can give well thought out criticism is read by people who appreciate it, and anyone who reads the kind of crap that gives just about every AAA title a 10/10 to keep advertisers happy doesn't have anything to worry about.

Personally I disagree, it's a game, yes it has been twelve year in the making which made it a "legend" of sort but it's still a game, it doesn't deserve a free pass just because of it's chaotic development, if it's bad (or at least if the reviewer think it's bad) then it deserve a bad score. (and of course a good one if it's good)

That's not damage control, that's an ultimatum. He's flinging threats.

Randy Pitchford is going to make you his bitch!

And we all know where John Romero ended up. Making a port of Red Faction for the Nokia N-Gage.