Fight breaks out over corpse of Duke Nukem
A ROW IS BREWING over the copse of the long awaited but never delivered game Duke Nukem.
According to Cinemablend, Take-Two is miffed that 3D Realms, which it commissioned to finish the game, closed down before delivering it.
Take Two Interactive claims it has the exclusive rights to publish Duke Nukem Forever, that the contract it has is binding, and that it will take control of this particular poisoned chalice.
However, it seems that 3D has told Take-Two to go forth and multiply, so Take-Two has had to file a court order for failure to deliver the long-awaited Duke Nukem Forever title.
But Take-Two has also said that it will not provide more cash to 3D Realms in order to finish the project.
The pair have been at each others throats ever since Take-Two whinged that it would have to wait until 2003 to get its paws on the game. 3D reminded Take Two that the game was self-funded and "it should STFU".
It is possible that the court order is to stop 3D from flogging off the Duke Nukem assets to the highest bidder, but it does seem fairly clear that Take-Two wants the source code in exchange for writing off the millions of dollars 3D owes it. µ
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If I had paid $12 mill and the sobs had decided sorry aren't going to release it. I'd want my f**king money back or all rights!
3-D relams has no legs to stand on in this court case. Take Two paid them to deliver, not only did they NOT deliver, they created majority of the game, with take two's money, and with the promise of distribution... now that 3-d relams is closing it's doors, what do they want the rights for?
It sounds like after the bankruptcy, 3d wants to sell/create it for another publisher. Taketwo has every right to TAKE the IP here.
except that they didnt, (unless the contract was completely changed in 2007) all take two bought was the right to distribute oh and they never funded the production AT ALL.
The rights for the IP (source code) for the game clearly belongs to Take Two.
3Drealms should let them have it and walk away.
Otherwise they will sell the corpse to someone else ... after disolving the campany nicely.
Remember the corpse has some nice jewelery and a few gold teeth.
That's just not cricket ... not even Brockien UltraKrikket !!
The rights for the IP (source code) for the game clearly belongs to Take Two.
*Clearly*?
Oh, youve read the contract between 3D and TT, have you?
What else did it say?
Regardless if they didn't pay into production, it was TT that said they'd handle the distribution - with 3D suddenly going "Oh, we've got nothing" and TT saying "You have a binding contract to deliver a product." the rights to that product, which TT paid to distribute, goes to TT... while the details will come out in the court case, it would be nice if TT took the source and IP and actually PRODUCED something.
According to 3D Take Two never actually gave them the cash. Its the classic they said we said thing. Like a divorce..lol
3DRealms contracted with GT interactive for he publishing rights to Duke Nukem Forever, then GT was acquired by another company which sold the publishing rights to Take Two for 12 million. But 3DRealms claims they have been entirely self-funded which means it's possible no cash changed hands in the original deal (the deal may have included some additional money for 3DRealms on the back end). In that case Take-Two may just be out the 12 million.
ok were does anyone see 3dr got money for publishing rights. i see that take two inherited the rights from something in the 90's proof here
http://www.yougamers.com/articles/18...be_king-page4/
"Given the publishing experience of 3DRealms and their willingness to tackle difference platforms, it made sense to enquire as to what lies ahead for DNF too. For example, are Take 2 Interactive Software still publishing Duke Nukem Forever? Given the amount of experience 3D Realms has in the production area, it might make more sense for 3DRealms to do this themselves:
Scott: Possibly, but Take2 has inherited the agreement we originally signed with GT Interactive back in the 90’s. This agreement does allow us to direct sale the game, such as through an online digital service, and we plan to take full advantage of this."
and then we have this
http://www.shacknews.com/laryn.x?id=6846402
not to mention this
http://www.shacknews.com/laryn.x?id=7653477
what t2 wants is the 12 million they paid info games that again did not give 3dr 1 dime for the rights to the product all t2 has is publishing rights that is for a finished product payable upon delivery to them they have not a leg to stand on and trying to take the gamers side in this is bullshit they want to kick 3dr when down and get the source of 12 years work and the ip so they can run duke into the ground
As a software engineer from the bad old days, I kinda know what this is like. I cut a deal for a company to distribute my software (in return I was supposed to receive funding). As I developed over the course of a couple of years eeking out time while I worked my primary job, I never received funding, and a different company bought the distribution rights from the first. I was frustrated at this point and went to them to see about them living up to the promised money. The response was that the amount of the funding was never specified, so they sent me a check for $0.01. After talking to a lawyer, I found that my contract for redistribution was solid and that I could not release under anyone else. In the end, my only recourse was to fold up, and dash the project. The second company claimed that they had ownership. I agreed that they did... of the name and release. No one had ever made any agreement to my intellectual property. So, we went to court. In the end, they buried themselves between what they originally paid for the distro rights, and then MUCH more expensive court fees. They ended up right where they belonged, they owned the name and distro rights, but I ended up torching the source (I was a little P.O.'ed)
gist: Take-Two has nothing to stand on if they made no agreement for the source (which it really sounds like they don't). And the only way for ANY winner to come out of this is if TT and 3D can work out SOME kind of agreement... heck, maybe TakeTwo can sell off their rights to someone willing to help push the game to completion...
Ok, that's my $0.02
Give the rights to Toys for Bob. They'll crank out a low-graphics, fun game in less than a year and it'll be full of laughs. Take Two employees should all get a free copy of the game, and Toys for Bob must agree to purchase a gift of a tiny violin for every Take Two executive.
I vote give the rights to Toys for Bob!
(SC2 is the best game ever. EVER.)
Either that or get TFB to make a Duke Nukem spinoff of some sort, and get Bethesda to make a game involving Duke Nukem, set not long before the nuclear war which created the Fallout world :D :D :D
Take-Two didnt buy the ip!!! Seriously, how hard is it to understand this.
Take-Two bought exclusive rights to 'publish' this game, not to own it. Which means that legally, 3d has every right to sell the ip to the highest bidder, who will have to then hold to the earlier contract and publish only through T2.
T2 doesnt have a leg to stand on in this case, unless they're asking for a 'refund' on publishing rights, which wont happen either. They're throwing a fit because they didnt get their way.
And this case wont matter either way, since 3d can now prove that they're still developing this game. And since the original contract had nothing about time of release, and since take 2 is only publishing, not producing this game, 3D can rest easy and take their time.
3D realms has no cash nor assets to pay the damages suffered for breach of contract.
The damages could extend to advertising, taking and refunding pre-orders, initial funding provided for hardware, etc.
Also, you must understand that an IP has infact been purchased - the distribution rights.
The court will look at the inability to pay up the damages and award them, in the very least, the IP to the source code.
My bet is there will be nothing handed over, because 3D Realms has been conning Take 2 for years.
Best movie ever..
Nada: I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum.