Duke Nukem Forever's delay had nothing to do with "a quest for perfection", says Broussard

Original Duke Nukem designer George Broussard has said there really isn't a "dramatic" reason it took so long to get Duke Nukem Forever released.

Speaking with Maximum PC, Broussard said the delay had nothing to do with "a quest for perfection", but developmental issues and licensing engines.

"I wish there was an easy or dramatic answer for what took so long but there just isn't," he said. "It was just never ready. We had lots of development issues along the way. It wasn't a quest for perfection as some silly article in Wired implied last year.

"I think what hurt us the most was licensing engines and trying to change them too much. S**t happens and after delays the options are to continue or kill the game. I never wanted to kill the game. We got things turned around dramatically in 2007-2009, with a lot of new hires, and most of the game as it exists today was created in that timeframe."

As far as Duke still being relevant to the current gamer, Broussard said the game's star "offers contrast" from the "generic game heroes" and while it's "ok to not like Duke or think him juvenile", at least he's not "boring and vanilla".

"Most people play games to escape and enjoy a fantasy for a while," he said.

Duke Nukem Forever is slated for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 sometime in 2011.