A punchline years in the making

     2011 may be the year that pigs fly, because Duke Nukem Forever is finally slated for a concrete release date. The reason this otherwise unnotable video game is making headlines, however, is because its been in (non)production for over 14 years.

     That’s right. Production for this game has flipped on and off for almost a decade and a half. Rights to the game have been hot-potatoed between four different game developers, and two different graphics engines. Over the years, Duke Nukem Forever has been a punchline amongst gaming communities, as they thought the game was done for.

     Either way, after a series of befuddling lawsuits and accusations, Gearbox Software has taken the torch to develop the game. Production for the game is reportedly nearly finalized, and the over-the-top shooter is slated for a May 3rd release. It will be interesting to see that, after all this time, if the game is even any good. While Duke Nukem 3D, released in 1996, took the gaming world by storm, the market has evolved immeasurably since than, and many skeptics think that the game may not evolve as fans have hoped.

     Overall, I think gamers are more excited for the thought of Duke Nukem Forever being released rather than the game itself.

A record-breaking humiliation

     Over the week, the Cavaliers suffered an embarrassing 112-57 loss against the Lakers on national television. This sets two Cavalier records: one for the least amount of points scored in a game, and another for the biggest loss in history.

     Needless to say, it was a humiliation for the team, the franchise, and all the Cavs fans out there. It also really brought attention to the fact that the Cavaliers are now the worst team in the league. Their 8-30 record is the lowest in the NBA, and have lost 19 of their last 20.

     There were multiple tweets from players about the night, and I’d love to link them, but they all (understandably) have foul language in them. Mo Williams, the Cavs’ point guard, said that he “can’t even show his face in Cleve.” Just as interesting is a Lebron James tweet, perhaps deriding the franchise after their massive loss. In it, he talks about karma, seemingly directing his statement towards Dan Gilbert rather than the whole Cavs team. While I’d love to take any chance to rag on LBJ, I must say that I seriously doubt his tweet is in anyway directed to the team, but rather the front office of the organization.

     And being a disheartened Cavaliers fan coming off of  a 55 point loss, I am in no mood to defend the owners of the franchise. It was their poor decisions in the past seven years that has got us to where we are today.

…and the swim season goes on…

     Swim season has always been a long, often painful experience. If you do the optional preseason practices, and go all the way to state, the season ends up being almost 6 months. However, the finish is in sight, as CHLs is only 4 weeks away, with state 4 weeks after that.

     It’s going to be interesting to see the times I go in the coming month, as it will definitely be my last swim season of my life. I made it my goal a couple years ago to make it onto the top ten performances in five different events; the 100 breakstroke, the 100 free, the 50 free, and both of the free relays.

     I had one of the best meets of my life over the week against Madeira, and I’m hoping to ride this momentum into the post-season, where I’ll need everything to go to state. Either way, I’ll be happy once the swim season is over after I hopefully get some life-time bests at Canton.