Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

The new Duke Nukem Forever trailer did a couple of things for me. As Stephen mentioned I’m a fan of the previous game’s tough-as-nails attitude of the main character and its innovative deathmatching weaponry and items. The jet pack was great, and use of the shrink ray was always followed up by a hilarious mad dash to squash your enemy underfoot. The new teaser video hints that the game is staying true to its roots with cartoonish foes and Duke’s trademark’s attitude intact. This is good news for the over-the-top kill-the-alien-invaders plot and style, but I can’t say I like the details of Duke’s lifestyle that are shown in high definition.

While we are missing the ever-present exotic dancers that were seen often in Duke Nukem 3D — something George here at Aeropause will likely object to once they do show up in future trailers (see his Mass Effect sexuality objection here) — we’ve got Duke smoking and (it is implied) drinking heavily while pumping iron followed by a pretty foul one-liner at the end. Frankly, it makes him look dated.

It’ll likely be twelve years after Duke Nukem 3D’s 1996 launch that Duke Nukem Forever shows up, and while his cigar-chomping bravado might not have gone out of style, his vices have certainly fallen far out of popular favor. I’ve never been in favor of smoking, but just looking at him pumping iron and puffing away made me want to cough for him. And drunkenness, while still popular, isn’t acceptable when it comes to the many firearms Duke will be toting along for the ride if and when the game appears. Given that this gaming icon will be introduced to many, many younger gamers for the first time with this game I think it’s important that it shows that smoking and drinking are not cool.

Top it off with an utterly foul line about wanting to park bricks in an alien toilet and you have an icon stuck almost completely in the past except for one thing — his writers are trying to push his dirty mouth to catch up with current-day indecency levels. What, are “rip’em a new one,” “it’s time to kick #$& and chew bubble gum, and I’m all outta gum!”, and “nobody steals our chicks and lives!” not good enough?

Image source: Shacknews.