Even if you've been waiting for Duke Nukem Forever... forever, you probably don't know about the early days of its creators, and the amazing rise to, and fall from, grace that they achieved.  Machinima's several-part video may interest all fans:

We recently announced the Xbox Live Arcade of this 2002 classic--if you've never heard of DNMP before, you had better brush up with Wiki.

If you did in fact play DNMP back when it came out on PC in 2002, you would remember it as a run and gun side-scrolling classic.  DNMP was probably the best third-party Duke Nukem game ever made, and while Sunstorm Interative went under in 2003 as a result of financial and staffing-related issues, 3D Realms was able to retrieve the rights to the game in order to port it to the Xbox Live Arcade.

Commando Nukem says,

Shacknews reports that the court case between 3DR and T2 is settled "with prejudice" as of May 14th, which means Duke Nukem Forever is cleared for release (as long as it's finished of course).
And here's the settlement on Shacknews.

Update: Voodoo Extreme was able to get ahold of George but only got a "no comment, sorry" from him.
Update #2: VE parent company, IGN brings us this quote from T2 rep, Alan Lewis:

PS. So happy right now

6/11/2010 Update: The game (and free demo) will be out June 23rd for 800 Microsoft points!

We have had several news items in the past speculating on the release of DNMP to the Xbox Live Arcade.  Those rumors have now been confirmed as the official Xbox 360 website now as its own DNMP page.  Check it out: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/d/dukenukemmpxbla/

In case you missed it, Mikko at MSDN has posted a review of a new map by SalaciusCrumb of Starship Troopers TC fame. His new map "Have Fun Storming the Castle" requires DukePlus, and has the same sense of scale as SalaciusCrumb's other recent maps. Check out the review here.

Today marks the one-year anniversary from the time George Broussard's alleged failures led to the Duke Nukem Forever team bidding its farewell to the world.  Since then, news on Duke Nukem Forever has been scarce, and while fans remain enthusiastic about the game, many are disappointed and hungry for answers that 3D Realms founders Broussard and Miller refuse to divulge due to their ongoing lawsuit with Take-Two.

Despite all this, visitor activity on Duke4.net remains strong, and our forums continue to serve fans who are especially involved in modifications for Duke Nukem 3D and its Windows/Linux port, EDuke32 (authored by Duke4.net's very own TerminX)!

In other news, Duke fan Gerlof alerted us to his Grabbag Dance Mix which he authored late last year, but which went unnoticed until recently.  You can download an MP3 version of the mix here (9.28 MB).

Lastly, we have a message from the owner of one of our hosted Duke Nukem websites, Hendricks:

I just wanted to send you an FYI about some things I've just done.

First, I've released the second major versions of:

Duke: Nuclear Winter Plus
Duke Caribbean: Life's A Beach Plus
Duke Nukem 3D N64 Music Pack
Duke Nukem 3D Saturn Music Pack

They have threads in the Duke 3D forum listing changes and whatnot.

I've created a sticky thread with comprehensive installation instructions for all the Duke add-ons.

We don't normally post news items to accompany new polls, but tonight's is a special one.

For those that need some catching up--the story goes a little something like this:  In May of last year, Take-Two, which holds the publishing rights to Duke Nukem Forever, filed a breach of contract lawsuit against 3D Realms over George Broussard's alleged failure to deliver the game since development began in 1997.  Consequently, the fate of 3D Realms as an inhouse developer, and the fate of Duke Nukem Forever as a 3D Realms title now remain in question.

Now then, in our latest poll we ask the fans what they think will be the outcome of this lawsuit.  Will 3D Realms come out victorious, or will Take-Two reaffirm the alleged validity of this photo through a victory of its own?

As you ponder the answer to this question and contemplate voting, remember that our fragile democracy was secured by men who marched across their countries and traveled abroad to fight for it with their lives.  It is in the spirit of democracy and the endeavors of these brave souls that you, the fans, must exercise your right to vote.  We ask not that you go even across the street to the ballot (as you would during a political election)--no, kind sirs--we ask that you simply click the appropriate radio button in our poll box within the comfortable confines of your homes!