Duke Nukem Forever sucked. We all know that. But Gearbox says they did not just acquire the series to see the development of Duke Nukem Forever through. Of course not- they have big plans for the series, and they want to make Duke Nukem games of their own. And they will be announcing that soon, but not just yet.

“I know that you guys figured out that, when Gearbox acquired the franchise, we didn’t do it just to make sure we could all play Duke Forever, but because we wanted to make our own Duke game,” Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford said at Gearbox’s PAX panel. “Soon, we’ll talk about that, but not today.”

When asked what he felt about Duke Nukem Forever, he said he was “proud” of what the team delivered, despite the panning.

“I hope some people kind of enjoyed it. When I dug through all the stuff that [original development studio] 3D Realms had done, I expected a trainwreck and I was actually quite pleased.

“I had a lot of fun with it,” he added. “It was fun for me, and I’m really glad that we not only rescued the franchise but took the time to make sure the world could see what those guys had been doing for all of those years.

“And I’m also proud of the things we added to it. I think we did some things to make it a little better.”

Let’s hope Gearbox is not the same level of “proud” with the next Duke game, which we sure will be cautious- yet expectant- about.

BioWare announced at PAX over the weekend that they will be starting a beta for Star Wars: The Old Republic starting September 2- this Friday.

BioWare will be emailing random invites to some of those who have registered on the game’s website. Doesn’t matter if you’ve pre-order the game or not- as long as you’re registered, you can get the code.

Star Wars: The Old Republic will release at the end of this year.

Thanks, Massively.

The Halo 4 Panel at PAX 2011 is streaming on IGN right now, so head over to there now to catch it before it is over.  Here is the link: http://www.ign.com/events/halo/2011/live-video.  Halo 4 through 6 will be known as the Reclaimer Trilogy which is news to me.  If you missed it we will have re-caps and more info on the newly announces  Halo Trilogy, as well as the links below giving you access to future Streams going on at PAX.

IGN’s full statements regarding  the Halo 4 Trilogy:

While the ten year birthday of Halo: Combat Evolved and the upcoming Halo CE Anniversary release are clearly the focus of the first Halo Fest at this year’s Penny Arcade Expo, the continuing adventures of the Master Chief aren’t far from anyone’s mind. At 343i’s Halo 4 panel on Saturday morning, Josh Holmes discussed the impending Halo trilogy and revealed the name of the upcoming three-game series: the Reclaimer Trilogy.

Astute Halo fans will recall that Guilty Spark, the AI presence from the original Halo installation in Combat Evolved (and namesake of 343i), often referred to the Master Chief as the Reclaimer throughout their interactions. Guilty Spark also plays a prominent role in Halo CE Anniversary’s new addition to the original game, the Terminals.

Be sure to check back at www.ign.com/events/halo for more on Halo Fest throughout the weekend, including live streams of every Halo Fest panel at PAX!

Halo: CE Anniversary

Thanks, Gamespot.

Counter Strike: GO

Mass Effect 3

Square Enix has announced that they will be showing off the upcoming 3DS RPG, Heroes of Ruin, at PAX 2011.

A new are called “Coral Tombs” will be shown.

Info, preview and screenshots can be found at http://heroesofruin.com/news/pax_coral_tombs.