Here's a deal you can sink your teeth into: this weekend only, pick up the acclaimed first person shooter Prey for just $4.95.

In Prey, players enter a living spaceship which enslaves alien races and devours humans for lunch. Prey turns the first person shooter genre upside down with awesome new gameplay features like wall-walking and gravity flipping, making for intense single-player and multi-player experiences.

Prey is built on a heavily modded version of the Doom 3 engine and is developed by critically acclaimed developer Human Head Studios under the direction of 3D Realms.

As I noted before: "I thought it might be fun to reprint highlights here on Kotaku, and compare and contrast them to what's happened to their careers since then - and how their statements have held up over time."

For the second instalment, let's check out a chat with 3D Realms' owner/partner Scott Miller, originally conducted in 1997 by me for Videogamedesign.com, and discussing Max Payne, Prey, John Carmack, and the Duke Nukem franchise. How did Scott's prognostications work out, a decade later? Let's see...

Does having a major Apogee/3DRealms external developer like Remedy such a darn long way away (Finland!) make things tricky? How have you tried to get round this problem?

It's not too tricky, thanks to the Internet and email. Plus, they've come to visit several times and we meet at every E3. The Internet has compressed the world into a much smaller space. We get milestone CD burns from Remedy every month, and have a round of discussions based on the current state of the game. Mark my words: Remedy will soon be recognized as one of the world's leading independent PC developers.

(Thanks to the success of Remedy's Max Payne and its sequel, Remedy still has a reputation as a leading developer - with many eagerly awaiting 2008's Alan Wake. Good pick, Scott.)

If you could steal one coder for your company, who would it be?

I have the utmost respect for John Carmack as a coder. He amazed me back in 1990 when Apogee first brought id into the shareware industry. Over the years that we worked together I spent a lot of time talking to John picking his brain and trying to figure out how he came upon his innovative solutions to problems other coders couldn't solve—trying to understand his genius. He was always three steps ahead of anyone else in the industry. His strength is not in his programming skills—it's in the fact that he's very accurate at predicting which future technologies are most important and appropriate to pursue. John probably has better binoculars than anyone else in this industry.

(Already legendary by the time of this interview, Carmack would still be many people's top pick for a coder to steal, ten years later, thanks to his new work on the Rage engine.)

Do you think you started promoting "Prey" too early?

Not at all. Prey is actually two projects. The first one was cancelled after a year of struggling with which direction to take it. The second and current Prey incarnation has very little to do with that first project called Prey, because it has entirely different objectives, and a new staff running the show. When Prey is released, it will have been a two year project, which for a game as ambitious as this, is not too long. Plus, unlike some games long in development, like Stonekeep and Descent to Undermountain, Prey when released will be a cutting-edge game in both gameplay and technology.

(Oh boy, those games being used for comparison! Prey was subsequently canceled in this second form (and a partial third form), before being resurrected by 3D Realms and Human Head. It was finally released 9 years later, in 2006. However, Miller was somewhat true to his word - Prey was 'cutting-edge... in both gameplay and technology', in many ways. So goodish things really _do_ come to those who wait, eh?)

Why so many add-on level packs for Duke Nukem?

Simple: They keep selling.

Our marketing manager at our Duke Nukem publisher, GT Interactive Software, recently remarked that anything they slap "Duke Nukem" on sells. If you combine all the different Duke versions, Duke add-ons and the number of Duke games that we sell direct, Duke would be the top selling game since its release nearly two years ago. As an game property, Duke is probably one of the top five in all of gaming, right up there with Mario, Lara Croft, and Flight Simulator.

(OK, this one is a bit close to the ever-fabled Duke Nukem 'Forever' territory. Still, it's an interesting question - is Duke Nukem still a leading game character, even now?)

Original Interview With Scott Miller [GameGeekPeeks]

The building that houses game developer Human Head Studios, the creators of Prey, was the victim of a huge fire yesterday morning in it's hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. While there are no reported injuries, the report from Channel3000.com reports that the building, which houses several other businesses in addition to Human Head, suffered major damage. The majority of the fire seemed to be mostly contained in the back half of the building but it is unknown whether Human Head itself was affected. Hopefully they managed to escape unscathed, but the damage sounds pretty extensive. Until more is known, all we can do is cross our fingers and hope for the best. Good luck, Human Head, our thoughts are with you. Flynn De Marco

Massive Fire Destroys East Side Building [Channel3000.com - Thanks, Chris]

This game starts off with Tommy, the Cherokee hero from the last game, crashing his jeep and stumbling onto the entrance to a mysterious structure that launches him on a wild adventure that incorporates many of the same enemies, weapons, and gravity mechanics of the original.

Wait, he crashes his car? The guy saves the entire world, battles alien hordes, and understands complex alien technology, but has all the driving skills of a Native American Toonces? Lame.
Michael Fahey

SkyZone Entertainment And MachineWorks NorthWest Announce Publishing Agreement To Bring Hit Property To Mobile

First-Person Shooter Brings Gravity-Flipping Gameplay to Mobile Space

Fort Lee, NJ, and Salem, OR - April 17, 2007 - SkyZone Entertainment, Inc., a mobile entertainment provider, and MachineWorks Northwest, a premier game developer for mobile and native platforms, today announced that SkyZone will publish an original game based on Prey, the award-winning hit released in 2006 on the Xbox 360 and PC platforms. Packed with all of the features and stunning visual effects that made the original so successful, this new mobile Prey is wrapped in a fresh storyline with several new locations and an original score.

After crashing and rolling his jeep not far from his reservation, Tommy regains consciousness and sets out in search of help. He treks down a canyon for hours, finally coming upon the entrance to a mysterious structure.and so begins this new adventure within the compelling Prey universe.

Taking advantage of the mainstream penetration of high-end consumer handsets, Prey will be available on a variety of formats, including BREW, and playable across a broad array of mobile phones. The game is scheduled for availability across all major carriers in summer 2007. The announcement between MachineWorks Northwest and SkyZone is part of a multi-title agreement to bring several high-end action games to the mobile platform.

"Our relationship with MachineWorks is designed to bring the best of PC and console entertainment to mobile, and we think titles such as Prey will significantly change the way people think and feel about gaming on handheld devices," said Neil Haldar, Vice President of Content Programming and Strategy for SkyZone Entertainment, Inc. "These next-generation 3D graphics and familiar game mechanics are everything you'd expect from a MachineWorks-developed game, and there will be huge appeal among both hardcore gamers and mass-market consumers looking for compelling 3D gaming."

"SkyZone has long been a champion of bringing innovative 3D mobile titles to market, and this agreement marks a new era in mobile gaming," said Andreas Vasen, CEO of MachineWorks Northwest. "MachineWorks and SkyZone share a common view about what makes a great game and how to get the most from today's technical requirements to deliver a console and PC-like experience."

Initial reactions to Prey Mobile have been very positive. ".[It's ]the most graphically advanced Mobile game I have ever seen," said Levi Buchanan of IGNwireless.com. Theo Valich of The Inquirer wrote, "Prey is pretty much the most impressive mobile game we've seen so far." Running on Machineworks Ripp3D software engine, Prey is highly optimized for BREW, Windows Mobile and Symbian handsets.

The relationship between SkyZone and MachineWorks extends the strong history the two companies share in bringing popular brands and game licenses to mobile. Previous hit titles include Duke Nukem (Duke Nukem Mobile, Duke Nukem Mobile 3D), Stargate SG-1, and the recently released Rocky Balboa 3D. As part of the multi-title agreement, other games will be announced in the coming months.

5. Guitar Hero II

4. Elite Beat Agents

3. Grandia III

2. Kingdom Hearts 2

1. Prey - Don't Fear the Reaper

So that's my list of the best gaming songs of 2006, complete with visual aids to help you along. Completely arbitrary of course, so feel free to add your own to the list. Share your favorites with us! I'll be sure to check them out if I manage to survive this weekend's festivities. Until then, Happy New Year! Michael Fahey

After their first digital distribution platform Triton went belly up, 3D Realms has found a new home for their sci-fi FPS baby, Prey. I'll give you three guesses. Yep, Steam. Right outta the gate. Good job.

From the official Steam site:

Prey will be available Thursday, November 30 on Steam for $49.95. Previous purchasers of the retail or downloaded editions of Prey can activate a copy on Steam at no cost by using their existing product key.

In other news, I hear Valve's Gabe Newell is putting a new addition on his house. Gotta put those piles of cash somewhere. Michael McWhertor

Steam - Now With Extra Prey!
Your Triton Asplode: Prey Downloaders Screwed [Kotaku]

Anyone who downloaded Prey using the Triton download service is currently fucked. What, proper fucked?

After checking into it, we have been informed that the Triton service is shutting down - we should have some information about this situation shortly.

I don't have any further information about how things will all play with with keys, reg codes, Triton, logging in, or anything else at this time.

This was posted just today by OBWANDO, Triton staffmember:

[...]there will be a patch that will remove the online dependency for the games as promised and allow you to play, backup and reinstall your game that you purchased as you see fit.

[...]

For those that purchased Prey, I have talked with Take 2, 3D Realms, and Human Head studios. 2K has set up a replacement program for customers who purchased Prey via the Triton download service.A new boxed copy of Prey will be shipped to each customer who purchased the game via Triton and www.playtriton.com.

If Triton delivers on the patch and boxed games in a timely manner, this won't be so bad. If not, you can expect a lot more hooplah. Eliza Gauger

Triton Implodes, Prey Downloaders Cheated [Aeropause]

Excellent. Some new maps have been released on Marketplace for everyone's favorite Dyson-Sphere-Meets-Alien-Vagina game, Prey. Content includes 5 new multiplayer characters and a few deathmatch maps, so single players need look elsewhere. But it's free, which is always refreshing. Florian Eckhardt

Prey: In-Game Content [Major Nelson]

The pack will include some new multiplayer skins (Jen, Elhuit, etc.) and some new multiplayer maps. 3DR says that both are coming along nicely, but they still haven't figured out exactly how many of each will be included when the pack hits Marketplace and their site.

There's no date set for when the pack will hit, they will hit, says Mr. 3DR Guy, "when they're done." Ooooh, lets hope that's not the standard "When they're done" time, which apparently means never. Brian Crecente

What would happen if a disillusioned Native American was taken aboard a Dyson Sphere and made to walk upside down through doorways in the shape of gigantic dripping extra-terrestrial jelly holes? Prey bravely asked that question, and now, perhaps, readies to ask it again.

2K Games, the publisher of Prey, dropped some tasty hints to 1UP about the possibility of more content... perhaps as either downloadable over Live or the Internet, or perhaps as an expansion pack. It could also potentially be free. But don't count on that one.

More excitingly, 3D Realms' CEO Scott Miller claimed that he is currently working on Prey 2... no doubt tentatively subtitled "Die Hard In A Countergravitational Alien Vagina". As opposed to Duke Nukem Forever, we guess. Florian Eckhardt

Prey 360 Patch Released; Sequel Confirmed? [1UP]

First, allow me an angry gibber. This website is so hideously constructed that in Firefox, the google ads overlap the text and the text runs out of the boxes, and having to actually click through the magazine and "pages" just reminds me of the bad old days when I actually had to touch paper. I am tempted to copy the entire article here, because it's good.

But for chrissake, catch the fuck up.

Anyway, this piece addresses the claim by Microsoft's Peter Moore that "...god forbid, even your mom will be [on the Xbox 360]." He turned out to be right, but perhaps only in the case of one Mrs. P, a mom who was foisted on the author's 360.

The conclusions are actually a little surprising to me. Her favorite game by far was "Condemned", which is in line with an earlier study claiming that women prefer immersive, story-given games that require problem-solving. But I would have figured the intense spookiness and violence of it would have put the lady off. I'm very pleased to read that she not only loved it, but got very good at it as well.

The biggest problem they encountered was the same as I've experienced with my own mother when introducing her to technology: she requires me to write down the steps that must be taken for every single task. She is at a loss to understand that once you've executed one program, you can execute them all. The control scheme is almost exactly the same from task to task, and opening Outlook is really the same as opening Firefox.

Mrs. P also has this problem, somehow unable to grasp that the dual analog controls for Prey were almost the same as the ones in Condemned, and had to start all over. I think this is the fault of generations of unintuitive controls being memorized by an insular game society. Perhaps the Wii will save us.

Even though the controls in Prey are similar to those found in Condemned, it was like starting all over again for her. It was difficult for her to get use to the initial movement controls, without swinging violently out of control and running off into the walls.

The final judgment was that the 360 has a long ways to go before mom would actually go out and buy one, but now I'm very tempted to run my own mother through the same gauntlet, perhaps on a different system. Hmm... Eliza Gauger

Warrior Woman [Primotech]

CNET has a bizarre little slideshow of the top-eleven vaporware titles, with the mysterious inclusion of those who are no longer vaporware (Prey is #3). I think someone is confused about the definition of "vaporware", despite the literal definition being pasted above the article itself.

Here're their complete picks:

1. Duke Nukem Forever
2. The Phantom Game Console
3. Prey
4. Starcraft Ghost
5. Sam and Max: Freelance Police (listed as cancelled...whuh?)
6. PlayStation 3 (say what?)
7. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (this is getting ridiculous)
8. Team Fortress 2 (jesus christ)
9. Fallout 3 (I actually hope this is true; I don't want to see Bethesda fuck my sunshine on this one)
10. Earthbound 64/Mother 3

In fact, I think the only actual vaporware items on that list are the Phantom, DNF, and maybe Fallout 3. Although the latter doesn't really count because it hasn't been cancelled or delayed; it's barely even been announced. Get the fuck out of my comic book shop, CNET. Eliza Gauger

See list here [CNET, not sure where I got this link]

Thanks to Tarik for sending in this video of proto-Prey. He seems astonished that Prey has been around for almost 10 years... the rest of us already knew it. But what's fascinating about the live demonstration of Prey by 3D Realms' Paul Schuytema is just how damn good it looks. There's no Dyson sphere, the weapons are completely different, but the game just looks stunning on a P266 with a Voodoo 2 card. Moreover, it demonstrates the exact same dynamic portal-dropping technology that Narbacular Drop and soon Portal have been showcasing.

What's somewhat depressing about this video is it really just shows that what could have been a revolutionary 1998 or 1999 title missed its time and eventually became a fun but ultimately disposable 2006 shooter. And we just wouldn't be very surprised if that's a sentence we can't reuse when Duke Nukem Forever rolls out. Florian Eckhardt

If you're excited for Valve's Portal and wish there was more Narbacular Drop in your Prey now, some intrepid 3D Realms forum modders have modded make-your-own-portals into the popular Human Head Studios game... a game which, as you might remember, accurately models what it might be like to be shrunk down to microscopic size and walk around inside of a woman's cervix. Florian Eckhardt

The Portal Wrench! [3D Realms Forums] (Thanks, Mike!)

Some Gamespot posters noticed that the "secret code" for a free music promo shoved into the Xbox 360 verison of Prey seems to spell out Prey Movie Screenplay Coming 2007.

The secret code is used to get a free game-related music download from Direct Song. The white card is titled Mystery Deal and the secret code is prymvyscrnplycmng2007.

There is, of course, a Prey entry at the Internet Movie Database, but that means next to nothing.I could see the game being turned into a movie, I just hope they change the name of the lead character, either that or give him a brother named Moe.

Calls into 2K Games have not yet been returned. I'll make sure to post a new item once I hear something from them. Brian Crecente

Prey Movie [GameSpot]

Gamer Cyblue got the highest score possible in the slot-like bar games in Prey for the Xbox 360. He scored a whopping $999,000,000. Repeat that in Vegas, Cyblue, and we'll really be impressed. Brian Ashcraft

Xbox 360 and PC FPS Prey isn't the only game we'll see this year dripping with vulva imagery. While Prey's oiled and shaved—and badly in need of a visit to the gyno—organic Dyson Sphere merely induces nausea, Dead Rising's colossal, inflatable rabbit honeypot just gives one a feeling of creepiness.

Clearly this is just an attempt by Capcom of Japan to sell a few more copies to the furry fetishist crowd, but we'd appreciate a little less polygonal sexual symbolism in our future games, please.

Thanks for the tip, Mike. Michael McWhertor

Female Private Parts In Prey [Kotaku]

I'll be frank: it's a long time since I've gotten any. So this weekend, I will spend a lot of time slipping through Prey's gooey, dripping jelly holes, only taking breaks to occasionally IM Eliza innocent questions like "What are you wearing?" and "What would you say if I told you I wasn't wearing any pants?"

But the sad desperation of my forced chastity aside, I love Prey. Yes, the guys at 3D Realms are total idiots, and thirty seconds worth of microwave radiation aimed at George Broussard would cause him to melt like a 400 pound lump of feta cheese. But I really dig Prey's atmosphere, and that portal and running up walls jazz is a lot more fun a gimmick than it has any right being.

Your turn. What will you be playing this weekend? As a follow-up question, what do you think Eliza will be wearing it? Given how grotesquely overweight she is, my guess is Prey's Dyson Sphere. Florian Eckhardt

First, Half-Life 2: Episode Two will be released simultaneously on the PC, 360 and PS3. The 360 and PS3 versions will feature all of the HL2 back content. This hasn't really been explained, but we assume it means at least Half-Life 2 and Episode One, in addition to TF2.

Not only that, but it will also include a new single-player puzzle game called Portals. It looks like we're not the only ones who noticed how fun portals were in Prey, pictured to the right. We'll let someone who actually saw it in action describe it, after the jump.

In addition to that bombshell, Newell revealed that all versions of Episode Two will ship with a separate single-player game called Portals. This is something of an insanely inspired puzzle game that takes advantage of the Source engine, judging from the hilarious trailer that Newell showed. The trailer took the form of a training video for a new employee of an advanced corporation in the Half-Life 2 universe.

The video shows a diagram and explains that as an employee of this company, you may have to find the emergency exit to a certain room. However, there are often obstacles in your way, like a gaping chasm. No problem, because all you need to use is your Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device to create dimensional doorways that let you mess with reality. For example, if there's gaping chasm between you and your objective, just shoot a portal on the far side of the room, then shoot a portal open on your side, then enter the portal. You'll instantly transport from one side of the room to the next by walking through the portal (you'll even see yourself going through the portal).

That's the simplest example of how to use the portal gun. In other situations, you may be under fire by a gun droid. So all you need to do is shoot a portal open over the gun, then shoot a portal open beneath a crate, then watch the crate fall through the hole and crush the gun. It gets even crazier, and the diagrams shown in the trailer showed some incredibly crazy things that you can attempt, like creating a series of portals so that you're constantly chasing yourself. Some of the puzzles sound like they'll be "impossible," so the challenge will be to figure out how to use the portal gun.

This promises to be an incredibly puzzle-style first-person experience, which Newell says is part of the goal. "We wanted to take physics out of this domain as a tool that lets you bounce grenades around to how can we really change the game experience for our customers," he said.

I don't really want to risk enraging Mark Rein into looping my scrotum around the bumper of the Epic Games E3 party bus, then taking it for a drive in a granite quarry. But I'll risk it: I love Valve. Florian Eckhardt

Half-Life 2: Episode Two - The Return of Team Fortress 2 and Other Surprises [Gamespot]

Taking a cue from the Georgia O'Keeffe book of vaginal symbolary, fututuristic FPS Prey for the PC and the Xbox 360 features a doorway that looks like a woman's who-ha hoo-ha. And it doesn't kinda look like one, either. It really, really does. Now, whether or not it is in fact "real"... Hit the jump for the gynecological screenie. Brian Ashcraft

Thanks, Nick! I guess...

Prey (PC, Xbox 360)
The highly anticipated first-person shooter from 3D Realms finally hits this week. Walk on walls, wipe out aliens... hell, download the Xbox 360 or PC demo and try it out for yourself.

Chromehounds (Xbox 360)
Sega and From Software's mech action combat game with a strong multiplayer focus and understated visuals finally comes stateside.

Ultimate Board Game Collection (PS2)
Tons of boardgames are available in this cheapware collection with 3D versions of checkers, reversi, chess, backgammon, mahjong solitaire and more.

So what's up? Let us know what you'll be picking up this week—new sneakers, groceries, dental floss, whatever!—in the comments. And make it funny!

3D Realms has word that Prey is now available for pre-loading through Triton.

I'm not going to mince words here: as an online delivery system, Triton makes Steam look like the game-lactating titanium breasts of one of those sexy Heavy Metal Sorayama cyborgs. Triton's interface is just the worst sort of amateurishness. Trying to pre-order the game results in being directed to a web page, which directs me to Triton, which directs me to the same web page in frustratingly infinite recursion. Ridiculous.

Although Crecente is whelmed (or even less) by the multiplayer, I'm eagerly anticipating Prey after the demo. But I'm definitely not buying it through Triton. You shouldn't either. It sucks. Florian Eckhardt

Prey on Triton

After playing through the shortish single-player demo, I hopped on Live and ended up in a fun multiplayer match with CheapyD, of CheapAssGamer fame, and a bunch of others. While the shifting gravity and spirit walking added a slight twist to the gameplay, it still felt far too much like Quake 37 for my liking.

An hour into game play and our group of gamers had grown so tired of the repetitive nature of the game that we were resorting to wrench-only battles, not a good sign. Sure this was just a demo, but I suspect Prey is going to be more of a single-player experience than one you purchase for endless online multiplayer showdowns.

I went into the demo with such high hopes and what I left with was the feeling that Gears of War is our last chance at getting a truly innovative shooter on the 360 this year. Brian Crecente

Demo: Prey [Major Nelson]

Chromehounds Demo [Major Nelson]

Reader Ryan sends in word that he spotted a pre-order box for the Xbox 360 version of Prey out in the wild today. He was snooping around the over-priced game rows of the retailer when he spotted the Prey pre-order selling for a mere $10. The thing even comes with a cool little pewter figurine. Too bad they couldn't stuff a copy of the demo in the box too, since they can't seem to figure out how to get it on Live. Brian Crecente

The Prey demo might as well be called I Can't Believe It's Actually Decent demo as far as I'm concerned. A game with an eight year development cycle originally brainstormed by a company that pioneered spacebar mashing to use strippers and featuring a Native-American protagonist named 'Tommy Hawk'? Some of you call me cynical, but yeah, I expected it to vortex suck. But why the heck can't Microsoft get it up on Live?

That's what Patrick Klepeck over at 1UP is asking, pointing out that the Prey demo's delay is just another in a long line of similarly missed Marketplace release dates. Hasn't Prey been delayed enough already over the past decade? He also points to Texas Hold 'Em poker... a game that's five months late.

We're with him: If Microsoft wants Live Arcade to succeed, why are there so few games? Why are the games that have been announced constantly delayed? And why isn't Bubble Bath Beauties slated for a Live Arcade remake already? Florian Eckhardt

Where is the Prey Demo?

The game will come in both regular and Limited Collector's Edition versions. I have pretty high hopes for this shooter. I'm starting to think that Prey and Gears of War are going to be going toe-to-toe for best 360 shooter of the year. Which do you think will win? Brian Crecente

I have a guilty admission: I actually kind of dug the Prey demo. What can I say? I'm a sucker for drunken Injun chiefs blithering into their cups about the prophecy of the mountains, not to mention cute Native-American bartenders with amazing polygonal asses and Dyson spheres fueled off the juice of human bean gelatinators. And even their gimmicky Portal Technology? Hell, I thought that was pretty cool too.

Still, I didn't much notice Jeremy Soule's soundtrack, which is interesting, because Soundtrack.net is directly comparing it to the music of the spheres.

Prey is destined to effect industry-wide change: from defining a new standard by which music commissions for flagship interactive titles can be judged, to sounding a welcome death knell for the use of through-composed material. It is a key milestone and one that is the culmination of a decade's work spent to bring the true sound of Hollywood into the home. The result: a soundtrack which breathes color into a monochrome landscape. Indeed, nothing quite like this has come before in the games industry and, when Prey ships, the dust is going to take a long time to settle. So, reload and pack some stims because if you want an answer to where video game music goes from here... it's arrived.

Heavy. Don't expect to understand what they are on about unless you went to Juliard. To be fair, Joel Johnson and I did have an IM discussion about the soundtrack, but it mostly centered about how 'Barracuda' was playing in the bar at the beginning of the game and how awesome it was that Art Bell was finally branching out into video games. Florian Eckhardt

Inside Prey [Soundtrack.net]

Thanks to everyone who wrote in yesterday, pointing out that Prey's new protagonist, Tommy the Mechanic, is indeed a Native American named "Tommy Hawk"... the sort of pun that can only be responded to with blank stares and the audible shlork of dry blinking.

Anyway, the Prey demo featuring Mr. Tommy Hawk is now available. You can grab it at Gamers Hell, the lesser of the download portal evils. An XBox Live Marketplace demo should be available in a few days, for those who don't have a PC box up to snuff to run the Doom 3 engine. Florian Eckhardt

Prey Demo at Gameshell

Add another bullet point in the list of things that have happened while Duke Nukem Forever has been in production: a completely different 3D Realms vaporware product has gone gold, under the watchful eye of Human Head Studios.

We refer, of course, to Prey. I haven't kept tabs on this very well, so I was surprised to find that they abandoned their Native American protagonist idea ('Talon Brave') and replaced him with a garage mechanic named Tommy. Huh. Interesting... although I suppose we can all thank 3D Realms for not giving a Native American the Lo Wang treatment.

A demo of Prey is scheduled for tomorrow, according to Wikipedia. Florian Eckhardt

Prey Goes Gold [3D Realms Forums]

Tom Bass from 2k games tries to justify Prey in fifteen seconds or less. How did he do? You'll have to watch to find out. Double bonus points for fans of vomiting.

Hayden asks: "Of all the features of your game, the spirit walking interests me the most. How does it work? Is it an automatic trigger or manual trigger? Does it time out? Do you need some form of item to support it? If it's a manual trigger, how to you keep it from overpowering the gameplay? It seems overuse of that feature could make the gameplay too easy, making the game rather boring."

Once the player has obtained the ability to SpiritWalk (you cannot do this from the start of the game), they can SpiritWalk at any time, whenever they want.

We decided to not restrict the player from SpiritWalking, because so many puzzles rely upon leaving your body behind and venturing ahead in Spirit form to unlock areas or transport your body.

However, to balance this, you do not always have the ability to attack when in Spirit form. Only if you have enough Spirit Power can you use the Cherokee bow to attack enemies. Without that power you can still SpiritWalk, but you cannot attack.

We are pretty generous with Spirit Power, though as it turns out that it s really fun and useful to leave your body behind and kill enemies with the Bow. And, it all depends upon how you want to play the game. Some of our internal testers like to leave their body and use the Bow often, whereas others prefer killing enemies with the more conventional weaponry.

Hit the link for the rest of the Q&A.

Prey Weekly Development [3D Realms]

And here's the promised second video of Prey gameplay.

Hit the jump.

2K Games just shot us some new Prey gameplay videos. The first is after the jump. I'll post the second in a bit.

We told you last week that 22 first-person shooters would be released this year. By any measure, that's a lot of games for one genre. Any developer brave enough to compete in this field better have a novel premise.

In late January, Kotaku got a hands-on preview of Prey by 2K Games, one of those shooters coming out this year (2K reps said around mid-year). Judging by one hour of play time, I think Prey has enough going for it to stand out in the crowded field.

Here's the quick take: The plot is your standard heavily-armed human-versus-alien. The graphics are based on the Doom 3 engine; they are decent, but nothing that takes your breath away. What makes the game noteworthy is its physics engine, which turns gravity upside down, literally.

There are areas of the ship (and arenas in multiplayer) where the characters can walk on gravity pathways up walls and ceilings, at which point the ceiling becomes the floor. There's also a gravity sphere around which the rooms of the ship are built. You can run along the surface of the sphere through various areas shooting enemies. In multiplayer, man, is this disorienting! It's been a long time since playing a shooter made me nauseous, but having your perspective constantly flip 90, 180, or 360 degrees really messes up your sense of balance (those of you who bought a big-screen HDTV along with the Xbox 360 better keep barf bags handy). It's probably one of the reasons why GameSpot awarded it "Best of E3 2005."

More about the preview and lots of screenshots in the extended entry.

Prey [Official site]

The plot involves a disaffected Cherokee mechanic getting abducted off the reservation by aliens. As the game progresses, the hero, Tommy, gets more in touch with his ancestory and spirituality. By doing so, he gets help from the spirit of his grandfather who gives him crucial clues. There's also a spirit bird who helps in battles and solving puzzles. The hero also has the ability to leave his body and roam the ship in a spirit form—a novel way of looking around the corner.

The 2K guys wouldn't tell us much more about the plot or the bosses, but the gist of the game is to kill the bad guys, rescue the girl and save humanity. Sounds banal, but I saw a couple of scenes in which trapped humans—including children screaming for their parents—were being processed along what looked like a mechanized slaughterhouse, which shocked the jadedness out of me.

I also have to give props to the game designers for avoiding FPS cliches. When you die, you don't just restart as if nothing happened. You enter a spirit world where you have to fight to get your spirit back into your body. It's a neat concept. And I didn't see any crates or exploding barrels, at least not in the demo.

Here are screenshots from Prey, courtesy of Jason, Derek and Chris.

Many people have asked me to comment about the next-gen consoles, and frankly I have nothing enlightened to say. I've yet to touch the controller of any of them. I can't find a X360 to buy in stores, and we have yet to get a development machine sent from Microsoft even though Prey is being developed for their system.

Update: Whoops. Sorry about that. I took my information from Ve3d without double checking their assumptions. It slipped by me that Human Head Studios, not 3D Realms, is making Prey for the Xbox 360.

Prey Developed for 360 W/O Dev Kit [VE3D]

The official Prey website went live last night. The typical rigmarole is up: Videos, press coverage and screenshots, including one new one. The best part of this is that it signals a flood of new Prey info heading our way in the coming weeks.

Prey [Official Site]

We mentioned that footage from 2k Games' Prey was going to debut on G4, and now the software publisher has released the footage to the internet. I put it up over at FileFront for fast downloading (it's small, only about 15 MB). From the footage, Prey reminded me alot of the Alien films. No Ripley sightings, but the main character does appear to be running around with a wrench out from time to time. What's with protagonists in first person shooters using craftsman tools as main hand weapons in the next generation? First Condemned, now Prey, wtf?

Prey Trailer
G4 Showing Prey Monday

As part of their Xbox 360 bonanza, G4 is showing world exclusive footage of Prey. From the creators of the Duke Nuke 'Em games, with the Doom 3 engine, viewers will see 60 new seconds of teasing footage from the adventure. Allegedly, the game takes place inside a living ship which reacts to the main character's actions. Sounds intense. It sounds like the story of Jonah gone gaming.