Shacknews reporters are claiming that they have actually seen a copy of Duke Nukem Forever being played.

In a news story highlighted by a picture of the titular hero looking like a surly midget (check it out here: http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/52423), journalist Steve Gibson claims to have seen "several different DNF gameplay scenarios, mechanics, and environments being demonstrated."

He goes on to mention that the game looks great and that there were "plenty of heads and arms being blown off."

The bigger question this raises, though, is: Do we even need Duke Nukem anymore? I realize there is a dedicated fanbase out there, already making arm pumping Hell Yeah!'s at the thought of this finally reaching fruition, but, seriously, the Duke was cool when we were 12.

During our junior high years, having a guy that looked like The Terminator blowing up aliens while drowning in strippers was, essentially, our dreams come true.

Now here we are, more than a decade later, and what does Duke Nukem really have to offer? Stolen lines, a look modeled after a California Governor and the barest bones of a plot. Is another alien-shooter--this time with breasts!--really what the gaming world needs now?