Chris Jones Gaming was able to speak to Jon St. John, the voice of Duke Nukem in the hit of ’96 Duke Nukem 3D and legendary upcoming title, Duke Nukem Forever, today and this is what he had to say:
PLEASE NOTE: Duke Nukem is a very well known 18 rated franchise. As such, the content below (specifically, the promotional video) will not be suitable for some age groups.
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Q) Duke Nukem 3D was perhaps the second game I ever played and I think contributed to the enjoyment I get out of games today. I have a lot of good memories of the enemies Duke faced in 3D, do you have a favourite enemy from the game?
A) Gotta be the Cycloid Emperor…tough bastard made it so hard to get to the queen…I hate that spread of fire they threw at me every time I entered the freakin’ stadium.
Q) A Duke Nukem Forever trailer shows Duke fighting a one-eyed monster on a football field, which is very remininscent of the end of one of Duke Nukem 3D’s campaigns, do you think this was the intention of the developer?
A) I think it takes you back to 3D, but I do not know the developer’s intentions…but I’m sure they have a reason for it.
Q) Duke Nukem Forever has had a difficult time in development, yet you’ve maintained your enthusiasm for the series. What is it about Duke Nukem that appeals to you?
A) Duke is the baddest-ass game character of all time…he’s not only tough, he’s funny and got a hell of an attitude. This guy was always worth waiting for…don’t you think?
Q) Despite Duke’s relatively short time on the shelves, he became an iconic gaming character, has being the voice of Duke Nukem provided other voiceover opportunities for you?
A) Yes, many. Duke’s popularity brought other developers to me who wanted a bad-ass voice to go with a character they created.
Q) Duke Nukem is known for his memorable lines, “come get some”, “blow it out your ass”, “you’re an inspiration for birth control” and “Damn, those alien bastards are gonna pay for shooting up my ride!” come to mind, do fans ask you to repeat classic Duke lines and if so, do you ever get tired of repeating them?
A) No, I never tire of it…and the line most often requested is: “I’ve got BALLS OF STEEL.” (Probably due to the popularity of the Ventrilo Harassment!)
Q) In a similar vein to that question, Sjoerd asked via Twitter: What was your favorite quote from Duke Nukem 3D and why?
A) My favorite line from 3d: “I’ll rip your head off and s h i t down your neck”…but in DNF, my favorite line is: “I’ll rip out your eyeball and piss on your brain.”
Q) Gearbox Software picked up Duke Nukem Forever and are taking it through to completion. Will this be Duke’s final swansong or can you see the man with the balls of steel returning one day?
A) Oh yeah, Duke will be back…I am still working on Apogee’s Duke Nukem Trilogy. As for the DNF team, I never know what those folks are up to…
Q) When confronted with a game about himself, Duke once said “I don’t have time to play with myself”, do you play any of the Duke Nukem games?
A) I still play Duke 3D, now that it’s on my iPad! (Tough controls, though.)
Q) What is it like when you see the final product, hearing your voiceovers combined with the rest of the game to bring the character to life?
A) It’s awesome! I’m really very proud of the Duke Nukem games…and I think my voice is a great match for Duke.
Q) Interceptor Entertainment recently obtained a personal, non-commercial license from Gearbox to make Duke Nukem 3D: Reloaded, a modern remake of the original game. On their site, I’ve read that you’re involved with recording new one-liners to be included in the game, what can you tell us about that?
A) Well, until they inform me that “Reloaded” is ready, I can’t say much. They did have me re-record some of the classic 3D lines, as the originals were low-quality 8bit files.
Q) Duke Nukem Forever recently and now quite famously announced that it would experience one final delay, with the release date being pushed back to June, with Randy Pitchford trying to defuse the situation with humour in his announcement video. What are your thoughts on the final delay and Randy’s way of announcing this to the fans?
A) I thought his presentation was funny…and the delay was unavoidable. Gearbox is making sure the game is the best it can be. I was in the Gearbox offices in Texas last week, met the staff, saw how they work. I know how committed these folks are to creating the top-quality game Duke fans expect. They are in the final stages of preparation for the multiple platforms now.
Q) Chris Jones Gaming Staff Member Muldrf also has great memories of playing Duke Nukem 3D multiplayer over a LAN connection and had two questions, the first being: How did you come to be the voice of Duke Nukem?
A) While working at a radio station in San Diego, I met one of the top casting directors in the business – Lani Minella, who asked me to audition for the part, and ultimately helped me create the character voice for Duke.
Q) The second question was: It’s been 15 years since the release of Duke Nukem 3D, did you think you’d still be voicing Duke all these years later?
A) No, I did not. I knew that Duke was huge back in the late 90′s, but now, in 2011…who knew? Not me.
Q) Chris Jones also asked two questions, the first being: Do you recall your reaction when you first knew you were going to be the voice of Duke Nukem?
A) I had no idea that Duke 1 or 2 were even popular, I was not much of a gamer at the time. My reaction was: great, a paid voice gig!
Q) The second being: Are you still out of gum?
A) Yea…guess I’ll just have to keep kicking ass, huh?
Q) Finally, is there anything Duke would like to add, perhaps about his upcoming game?
A) On behalf of Jon, my voice, BUY MY GAME! In fact, buy 5 copies of my game and help put Jon’s kids thru college!!
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Well, there you have it straight from the man himself, Duke is a man that cares, especially when it comes to himself, lol
On behalf of myself and Chris Jones Gaming, I’d like to thank Jon St. John for speaking to us and giving us some of his time to answer our questions.
Duke Nukem Forever will be available in both standard and Balls of Steel limited editions with a scheduled release date of June 10th in Europe and June 14th in North America on the PS3, X360 and PC Platforms.
