Duke Nukem Forever rises again from the grave to kick ass, chew bubble gum

Duke Nukem Forever is perhaps the iconic vaporware title after being in developmental hell for more than a decade… until now.

Take-Two Interactive announced today that Gearbox Studios, the studio responsible for Borderlands, will finally pick up the pieces and finish developing the game.

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It will be playable at the Penny Arcade Expo this weekend.

The original Duke Nukem struck a chord with rebellious young male gamers. The character from the original 1996 game, Duke Nukem 3D, was a studly, cigar-chomping, and highly weaponized badass. The game was extremely violent and it was controversial for its depiction of women as sex objects.

3D realms was finally axed in 2009 after working on the Duke Nukem Forever title for 13 years. The most recent sighting of the game in the wild was a teaser released in 2007. The Journal reported that Gearbox began “finishing” the title in late 2009.

It should come as no coincidence that Take-Two also posted blowout quarterly results after the bell on Thursday — beating consensus expectations for revenue by about $50 million and raking in a $26 million profit — as a result of the success of its Red Dead Redemption release. Shares of Take-Two were up 9.5 percent today, to $9.69. They are likely in a better position to take a risk and bet on the Duke.

The Wall Street Journal was the first to release the news earlier today. The game will ship in 2011 for the XBox 360, Playstation 3 and PC — though we’ve certainly heard that song and dance before. Nonetheless, with Gearbox and Take-Two finally cutting all the malarkey, gamers may finally be able to come get some.