Archive EntryPreservation Record
Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown
Shelf markLIB-0029
Editorial StandingCatalogued · Permanent Record
1997Game
Catalog Information
- Original Title
- Duke Nukem 3D
- Release
- 1997 (North America)
- Developer
- Aardvark Software
- Publisher
- GT Interactive
- Platform
- PlayStation
- Region
- NTSC-U/C · North America · SLUS-00355
- Medium
- Pressed optical disc · PlayStation retail edition
- Subjects
- First-Person Shooter · Duke Nukem · Console Port · Preservation
Archival Status
- Custody
- Permanent archive holding
- Reference Copy
- Complete in box: case, pressed disc, manual, and original cover insert
- Condition Report
- Complete in box. Light shelf wear consistent with age. Preserved as a playable reference copy.
- Acquisition
- Private acquisition · August 2026
- Filed
- August 3, 2026
Curator Notes
Total Meltdown is the name North America gave the PlayStation conversion of Duke Nukem 3D. Aardvark Software’s port carries the PC campaign onto optical media and adds console-exclusive episode material — evidence that this was not a straight file transfer but a remastering for Sony’s machine and its audience.
European packaging often shortened the title to Duke Nukem, which is a useful reminder that the object on this shelf is a regional retail identity as much as a codebase. The archive keeps the North American Total Meltdown edition because that is the pressed form under which the conversion circulated here.
Filed beside Time to Kill, the disc prevents the Duke Nukem PlayStation story from being told as only one kind of game. This is the Build-engine lineage on black disc; the other is the third-person console original.
Collection Documentation
Acquired in August 2026 with Duke Nukem: Time to Kill, completing the first Duke Nukem pair on the Original PlayStation shelf.
The retained copy is the North American PlayStation edition published by GT Interactive (SLUS-00355). It remains complete in box with manual and cover insert.
Dedicated artifact views of the individual copy have not yet been filed; the gallery below is held open for that documentation.
Preservation Notes
- Access Hardware
- Sony PlayStation; compatible North American PlayStation hardware
- Original Hardware
- Sony PlayStation · NTSC-U/C
- Playback Compatibility
- Pressed for North American PlayStation consoles. The retained disc remains the primary access copy.
- Preservation Concerns
- Optical-disc aging and surface damage remain the principal risks. The disc is stored upright in its original case under stable, dry conditions; printed materials remain housed with the copy.
- Edition History
- PlayStation conversion of 3D Realms’ Duke Nukem 3D, developed by Aardvark Software and published in North America by GT Interactive in 1997 as Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown (SLUS-00355). The edition includes exclusive PlayStation episode content beyond the original PC episodes. European releases were titled Duke Nukem; a Japanese release followed in 1999 under King Records.
- Access Status
- The original physical edition is out of print and circulates through the secondary market. No current digital edition replaces this reference copy.
Connections
- Archival Lineage
- LIB-0029Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown (1997)this filing
- LIB-0028Duke Nukem: Time to Kill (1998)
- Series
- Duke Nukem
- Editorial Record
- Reserved for future critical writing in Bloodsoaked Media.
Artifact Documentation
Reference photography of the preserved copy held by Bloodsoaked Media. Each view records the edition, materials, and condition of the work in custody.
Space is reserved for official artwork verification, collection photography, scans, and supplementary archival media. Nothing is forced into the record until documentation is filed.
Stewardship History
A permanent chronology of this archival record — filed, revised, and tended over time. Entries accumulate; none are erased.
Collection Documentation entered
Connections established
Duke Nukem series recorded.
Curator Notes entered
Filed into the Library
Accessioned as LIB-0029.
Preservation Notes entered
Published to the public shelf