mortal-kombat-2011
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Raiden enters the ring in electrifying Mortal Kombat footage
We know what some of you are thinking: Raiden from Metal Gear Solid is in Mortal Kombat? Boss! No, no, friends -- this is the original Raiden, god of thunder, who shoots lightning and flies through the air yelling something that sounds sorta like "play the ukelele!" Oh, and he's all about that hat.
UK Mortal Kombat tourney has a sweet arcade-size grand prize
The latest Mortal Kombat may be for consoles only, but that hasn't kept its publisher, Warner Bros. Interactive, from creating an arcade cabinet for the game ... which can only be had if you're the UK's best at MK. WBIE is teaming with GAME and GameStation to hold a tournament that runs from March 14 through April 11, culminating in a final round at the Gadget Show Live in Birmingham. The winner will take lug home the custom coin-op cabinet, which houses a PS3, meaning it can technically be used to play Super Street Fighter IV, the upcoming Tekken Tag Tournament 2, or any number of fighters on the platform. The cabinet's artwork depicts Scorpion on one side and Sub-Zero on the other -- and looks pretty amazing, if you ask us. Check it out for yourself in high-res via the gallery below.%Gallery-118808%
Mortal Kombat receives R18 in New Zealand (which means it's coming out)
Mortal Kombat may be combatting release issues in Australia, but the game is being officially allowed to pulverize faces (and everything else) across the water in New Zealand. The country's Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) gave Mortal Kombat an R18 rating recently, which is to say the game's content is "objectionable except if the availability of the publication is restricted to persons who have attained the age of 18 years." We imagine Kiwis responding to the classification by taking fistfulls of marmite and punching straight through box sets of Flight of the Conchords, while screaming "Get over here" in the general direction of WB Games Chicago. Or just quietly shouting "hooray!" One or the other.
PDP Mortal Kombat Fight Stick's secret compartments revealed
Wondering exactly what makes the PDP-designed "portable" fight stick that comes bundled with the $150 Tournament Edition of Mortal Kombat so darn "portable?" Check out the nooks and crannies of the device in the gallery below -- looks like it's got enough space to fit a small family of guinea pigs.
PSN Tuesday: Mortal Kombat demo, AC:B Da Vinci Disappearance
The PSN update delivers the fatalities this week with the Mortal Kombat demo for PlayStation Plus members. If you're looking for a dash of the ultra-violence without the requirement of a subscription, enjoy some happy stabs at $10 with the "The Da Vinci Disappearance" for Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. Sneak on past the break for this week's full update. Choose your platform to view the corresponding release list: (Note: Continue past the break to view both release lists.)
Mortal Kombat preview: Didactic die tactic
After my release from school in the afternoon, I would march into the mediocre mall arcade with an earnest intent to learn. Rather than claiming the Mortal Kombat 3 machine with a coin, I'd drop a thick, stapled stack of A4 pages in the middle of the counter to signal my impending occupation -- and preliminary preoccupation with memorized violence. Starting with Shang Tsung in the top-left corner of the character select screen, I'd read and execute every move and combo for each fighter, line by line, glancing at the pages as I made my way through the arcade mode. If I could pull off every attack sequence for the active character, I'd allow myself to graduate to the fatality list and then cap my progress with a gory reward. This formulaic approach wasn't really born from any desire to be competitive -- rather, I envisioned defeating the game by seeing and knowing every attack, combo and piece of content. Victories against human opponents felt almost incidental. If you're the kind of player who enjoys the solitary, methodical act of executing and learning moves, you should know that April's Mortal Kombat reboot is very happy to show you the ropes, provided you're eager to strangle someone with them afterward.
Mortal Kombat introduces the 300-mission 'Challenge Tower'
As Mortal Kombat fights for classification in Australia, the marketing machine must continue rolling toward the game's April launch. A new video shows off "The Challenge Tower," a set of 300 missions in which players must master many of the game's mechanics. The Tower includes cheeky fight challenges, like Scorpion not accepting a teddy bear from Mileena, in addition to more sobering tests involving environmental dangers or fighting without arms. One of the more interesting challenges shown in the clip requires players to switch between Sub-Zero and Scorpion to match the color of Shao Kahn's shifting outfit in order to damage him. PlayStation Plus members can check out the demo for the game next week, and everyone can view the Challenge Tower featurette after the break.
PlayStation Plus users receive early access to Mortal Kombat demo
PS3 owners will be able to download a demo of the upcoming Mortal Kombat game next week ... provided they have a PlayStation Plus subscription. On March 8th, PS+ users will be able to get an early look at the revamped fighting series. In addition, Plus subscribers will get 50% off all winners of the PSN Gamers' Choice Awards. Non-Plus subscribers will be able to download the Mortal Kombat demo the following week, on March 15th. The demo will be available "later" on Xbox 360. For the full Plus line-up, check past the break.
Mortal Kombat publisher appealing Aussie 'Refused Classification' decision
Warner Bros. Interactive's Australian arm will appeal the RC (Refused Classification) "unrating" bestowed upon Mortal Kombat by the Australian Classification Review Board. The designation prevents the game from being sold by retailers in the country. "After reviewing both the gameplay and the Board's original decision, WBIE Australia believe the violence in the game is on par with numerous other titles readily available for sale in the Australian market," reads the publisher's statement, obtained by IGN AU. "As such, the company wants to exhaust all options to make the game available to Mortal Kombat fans in this country. An identical version of the game will be submitted for appeal." Two years ago, Valve resubmitted an unedited version of Left 4 Dead 2 to the Aussie classification board in an appeal to an earlier RC ruling and ... lost.
Mortal Kombat refused classification in Australia
Mortal Kombat has been refused classification in Australia, IGN AU reports. According to the site's sources, retail outlets have been asked to remove all promotional materials, as well as cancel preorders. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, the game's publisher, said in a statement that it's "extremely disappointed" that the title will not be available to "mature Australian gamers." Due to Australia's lack of an R18+ rating for games, all titles must fit the category of "MA 15+" or be refused classification, and thereby be banned from sale in the country. We're currently following up with WBIE to find out if it's planning an appeal.
Mortal Kombat Liu Kang trailer is noisy, nasty
Liu Kang has never been the strong, silent type. Generally, he's about as quiet as a Pomeranian trapped in a tumble drier. Based on this latest trailer for the upcoming Mortal Kombat, he hasn't changed much. Now, whether that's a good thing or bad thing? That boils down to personal preference.
Noob Saibot wants you to fear him in this Mortal Kombat trailer
You know, black leather and ominous threats may have worked in the '90s, but those kind of scare tactics won't cut it nowadays. All of the voice distortion devices in the world won't make us -- wait, your shadows can actually kill people? Uh, forget we ever said anything.
Mortal Kombat dev gives how-to lesson on Fatality design
You may have wondered, from time to time, how designers have come up with the many, many Mortal Kombat Fatalities through the years. We always figured the finishing moves were borrowed from the margins of 5th grade boys' spiral notebooks -- and that might not be too far off. NetherRealm director of art Steve Beran has detailed the Mortal Kombat reboot development team's design process for Fatalities, which starts with a brainstorming session. He notes on the PlayStation Blog that ideas can come from anywhere, including "gruesome murder news stories, old horror movies and actual nightmares" -- and even a 5th grader's doodles, we suppose. Once an idea sticks, MK co-creator Ed Boon storyboards the concept, as seen above. The storyboard is then used as the basis for a motion capture session and, finally, the motion capture wire-frame data is fleshed out for use in the game by the animation and cinematics groups. The whole process essentially boils down to good, old-fashioned spit balling. Hmmm, that actually sounds like a good Fatality for Reptile: "The Spit Ball." Pardon us while shoot an email off to Ed Boon.
Jeri Ryan, Michael Jai White reprise 'Rebirth' roles in Mortal Kombat live-action series
Warner Bros. today confirmed the initial casting for the Mortal Kombat live-action digital series, which began shooting in Vancouver this month. Both Jeri Ryan (who spilled the beans last week on Twitter) and Michael Jai White will reprise their roles as Sonya Blade and Jax, respectively, from last year's "unofficial fan short" Mortal Kombat: Rebirth -- which was actually a totally professional pitch for a reimagined MK film, made by director Kevin Tancharoen. (While he didn't land the movie deal, Tancharoen did secure a gig directing, producing and co-writing the upcoming digital shorts.) Joining the duo of do-gooders will be Kano, played by Darren Shahlavi, who voiced one of the Tier 1 Operators in Medal of Honor and was an uncredited "Persian" in 300 -- so, obviously, dude knows how to fight. Surely, punches will be thrown and blood will be spilled as Tancharoen and cast resolve this storied love triangle in a hurry. The Mortal Kombat digital series is expected to span nine short episodes and will also feature Scorpion, Sub-Zero and additional characters from the game's universe. The shorts will be "available online" this spring, in conjunction with the April 19 release of the new Mortal Kombat game. "BTW, just finished reading the whole script for Mortal Kombat," Ryan recently tweeted. "Holy crap... I think u might just love it." [Pictured: Ryan (right) and Jai White in Mortal Kombat: Rebirth test footage]
Liu Kang leads Mortal Kombat's new album
While the nature of Mortal Kombat's Liu Kang character may be well established by now (he's the good guy), this trailer for the new game still has some new stuff in it. For example, the music in this video is "Liu Kang's Theme" by Congorock, one of the tracks from the new album "Mortal Kombat: Songs Inspired by the Warriors," which you can look forward to in April. If you can't wait, you can download this track now from iTunes or Amazon MP3! The other new info comes at the end, when the Scorpion and Sub-Zero "figurines" from the Kollector's Edition are revealed. They aren't just figurines, they're bookends! Look, they're impaling all your books. Adorable.
Mortal Kombat and MK: Annihilation Blu-rays include costume for game
With the launch of Mortal Kombat's current-gen reboot getting closer by the day, Warner Bros. is ramping up promotion by announcing the Blu-ray release of both the Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation movies. The films will be sold individually and packed with various special features, most notably a "free exclusive Jade character costume download" for the PlayStation 3 version of the game, included with both movies. Blu-ray.com details each film's Blu-ray extras, and pins an April 19 launch date on them. And, wouldn't you know it, that's the same day that the game comes out!
Mad Catz making replacement FightStick panel for Mortal Kombat
The Mortal Kombat Tournament Edition arcade stick is great for Mortal Kombat, but isn't really usable for other games, due to the unique layout. During a Level|Up Live event, Mad Catz's Mark "MarkMan" Julio unveiled Mad Catz's novel Mortal Kombat solution: a replacement panel for current Tournament Edition FightSticks, allowing you to have arcade-perfect controls for multiple games with the same stick. The Mortal Kombat "Kombat Fight Stick Ultimate Edition Panel" allows users to replace the button layout of the edition Tournament Edition FightStick with one that approximates the classic Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 arcade panel, which is also used in the new Mortal Kombat. The buttons are a little closer together in this version for the sake of ergonomics. No price or release date was announced, but the panel will be available from Mad Catz's online store.
Mortal Kombat live-action series to span 9 episodes
Director Kevin Tancharoen is planning to film nine episodes, running between seven and ten minutes each, for the live-action Mortal Kombat series that was announced by Warner Bros. earlier this month. In an interview with Gamasutra, Tancharoen says that the sure-to-be-violent vignettes will delve into the spiky backgrounds of Mortal Kombat's characters, with more prominent fixtures (like Scorpion) possibly warranting two-part stories. Shooting is scheduled to begin in Vancouver this February. Tancharoen gained the attention of franchise fans and the media after the release of test footage from his Mortal Kombat: Rebirth, a gritty, modernized spin that ditched cross-dimensional tournaments, goateed sorcerers and hell ninjas for something even more outlandish: a guy eating refrigerated heads and an undercover agent who used to be a movie star. Wait -- make that the unintentional release of the Rebirth test footage. "It was still in its rough phase, but I couldn't send a 2GB file over email, so my friend said I could create a private page on YouTube and sent [sic] it to him to review," Tancharoen recalls. "It turns out it wasn't that private."
Warning: Mortal Kombat's 'X-ray moves' revealed in this trailer
This Mortal Kombat trailer shows off the new "X-ray mode," attacks that give an inside look at the damage caused. We wish this tech had been around for Mortal Kombat 2, so we could understand the anatomical makeup of all those people who seemed to be made entirely of arm bones and intestines.
Warner confirms live-action Mortal Kombat digital series by 'Rebirth' director, coming this spring
Last summer's "unofficial" Mortal Kombat: Rebirth test footage has landed its director, Kevin Tancharoen, a job with Warner Bros. While Rebirth won't become a full-length feature film (you can't kill off Johnny Cage like that!), Warner apparently saw something in the imaginative re-imagination of its new aging fighting game franchise. As reported earlier this month, Tancharoen will helm a series of live-action Mortal Kombat digital shorts, which will be released in conjunction with the new game (launching April 19) "this spring through online digital retailers." Does that mean we have to pay for them? Warner teased that the digital series, to commence (crunch time) filming in Vancouver early next month, will provide "never-before-revealed insights" into the characters from the new game and its "universe," including Liu Kang and, of course, the beloved Johnny Cage (you see, Tancharoen?). The company will reveal further details shortly, including casting (and, hopefully, the fact that these webisodes will be totally, 100 percent free -- right Warner?). It's been reported that Michael Jai White will reprise his Rebirth role as Jax. [Pictured: Scorpion from MK: Rebirth test footage; full video after the break]
