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Mortal Kombat's Wiimote-enabled fatalities
While we're not sold on using the Wiimote for traditional fighting games -- and neither is Midway, you can play the newly released Mortal Kombat: Armageddon with the classic controller or GameCube controller -- the mere thought of Wiimote-enabled fatalities has us all bloodthirsty giddy with curiosity. We perused the list of moves conveniently hosted in PDF format at JOEyGADGET, and selected our three favorites, ranked in order of offensiveness to your grandparents: Rip off Both ArmsRemote & Nunchuck: Both poke, Remote toward and Nunchuck awayHead Crush FinisherRemote & Nunchuck: away then toward each other (clap)Spine Rip FinisherRemote: Poke, twist clockwise Between this and Manhunt 2's Wiimote-enabled depravity, the Wii is becoming the console of choice for not only the octogenarian cruise ship crowd, but the graphic simulated violence crowd as well.
Wii releases for the week of May 28th
Can you believe it? This week, we have a list of Wii releases -- an actual list, which means more than one title. Brilliant! At least, it seems that way until we head out to the shops and peer into our wallets, which immediately shrivel in the face of the epic list of games we want to buy. But we're greedy like that. So what's it for you this week? Will you bear the brunt of multiple game purchases? Are you going to wait awhile before making any decisions? Mario Party 8 Mortal Kombat: Armageddon Surf's Up Tamagotchi: Party On!
Rampage World Tour tears up the PS3 tonight
Sony has announced that tonight they are releasing the SOE remake of the arcade classic, Rampage World Tour, through the North American PLAYSTATION Store. Priced at the standard rate of a mere $4.99, the downloadable title allows you to play as any of the three classic Rampage characters as you tear down skyscapers and generally terrorize the city. The game also offers multiplayer action for up to three people, online or local - no word on if it supports voice chat though.I'm pretty stoked about this title myself. I liked Mortal Kombat II a lot, but Gauntlet II was kind of lacking in the fun department. Rampage looks solid though, graphics held up surprisingly well and something about the simple, destructive nature of the gameplay of the original always entertained me.[Via Press Release]
New Mortal Kombat Armageddon screens
It's a little weird to release new screens of a port that looks pretty much identical to the versions that have been out since October, but that's okay! We're following Mortal Kombat Armageddon with interest, just because of the waggle. We are very curious about trying a waggle-fortified fighting game.One thing is certain from these screens: Nintendo is definitely not insisting on replacing the blood in this game with viscous grey sweat. Unless they're saying that in the Outworld, people sweat red-- by the gallon, out of gaping neck wounds. We've posted a gallery containing new screens-- FINISH THEM! Uh, by which we mean LOOK AT THEM!%Gallery-3141%
Mortal Kombat Wii lacks online mode, developer blames Nintendo
The Wii version of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon producer Shaun Himmerick has confirmed that the title will have no online functionality whatsoever. This is despite previous versions of the game having online play (on PlayStation 2 and Xbox One) and despite the developer's wishes to include online play.The reason, as Himmerick explains in an interview with Advanced Media Network, was not a technology issue but that "Nintendo didn't have their online system ready for us when we would have needed to implement it," he said. Himmerick said they instead focused on improving the single player aspect: creating an Endurance mode, including a new character and fine tuning the Wii remote controls.The news comes as further anecdotal evidence that Nintendo is not letting third-party developers put online in their gameplay. Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, takes out its aggression on the Wii on May 29.[Via Nintendo Wii Fanboy]
Mortal Kombat performs fatality on Wi-Fi functionality
While we've all thought since January that the odds of online gameplay making its way into Mortal Kombat: Armageddon for the Wii were almost nonexistent, it seems now that we may finally take that nonexistence by the throat and choke it to death. And toss it in a trunk, lock it shut with chains and padlocks, finally tossing it into the Atlantic ocean. It just isn't happening, as the game's producer Shaun Himmerick revealed to AMN in a quick Q & A session. This, of course, is quite sad, considering that some folks working on the game actually wanted to include online functionality.
Metareview + Our Take: Mortal Kombat II
Today gives us the opportunity to look at the reviews given to the PS Store's downloadable Mortal Kombat II. Before we get into our impressions, we'll do as we always do and cite the big-name review sites. Their scores for this game were surprising. There aren't too many reviews on the game, though. Without further ado, here are some of the scores given to MKII. IGN: 7.3 / 10 GameSpot: 7.9 / 10 What we noticed in these reviews is that the reviewers didn't actually review the title as what it is, rather, as what it was. "Oh, this game was great in 1993!" were slapped over both reviews, listing what the game offered back then and how it still does all those things. What our impressions were entailed how that doesn't matter two kicks of the donkey -- the game as it is now really sucks. Read on to listen to our reasoning, or just flame away for no reason now.
Midway reports $11 million sales, $19 million loss
So it would seem the release of Mortal Kombat II on the PS Store actually contributed to helping out Midway's Q1 numbers. We'll be reviewing that title this weekend and here's a teaser -- we aren't pleased. Sales for Midway this first quarter were a reported $11.1 million, down from the previous quarter's $15.4 million. Their net loss is teetering on $19.8 million, which is better than last year and better than anticipated. Most of Midway's killer titles are due out later this year.CEO David Zucker was pleased, saying the company's performance "exceeded our expectations during the first quarter primarily due to the continuing sales of our holiday 2006 releases and other catalog titles." Heck, those random-number-generating analysts snidely remarked that Midway would only see $8 million in sales by the end of the first quarter.Still, Midway isn't making that many games -- they're creating a few new titles on the PSP and DS, but the Wii will be getting a remake of MK: Armageddon, the 360 will snag Hour of Victory, and continued sales of Lord of the Rings Online will probably bear the brunt of sales for the rest of the year. We'd like to see more from these guys on the PS3 -- maybe a new IP. We'll keep you posted if anyone gets talked up, but for now, we'll just continue to shrug at these numbers.
Chalkboard fighters return with stop-motion video
A couple of years ago, a group of students released a set of images depicting a Street Fighter/Mortal Kombat-esque fight sequence in front of a chalkboard. Now the team has released a stop-motion video utilizing over 3,000 photos and several hours of post-production effects. No chalk this time around, but the video game-meets-Dragonball Z-meets-real life theme is all there. Check out the video after the break.[Via Insert Credit]
Mortal Kombat wants to get "real serious"
What happens when an undisclosed number of game developers stop making the same blood-drenched fighting games and start getting real? A terrible Real World special. That's what. After Armageddon, MK creator Ed Boon said the next title in the franchise will be more realistic-looking and "not going to be like jokes." Indeed. It'll be an edgier move, grittier, dirtier. Darker? Whatever they plan, they're planning from scratch. Other than the idea of it being a fighting game, anything after that is open for consideration. No kart-racing, please.Boon added this about the upcoming (read: end of 2008) game: "We're not putting any restrictions like we HAVE to keep weapons or we HAVE to keep fighting styles and stuff like that... we're going to... try to introduce as many new characters as possible, new features, new stuff like that and take advantage of the amazing presentation, graphics that all of a sudden you can do, things that are a lot more real." New characters are always welcome, really. As far as features go, Boon and his Boonies (teehee, it's like Goonies) will try to incorporate the SIXAXIS controls in there and use the next-gen consoles as fully as possible. We look forward to seeing what gets revealed... next year.
Boon: Next Mortal Kombat game to be "serious"
Ed Boon is done joking around with Mortal Kombat. We don't know what that means, but he seems so serious about it, we can't help but be a little intimidated. He put on his business face in an interview with CVG about the next game in the series, saying "we're not going to joke around in this one, it's not going to be like jokes." Does this mean we can't expect Babalities? No more Johnny Cage crotch shots?Boon goes on to expand on his vision for the new, more mature MK, (or will it be MC?) calling it more realistic and grittier, with the designers feeling no obligation to bring back favorite fighting styles or weapons. He stops short of saying he'll bench favorite characters, presumably to stem the tide of "If joo dont bring bak ScOrPiOn ILL cut your brak lines" emails that are probably just making love to "GrEEdo didnt shoote 1st dumba$$" emails somewhere just waiting for their moment to strike. Boon said the title probably won't be available until the end of 2008, and we're (pun incoming!) seriously excited to see this brave new world of spine removal.
Mortal Kombat II bloodies up the PS3 April 12th
When we last reported on Mortal Kombat II for the PlayStation Network, we said it was coming out in March. Obviously that didn't happen as we're now deep into April and you have yet to punch someone in the crotch with the power of the internet. To make up for it, here is a fabulous joke that is guaranteed to mortify your opponents online.What is Liu Kang's favorite drink?...WATAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!Hilarious. The ball breaking goodness arrives this Thursday as Mortal Kombat II will be available on the PlayStation Network for $4.99. It comes complete with online play, so be sure to brush up on your Mileena for when you run into jerks like us who just want to play Jax all day.
Mortal Kombat II gets downloadable April 12th
Oh yeah! This brings back the old-school memories. Button mashing never got any better than Mortal Kombat II, and now you can experience it all over again on your PS3 this week. From the press release:"Get ready to re-live all of the classic arcade action that made Mortal Kombat II a beloved classic. Brought back and available for download exclusively on the PS3, re-experience the classic head-to-head fighting game featuring classic characters such as Sub-Zero or Goro. Players will fight their way through the Outworld and defeat Shang Tsung or battle hidden characters including Jade and Smoke!"Ten new levels, online multiplayer and smack-talk inducing leaderboards will likely make this the best $5 you've spent in a long, long time. Get ready to download it on the PLAYSTATION Store this Thursday. And try not to break your SIXAXIS ... that thing is not made for prolonged thumb attacks.
Retcon-Alert: New Mortal Kombat film to reboot franchise
Either Midway realized they went too far the moment Liu Kang was turned into a zombie, or they just want to cash-in on a current cinema trend. Regardless, the Mortal Kombat series could stand a serious reboot. Especially after the previous game, Armageddon, featured a dead Johnny Cage split-punching every known kombatant ever in the crotch.Should the new film ever make it to theaters, director Christopher Mink says it will be a retelling of the Mortal Kombat universe, a la Batman Begins. This would also fall in line with MK co-creator Ed Boon's vision of a completely redone fighting game for the eighth sequel in the series. With scripts being thrown in and out of Threshold, Midway and another, unknown studio, progress is still being made albeit slowly.In other Oscar worthy news, Mink told IMDB readers that he has met with former Mortal Kombat stars Robin Shou and Christopher Lambert. For Raiden, we expect no less, for there can be... only one!
Mortal Kombat gets previewed, offers video as well [update 1]
During a preview for Mortal Kombat: Armageddon for the Wii, Game Informer revealed that the preview build they were given was actually good. It was better than good, it was fun. And what exactly makes this game so fun? Well, we're glad to report it's the controls. What's odd about this piece, however, is the report that the folks developing this MK title wanted to include online functionality. What's even more odd though is that the reason given for not including the functionality is Nintendo hasn't given them any online-capable dev kits yet. This goes against the reports of third-party devs already receiving these.This doesn't make much sense to us, to tell the truth, even if Nintendo's Pokemon Battle Revolution is to kick off the Wi-Fi gameplay on the console. That doesn't mean the developers can't implement the code and just force those who have purchased the game to wait until after Pokemon before turning the Wi-Fi on, right?Update: Whoops, we got our dates mixed up. MK releases before Pokemon Battle Revolution, explaining why they can't implement online play. Our mistake as we had the DS Pokemon games in mind when we said April.
Mortal Kombat II heading to Playstation Network this March
When Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 appeared on Xbox Live Arcade this past October, folks cried out for the prequel, Jax Vs Mile- err, we mean, Mortal Kombat 2. Playstation 3 owners win this round as Sony Online Entertainment will be bringing classic kombat to the Playstation Network this March.Mortal Kombat 2 will be available for $4.99 and is being handled by the team behind UMK3 for Xbox Live Arcade, Digital Eclipse. The site for the game itself is slim on details, but if we're to believe this preview from CES, it will support online multiplayer and a 720p resolution.Enjoy the screenshots and the quick-look strategy guide provided above.%Gallery-1824%
PREPARE YOURSELF for new Mortal Kombat Armageddon screens
Is it okay to get nostalgic about Mortal Kombat? We know the series isn't that old, and, in fact, still exists. But, for example, we can't help but reference the old "PREPARE YOURSELF" slogan from the 1993 print ads when we're talking about any MK game. We miss the old games, and it took the new one to put us in that state.Looking at the big, empty environments of the new Wii version of Mortal Kombat Armageddon makes us long for the detail-filled stages of the old games, and the sort-of-plain character models remind us of how amusingly hokey the digitized sprites used to be. Those were the days, when we didn't need fancy polygons to enjoy virtually ripping some dude's spine out. We had Claymation bosses and we liked it. It was a simpler time-- a TOASTY!! time.Screens, with obligatory Wii-gesture diagrams, after the break.
MK8 gets new spine: Unreal Engine 3
In an interview with Game Informer, Mortal Kombat maestro, Ed Boon, revealed that Mortal Kombat 8 will use the Unreal Engine 3. Boon realized that UE3 would be perfect for the next Mortal Kombat after playing Gears of War. "To me, when I saw Gears of War, I was like, 'Holy shit! That's the look that we've been talking about" (last we checked, the look you were talking about was people leaving behind 8 rib cages and 12 femurs when they explode). Beyond visual aesthetics, Boon states that his team will be throwing out all the recent iterations of MK and starting again from the ground up. Boon promises a new control scheme and play style. The changeable fighting stances, for instance, will not be returning.We're excited by the prospects of new Mortal Kombat. The last time Boon and company rebuilt Mortal Kombat, the series received a much needed kick in the pants. Here's hoping the newly redesigned version will become a similarly fresh experience. Don't get too excited though, the game isn't expected to ship until 2008.[Via Joystiq]
Mortal Kombat 8 inspired by Gears of War, using Unreal Engine 3
Speaking with Game Informer, Ed Boon described an opportunity to start anew with the next version of Mortal Kombat, the eighth in the series. Boon revealed that MK8 will be built using Unreal Engine 3, inspired by Epic's recent engine showcase Gears of War. "To me, when I saw Gears of War, I was like, 'Holy shit! That's the look that we've been talking about.' Visually, that's what we want to do," explained Boon. Visually.MK8 is still a fighter at heart, and Boon and the team hope that by starting from scratch, Mortal Kombat can inspire the genre as it did more than a decade ago. "We're not going to have three fighting styles, we're not going to have the same punches and kicks and the same kind of control scheme. Everything is getting trashed. We're reinventing everything from the ground up," promised Boon. Don't expect any solid details for some time; Boon admitted that MK8 is currently not in a playable state, supposing that its release won't come until the end of 2008.While Boon hinted at the possibility of MK8 on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii, it should be noted that Epic's Mark Rein recently told Wired that "it's not in [Epic's] plans to bring Unreal Engine 3 to the Wii. It's really designed for next-gen, high-definition." Oh snap!
DS Daily: On franchises
Despite the fact that some franchises just don't port well, the subject of whether or not any given property should make an appearance on the DS inevitably comes up. Square Enix is bringing their big franchises to the handheld. Mortal Kombat will be making an appearance. Katamari Damacy, however, rolled on by. We could go on, but we figure you get the drift. What we want to know is -- which franchises do you really want to see on the DS, and which ones do you hope stay far, far away?
