Following on the heels of IGN's article concerning the new Mortal Kombat game for the Nintendo DS, Midway has sent out a press release officially announcing Ultimate Mortal Kombat! Ultimate Mortal Kombat is confirmed to be a port of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 with online play and leaderboards, and including the Puzzle Kombat minigame originally seen in Mortal Kombat: Deception. From the press release:

CHICAGO, IL -- June 27, 2007 -- Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY), a leading interactive entertainment publisher and developer, today announced that five new titles are in development exclusively for Nintendo systems. Only for Wii, experience the rebirth of action racing with Cruis'n and a collection of classic skill games with Game Party. Ultimate Mortal Kombat, The Bee Game™ and a title based on Cartoon Network's top-rated, kids animated series Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends are all in development exclusively for Nintendo DS. All of the titles are custom designed to take full advantage of the unique controls and interface of the Wii and Nintendo DS and are scheduled to be available in 2007. In addition to these newly announced products, Midway has recently released Mortal Kombat®: Armageddon™ for Wii and Touchmaster™ for Nintendo DS.

"The Wii and Nintendo DS require games that are innovative and take full advantage of a unique control scheme to offer a truly different type of gameplay experience," said Matt Booty, executive vice president - worldwide studios, Midway. "We are very excited to be bringing classic Midway franchises such as Mortal Kombat and Cruis'n along with powerful licensed content like Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends to the massive installed base of Nintendo system owners."

"Nintendo is very excited to be working with Midway to have these great brands and new products come exclusively to Wii and Nintendo DS," said George Harrison, senior vice president, marketing and corporate communications, Nintendo of America Inc. "These new games paired with the unique controls of Wii and Nintendo DS will continue to expand videogames to new audiences."

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Ultimate Mortal Kombat (Nint endo DS, November) - Ultimate Mortal Kombat combines the visceral thrills of the classic Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and the addictive puzzle action of the Puzzle Kombat component of Midway's best-selling Mortal Kombat: Deception® in a single DS-friendly package. With new record-keeping capability, and Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection multiplayer, players will be able take UMK anywhere for fighting action on the go.

In addition, Midway released four screenshots and a trailer for Ultimate Mortal Kombat. As can seen in the screenshots, Ultimate Mortal Kombat makes subtle but effective use of the dual screens on the Nintendo DS. Regular gameplay occurs on the lower screen, while the upper screen gives information and additional effects where appropriate. For example, when selecting your kombatant in standard kombat, the upper screen shows the bio of the kombatant that is highlighted. In Puzzle Kombat, the animations showing the "chibi" kombatants fighting is displayed on the upper screen while the main puzzle action takes place on the lower screen. (In MK: Deception, the chibi fighters fought in front of the puzzle containers.

As stated before, Ultimate Mortal Kombat is slated for a November release. As we learn more, we'll be sure to report it!

To read the press release in its entirety, click here.