So close to done. The NTSC versions of MKSM have been approved by both Sony and Xbox as of today. So we should have no problem making the 9/19 Shelf date in the States. We have not gotten final word from Sony Europe about the PAL version so we aren't sure but it looks like 9/29 is still going to be OK in Europe for PS2 and Xbox. The German versions of the game are about the same dates as regular PAL. Man, I really hate making a German specific version of the game with so many thing edited, ugh.

We are really happy with how things have come out. A lot of things came together at the end to really make things fit together to make a really good game, we think. We like it. Brutalities way exceeded my expectations. The other playable characters exceeded my expectations. I didn't think it would feel that different, but really they have a completely different feel to each one, awesome. And once we've played though it, it is a blast to play with another experienced player and compete for the EXP and health and steal combos and steal kills and then really work together on things and make team combos. One of the testers and I can do the final battle "flawless", which, when you play it, you will not believe.

Getting through the final month of making a game is the biggest nightmare of all time. Some of my friends send me links to posts calling the team lazy for not doing some things. They send them to me because they know how hard we are working, so let me just highlight how hard this team worked. Don't forget, like I said, this project cost me a really good girlfriend (hi Beth). I, and many other team members, lived at either the Chicago or LA office for over 6 weeks. Lived. I'm not exaggerating, I slept here, I ate most meals there for the last 3 months. We are here 18 hours a day. Literally over 10 times this spring Ed Boon and I would work in the LA office until we had to get to LAX to fly back to Chicago, flying overnight and be back in the office the next morning for a full day here. More than once I called Barclay in LA at 8AM my time (6Am in LA) and had him get the troops up and into the office to get things fixed immediately, and I never got a complaint, even on a Sunday morning. Everyone on this team gave everything they had to make this as good of a game as possible. If something isn't in the game, it is because there literally wasn't time. We wanted the best game possible not just a lot more things in it that barely worked. There are an obscene number of time constraints and budgetary constraints to worry about when making a game. Sony and Microsoft have a list of rules and specifications that are literally hundreds of pages.

We are really happy that we have 4 playable characters for the adventure mode. What other adventure game has more than one that has different moves? God of War has a different costume, WOW, Great! Fancy! That had to of taken an artist like 4 or 5 hours to do. Wow!

We have 4 total playable characters with all their own special moves and upgrades and everything. And all of them can be used in ko-op mode in any combination. That is a pretty amazing amount of work compared to ANY other adventure game ever made. Nobody has ever done that.

Right now is a lot of waiting to hear back from the Europeans about code approval. We are doing analysis of possibly doing MKSM for PSP. And I say an ANALYSIS, not a commitment to do it. Also we're finishing the MKD PSP version with Ed and the team so that is keeping us very busy as well. Sony requires "extra content" for the PSP, so we are implementing this additional new kontent for Deception on the PSP.

In the last month we also have been completing all of these on-line movies you see on Gamespot and everywhere else. As well as final approvals on box art, manual info, Strategy guide info, all advertisements and the TV commercial. All of those little things need attention as well, while finishing the game. Oh and those action figures, those should be cool. We had to go through like 6 or 7 passes at those, getting changes made to get them right, but they look cool now.

Right now we are just waiting for final approvals in Europe. Everything else is done for the game.

Some answers to some questions.
All 4 playable characters can be used in single player and in any combination in Co-op play.
Yes, Scorpion Kills "the older" Sub-Zero, you just haven't seen it. Calm down.
You will not meet Shujinko.
There is no AI for Versus mode. Sorry, it is an extra and an extra only. If you don't like that there is no AI, don't play that mode. This is an adventure game, not a versus focused game as MK has traditionally been. Pretend it isn't even there. It is only intended as a little tiny extra.
Versus mode does have "alternate" costumes, as well, if you play as 2 Liu Kangs in co-op or 2 of anyone there is an alternate costume.
All Versus characters will have at least one fatality.
You never lose the ability to fatalities no matter what upgrades you do.
There are at least 10 Fatality for Each of the main characters, and then for boss battles at the end of the battle you can perform a Boss Specific Fatality on them, so each of those is different. As well, if you lose the boss fight, which you will, the bosses each have a specific fatality they do on you.
Yes, all the secrets you found in the Demo will actually be accessible in the game in the "Kontent" section. It is very similar to the Krypt, just a different interface. The demo did not have that functionality at the time. AND yes, many glitches were fixed since the demo was made. The demo was done in MARCH so a lot has changed since then.

OK, that about summarizes things. Oh, and the punch in the head goes to my roommate for saying he was moving out in the middle of this push to the end of the game. Good guy, but man I needed that stress like I need to get punched in the balls. Punch Fuzzy!

ALSO, stay tuned for the upcoming MK5.org sponsored Fight Night. The MKSM team is looking forward to chatting with all of the fans of MK and giving you the inside scoop on the MKSM project as well as a few hints into what's coming up next for Mortal Kombat!

Tell Your Friends,

Shaun