On Wednesday, MK Online reported that legendary actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa would be embarking on a Mortal Kombat related project entitled Shang's Army. Today, we are happy to bring you the official press release!

PRESS RELEASE: Shang Tsung is looking for a FEW GOOD MEN & WOMEN to join his Warrior Army of Souls. Today, Fatality Friday, ShangsArmy.com unveils the world of Shang through his alter ego, actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa. Cary-Hiroyuki introduces his evolutionary physical training system called Chuu Shin Innercizes through Shang’s Army. 300 Athletes, 300 Martial Artists, and 300 Gamers will comprise the first members of Shang’s Army. Each member will receive personalized training from Shang himself via Skype, podcasts, and member forums. Chuu Shin Innercizes represent the first Gamer physical training system in the Earth Realm. Concentration, focus, endurance training will bring Gamers to their Peak Performance levels never before seen in the gaming world. The effect of Chuu Shin Innercizes will effect Athletes and Martial Artists in the same fashion; Peak Performance through Breathing, Gravity and Centrifugal Force Exercises and Innercizes. Membership is limited to the first 900 to register. Join now. http://www.ShangsArmy.com or become a Shang FATALITY!!!

Be sure to visit the also follow Cary Tagawa on Twitter at @CHTagawa!

In one of the final stops for Mortal Kombat before the release on the game on April 19th (21st UK), MK Online will be in attendance for the event to bring you hands-on coverage and impressions! PAX East, located in Boston, will host the most complete build of the game yet. The popular expo which also hosts a west coast version of itself in Seattle during the summer [MK Online's coverage of PAX Summer '10] will feature the largest playable character roster on a publicly playable build of the game to date. During Ed Boon's recent sit-down with GDC, we saw a 16 character select screen available. We imagine this may be the build used for the event.

A four character demo was released to Playstation Plus subscribers on Tuesday and will be available in the PSN store for all PS3 players March 15th. This build of the game features four characters and somewhat outdated gameplay mechanics and currently mirrors the build on the Mortal Kombat truck tour.The build at PAX should give us a better idea just what to expect when the final version of the game ships next month.

We will bring you impressions from the event over this coming weekend, so stay tuned to MK Online for the latest!

Mortal Kombat is set to take Europe by storm with an official tournament set to commence next week! Smaller tournaments held in Italy, Belgium, and Holland in the lead-up to the final!

Taking place at the UK’s largest consumer electronics show, The Gadget Show, the final competition will be held in front of thousands of gamers at Mortal Kombat’s spectacular ‘Fight Arena’ stage in the Over 18 Gaming Zone. The ‘Fight Arena’ stage is set to be a huge draw at the event, allowing visitors to experience the bone-crushing, blood-spilling action on a massive HD projection screen. Even those who have not qualified for the final will be able to win spot prizes throughout the show as they do battle in the arena. Winners in Belgium and Holland will receive custom made gaming sticks from Shadaloo Xtreme Fightsticks [pictured below]!

The winner of the Tournament will recieve a full size Mortal Kombat Arcade Machine, containing a PlayStation 3 console. The Final held on Sunday 17th April will be hosted by GameFace TV presenter, Julia Hardy. Players can enter by participating in qualifying rounds taking place form March 14th through April 4th at various GameStation and GAME stores throughout the UK.

Qualifying heat locations are as follows (chronological order):

• Nottingham (March 14th)
  Gamestation 16 Angel Row, Nottingham NG1 6HL (7pm - 9pm)



• Norwich (March 18th)
  GAME 2-10 Back of the Inns, Norwich NR2 1PT (7pm - 9pm)



• Southampton (March 21st)
  GAME 3-4 East Street, , Southampton, Hampshire, SO14 3HE (7pm - 9pm)



• Hull (April 1st)
  Gamestation 59 Prospect Street, Hull HU2 8PW (7pm - 9pm)



• Liverpool (April 4th)
  Gamestation 72 Lord St, Liverpool, Merseyside L2 1T (7pm - 9pm)



• Kingston (April 7th)
  GAME 64-66 Clarence St, Kingston Upon Thames KT1 1NP (7pm - 9pm)



• Southend (April 8th)
  GAME 120 High St, Southend-on-Sea SS1 1JT (7pm - 9pm)



• Birmingham (April 11th)
  Gamestation 138 New Street, City Centre, Birmingham B2 4NS (7pm - 9pm)



• The final is being held in Birmingham (April 17th)
  The Gadget Show Live, NEC

Belgian and Dutch Champions Receive Custom Shadaloo Fightstick!

Dutch and Belgian tournament rounds will be held:

• Dutch Qualifier: FAME Amsterdam (March 12)
  Kalverstraat 2-4, 1012 PC Amsterdam (7:30pm - 11:30pm)



• Dutch Qualifier: Bonjasky Academy (March 19)
  Hildo Kropstraat 2, 1328 BC Almere (2pm - 6pm)



• Dutch Finals: Beachclub Fuel (April 2)
  Zeeweg 84 2051 EB Bloemendaal *8pm - 11:30pm)



• Belgian Qualifier: The Bulldogs Antwerpen (March 12)
  Bredabaan 210 2170 Merksem (3pm - 7pm)



• Belgian Qualifier: Queensbury Gym (March 19)
  Rue Stephenson 78a 1000 Bruxelles (2pm - 6pm)



• Belgian Finals: La Rocca (April 7)
  Antwerpsesteenweg 384 Lier (8pm - 11:30pm)

Mortal Kombat Online's very own , will be in attendance at the Norwich GAME store on March 18th. Be sure to follow us on Twitter for updates, @MK_Online, for live updates. Stay tuned to the Official Mortal Kombat Facebook UK Tournament Page as well.

Following the releases of Shadows and Belltower wallpapers, another in the line of character vignettes has been posted at Gamespot. The Thunder God, Raiden, finally appears in all his glory after being first seen back in June when the debut trailer of Mortal Kombat struck [full story].

The Elder Gods, mythical figures in the MK timeline who have never been truly seen before are shown in more detail than ever before. Raiden appears small next to these massive, warrior-like figures as the protector of Earthrealm pleads with them to create the Mortal Kombat tournament for the protection of Earthrealm. In addition, the first glimpse of Mortal Kombat 3 character Sheeva is also present in this video, as she stands on the side of Shang Tsung during one portion of the video.

Raiden's gameplay is on show for the first time since the game's announcement, and it appears to be a quick mix of martial arts with a large amount of his trademark control over the element of lightning embedded into it. He performs signature attacks such as his flying torpedo and teleport in addition to his X-ray attack, which also makes use of his teleportation skills. Raiden lands vicious strikes on both sides of his opponent, splitting them up with a quick teleport from back to front.

As we mentioned during our last wallpaper story, the fatality occurring there would likely be one of his in-game fatalities and that logic turned out to be true. Here we see the fatality in more detail, as he not only severs the arms from his victim but the legs as well, before throwing what remains of his victim overhead, smashing into the ground below.

It is unknown whether or not a combo montage, which some characters such as Liu Kang have received following a vignette will be available for Raiden. Stay tuned to @MK_Online on Twitter to keep up with the latest on this story!

Veteran actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, best remembered by Mortal Kombat fans as the shape-shifting sorcerer Shang Tsung from the first Mortal Kombat movie in 1995, is planning to unveil a project of interest to Mortal Kombat fans later this week.

"Shang's Army" is scheduled to be unveiled in more detail on 3/11/11 exclusively on MK Online. The project is rumored to be a chance for fans to interact with Mr. Tagawa on a unique level and gain possible access to exclusive memorabilia from his outing in the first movie. You can currently follow him on Twitter @CHTagawa.

Mortal Kombat Online will bring you the latest as it is available to us, stay tuned!