It's that time of year again and the E3 Expo is once again in full swing! Lasting officially 3 days from June 15th through the 17th, E3 is one of the largest events of the year for the video game industry in which upcoming projects and games are showcased. Though MK Online is not able to be present for live coverage this year, we are still committed to bringing you the best coverage possible from around the internet through trusted gaming media sites. By rounding up the information for you in one convenient location, all the sights from E3 related to the new Mortal Kombat game due out in 2011 will be easy to see. As the event begins with news conferences today, we bring you these images from the Mortal Kombat advertisement banner at the show. Credit goes to GameKyo.com for these images. Also below is a screen of Mortal Kombat's booth this year, with an elaborate castle theme. Image was captured from a Gametrailers feature.
As the event rolls on this week, check back for the latest and most up-to-date coverage from Mortal Kombat's appearance at E3 this year.
Hot on the heels of the announcement that the websites for the new Mortal Kombat reboot game and Netherrealm Studios are online, a new teaser trailer for the new Mortal Kombat game has been released!
Available in HD, the trailer starts out with a prerendered confrontation between Shao Kahn and Raiden in Kahn's Arena, before going into in-game fighting footage.
As can be expected from a reboot, the characters seen are all returning characters, including Sub-Zero, Sektor (using the same binary effects as seen in MK Armageddon), Nightwolf, Johnny Cage (now sporting his name tattooed across his chest), Mileena (wearing something similar to her MK Deception garb), Kung Lao (wearing his MKII outfit), and Reptile (looking like a cross between his MKII and MKSM appearances). Returning arenas shown include the aforementioned Kahn's Arena, the Dead Pool, and the Pit. In addition to the standard 2D kombat the game is returning to (complete with complex air juggles), a tag-team mode similar to Capcom's VS. games is seen. The trailer also includes a glimpse of a possible new gameplay/game effect feature, where an attacked kombatant is seen up-close, with the skin and muscle cut away to show the punishing effects of the blows on the victim.
The trailer ends with a glimpse of two fatalities. The first shows Cage falling to his death in the Pit, while the second shows Kung Lao using his hat on Sub-Zero in a particularly gruesome way, highlighting Ed Boon's previous comments about how the game is pushing the envelope on the gore front.
If this trailer is any indication, this Mortal Kombat reboot is bringing the game back to its original roots, and we look forward to bringing you more about the game as we look ahead to its 2011 release.
Our thanks to Jason Leyanna of Realm of Gaming for the heads-up regarding this new trailer!
Two new official websites were unveiled for the upcoming entry in the Mortal Kombat franchise. The first is the website of the development studios, indeed called NetherRealm Studios as previously reported. The website currently features an anime-splash type logo featuring a silhouette of Scorpion. This will apparently be the MK team's official website. Currently, the site is bare except for the link to the official page for the upcoming game itself, titled at this point simply Mortal Kombat. This page seems to be under construction as well, featuring only the official Facebook profile of the game. Recently uploaded appears to be the logo of the game.
These two websites will likely be the site of several image and video releases over the coming months, as we have typically seen in the past, so we suggest keeping your eyes on them. We will of course report on any further activity on these two websites as it becomes available.
For years the next Mortal Kombat movie has been in “development hell”, however this might no longer be the case. Earlier this afternoon,TRMKreported of a dark viral video posted on YouTube simply called “Mortal Kombat” under the user account of MortalKombatRebirth.
It’s yet to be officially confirmed by anyone whether this is some sort of teaser for an upcoming film or the next game. As well, WB Games has yet to make any kind of official statement. From TRMK:
We're hearing that this video is not anything seen before by those involved with creating Mortal Kombat 9 at WB Games. So if it is created by WB as a viral marketing clip, it was done with very few people involved or in the know. We're still waiting for an official comment at this time though.
It does appear to star Michael Jai White from the Spawn movie and more recently The Dark Knight. So it's either a very clever work of fakery or something more serious is being created.
TRMK is also reporting that this might be nothing more than just a rejected pitch for an R-Rated flick to Warner Brothers. Only time will tell, but if this in indeed a taste of what’s to come for the reboot of the film series, Mortal Kombat fans everywhere definitely have something to talk about for weeks to come. Let us know your thoughts in the forum.
Update 6/8: Actress Jeri Ryan, who played Sonya Blade in the Rebirth clip, confirmed via her Twitter account that this was a demo reel developed to sell the director's reboot vision of Mortal Kombat to WB. She says she has no knowledge of WB's reaction at this time. Thanks to forum member EnKompassedDra9on for bringing this to our attention.
Update 6/9: Crave Online has posted an exclusive interview with Matt Mullins, the actor who portrays Johnny Cage in the short film. From the article:
It has been really cool to see all of the buzz about the short. The truth is, the short is about showing a vision of what the next Mortal Kombat movie can be. I think it is a very well thought out concept that pays homage to the video game and its fans. The attention to detail and the little elements added will set this film apart from all the other films.
Update 6/10: Collider has obtained an exclusive interview with the director of the short film, Kevin Tancharoen. Among several of the details revealed here, some include the plan to balance the series's mysticism and special powers with the real world and that the writer of Rebirth was Oren Uziel, a name revealed several months ago as the intended writer of the next Mortal Kombat movie. There is an audio transcript of the interview at the link above for further details.
Second update 6/10: On his Twitter, Ed Boon has finally stated his opinion of the video:
A million people asked me what I thought of the MK Rebirth video. Personally I thought it was awesome. Super high production quality!
But I was just as surprised to see it as everyone else. I had no idea it was being made until it showed up on the internets. All 3 internets
Its TOTALLY different & probably crosses the line. But as a "re-imagining" and as a film piece on its own, u can't deny its well put 2gether
With the release of the teaser trailer for the new game, it's unknown what will happen with the "Rebirth" concept. However, Ed's comments indicate that while he liked it, the chances of it making to theaters are very very slim. If more surfaces, we'll keep you up to date.
Update: 6/14: IGN conducted an interview with the actor who plays Jax, Michael Jai White. Among other things, we learn that the film pitch was made about a month ago and was unintentionally leaked out. Another tidbit from the interview:
IGN: The character of Jax in the game was a little different from the version in the short. Can you talk about the decisions to ground it more in reality and change your character to be a police captain?
MJW: Well, I mean I think it goes along with the game to some degree. Now we played with some ideas on how to show that I still have those kinds of bionic arms --- robotic arms, with when my arm laying on the table to show reverberations. That Jax still has the metal arms. Now whether this is post-special forces, Jax is now captain of this force. But he's still a badass fighter, he's still has got the arms. It just wasn't much time to show that in the short.
Our friends over at TRMK are reporting on the strong possibility that WB Games Chicago (the home of the MK team) will be renamed to Netherrealm Studios. According to gaming blog Superannuation, WB Games has registered the name "Netherrealm Studios". Following up on that, Patrick McCarron of TRMK did some checking, and found that the domain name netherrealmstudios.com has been registered by WB Games. While the name currently does not resolve, it's certain that it will be up and running at some point soon. From the TRMK news posting:
Since Netherrealm is a known place in the Mortal Kombat universe, this falls into line perfectly with our previous editorial about WB Games Chicago getting a new name. So since Warner Bros. went through the trouble to register the trademark and domain names I would be fairly certain to say that Netherrealm Studios will be the new name of the Warner Bros. Games studio based in Chicago responsible for the Mortal Kombat series, as well as other games they create. It's likely we'll likely see this name revealed along with the first reveal of Mortal Kombat 9.
We at MK Online concur with this analysis. We'll be keeping an eye out; as we learn more, we'll be sure to post it here.
To see the original superannuation post, click here. To see the original TRMK posting, click here.
Our thanks to Patrick McCarron of TRMK for the heads-up on this breaking news story!
