Ed Boon posted on his Twitter page a screenshot which reveals some more lost kontent - a Soul Chamber level that almost made it in to Midway's famed basketball series, NBA Hangtime. From the horse's mouth:

These images were going to be used in a "hidden MK court" for one of Midway's NBA Jam/Hangtime home ports. But the NBA said no. :(

To read the quote on Ed's page directly, go here. Our thanks go to Kombat19 for the word on this update!

Midway has announced the closing of their Chicago Headquarters, and as rumored, also announced the layoffs of all employees within. Likely in the final stages, this move coupled with the layoffs of the San Diego studio as well as the Newcastle, UK studio marks the end of several pieces of the company's history.

A form filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission outlined the scope of the Chicago HQ layoffs, which account for about 20 percent of the remaining global workforce of Midway, which still exists as a company. The form also revealed that, as a result of last week's sale, said company will be writing off $69 million to $76 million in debt: $25 million to $30 million of development costs and $3 million to $5 million of fixed assets--aka items like buildings, which can't be easily liquidated. Midway is also writing down $41 million of impaired goodwill, or the value of assets Midway held that were reduced or eliminated as a result of the Warner Bros. buyout.

This move however will not affect the nearby development studios, which are now the property of Warner Bros. As stated before, WB has acquired most of Midway's assets, most notably the Mortal Kombat franchise and the development studio in which it is created. The 100 or so MK team members will continue work on the tentatively titled Mortal Kombat 9 as scheduled.

To read more about this story at Gamespot, click here.

Our thanks to for the lead on this story.

Ed Boon has gone ahead and updated his Twitter page with a render of Quan Chi, along with the following note:

Excited about MK9 and WB, but wish we could have released DLC for MKvsDC. Here's a peek.

Ed's other comment indicates that Quan Chi and Harley Quinn were being worked on together; therefore, we may get her render next.

Thanks to MK Online forum member dracine for posting about this in our message board, as well as insidious_t for the News Lead.

After months of speculation and legal maneuverings, the sale of Mortal Kombat developer/publisher Midway Games is finally going through. Within the past day, the court overseeing the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Midway noted that there were no other bidders for Midway's assets, so the only bidder for the company was Warner Bros.. In addition, all objections to the sale (including Threshold's question over IP rights and Vin Diesel's Tigon Entertainment questions about owed payments) were resolved, clearing the way for Warner Bros. to purchase the company. From the Chicago Tribune article:

Warner Bros. had submitted a $33 million bid to buy "substantially all" the assets of Chicago-based Midway. If there had been other bids, the court would have supervised an auction. But no other parties submitted competing bids, Midway stated in a Tuesday court filing.

...

The judge said Wednesday that the objections to the Warner Bros. deal were resolved, clearing the way for the approval.

Midway's creditors and Thomas agreed in early June to give Thomas a $5 million payment. He bought media magnate Sumner Redstone's 87 percent stake in the video-game manufacturer for $100,000 last year and also assumed $70 million in Midway debt originally owed to National Amusements, Redstone's movie theater chain.

Thomas' secured claim in the Midway bankruptcy was $30 million. He also had a $40 million unsecured claim that is eliminated as part of the settlement.

The only real word on the opinion of the MK developers regarding this development is something Ed Boon said on his Twitter to TRMK's Patrick McCarron: "looking forward to the focus being on the games, making them better and less on the noise surrounding us."

With this development in place, it seems Midway's financial future seems to be more secure. We'll report more as we learn it.

To read the Chicago Tribune story in its entirety, click here.

It seemed that Michael Jackson, like so many celebrities, was a gamer in his spare time. The untimely passing of the legendary King of Pop has sparked a great interest into his life and times, and among the revelations included was his love for video games, including Mortal Kombat:

Jackson: "It makes people do strange things. A lot of our famous luminaries become intoxicated because of it - they can't handle it. And your adrenaline is at the zenith of the universe after a concert - you can't sleep. It's maybe two in the morning and you're wide awake. After coming off stage, you're floating.''

Theroux: "How do you handle that?''

"I watch cartoons. I love cartoons. I play video games. Sometimes I read.''

"You mean you read books?''

"Yeah. I love to read short stories and everything.''

"Any in particular?''

"Somerset Maugham,'' he said quickly, and then, pausing at each name: "Whitman. Hemingway. Twain.''

"What about those video games?''

"I love X-Man. Pinball. Jurassic Park. The martial arts ones - Mortal Kombat.''

Jackson also apparently took some of his games on tour with him, by use of two cargo planes that always went with him. To read more about the story at Kotaku, click here.

Thanks to forum member for the lead on this story.