Ed Boon's official website, Noob.com, has undergone a revamp of sorts with the former clues leading up to Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe being replaced by a few different news items.

First, as previously mentioned, the MK development team will be on Xbox Live and the Playstation Network to take challenges from online players this coming Friday, January 23rd, 2009. You can read more about this in our previous news story on the item.

Secondly, Ed has placed a link to Wired.com's 2008 top 10 games, where MKvsDCU is featured on both the PS3 and Xbox 360 lists. To view this story, click here.

Finally, Ed was recently a guest on a podcast with Major Nelson. During a 15 minute or so interview, Ed discusses his history in the video game industry, the fighting game genre in general, as well as the confirmation that downloadable content in the form of additional characters (tentatively, one from each faction) will be available at some point in the new future. You can listen to this podcast here; the website handily instructs you where Ed's portion of the interview begins as this is a one hour plus MP3.

Thanks to the many various users who reported these stories separately and collectively!

Over on the Midway Boards, Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe producer Hector Sanchez (aka MK_Hec) has thrown down the gauntlet. He has announced that on Friday, January 23rd, the MKvsDCU development team will be online on both Playstation Network and X-Box Live to challenge the community. From the forum post:

the rumors are correct! the mortal kombat team is planning on doing something we've never done before, and that's organize a night where we can play against you guys online! we've been checking out the online activity and we're itching to get out there and see what you've got!

there was a mix-up on the date, though, as we were originally planning on holding this event tomorrow night (the 16th) on PSN. but we decided that we're going to delay both PSN and XBox LIVE matches until NEXT FRIDAY, the 23rd so we can build up a little anticipation (you know, get some smack talk in, scope out the leaderboards, etc.)

stay tuned for more info as it becomes available! this should be a fun week. ;-)

and yes, Ed will be playing too.

As Hector reveals more, we'll edit this news post to reflect the changes. There's a week to practice and get ready, so good luck to everyone!

Our thanks to forum/chat member for the heads-up on this news!

EDIT - 6:15 PM CST - Hector has sent out a list of the gamertags to look for for next Friday.

PSN

• MKNoob
• MKHornbuckle
• MKABACABB
• MKHanzoHasashi
• MKBlindKenshi
• MKTundra
• MKApep
• MKKetchup
• MKMustard
• MKSkully
• FreezeGoroSweep

Xbox Live

• Kamidogu
• MK Noob
• MK Hornbuckle
• MK ABACABB
• MK HanzoHasashi
• MK BlindKenshi
• MK Tundra
• MK Apep
• MK Ketchup
• MK Mustard
• MK Skully
• FreezeGoroSweep

The developers playing will include Ed Boon himself, Paulo Garcia, Brian Lebaron, Ryan Rosenberg, Eddie Ferrier, Adam Hernandez, Dave Bulvan, Derek Kirtzic, Shaun Himmerick, Hans Lo, and Hector himself.

If you want to be among the first in line to play, send those gamertags a private message saying hi and that you want to play them. Don't forget to tell them you're a member of Mortal Kombat Online!

As we hear more from Hector, we'll post it here. Good luck, everyone!

News comes today that Midway Games has reached an agreement with some of its note holders to extend their right to make the company buy back the notes until February 19th, 2009. It would appear that Midway is hoping for successful releases of their upcoming games, Wheelman and This is Vegas.

The short article discussing this story can be found on BusinessWeek.com.

Our thanks to forum and chat user for the lead on this story.

We've come to the end of yet another year. It's been a big year for the Mortal Kombat community, with the release of Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, the first current generation Mortal Kombat game for consoles. A controversial game, it polarized the community like no other MK game before it for numerous reasons. Its success is assured, however, and for now we look forward to the promised downloadable content for the game, whatever it might be.

The site has reached a milestone of its own today as well. Ten years ago today, MK5.ORG (as Mortal Kombat Online was formerly called) opened its doors. Back then, it was a small site, and the dream of a fifth Mortal Kombat game was in the distant horizon. So much has happened since then; not only was the fifth game (Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance) released, three more fighting games for consoles, an adventure game, four handheld games, and re-releases of classic games for consoles and PCs have come out, leading to a resurgence of Mortal Kombat. We've been privileged to share in this with you, and to help bring you the latest news about the series whenever we could. We thank you for your support, and we look forward to serving you in future, whatever it may hold for Mortal Kombat.

To celebrate our tenth anniversary, we're presenting a retrospective of the site's history compiled by our very own Scott Howell. If you've wondered how we got to where we are today, feel free to give it a read.

In passing, as we gather with our families and loved ones, we'd like to give one final message for today. On behalf of all of us at Mortal Kombat Online, I'd like to wish you all a safe and joyous Christmas and holiday season.

As promised to us during this year's Fight Night event, Midway has released the final render of the game: Dark Kahn. To see the render, click below or visit the official website at WorldsCollide.com. He can be seen in the final stage of the game – combined throne room arena of Darkseid from Apokolips and Shao Kahn from Outworld.


Thanks once again go to samus_aran3900 for the News Lead on this one!