In interviews conducted by VideoGamer.com and Gametrailers.com respectively, series co-creator Ed Boon mentioned the possible total of playable characters for the upcoming Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. No true total is confirmed as of this moment, but currently the range expected is somewhere between 20 to 22, 10 or 11 from each side respectively. Regardless, this is obviously a drastic reduction from MK: Armageddon but more akin to earlier 3D MK games. These characters are what Ed Boon and the MK team consider notable and "iconic", so that still leaves the fans to debate exactly what the definition of that is. As another note, it is also confirmed there will be no new characters introduced into the MK world during this game.

First, from Videogamer.com's interview:

In is a vastly reduced playable character roster ("Every single character is a known DC character, a known MK character. Because they're so iconic, we don't feel like we want to do the huge, massive roster. We just focus in on these core 20 characters").

Ed's response to Gametrailers.com video interview:

Ed Boon: ... so it is going to be about... if I were to guess about 20 to 22 characters... you know, maybe 10 to 11 from each side...

Other than this, no major revelations are had that aren't covered by any of the other interviews and released information from Gamer's Day. The discussion regarding the gameplay once again promises it to be completely new and not based off the old engine, and instead focuses on different types of gameplay perspectives. Storyline details remain scarce.

To read the VideoGamer.com interview in its entirety, click here.

To watch the Gametrailers.com interview in its entirety, click here.

Thanks to chat/forum members Marcus_Fenix and for the leads on this story!

During the 2008 Midway Gamer's Day event, the official site for the upcoming game was launched. As revealed by the Sub-Zero vs. Batman promo image, the site is titled http://www.worldscollide.com/ and currently features the said image as its background. Lighting and thunder, accompanied by ambient music is present as well.

Obviously, the site does not offer much at this time but we should expect media to be added to this site at various points throughout the year, leading up to the release of the game. Currently, one can download the first official trailer as well as the first official image, and sign up to be notified when updates occur.

Much like MK: Armageddon's official site, this site too offers a "secret menu" of sorts. You gain access to this menu by clicking on Sub-Zero's eye, thus the name of this menu is "Eye of the Storm". At this time, the page is occupied by 16 question mark boxes. If this menu functions as its predecessor, content will be added into the slots at some point. When this occurs, we will of course provide updates, so keep a watchful eye out for this.

It's that time of year again! I'm out in beautiful Las Vegas, Nevada, where Midway Games held their annual Midway Gamers Day! Of course, the big news this year was the revelation that the first Mortal Kombat game of the current generation of consoles is to be a crossover game with the characters of DC Comics, in a game appropriately titled Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe. While the game was not presented in any sort of playable form, we were given some information about the game.

During the presentation portion of the evening, Ed Boon gave a short presentation regarding MK vs DC. The presentation included the game's teaser trailer and a short bit of current information concerning the game.

• Ed Boon Presentation

Among the tidbits of information Ed gave during the presentation are:

• The only currently confirmed characters are Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Batman, and Superman.
• The game, as had been announced previously, will use Unreal Engine 3.
• The storyline for the game will be written by comic book veterans Jimmy Palmotti (Monolith, 21 Down, Painkiller Jane) and Justin Gray (Jonah Hex, Crisis Aftermath: The Battle for Bludhaven, JLA Classified).

The teaser trailer was also made available. Not much was shown gameplay-wise, other than Sub-Zero and Batman fighting each other in a multi-tier environment (complete with fighting while falling between levels).

• Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe Trailer

After the presentations were over, during the evening portion of the event, I got a chance to talk to Ed Boon on-camera about Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe. We've made the interview available for download in both Quicktime video format and MP3 format.

• Ed Boon Interview (Audio)
• Ed Boon Interview

During the interview with Ed, we were able to glean a few additional details about the game.

• Whether or not the storyline will be considered "canon" in regards to the main Mortal Kombat storyline has not been decided. Such a decision will probably not be made until the next Mortal Kombat game.
• While the game will have finishing moves of a sort and will have a dark and gritty setting and storyline (Ed specifically referenced Batman Begins and The Dark Knight), they are pushing for a hard T rating, hoping to get as close as they can to M without actually reaching it.
• The development team knows that the idea is not popular with the fans and expected a backlash. They're hoping to show that the idea can and will work.
• There should be a playable build by the time E3 comes around.

Finally, Midway has made available a press release announcing Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe. While it is dated for Monday, we're going to go ahead and make it available to read. You can read the full press release here.

It has been a landmark day in the Mortal Kombat community, not to mention a very controversial one. We will continue to cover this game in the weeks and months ahead, and when we learn more, we'll be sure to report it here. From Las Vegas, this is D'Arque Bishop.

Today, Midway Games confirmed what had been rumored for a while: the first next-generation Mortal Kombat title, up until now called "Mortal Kombat 8" by the community, is officially titled Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. As the title suggests, it will be a crossover with the characters and setting of DC Comics. Further information about the game should be forthcoming.

In the meantime, a source within Midway sent us this image, which is the first promotional image from Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe; it features two of the characters from the game: Sub-Zero and Batman.

Stay tuned; as we're able to provide more information, we'll be bringing this news to you.

Longtime Mortal Kombat fans know that Noob.com is the long-time personal website of Mortal Kombat co-creator and team lead Ed Boon. Since mid-2002, the site has been inactive and empty, other than standard domain hosting pages. Recently, the site has become active in a sense. The site is currently empty, save for the words "noob.com". However, in the past few weeks, the noob.com has been changing in subtle ways. First it said "noob.com" in simple white letters. Then, it added an ellipsis made up of bronze periods. Now, the ellipsis is gone; however, the first "o" has been replaced with an image of Earth.

It's not known what Ed has planned for his website. As is typical, the site is something of an enigma. However, just in case, we'll be keeping an eye on the site. Ed Boon has been known to put MK news and media on his site; if he does, we'll report it here.

To see Ed's site (such as it is currently), click here.

Our thanks to forum members such as , , and for letting us know about this update!

Update – March 9, 2008 – ]{0MBAT here. Looks like another "o" has been replaced with a moon; and there is now a countdown on the site as well. It looks like something spectacular is going to happen by April 17, 2008!

Update – March 12, 2008 – ]{0MBAT again. It seems that the period has now been replaced by the dragon logo! There's still another "o" in the logo, who knows what'll happen next? The sun, maybe? Thanks to for this tidbit!

Update – March 15, 2008 – ]{0MBAT once again. Ed's still at it -- this time, beneath the Noob.com logo, appears the mysterious number: 238,868. This is printed with a line going from the Earth to the moon, indicating the actual distance from the Earth to the moon: 238,868 miles.

Update – March 22, 2008 – A few more updates to the site have been made. An image of a pair of eyes has been placed below the counter while above it now reads the word "Answers", presumably indicating the date represented by the end of the counter will give us more information. A "pulse" line has also been placed between the Earth and Moon images that represent the "O"s.

Update – March 24, 2008 – There are now pictures of animals on the bottom of his web page. Though seemingly random, there is a hidden message within. The animals listed are Rhinoceros, Armadillo, Gorilla, and Elephant. Astute followers will notice the hidden word rage, made up by the order these animals are presented in.

Update – April 1, 2008 – Thanks to many readers for pointing out the following couple of updates with NOOB.COM - there was an update with two sets of numbers "6.17.05.05, 11.12.15.19.5" which translates to "FREE KLOSE" when you convert the numbers to the corresponding letter of the alphabet. There is now a third set of numbers in the middle, "20.15.21.03.08", which translates to "TOUCH" -- so, "FREE TOUCH KLOSE". Can we assume this means there will be hands-on playable version of the game at the next Midway Gamer's Day? There is also a notice, when you highlight all the text on the site, that says the following:

It is with deep regret that after over 20 years with Midway, I will be leaving as of today to pursue my dream of becoming a chef. I will never forget the incredible experience I've had with such an amazing group of talented people

Update – April 5, 2008 – The images of animals have now been removed from the site completely, as well as the numbers that were under them, and have been replaced with many rows of numbers. Using the previously mentioned method of converting the numbers into letters, it would appear this may be some sort of crossword puzzle. The words "teleport", "freeze", "spear" and many other terms which could relate to the Mortal Kombat franchise appear in the puzzle. However, this is all still speculation as nothing concrete has truly been revealed.