While Mortal Kombat: Armageddon makes its way to store shelves and MK fans' mailboxes, Midway is continuing to provide new updates to the official MK: Armageddon site. This time, they've updated the question mark page, adding a new piece of koncept art! This particular piece of koncept art shows the Balcony from Konquest, seen in one of the beginning missions. In this piece of art, Tekunin warriors can be seen entering the balcony, while Taven can be seen ready to strike with a bow and arrow. While Taven did not have a bow and arrow in the build of MK: Armageddon we played at E3, there is always the possibility this was added in the meantime.

To see the question mark page with all of its special media, click here.

Our thanks to forum member for the heads-up about this new piece of koncept art!

Over on the World Wrestling Entertainment website, one of the featured items is WWE Fantasy, which appears to be a fantasy wrestling game similar to fantasy football. In the latest installment, a new addition has been made to the roster which appears to be more than a little unusual. As an apparent tie-in to Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Scorpion appears to have jumped into the WWE fray. From the website:

This season, Todd Grisham has returned to defend his Season 7 WWE Superstar League Championship. However, some of his biggest competition is also back and a newcomer has burst onto the scene as well: Scorpion from Mortal Kombat!

Who else will be playing and where will they fall? Check back following Week 1 to see the standings.

While WWE and Mortal Kombat crossovers are hardly new, this is the first we've heard of an actual kombatant being available as a fantasy wrestler. We'll keep an eye on this story and see how Scorpion progresses.

To see the WWE Fantasy webpage, click here.

EDIT - 11:25 AM CDT - A member has written in with a bit of a clarification, saying that Scorpion will be like other members of the "WWE Crew" in that while he is participating, he won't actually be selectable as a fantasy wrestler. Thanks, natedoggcata, for helping set the record straight.

The time has finally arrived! Midway has issued a press release announcing that they have shipped the Playstation 2 version of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon! In addition to this announcement, they have firmly set the ship date for the Xbox version of the game for October 16th, and set the release date of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for Xbox Live for sometime in November. From the press release:

CHICAGO -- October 9, 2006 -- Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY), a leading interactive entertainment industry publisher and developer, today announced that Mortal Kombat®: Armageddon™, the final chapter of the Mortal Kombat franchise for current generation gaming systems, has shipped for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. Both the standard and Premium Edition packs are now available. Mortal Kombat: Armageddon for the Xbox® video game system from Microsoft is scheduled to be available Monday, October 16. In addition to Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, Midway is also scheduled to release both Ultimate Mortal Kombat® 3 for Xbox Live™ and Mortal Kombat®: Unchained™ for the PSP™ (PlayStation Portable) in November of this year.

"Mortal Kombat: Armageddon marks a significant milestone in the franchise as it's the final Mortal Kombat title to be released on current generation systems," said Steve Allison, chief marketing officer, Midway. "Mortal Kombat: Armageddon also contains gameplay features that series co-creator Ed Boon and team have always wanted to implement, such as create-a-fighter and create-a-fatality modes, and the option to choose from over 60 of the most popular Mortal Kombat fighters."

In addition, mention is made of some of the promotions that will be going on with MK: Armageddon's release, including college and mall tours and the GameSpot "Scream It" Ultimate MK Fanatic contest.

Having shipped today, the game should be arriving in stores tomorrow, though we have been hearing unconfirmed reports that some GameStop stores have been telling preorder customers they can pick up their copies today. In any event, the game will definitely be available in stores by tomorrow, so be sure to pick up your copy!

To read the press release in its entirety, click here.

EDIT - 12 October 2006 2:28 PM CDT - We've been getting reports that the Xbox version of MK: Armageddon is now in stores. In addition, online stores such as EB Games are showing the game as released. If you're waiting on the Xbox version, you should hopefully be able to find it available for sale now.

Over the past few days, the folks over at GameTrailers posted four new videos from the soon-to-be-released Mortal Kombat: Armageddon! These four videos feature nothing but gameplay, set to music from Mortal Kombat 1. The first video, called Brutal Kombat Gameplay, features nothing but gameplay from the tournament fighting portion of the game. The second video, called Konquest Mode Gameplay, features gameplay from Konquest Mode (although, most of it appears to be only from the part of Konquest seen at E3). The third video, Motor Kombat Gameplay, features Motor Kombat gameplay, including some deathtraps and also the course select screen. Finally, the fourth video, Fatality Extravaganza, shows several examples of Kreate-a-Fatality chains and stage deathtraps.

The videos are available to view in both Windows Media and Apple Quicktime format. To watch the videos, click here, and scroll down to Gameplay.

Our thanks to everyone who wrote in to let us know about these videos!

Shortly after releasing their "Six Minutes of Slaughter" video, GamesRadar has posted a review of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon! This four-page review covers all of the basics concerning MK: Armageddon; while it's obvious the reviewers might have not had a optimistic view of MK up until now, they certainly liked what they saw in Armageddon. From the review:

Did gaming ever really get better after you first took control of icy ninja Sub-Zero and ripped out Scorpion's spine? Yes, yes it did - and it seemed for a while there that Mortal Kombat didn't notice. The last few chapters in the sloppy fighting game saga piled on more and more stuff without actually making it noticeably more fun than the old days. But the ominously titled Armageddon - the last entry in the series until it reinvents itself on next-gen consoles, according to its creators - finally kills the clutter and focuses the series on what it does best: fast-action fighting wrapped in over-the-top gore with chunks of humor on the side.

Instead of forcing players to memorize three completely different martial arts disciplines and move sets, Armageddon trims it to two - one being a specialized weapon, unique to each character - and lets you carve your way through every character who's ever appeared in an MK roster - more than 60, including obscure jokers like Stryker whom you won't mind tearing limb from limb. Or, in playable boss Goro's case, limb from limb from limb from limb.

After making some very positive comments about Kreate-a-Fighter and Motor Kombat, the review then discusses Konquest mode, which they apparently found to be the weakest part in their opinion. From the review:

This single-player, action/adventure romp through the many realms of Mortal Kombat introduces brothers Taven and Daegon, who have just awoken from a lengthy sleep to fulfill a prophecy and blah blah blah. The writing and acting are equally cheesy, but the potential for carnage is unrivaled - you'll slice through dozens of bad guys and even take out a good number of the main MK characters through the roughly eight-hour journey, picking up invisible icons along the way. That's annoying, but it's worth playing, especially since collecting koins helps you pimp out your created fighter.

You'll also meet and beat a few dozen of the marquee characters along the way, though it is a bit awkward to constantly switch between the one-against-an-army Konquest controls and the one-on-one Kombat controls, where some of the buttons do completely different things.

Then again, these issues were also present (if not more so) in the MK: Deception version of Konquest.

In closing, the reviewers point out that the Xbox version of MK: Armageddon is capable of 720p widescreen, while the Playstation 2 version is capable of 480p widescreen and has the premium versions available. All in all, the reviewers were highly impressed with the game, giving it a score of 9 out of 10, with their only downside comments involving Konquest mode.

To read the review in its entirety, click here.

Our thanks to forum member for letting us know about this new review!