Midway, having released the four different box arts for the Premium Pack versions of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, has gone ahead and released the final box art for the regular Playstation 2 and Xbox versions of the game. The box art is identical to the dragon/skulls artwork seen on the official website; the design was also seen in one of the Premium Pack versions, albeit with a metallic finish.

MK: Armageddon is scheduled for release on October 9th.

Our thanks to forum member for the heads-up on this box art release!

Cinder, that ever-popular moderator over on the Midway Boards, has come through for the fans again. Following the announcement of the Mortal Kombat: Armageddon Premium Pack and its separate box art designs (and the release of the metallic box art design as part of the press release), he has posted two of the individual box art designs. The first shows Johnny Cage in the foreground, with Goro in the background in Goro's Lair. The second shows Kano in the foreground, with Sonya in the background in the Subway. These layouts are identical to the ones seen in the main menu of the E3 build of MK: Armageddon.

To see the original thread in which the Cage/Goro box art was posted, click here. To see the original thread in which the Kano/Sonya box art was posted, click here.

Our thanks to forum member for the heads-up on these new box art releases!

EDIT - 3:45 PM CDT - Cinder has just released the final remaining box art design, featuring Shao Kahn in the foreground, with Sindel in the background in the Wasteland.

To see the original forum thread in which this box art was posted, click here.

Our thanks to forum/chat member for the heads-up on the final Premium box art!

Following up on news stories posted by IGN and Games Radar yesterday, Midway issued a press release this morning announcing that Mortal Kombat: Armageddon would not only be available for the Playstation 2 in four different premium editions, there would be a version released for the Nintendo Wii in early 2007. From the press release:

CHICAGO -- August 2, 2006 -- Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY), a leading interactive entertainment industry publisher and developer, todaya nnounced that four, all-new limited Premium Editions of Mortal Kombat®: Armageddon™ will be available for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system when the latest iteration of Midway's best-selling fighting franchise ships to stores nationwide, currently scheduled for October 9, 2006. Midway also today announced that Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, currently in development at Midway's Chicago studio, is expected to be available for Nintendo Wii™ in Q1 2007. More specific details on Mortal Kombat: Armageddon for the Wii will be unveiled later this year.

Available exclusively on the PlayStation®2, three of the four Mortal Kombat: Armageddon Premium Editions will feature metallic packaging covers that highlight some of the franchise's most popular character duos, including: Sindel & Shao Kahn, Johnny Cage & Goro, and Kano & Sonya. The fourth Premium Edition set will feature the general Mortal Kombat: Armageddon retail box art on metallic packaging. The Premium Edition sets have a suggested retail price of $49.95 and will also include the following:

• An arcade-perfect, playable of the original Ultimate Mortal Kombat® 3
• Over 60 minutes of bonus DVD video content featuring a "History of Fatalities" movie, along with new videos for more than 50 of the Mortal Kombat characters
• An embossed metal package created exclusively for the limited edition Premium Edition sets; there will be four unique box fronts in total
• Animation cell cover art autographed by franchise co-creator, Ed Boon

To read the press release in its entirety (as well as see an image of the box art from the PS2 premium pack), click here.

EDIT - August 3 2006 10:30 AM CDT - We have confirmed through our sources at Midway that there are no plans for a premium pack of MK Armageddon for the Xbox, and that only premium packs of the Playstation 2 version will be available. If in the unlikely event this changes, we'll be sure to report it.

The official Mortal Kombat: Armageddon site has been updated once again! This time, when you click on the eye of the MK dragon, it takes you to an updated cast render as was seen on the site previously. However, several changes were made; Scorpion now sports his UMK3/MK4/MKD alt costume, Reptile sports his MKSM appearance, and Meat, Chameleon, and Motaro have been added.

To see the official MK Armageddon website, click here.

Our thanks to forum member for the heads-up on this new render!

Over on Games Radar, and confirmed by Midway Boards moderator Cinder, the four limited edition versions of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon have been revealed. Not only do the limited editions come with extra goodies such as a history of MK DVD and a port of Mortal Kombat 3, three of the box art versions show adversaries facing off against each other. From the news article:

In a press release the rest of the world will get tomorrow, publisher Midway has announced four different Premium Packs for the PS2 version of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. Retailing at $49.95, three of the higher-end limited editions of the game will ship with different embossed, metallic covers that feature paired characters Sindel and Shao Kahn; Kano and Sonya; and Johnny Cage and Goro. The fourth edition's box art will be identical to that of the "regular" edition of the game (the MK logo), but metallic.

While the boxes are different, all four versions appear to feature the same "kontent:" A 60-minute bonus DVD with a History of Fatalities movie and new videos for more than 50 characters, an animation cell of the cover art autographed by creator Ed Boon and an arcade-perfect version of Mortal Kombat 3.

Cinder has also hinted that more news will be available tomorrow morning; when it breaks, we'll be sure to report it here!

To read Cinder's thread confirming the news story, click here. To read the Games Radar story in its entirety, click here.

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

- August 2 2006 12:00 AM CDT - Cinder has posted that one aspect of the Games Radar article is wrong; the included game is Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, not standard MK3. The thread in which he states this can be found here. Our thanks to forum member for the heads-up on this correction!