Microsoft has published a new compatibility list for the X-Box 360. Instead of seeing more Mortal Kombat games added, however, the one that had been on the list has been removed. Mortal Kombat: Deception has been removed from the list, presumably due to the glitches in the conversion as described by TRMK.

It is important to note, however, that it is Microsoft that is responsible for developing the backwards-compatibility code and not Midway or any of the other third-party developers. As such, it is unknown when we might see MK: Deception (or any of the other MK-related titles) appear on the compatibility list. We'll be keeping an eye on this story; as we learn more, we'll report it to you.

To see the compatibility list in its entirety, click here.

Our thanks to forum/chat member outworld22 for the heads-up on this news story!

Looks like Acclaim, who published the first two Mortal Kombat games originally on home systems such as Super NES, Sega Genesis, Game Gear, Game Boy, the PC, and even Sega CD, 32X, and Saturn, is filing for bankruptcy. As part of the bankrupcty, they're auctioning off the rights to tons of the games they still have the rights for, including Mortal Kombat 1, Mortal Kombat II, and MK1+2 Duo. David R. Maltz & Co. Inc., who specialize in handling auctions of these sorts for corporations, have not yet announced the day/location of the auctions but are already accepting offers.

Click here to read the original article, and here to keep up-to-date with the offers received and approved. A huge thanks to MK Online forum/chat user DECEPTION for this story!

Midway Games today released fifteen new screenshots from their upcoming classic game compilation for the Sony PSP, Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play! These fifteen screenshots also include two shots each from Mortal Kombat 1, Mortal Kombat II, and Mortal Kombat 3!

Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play is scheduled to ship on Monday, December 12th, and is available to preorder at stores now!

Just in case you haven't had a chance to see those behind the scenes videos from MK: Shaolin Monks, you still have one more opportunity. The latest issue of PSM (Issue #105, Holiday 2005) has the "Overview" as well as the "Exploring the Worlds" videos, complete with video footage of the game as well as interviews with Ed Boon, Shaun Himmerick, John Vogel, Tony Goskie, and cinematic director Marty Stoltz. So there's your screenshots from the DVD, including the menu, as well as the cover/disc/etc. so you know what to look for when you head out to the newsstands. Available now!

Over on fellow Mortal Kombat website TRMK, Patrick McCarron has posted a review of Midway's fighting game Mortal Kombat: Deception on the Microsoft X-Box 360. As reported earlier, X-Box 360 performs its backwards compatibility via software instead of hardware, so each game requires a specific download of compatibility code. Despite Microsoft's assurance of certification, it doesn't appear that MK: Deception fared too well in translation. From the article:

The game starts off with the intro video and main menu, which looks pretty crisp and clear being rendered at my Xbox 360's resolution of 1080i. All the game's Profile functions appear to work just fine, and I can connect fine to Xbox Live and search for games. The Krypt and special Kontent areas all appear to be working as expected. Even the Area 51 demo appears to work perfect. Seems too good to be true, and it is.

I then decide to fire up a game in Arcade mode, and am presented with the character selection screen followed by the tournment ladder. Immediately I can see the increased quality of rendering the game at 1080i in the details of the tournament ladder mountain and the characters. I was really excited until the game actually loaded up a fight scene.

The fight scenes are emulated fairly pretty poor. The game camera keeps getting blocked by polygons that pop over the action constantly. The character I was playing with would get some polygons stretching out past the camera view. It would only get worse the next round, because as I find some stages are worse than others. The game started to slows down and redrawns polygons across the camera surface. Totally making the game unplayable. A positive note is while the screen was clear the details on the characters and surrounding stage really stand out, their rendering quality looks really great in High Definition 1080i. It was a welcome surprise, that should look amazing once the bugs are all fixed.

...

Overall the emulation for the backwards compatibility needs some work. So much so I'm surprised this got past their QC department. But once the issues are resolved by Microsoft, all MK fans should be in business with the 360.

Provided Microsoft patches their backwards-compatibility code releases, as McCarron stated, this shouldn't be a problem. However, in the meantime, it's obvious that MK: Deception should not be considered a perfect translation in the interim.

To read the original article in its entirety, click here.

Our thanks to forum members _JRF_ and Shinnokxz for the heads-up on this news story!