The Electronic Entertainment Expo kicked off today in Los Angeles. Mortal Kombat 5 is not present at the show this year, however Midway Games has released a press release that claims a new Next-Generation Mortal Kombat title is in development and is set to ship for the Nintendo Gamecube and other next generation game systems in Fall 2002. There was mention at the end of the press release that the new MK title has not yet been proposed to Sony Computer Entertainment America. We highly doubt that Mortal Kombat 5 won't be released on the Playstation 2. For the whole press release click here or check out our excerpt below:

"The Mortal Kombat franchise has set the standard for martial arts fighting games over the years," said Helene Sheeler, vice president of marketing, Midway. "As the first of the series did, this all-new Mortal Kombat will once again reinvent the fighting game genre with never-before-seen features and a completely new fighting engine."

We already reported back in April that Mortal Kombat 5 would be hitting all 3 next generation systems next year. If you still need the word of mouth from Midway here's an excerpt from a recent conference call that you can check out for yourself at Street Fusion until next Wednesday May 9th, 2001. Just fast forward to about 7:30 in the conference to catch the tidbit about Mortal Kombat 5 below:

"...We believe the full impact of our transition strategy would be demonstrated in calendar 2002, when we expect to release over 31 new SKUs for the new generation consoles. We expect to introduce at least 12 Playstation 2, 10 X-Box, and 9 GameCube SKUs in 2002, including a title what we believe could revolutionize again the fighting game genre that it helped create, Mortal Kombat Five."

Will Mortal Kombat 5 still succeed now knowing it will not be released in arcades? Voice out at our message board.

Our Mortal Kombat 5 Section has been updated today with our latest preview! It contains all of the recent information that came across during the chat with Ed Boon on April 11th, as well as the new information regarding Studio Gigante (see previous post). As long as information keeps coming in about Mortal Kombat 5 we will update the previews more often. Don't forget the E3 Convention is taking place May 17-19 2001. If any information is released you will see it here.

IGN Xbox has updated a section of their website called Rated X which gives the latest rumors surrounding the Microsoft XBox. It says that Mortal Kombat 5 will have competition from former members of the Mortal Kombat Team. IGN Xbox tried to keep quiet about the company's name, but just highlight the page and the words "Studio" and "Gigante" appear. Studio Gigante Inc. is a new developer of video games located in Chicago, IL that John Tobias himself is a part of. After reading over the transcript of the recent chat with Ed Boon, we came across a question that was asked regarding this new company. Ed Boon denied any knowledge of it. Why wouldn't he? Studio Gigante is planning to release a fighting game to launch on the XBox sometime around the release of Mortal Kombat 5. It looks like MK5 will be getting some harsh competition from some of its own. More on this story as it develops.

Soon after the chat with mk co-creator Ed Boon last Wednesday, IGN Cube reported about how Ed Boon mentioned he was impressed with the GameCube's power when asked if he had received the GameCube kit. A day later IGN Cube reported that an anonymous Midway source confirmed that Mortal Kombat 5 is headed to the GameCube, as well as the two other next generation systems, the XBox and Playstation 2. With all this hype about what consoles Mortal Kombat 5 will hit it's very unlikely that Mortal Kombat 5 will make an appearance in the arcades. More news as it becomes available.