IGN has posted two new videos on their site entitled "Legends of Kombat", in which they showcase classic MK characters appearing in Midway's upcoming Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks! The videos are narrated by John Vogel, Shaun Himmerick, Ed Boon, and Steve Beran, and intercut FMV cutscenes and gameplay footage to describe the characters. The first video features Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade (whose previously seen capture is shown, and it is revealed she can be freed during the game), and Kano (who can also be freed during the game, it is revealed). The second video showcases Sub-Zero (mainly showing the younger one, as his scar is visible), Reptile, and Shang Tsung (whose transformation from old to young is shown).

The videos are two minutes three seconds and three minutes respectively, and are available in Quicktime and Windows Media format. Low-res versions are available to everyone, with the high-res versions available only to IGN Insider members. To see the videos, click here.

Our thanks to forum/chat member Khaos for the heads-up on these new videos!

Good news for people who were hoping to be able to get a strategy guide for MK: Shaolin Monks: you will. The folks over at Prima Publishing have answered the challenge. There are no pictures or a cover at this time, but what is being reported is that it will be 128 pages long, will retail for $16.99, and included will be a free CD. A release date is not currently known, as some sites are reporting availability anywhere from September 13 through the 27th of this year.

To check out the page for this on Prima's site, click here, for the Gamestop one go here, and for the EB Games one click here.

Thanks to MK Online readers DECEPTION and fraysol for the word on this update!

GameTrailers has released a new video quite aptly entitled Gameplay 3, which has gameplay (and nothing but gameplay) from Midway's upcoming Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks! In this video, Liu Kang and Kung Lao make their way across several levels, from the lair of Reptile's massive snake, across a bridge while dodging rocks tossed by a shadow priest's magic, outside the Wu Shi Academy, through Goro's Lair, inside the Kombat Tomb, within the depths of the Living Forest, culminating in a confrontation with Goro himself.

The video is three minutes and eight seconds long, and is approximately 25 MB. The video is available in both Quicktime and Windows Media format. To see the video, click here, and scroll down to the video marked Gameplay 3.

Our thanks to forum/chat member fraysol for the heads-up on this brand-new video!

GameSpot has released the sixth installment in their Official Movie series showing different aspects of Midway's upcoming Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. In this video, the emphasis is on the kombatants Kung Lao and Liu Kang encounter in their journeys. The video features team members Shaun Himmerick, Ed Boon, John Vogel, and Steve Beran talking about such allies and enemies as Baraka and his fellow Tarkatans, the Oni, Johnny Cage, Goro, the Masked Guards, Scorpion (who is revealed to be a boss, where, as Ed puts it, "he has probably the most elaborate use of his spear that has been used in any Mortal Kombat game"), the Shadow Priests (who are heavy magic users), Kitana (who Beran hints as possibly having a "potential romantic involvement" with Liu Kang), and the Hellbeast (who is an all-new character in MK:SM).

The video is available to download for GameSpot Basic members, and is available to stream for non-members. The video is 4 minutes and 19 seconds long, is 111 MB in high-res, and 52 MB in low-res. To see the video, click here and scroll down to Official Movie 6.

Our thanks to forum/chat member Khaos for the heads-up on this new video!

A recent interview with Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks producer Shaun Himmerick provides nothing entirely new in regards to that game, but the folks over at Games Radar shot Shaun with two questions that give comments on two of Midway's upcoming Mortal Kombat Projects in the works:

Is there going to be another MK fighting game for the current generation of consoles?
Hmmmm...I don't know what we're specifically doing current gen, I don't know if we've made that decision. Probably not, but I don't know. I shouldn't say.

How's the PSP version of MK Deception coming along?
It's coming along all right. Current issues are that Konquest mode is very difficult because there are fewer buttons on PSP and we previously used all the controller buttons, so we've had to do some modifications to that, and there have been some streaming issues. There are still some tech hurdles to get over, but we're solving those.

The question of future Mortal Kombat development on current-gen hardware for the Sony Playstation 2 and Microsoft Xbox continues to raise question on where exactly things stand. News first broke about Mortal Kombat 7 over a year ago when CEO David Zucker made comment at an event in August 2004 that the next fighting game was indeed being developed for the Playstation 3, Xbox 2, and a wireless platform. However, fast forward to our coverage of E3 from this past May, and you get a different story. Ed Boon went on record during our fan interview that the decission was actually up in the air and that both options were being studied. So which is it? From a story back in May shortly after E3 from GameSpot, David Zucker was quoted to say that Midway Games would have titles ready to launch with the Sony Playstion 3, however would not have titles ready to launch for the November release of Xbox 360:

But just because Midway won't have any next-gen games ready in time for the launch of Microsoft's sleek new console does not mean they are eschewing the platform. "Midway is fully supporting the Xbox 360 and we have games in development at all of our internal studios," a rep told GameSpot.

In fact, contradicting reports on the Web that it is holding back on development until the Xbox 360 has a large enough user base, Midway has several projects in the works for the next-gen console. "We have no less than seven Xbox 360 games currently in development in our internal studios targeted for release in 2006-8," a Midway executive emphasized to GameSpot today.

Midway's only official title announced for next-generation to our knowledge is John Woo's Stranglehold, which we were treated to a trailer while at Midway's Summer Gamers' Day last Thursday. Could Midway's hold-out approach on releasing titles on next-generation hardware keep the next Mortal Kombat fighting game on current hardware? Though no official word has been spoken since last year, we'd expect from the fact that they are even discussing both possibilities, that Mortal Kombat 7 might likely end up on current-generation hardware after all. We'll try to get official word whatever the case soon, however expect mums the word from Midway's front on any future Mortal Kombat development projects at least until after Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks debuts next month. We'll keep you posted.