Mortal Kombat Online is hitting the road again! This time we're taking it to Las Vegas, Nevada where veteran reporters D'Arque Bishop and ]{0MBAT will be reporting LIVE at the annual Midway Winter Gamers' Day 2005! Once again, we are excited to have been invited, and our sources within Midway tell us Mortal Kombat is guaranteed to have a presence at the show. In the next few days make sure you keep it here for the latest impressions, media, and exclusive materials that you won't be able to find anywhere else. The saying always goes, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas", however we'll be bringing it straight to your screen as Mortal Kombat Online kicks off another round of live in-depth coverage!

Midway Games announced today that they were developing the next game in their popular series of retro arcade game compilations, Midway Arcade Treasures 3. However, this compilation will be focused primarily on racing games; as a result, it appears that Mortal Kombat will be sitting this compilation out. From the press release:

"The Midway Arcade Treasures brand continues to be one of Midway's strongest-selling and most popular franchises," said Steve Allison, chief marketing officer, Midway. "Midway Arcade Treasures 3 provides the same, classic feel as the previous two Midway Arcade Treasures installments while bringing back several of the most popular racing games in the industry's history to today's next generation consoles."

With the latest addition to Midway's classic gaming vault, consumers will be given the option to either hone their racing skills in single player mode in games such as S.T.U.N. Runner, or fulfill their head-to-head appetite and leave friends in the dust with titles such as Hydro Thunder and Super Off Road.

This news may cause disappointment in some MK fans, as it was hoped that MK would make a reappearance in Midway Arcade Treasures 3. However, if the sales of the previous Arcade Treasures games are any indication, this surely will not be the last Arcade Treasures game, and there's always hope for Midway Arcade Treasures 4...

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

IGN has just posted six new videos from the upcoming GameCube version of Midway's fighting game Mortal Kombat: Deception! The six videos, with one exception, do not show anything not seen in previous demonstration videos posted. The six videos consist of exploring in Konquest mode, training with Bo' Rai Cho, the introduction to Konquest mode where we first meet Shujinko, a demonstration of Puzzle Mode with two Barakas facing off against each other, an example of Kombat from Chess mode as two Scorpions battle over a square, and an example of the chessboard and piece movement from Chess mode. This last is the only one in which something new is shown, as one player has Goro and Shao Kahn chosen as pieces.

The videos are available in Quicktime format for IGN Insider members, and in Windows Media format for non-Insiders. To see the videos in their entirety, click here.

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

The folks over at Jakks Pacific (makers of Mortal Kombat TV Games) have now created their own mini-site for the unit:

http://www.jakkstvgames.com/mortalkombat.html


You will need the Macromedia Flash plug-in to view the site. It's a pretty neat looking site, so you should definitely check it out.

Game Chronicles Magazine has posted an interview with Shaun Himmerick, who is the producer of Midway's upcoming action/adventure game, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks! In the interview, Shaun gives some tidbits about the game and its development process; for example, he tells what involvement members from the original team has in MKSM. From the interview:

The game is being developed out of the Midway LA office, formerly Paradox Development. Even though this game was originally being done as a 3rd party project, the MK team in Chicago has maintained very close contact and worked closely with the team in LA. The art directors on MKSM are Tony Goskie and Steve Beran from the MK Deception team and have been apart of the MK team for many games. As well, Ed Boon is the Creative Director of the game.

In addition, he gives details concerning the exact placement of the game in the Mortal Kombat timeline. From the interview:

The game play picks up right after the final Battle of MK1 and then travels through the MK2 realms. The player can choose to play as either Liu Kang or Kung Lao in the single player adventure or they can choose to play in 2 player co-op mode and work together to get through the game. You’ll see a ton of characters from the MK universe as you progress through the game. Some MK characters will help you out, like Raiden, and some will be huge boss battles, like Baraka. One nice thing in this game is that if you are an ally of someone in the MK universe they will probably help you in this game, and if they are an enemy, well, there is probably going to be some ass to kick.

Also, he does admit to the possibility of platform-specific unlockables.

Not really. The Xbox gives some inherent advantages with how art looks that will be obvious to players. Also we are considering some platform specific unlockables in the game, but basically we will have the same game on both platforms.

The interview's end also provides a hint to an upcoming game focusing on who is arguably Mortal Kombat's most popular character. To read the article in its entirety, click here.

Our thanks to forum/chat member DECEPTION for the heads-up on this interview!