Official X-Box Magazine's September issue has reached subscribers, and it includes a look at bios for several characters from Mortal Kombat: Deception, including Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Mileena, Baraka, Raiden, and newcomers Shujinko and Darrius! The newly revealed character bios follow:

• Darrius: Leader of the Resistance in the Realm of Order, Darrius lives a life in the shadows. His ambition is to overthrow the oppressive regime that strangles freedom. To some he is a hero... but to others he is nothing more than a terrorist.
• Shujinko: Long before Liu Kang had won the Mortal Kombat tournament in Earthrealm, Shujinko had begun his quest to retrieve the Kamidogu for the Elder Gods. His journey took him to many realms where he met many experienced warriors.
• Scorpion: In his haste to confront his nemesis, Quan Chi, he was ambushed by two Oni and cast into a powerful soulnado. He would have been torn apart by the souls trapped there had he not escaped into the Void. In this place, he first set eyes on the fabled Elder Gods.
• Sub-Zero: While still in Outworld, the Lin Kuei Grand Master, Sub-Zero, discovers the secret of his true heritage - the source of his mastery over cold temperatures. This discovery will aid him in the fight to destroy the Dragon King's vile and bloodthirsty Tarkatan hordes.
• Baraka: Baraka's Tarkatan race is a mutated hybrid of Netherealm and Outworld species. A loyal warrior, Baraka faithfully serves his new master, the Dragon King, by preoccupying Outworld opposition with his Tarkatan hordes, the backbone of the Dragon King's terrifying army.

The article also features images of Darrius and Shujinko; Darrius is a bald man with sunglasses, wearing a sleeveless leather tunic, while Shujinko is an old man with white robes and long white hair, reminiscent of Pai Mei from the movie Kill Bill. As always, due to copyright issues we are unable to provide scans of the article. However, this issue will soon be on newsstands near you (if it isn't already), so be sure and pick up your copy today!

Our thanks to forum member CMETH for the heads-up on this news story!

GameSpot has released a new video featuring a preview of Mortal Kombat: Deception, which will be released in October. From the site:

In light of the staggering amount of stuff that Midway is packing into Deception, we're pleased to bring you this comprehensive tour of the game, narrated by Mortal Kombat series cocreator Ed Boon himself. In this nearly 10-minute-long video, you'll get the full rundown on Deception's involved adventure game, which will see you taking a young, untrained warrior at the age of 13 all the way to his ascendance as a skilled fighting master at age 60. You'll also get a dose of the competitive puzzle and chesslike modes that help to round out Deception's diverse gameplay.

To download the video you must be a member of GameSpot Complete, however you can read the article and stream the video for free by clicking here.

GameSpot has updated their coverage of Midway's Mortal Kombat: Deception with six screenshots! While five of them are the same as in IGN's recent post (mentioned here), they have added another image of Sub-Zero battling Noob Saibot!

To see the images on GameSpot's website, click here.

Our thanks to forum user sub-zeromasta for the heads-up on this news story!

Our sources within Midway Games have decided to provide a real treat for the fans: five new desktop wallpapers based on their upcoming fighting game, Mortal Kombat: Deception!

To access the wallpapers, click on the thumbnail image. To set them as your wallpaper in Windows/IE, right click on the image and choose "Set as Background". For Mac, save the image to your hard disk, and then right click the desktop and choose "Change Desktop Background".

Our sincerest thanks to our sources within Midway for giving out these wallpapers for the fans!

PS2 IGN has started a new series of articles entitled The Kombatants of MK Deception, in which they reveal the backgrounds and history of the fighters in Midway's upcoming Mortal Kombat: Deception! From the article:

When you're one of the biggest and most recognizable videogame franchises in the world, even the slightest little morsel of information can make a big difference in the lives of your fan base; specifically when dealing with characters and storylines. In the case of Midway's upcoming online fighting sequel Mortal Kombat: Deception, however, a little bit of info just didn't seem like enough.

And so, your friends here at IGN have teamed up with Midway to bring you an ongoing profile series dedicated to the cast of what can only be described as the biggest Mortal Kombat title yet. Officially designated The Kombatants of MK: Deception, our irregular collection of profiles will not only tell you what fighters you can expect to see in the next iteration of Midway's competitive slugger, but also, the history of that character and how they came to be in the first place.

The first article in the series profiles three veterans to the world of Kombat: Mileena, Raiden, and Sindel! Their histories, as shown in the article:

Mileena: Created by the sorcerer Shang Tsung, Mileena has at last fulfilled her destiny as Kitana's successor by posing as the former princess. She misleads Kitana's military forces in an attempt to give the Dragon King the time he needs to complete his plans. Only Baraka knows the truth behind her deception.

Raiden: As a last resort against the Dragon King's advance, Raiden sacrificed himself by releasing his godlike essence; thereby creating an intense ethereal blast. The Dragon King was unaffected and continues to threaten the realms.

Sindel: A new threat has put Queen Sindel's realm of Edenia in peril. With the aid of her faithful ally Jade, she will travel to Outworld to defeat the Dragon King and free her daughter Kitana from his control.

This last seems to strongly indicate that we will in fact be seeing the return of Jade in MK: Deception, though nothing is confirmed. The article also includes historical videos of each profiled character. As IGN posts more chapters in this series, we will report it here!

To read the article in its entirety, click here.

Our thanks to forum/chat members Siduu101, Mk_FrEaK and TemperaryUserName for the heads-up on this hot news story!