GameSpot is reporting that Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone has increased his ownership in Midway to over 80% of the company. From the article:

The significance of Redstone acquiring more than 80 percent of the company’s stock is put in perspective by Wedbush Morgan senior analyst Michael Pachter. “A shareholder with 80 percent or more ownership can essentially ‘freeze out’ minority shareholders," he said. “‘Freezing out’ means essentially that the 80 percent owner doesn't need to submit most actions to a shareholder vote. He can't sell the company without ensuring that the minority receives the same thing he gets, but other than that, he can do what he pleases.â€?

Redstone's recent moves come just over one month after he hired financial counsel to assess the possibilities of taking Midway Games private. The Viacom CEO and chairman is also stacking Midway's board in his favor, appointing his own daughter, Shari, as vice chairman of the board and former VU Games chairman Kenneth Cron as CEO. Both were elected to the board on June 10, 2004.

As this news story develops, we'll report on it here. To see the news story in its entirety, click here.

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

The good folks at Midway Games have just sent over 3 exclusive concept sketches drawn by Midway artist Luis Mangubat (who also did a lot of the character design for Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. Mortal Kombat Schweiz has the 3 exclusive sketches of Sub-Zero, Baraka, and the guy in the background of the Sky Tower stage. Head on over there now!

Thanks to MK Online forum member DMitch for the news!

IGN has posted 5 new exclusive pictures of Mortal Kombat: Deception. Midway has cleverly hidden the energy bars in the pictures, so you can't clearly tell who's who; but most certainly one of them is Kabal. The other characters they've revealed are most likely Kira (who we've only seen in sketches) and Jade (although this could be an alternate outfit for Tanya).

To check it out, click here. Thanks to MK Online member sub-zeromasta for the word!

CNN.com, leading Internet news source, has highlighted Mortal Kombat: Deception in a new probe regarding video game violence. From the article:

The next 12 months could see a flurry of new scrutiny of violent games because three controversial franchises are due to release sequels. They include "Doom," notorious as a favorite of the Columbine killers; "Mortal Kombat," with its calls for a player to "finish" opponents in myriad gruesome ways; and "Grand Theft Auto," which exhorted players in its latest iteration to start a Cuban-Haitian race war.

Meanwhile, we're in the midst of a gaming explosion. Deloitte & Touche predicts the worldwide number of "game compliant devices" other than PCs -- mobile phones, consoles, and handheld computers, for example -- will see a six-fold rise by 2010, from 415 million now to 2.6 billion.

While the fact that Mortal Kombat is featured in a video game violence probe surely comes as no surprise, the article does mention that many leading retailers will be instituting a strict carding policy that will prevent minors from purchasing violent games. How this effects your purchase of Mortal Kombat: Deception, only time will tell. Perhaps Mom and Dad will have to do the honors for you.

To read this article in its entirety, click here.

You may remember a while back when GameSpot mentioned on their site that THQ was bringing the original Mortal Kombat to cell phones. While we did not get an official statement from Midway Games, THQ did indicate to us that they were porting Midway games for use with wireless phones. Now, GameSpy has recently updated their site with an article on the game.

THQ Wireless has us covered. Mortal Kombat is on the way to your handset. Only a few months separate you and ripping the spine out of Scorpion. We didn't actually have a chance to play this mobile edition at E3, but THQ Wireless assured us that franchise fans will be happy with this scaled-back (only four available fighters), but loving port from Backbone Entertainment of the arcade classic that turned this industry on its ear.

Click here to read the full article. Keep in mind, there is no release date yet. Also, this is not the same game as the one being produced by WildSeed, who are bringing MK: Deadly Alliance to cell phones this summer.

Thanks to Gambid of MK Secrets for the news!