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!

UPDATE: EB Games has since pulled their preorder page for MK: Deception Collector's Edition off of their website. This marks the second retailer to have displayed it and then removed it. We'll have more information as we receive it. Thanks go to DMitch for the heads-up! The good folks at Midway are at it again, offering incentives to the fans who pre-order Mortal Kombat Deception. Not only is this available through retailers at GameStop, but now EB Games offers it as well. Once again, here's what you get when you order it early:

• Special Edition Packaging
• An "arcade perfect" version of Mortal Kombat 1
• Comprehensive "The History of Mortal Kombat" from inception through MK: Deception
• Additional 15 character video bios (25 total)
• Serialized limited edition trading card

Check out the EB Games Product Page here.

Thanks go to MK Online Chat/Forum member Cooler_Cero for being the first to let us know about this!

UPDATE: EB Games has since pulled their preorder page for MK: Deception Collector's Edition off of their website. This marks the second retailer to have displayed it and then removed it. We'll have more information as we receive it. Thanks go to IcedOutLinKueiWarrior and DMitch for the heads-up!

Good news for Mortal Kombat fans all over the world - the sixth installment of the game (whether it will be called Deception or Mystification in your area) will be released not too long after the U.S. release! GameSpot reports that the U.S. release date will be October 4th, and IGN reports that the release date for PAL countries will be November 5th.

Thanks to MK Online members mccauslander and DMitch for the word this time around!

UPDATE: The information about the PAL release date was first made available from the press release announcing MK Deception's name change for the European market. You can see the press release here.