Update: It seems GameStop has removed the following links from their catalogue. However, we have received word that the actual store locations are accepting preorders on this product. We will keep you updated on this story.

GameStop has added a listing to their website for a Collector's Edition of Midway's upcoming fighting game, Mortal Kombat: Deception! According to their site, the collector's edition will include:

• A limited edition trading card, each of which will have a serial number
• "An arcade version of Mortal Kombat 1" (We presume that this is just an arcade-perfect of MK1 for the respective systems.)
• A disc containing The History of Mortal Kombat
• An additional 15 character videos

This collectors edition will be available for both Playstation 2 and X-Box, at a price of $59.99. The game is scheduled to be released on October 4th, 2004. As we learn more, we'll be sure to post it here.

To see the product page for the Playstation 2 version, click here. To see the product page for the X-Box version, click here.

Our thanks to forum member SoulEdge316 for the heads-up on this news story!

X-Box IGN is reporting on a rumour that the European version of Midway's Mortal Kombat: Deception may be undergoing a change of name. However, in the unlikely event it happens, the new name has not been decided. From the article:

According to several European websites, Midway is considering changing the name of Mortal Kombat: Deception to Mortal Kombat: Mystification in the PAL markets. Intrigued by this rather bizarre-sounding development, we gave representatives at Midway a call in hopes that they could clear it up.

"That's just a rumor," replied the spokesperson we talked with. "It's true that there are some name issues in Europe regarding the title, but we're aiming to have it called Mortal Kombat: Deception is all territories. We haven't said anything at all about calling it Mystification.

To read the article in its entirety, click here.

Our thanks to forum users ScorpionKing2003 and tgrant for the heads-up on this news story!

Midway Games has released the following ten new screenshots for the upcoming Midway Arcade Treasures 2, which will feature such classic titles including Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II, and Mortal Kombat 3. Click on a thumbnail below for a lager version.

Bonus Stage does a quick interview with Mortal Kombat: Deception producer John Podlasek. From the interview:

Bonus Stage: Will there be any features added to the Xbox version that the PS2 version doesn’t include (or vice versa)?

John Podlasek: They’ll be identical in terms of feature and content, and look pretty similar graphic-wise also.

They also mention that Adema is not promoting the game this time around, nor is any other band.

To read the full interview, click here. A big thanks go to forum/chat member CAMK for the word!

There has been some question as to whether Midway's upcoming fighting game Mortal Kombat: Deception will support system link play in addition to X-Box Live for X-Box and GameSpy for Playstation 2. (For those who don't know, system link refers to having two consoles on the same local network, like Halo's network capability.) Therefore, I contacted Midway recently and asked them about the possibility of a system link capability for MK: Deception. Their answer was that no, there will not be a system link capability for MK: Deception.

As we learn more about this game, we'll be sure to report it here. Stay tuned!

Not much new is learned from the article that we haven't already covered, save for a brief mention that Ed has hinted around about Friendships and Babalities possibly returning, but the biggest revelation is what is called a "Lover Fatality".
Whether this comes to fruition or not, we will have to see, but in the meantime, here is an excerpt discussing it in the Official X-box Magazine. From the article:

Longtime fans will also remember Babality and Friendship finishers. As for their inclusion in the game, series co-creator Ed Boon has hinted at the idea, but perhaps he has something more devious up his sleeve. Can you say Lover Fatality? Neither can we.

Excerpt from Official X-box Magazine July 2004.

(It's the one with the cover feature on Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2, and features demos on the disc of Rallisport Challenge 2, Van Helsing, Shadow Ops: Red Mercury, and MLB Slugfest Loaded.)

For those who are having a difficult time waiting to play Mortal Kombat: Deception, Midway Games has decided to make your wait just a little bit easier! In their brand new game, Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy, several character skins are made available via hidden code. The most important of these skins is none other than our beloved Scorpion, who appears in his Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance outfit! To access this hidden code:

To obtain Scorpion in the PS2 version of Psi-Ops, highlight the "Extra Content" option on the main menu and press R1. For Xbox users follow the same instructions, but press the right trigger. This will bring up a keypad, upon which you need to enter the code 546546. The game will then notify you that Scorpion has been unlocked!

Check out our exclusive pictures, and be sure to pick up Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy,  if you've ever wanted to play a gun-toting, psi-equipped Scorpion!

RETRACTION: We have been in contact with Midway, and have learned that neither Ed, nor anyone speaking for Ed, had made these comments. Therefore, this news story was in effect false. We apologize to you, the readers, for posting this news without following through with it first, and I personally apologize for allowing this news post to go through without having done the thorough check we require of our news items. We will do our very best to avoid having this situation occur in future, and we at Mortal Kombat Online deeply regret this error in judgement. -- D'Arque Bishop

Ed Boon, co-creator of Mortal Kombat and Lead Programmer for Mortal Kombat: Deception made an appearance on G4 earlier on in the week.

While on G4's show, "Electric Playground", Ed Boon has confirmed 3 new characters (Sektor, Smoke, and Kabal), and 1 new arena (The Living Forest). Kabal's look will be completely revamped, and the two cyber-ninjas will sport quite a different look from Deadly Alliance's Cyrax.

Thanks to MK Online forum members theultimateninja and Sub-Zedox for the news!

The third Mortal Kombat movie will begin shooting this summer, as confirmed by a TV Guide interview done with Linden Ashby.

And is it official that you're set to star in Mortal Kombat 3?

I have been talking to the producers for the past month or so pretty intensely, and they say we are set to go. I'll be reprising my role as Johnny Cage. It's supposed to start shooting this summer.

Click here to read the full interview. A big thanks to Shinnokxz of our very own Network Site, The Unofficial Mortal Kombat 3 Movie Page for piecing together this update!

UPDATE (by D'Arque Bishop): The story at the Unofficial Mortal Kombat 3 Movie Page also links to Christopher Lambert's site, where it mentions he will be reprising his role as Rayden! To see the full page, click here.

Midway Games has announced a few changes in management, naming Kenneth D. Cron as Chairman Of The Board, Shari Redstone as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Joseph A. Califano, Jr. as Midway Director. From the press release:

Midway Games Inc. (NYSE:MWY) announced today that the Company's Board of Directors has appointed Kenneth D. Cron, 47, as Chairman of the Board. The Company's Board of Directors also appointed Shari E. Redstone, 50, as Vice-Chairman of the Board. Mr. Cron and Ms. Redstone were elected as Directors at Midway's June 10 annual meeting. Midway also announced today the appointment of Joseph A. Califano, Jr., 73, as a new independent director, effective immediately. With the addition of Mr. Califano, Midway's Board now has eight members.

Midway's new Chairman, Kenneth D. Cron, stated, "I am a firm believer in the strength and future of the games industry and its growing prominence in the entertainment market. I believe Midway has many of the core assets to be an important player in this dynamic market. To that end, I am honored to lead Midway's newly-elected Board, and I look forward to helping the company realize its potential."

Midway's largest shareholder is Sumner M. Redstone, who directly and through his ownership of National Amusements Inc. owned approximately 70.4% of Midway's outstanding shares as of June 9, 2004.

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

A big thanks to forum/chat member CAMK for the word!

GameSpot has updated with eight exclusive new screenshots from Midway's upcoming fighting game, Mortal Kombat: Deception! The first three screenshots feature Scorpion and Baraka duking it out on top of the Sky Temple. The second two screenshots show Hotaru battling Ermac in the Slaughterhouse. The final three screenshots are that of Baraka and Nightwolf fighting in the Beetle Room.

All eight screenshots are located at GameSpot Playstation2's MK Deception screenshot page, located here.

Our sources within Midway Games have come through for their fans again, providing new exclusive screenshots from their upcoming game, Mortal Kombat: Deception! This first set of screenshots features Mileena facing off against Sub-Zero (in his alternate costume) inside the Netherbelly:

This next set of screenshots features Mileena and Hotaru battling at the Sky Temple, with one character taking a fall...

The final two screenshots are of a game of Chess Kombat in what could be the Portal stage, and Mileena delivering an uppercut to another character in Puzzle Kombat:

We'll be sure to keep you all posted as we learn more about the game. Our thanks to our source within Midway for the screenshots!

The good folks over at GameTactics have posted a ten minute Mortal Kombat: Deception video from E3 that's part interview, part direct feed. Mortal Kombat team member Steve Beran gives us a walkthrough of the game this time.

We've all seen the Stage Fatalities/death traps/multi-tiered stages. What we learn in this video is that this applies to every background!

Also in the video, they go in-depth with the various modes of game play. We are shown that you can place bombs in Chess Kombat, and if your opponents land on one, their piece instantly dies. Another interesting tidbit of information is on Konquest Mode. We have known for months that this mode will feature every character in the MK universe, and they specifically mention Rain will make an appearance here. (This should please many of the MK Online forum users.) Puzzle Kombat is also featured in the video.

The video itself is 7.96 MB in the Windows Media Video (.wmv) format. Start the download now over at www.gametactics.com.

Thanks to MK Online user sub0s for the tip this time!

GameSpot is reporting that Sumner Redstone, the CEO and Chairman of entertainment company Viacom, is looking towards an eventual takeover of Midway Games, maker of the Mortal Kombat series. From the article:

All signs point to the eventual takeover of the venerable but limping game publisher Midway by Viacom CEO and Chairman Sumner Redstone. Such a scenario is bolstered by reports that Redstone, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission today, said he has hired a financial advisor to evaluate options should he increase his interest in the publisher to 80 percent of its common stock from its current 72.4 percent level.

In addition, Dow Jones is reporting that at Redstone's request, Midway will reduce the number of seats on its board of directors from eleven to eight, and that Redstone has nominated his daughter, Shari E. Redstone, to join the board.

In spite of the stock reporting 17 consecutive quarterly losses, Redstone has demonstrated unflagging interest in the company, increasing his stake in it from less than 30 percent at the beginning of the year to its current level. He now owns 49,389,066 common shares of Midway Games, including 687,600 additional shares he purchased on both Friday, June 4, and Monday, June 7.

As we receive more information on this news story, we will be sure to report it. To read the article in its entirety, click here.

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

Last week we were fortunate enough to conduct a conference call with Eric Engstrom, CEO of WildSeed. During the call we conducted an interview in a question/answer format, learning many new details regarding the company's GameSkin technology that will allow gamers to play in a Gameboy Advance fashion, Midway's Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance on Curitel's new Identity cell phone. When asked about what carriers would offer the Identity phone, Eric answered:

We have announced a deal with Dobson, which is the ninth largest regional carrier in the United States. The other carrier deals are not announced yet. You might imagine that the carriers are picky about when we announce things. You can, and I think that's reasonable for them to do that. You can obviously buy the phone un-SIM locked, put your GMS SIM in it, so that would be AT&T, T-Mobile, Cingular or some other regional carrier, and the phone will work fine. That's the beauty of GSM.

He continues to explain how the GameSkins in general will stand up against current mobile gaming technologies that are out, or will be coming out within the next year. From the call:

I think the way to think of this is to compare it favorably to a Nintendo GameBoy Advance. The screen's a little smaller, the processor is a lot more powerful, and you're connected. So, while we will move a lot of GameBoy Advance style games over to Identity, what you will also see is the ability to download new levels, upload scores, download new weapons, that sort of thing. But you know, I believe that the next generation game platform for the next year will be ahead of Indentity. So if you look at the Sony Playstation/Personal Playstation.. you know you can't put it in your pocket and it's not a cell phone, but it's probably a better game device. If you compare us to Nokia's N-Gage I think we win hands down. If you compare us to Nintendo GameBoy Advance, I think it's a much better gaming experience for a little older player, I guess is the way I would put it slightly. If you look at the demographics for GBA they tend to be 14 and down and our phone is targeted, for well, 15 and up.

During the rest of the conference call Eric provided us with a great deal of information regarding the technology behind the GameSkin itself, as well as what to expect out of this Deadly Alliance port. Coming in at 19.2 MB, we are providing a 21 minute MP3 file of the phone call.

WildSeed's GameSkin for Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance is expected to hit shelves by this summer. More information will continue to be released as we receive it.