GameSpot has released a new trailer that not only satisfies (if just temporarily) the craving of every MK fan anticipating this title, but gives us the first gameplay shots of the Dragon King himself! In one scene, the Dragon King is shown grabbing his opponent, taking him high into the air and slamming him to the ground. In another, he kicks an opponent into spikes that line the entire edge of a never before seen arena. This just may be the boss we've all been waiting for! Other points of interest include several new Death Traps; One opponent is crushed by a falling Buddha statue, a second is knocked into the surf, only to find themselves being mauled to death by piranhas, while a third is shown falling into a vast bed of spikes that somewhat resembles the Pit from MK1. More insight regarding Konquest mode is shown, giving us brief glimpses of Tanya, Reptile, Kitana and various other new Konquest footage. As far as gameplay footage goes, Kabal, Shujinko and Kira are all seen in action for the first time, including one of Kira's fatalities where she pins the opponent's feet to the floor with her knives then proceeds to rip off their torso, and Baraka performing a Hari Kiri, cutting off his own head. This is definitely one of the most exciting videos we've seen in a while.

A hi-res Quicktime version is available to both GameSpot Complete members and to those with a Basic Membership (via the delivery plug-in), as well as a free low-res streaming Windows Media version to non-members by clicking here.

Special thanks go to Shinnokxz and Drje for the heads up!

PS2 IGN has just updated with nine new gameplay videos from Midway's upcoming Mortal Kombat: Deception! The first video features Scorpion facing Sub-Zero in a battle for a square in Chess Kombat. Two more videos give a look into Chess Kombat gameplay on the board itself. Another video features a mirror match with Baraka. Two other videos offer the biggest surprise: Baraka faces off against Raiden! It appears that Raiden does not escape the events involved mentioned in his profile; while his costume is the same as it was in Deadly Alliance, it is charred and torn, and his entire blackened appearance brings Noob Saibot to mind. However, this does lay to rest any question whether he will be a playable character in Deception. Three more videos feature Puzzle Kombat gameplay as Sindel and Baraka have it out.

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

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

UPDATE: It appears IGN has since removed the gameplay videos involving Raiden. All of the other gameplay videos discussed are still posted, however. We'll keep you updated as we learn more.

GameSpot is reporting that Midway Games posted another loss this quarter, but that there may be some "light at the end of the tunnel". From the article:

Beleaguered game publisher Midway today released financial figures for the first half of 2004. The company lost $25.7 million over the six month period ending June 30, losing $10.7 million in the April-June period. Expecting to release only three games in the next six months, Midway predicts that overall losses for 2004 to be $20 million, $2 million more than it had previously stated.

The news is not all bad, however. Today's numbers show a marked improvement over last year, when Midway lost $65.3 million during the first half. Furthermore, sales were also up this year, rising $16.6 million to $67.4 million during the first half. During the second quarter, the company released three rather well received games, MLB SlugFest: Loaded, NBA Ballers, and Psi-Ops, which helped support sales during the period.

There may be light at the end of the tunnel for Midway-- at least next year. What was once the company's big game for the holiday season will instead add its sales to 2005's financial figures. The Xbox and PlayStation 2 shooter Area 51 has been pushed back to early 2005, where Midway hopes there will be "much more attention in a launch period with comparatively less crowding." Midway will use the time to "add extra features and improve gameplay," Zucker said.

Given that the company also acquired the publishing rights for three new Unreal games, including Unreal Championship 2, due February 2005, the first quarter of next year does not look so bleak to Midway execs and investors.

While no mention was made of Mortal Kombat: Deception, it's safe to say the game is on schedule and will also help Midway's revenues. As this story develops, we'll report on it here.

To read the story in its entirety, click here.

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

UPDATE (by M4C): In related news, GameSpot has announced that Midway has been chosen by Epic Games to publish the future Unreal titles, both for consoles and PC. This will certainly give Midway's financial report a needed shot in the arm, but could it also mean that Midway is interested in bringing other titles to the PC? Specifically one with the initials MK? Only the future will tell ... To read the full story, click HERE.

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!

VH1's new special, I Love the 90's, recently featured a segment focusing on Mortal Kombat near the end of their special on the year 1992. Throughout the program, many celebrities were asked for comment on the game. Here's what some of them had to say:

Patrice O'Neal - "The greatest game of all time, the grand-daddy of all violent video games."

Edwin McCain - "Mortal Kombat almost broke our band up - I was dominating in that game."

Ray Buchanan - "It was one of its first kind to actually come out with a lot of the blood shattering."

Mo Rocca - "Mortal Kombat was one of those values-laden games. It taught kids about resiliance, it's like, 'Just get back up there!'"

It's a really cool thing to watch, especially for the hardcore MK fans that remember back that far when the game first came out. It's pretty amazing that all these celebrities (actors, football players, etc.) are gamers and love MK just like the rest of us. Keep checking your local TV Guide to see the next time VH1 plays I Love the 90's for you!

Check out VH1's page especially on their 1992 episode here.

Special thanks to MK Online users yojimbo24, John Vogel, and mikemcdnet. Yes, that's right: John Vogel. Thanks, guys!

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!

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.

Gamespot.com has provided an updated report on Jakks Pacific's upcoming version for Mortal Kombat, specially designed for their TV Games line of products. From the article:

Jakks Pacific announced that it is planning to release the arcade version of Mortal Kombat as a plug-and-play TV Games device. Of special interest to fans of the classic fighter, the controller for Mortal Kombat will be an exact replica of the original Mortal Kombat arcade panel. The device will be available in October for about $20.

Only time will tell what is meant by an "exact replica" of the original arcade panel, but having the unit priced at $20 will certainly make this a must-have for the MK enthusiast. To read the article in its entirety, click here.

Thanks to forum member _JRF_ for the heads up!

UPDATE (by ]{0MBAT): Thanks to many more users for sending in News Lead Submissions, the first one being MK Online forum member Bajar. This is the same TV Games unit that MK Online reported on back in February. The real news here (besides the controller layout being identical to the MK arcade cabinet) is that GameSpot added it to their lineup.

Earlier we reported that there was a rumour going around that Midway would be renaming Mortal Kombat: Deception in Europe. Our sources within Midway have partially confirmed this rumour today: MK: Deception will be renamed Mortal Kombat: Mystification in France only. All other markets will carry the game with its original title.

Our thanks to forum users tgrant and Wanderer for the heads-up on this news story, and to Midway for the confirmation of this late breaking news!

UPDATE: You can read the official press release from Midway announcing the name change here.