What's black and white and read all over? Ed Boon's twitter feed (@noobde) since he updated his avatar and profile background! [Update: Who's Next? Is This The First Promo Poster For Mortal Kombat Sequel?]

In what is sure to go down as one of the most compelling moments of the hype train -- the NetherRealm Studios Project Lead has switched his old question mark avatar out for a white circle on black.

The cryptic meaning behind the geometric development is too vague for us to nail down any definitive theories, but the Mortal Kombat franchise is certainly no stranger to circles.

With less than a week to go in the Boon prompted countdown to June 2nd -- this could signal a place holder for the long awaited return of the classic MK dragon logo! There's also Shinnok's Amulet -- a suitably Euclidean artefact at the centre of the original Mortal Kombat 4 plot -- which we expect to see reprised in some fashion in a sequel. [Relate Article: Kountdown: 10 Returning Kombatants Ready to Kontinue!]

NetherRealm Studios Project Lead Ed Boon is tweeting down to something in June. The cryptic countdown hit 24 today, and it's got Gameinformer feeling just a little self-conscious.

Anticipation for the next game from NetherRealm Studios has already been high, but it's about to reach fever pitch as we scramble for clues in the race to this year's E3!

Always on hand to add fuel to the fire: Creative Director Ed Boon has begun what appears to be a thinly veiled countdown that hits zero on June 2nd! This puts the mystery a week ahead of the June 10-12 Electronic Entertainment Expo.

It's been a rough ride for Mortal Kombat fans dedicated to Nintendo home consoles. From game 1, Nintendo fans have more often than not had the short end of the kombat stick. In 2012, Gameinformer ran a comparison of 16-bit era games, highlighting the steep superiority of the bloody Sega versions of MK. If for some reason you've still wanted to revisit those bloodless days -- don't hold your breath!

Series co-creator Ed Boon knocked out hopes for a Wii U Virtual Console rerelease, describing the odds as a definitive: "0.0%". [That, or 0.0% was his expression when anyone showed any interest in Nintendo ports.]

Edit (Apr. 2): If you read it elsewhere, you might have been fooled, but if you were here on Mortal Kombat Online, you clearly knew it was all part of our annual April Fools tradition! We played this for the long game, but even with a genuine tweet from Ed Boon -- you couldn't be fooled! You guys are just too good! This article and the material within it was a complete fabrication. You can spew disdain for our juvenile behaviour on the forum, or come down from the high with a calming art tribute to Mortal Kombat's greatest hoax: Ermac! See you next year!

Well, it looks like the "others" have it! Since revealing his work on an unspecified Mortal Kombat in an interview with IGN [full story}; Kiefer Sutherland (24: Live Another Day, Pompeii) has been the absent subject of much speculation.

With expectations reasonably targeted at an anticipated sequel to 2011's Mortal Kombat -- the prime suspects for his unknown role revolved around new additions to the reboot line-up. Mortal Kombat Online Users voted MK4 big bad Shinnok as the most likely casting, but in response to our Kommunity Kountdown article, the star re-emerged briefly to clarify:

Reported March 30; Kevin Tancharoen has told Inquisitr he hopes to bring Mortal Kombat: Legacy back to the web for a third series.

The web director announced his departure from the franchise back in October, 2013 [full story]: just one month after the block release of Legacy Series II. He cited new creative opportunities, which have since included another web short for Machinima -The Gable 5; starring Eliza Dushku.

Inquisitr report the director has begun talks with Warner Brothers, and Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon: who's been enlisted for ways forward for the series. Acknowledging the sharp drop-off in popularity for the second series, Tancharoen says they "pissed off way too many people" with their cliff hanger ending. He shows optimism for future instalments, even whilst reportedly telling Inquistr the much-discussed movie is likely off the table.

In what will no doubt go down as one of the finest moments in gaming press; NetherRealm Studios head Ed Boon appeared live on the Giant Bomb stream for the final day of the 2014 Game Developers Conference (GDC). The appearance capped off a mammoth five hours of streaming, now available archived on Twitch.tv [embedded below]. Boon appeared opposite what was left of Midway alums: David Lang (Iron Galaxy Studios CEO), John Vignocchi (Disney Interactive Executive Producer), and regular Giant Bomb host Jeff Gerstmann.

He landed in download channels to a chorus of mixed reaction, but it seems no amount of ire could stop Scorpion becoming the highest selling DLC for Injustice: Gods Among Us!

The accolade was revealed by Injustice Creative Director Ed Boon, who invited Twitter followers to guess who took the top spot as "highest selling" content [see; Reply].

Once regarded an improbable oddity; the fighting game guest character has become an industry standard. The invasion of outside forces remains a controversial topic for hardcore fans of any series: Mortal Kombat has become a seasoned veteran of the crossover concept, accepting fights at home and abroad.

Kombatants were first establishing their crossover credentials as far back as the nineties. Characters like Sub-Zero and Raiden have lodged appearances in various series, including: NBA Jam, Unreal Tournament and The Grid. Scorpion made the latest Kombat crossover earlier this year, appearing as a Jim Lee designed downloadable guest in NetherRealm Studios' superhero fighter: Injustice: Gods Among Us. The ninja from Hell is expected to be among the pack-in content in November's Ultimate Edition.

In 2011, Mortal Kombat took a turn playing host to two well known guest fighters: Freddy Krueger (DLC) and Kratos (PS3 exclusive).

We've never had the pleasure of meeting Brian Tee in person, but for all intents and purposes, he seems like a real swell guy! Whilst attending San Diego Comic Con for the Mortal Kombat: Legacy II live panel [full story], he helped keep Mortal Kombat Online [@MK_Online] in the loop via Twitter (@Brian_Tee).

Here are some of the snaps he shared live from the event [plus one from Ed]!