After 20 years as a successful franchise, its the sequel to the eponymous Mortal Kombat that many still regard with fondest memories. For fans who live and bleed Mortal Kombat, however, the tournament-centric original can never be completely forgotten. Such is the dedication of a focused group of industrious fans, who've applied themselves to independently designing and developing a playable revamp of the original dubbed: Mortal Kombat HD.
Determined by consensus; the objective of Mortal Kombat HD was to create a slavishly complete, high definition remake of the 1992 arcade classic. Built from the ground up, using popular 2D freeware engine MUGEN as a playable base and 3D models -- the project would be made of all original resources, designed to imitate the original as exactly as possible. Therein would lie the problem, however, leading to an effective shutdown of any intention to release a working product, rendered by Warner Brothers late last week.
While the enthusiasm of fans may lead them to desire otherwise, Warner Brothers' position represents an open and shut case. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but it's also a self-evident example of copyright and trademark infringement. Exceptions may exist at the prerogative of intellectual property owners who choose to overlook infringements, but they are always within their rights to shut down unlicensed fan projects.
On the surface, this would appear to be an effective end to the MKHD fan game as it was intended. To release any playable version to the public would be to court personal ruin. No fan will play it. Much less clear, however, is the exact motivation for Warner Brothers' intervention. While there is broad intellectual property protection and brand management to consider -- there is an extensive history behind MKHD.
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.
Extreme flooding in Chicago's Midwestern suburbs has had an impact on NetherRealm Studios figurehead and Injustice: Gods Among Us Creative Director, Ed Boon. As he tweeted recently, natural disaster was turned to archival gold as the Chicago native uncovered undamaged, classic memorabilia from the early days of Mortal Kombat!
According to the traditions of the Chinese calendar, 2012 is determined the current Year of the Dragon. If impressions are anything to go by, it was purely serendipity that made this the perfect date for the twentieth anniversary of a series so widely identified by its iconic Dragon Logo.
The origin of the Dragon Logo symbol was just one of the topics covered when Mortal Kombat Online entered in to a conversation with a man whose legacy now far exceeds his time with the Mortal Kombat franchise.
It has become tradition for Mortal Kombat Online interviews to begin with the simple question of, in their own words, who the subject is. In the case of John Tobias, introductions are hardly needed. Together with Ed Boon, Tobias is credited as being the co-creator of Mortal Kombat -- a video game dynasty that dominated arcades until their eventual demise at the turn of the millenium, and continues to rule on home consoles.
As the man responsible for creating the original characters (and premise) that have populated Mortal Kombat in its every iteration, the influence of John Tobias is felt throughout the series -- even in the latest game, which set out to reboot the franchise by rewriting its history.
Join us in returning to the original source as John Tobias discusses Mortal Kombat's origins. In Part 1, we review how the series got its start, the names and faces that nearly led it down a different path, and the impact and legacy the original games have had.
With the release of the 2011 reboot, Mortal Kombat strived to go somewhere it had never convincingly gone before: the competitive scene. With its reinvented retro-inspired gameplay a bonafide success, the latest game may now be taking the series further than anyone could've rightly expected -- to Japan!
Mortal Kombat may be brand new to the PlayStation Vita this month [full story], but the reboot title officially celebrated its first anniversary at the end of April!
Adding to the continuing retrospective; Atomhawk Design have released a follow-up wave of concept resources, expanding the gallery of their contributions to the hugely successful title with images of Kintaro, The Armory, Goro's Lair, Evil Monestary and the apocalyptic vista from Sonya Blade's ending!
In kinder, gentler times, children would gather each and every Easter Sunday, enjoying the simple pleasures of an annual hunt for chocolate eggs. These days, you probably more readily identify the tradition of "Easter Eggs" by pop culture's appropriation of hidden extras, and nestled nuggets of reference.
Mortal Kombat has made legendary use of easter eggs, milking a rich canon for hints and allusions, sometimes going so far as to hide kombatants themselves, deep within the game. At the beginning of the week, we talked about the impossible characters who existed in rumor and foolery [full story], but this Easter, the Mortal Kombat Online staff have crammed The Nexus to pick our Top 10 Secret Kharacters!
Computer gaming nostalgists will be able to go home again with mouse and keyboard in hand thanks to the official release of Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection for PC!
GamersGate currently have the game listed for $9.95, for a 428.81MB download file. Arcade Kollection contains versions of the original games that made the series, a perfect package for curious millineals and 2011 converts who missed the early nineties originals -- Mortal Kombat (1992), Mortal Kombat II (1993) and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (1995).
System requirements:
Operating system Windows Vista (32/64 bit) / Windows 7 (32/64 bit)
Processor: 2.0+ GHZ Single Core Processor (Minimum Requirements) / 3.0 GHZ Dual Core Processor (Recommended)
Memory: 1GB RAM
Hard Disk Space: 3 GB
Video Card: NVIDIA 6200+ or ATI Radeon 9600+ Video Card, Shader Model 3.0 compatible, Supporting 16:9 Aspect Ratio (Minimum Requirements) / NVIDIA 7900 GS or Equivalent (Recommended)
DirectX: DirectX 9.0c
Celebrating today's release of the Mortal Kombat: Arcade Kollection, gaming website IGN has updated with a Vignette Video featuring the three classic games of the popular fighting franchise:
In 2011, Mortal Kombat will return in all it's gory glory, bringing with it the deadly finishing moves that were controversially scaled back for their 2008 crossover, Versus DC Universe.
In preparation for the elaborate bloodletting and general dismemberment, IGN has picked up the gauntlet to list their Unofficial Top Ten Best Fatalities! Featured in the list are favourites like Scorpion's Toasty Flame Breath, along with some more obscure fare you might not expect.
