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!

It's been a long time since Reptile compelled quarter stuffers to look moonward, or Smoke and Jade shared a private joke behind a talking tree, but the element of secrets hasn't left Mortal Kombat entirely. While other franchises begin to abandon the long practiced chase of unlockable characters, MK keeps one foot in the shadows, taunting a rabid fanbase all the way to the end date and beyond.

Yesterday, Mortal Kombat Online enjoyed a customary April Fools rib. The lure of DLC additions and discarded characters may be rooted in truth, but you weren't fooled so easily. For MK fans of the past, however, it hasn't always been so easy to discern truth from fiction.

For fans eager to squeeze a little more out of obscurity, characters like Tremor and Wu Lae remain a luring prospect. Even the likes of Hydro -- a water-themed Lin Kuei character, created by Malibu Comics -- have fought for renewed existence, getting as far as a cameo appearance in the final Mortal Kombat: Legacy [last year]. There is another class of character, however, who contributes to the MK mythology as much, without ever actually having existed -- the rumored, or prank character.

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:

Editor's note: [This was our annual April Fools joke. We will now return to our scheduled programming. Thank ]{0MBAT for the concept and cover that started it!]

Parlofoil Book Group have announced the release of a new series of novel adaptations based on the characters and properties of Mortal Kombat. Authored by New York Times Best Selling Writer James Patterson, a series of six novels will retell the story of Outworld's invasion, reimagined as a sci-fi investigative thriller.

The first novel, entitled simply Mortal Kombat, will reimagine the threat of Outworld as an interdimensional throwback to ancient Earth, where portions of the supercontinent Gondwana was teleported away before continental shift divided the Earth. It seems likely a parallel history will have evolved in Outworld, before the continent returns to the modern day.

Like the recent Rebirth movie reel, which gave way to the announcement of the upcoming live-action digital series [full story]; Sonya and Jax take centre stage in roles loosely inspired by their video game counterparts. Kano is also announced to appear in a sequel book, suggesting they will continue to appear as the novels spin-out into individual stories.

Special hardcover editions of the novel will be released April 19, two days before softcover releases go on sale globally. The special edition also includes a foreword by Stephen King!

As previously announced, four of the classic male ninjas in the upcoming Mortal Kombat will have special Klassic palette swap costumes based the early 2D games. These characters are Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Reptile and Ermac. These costumes are currently exclusive DLC content based on the location of your pre-order of the game. Amazon, Best Buy and Gamestop are all offering this deal. The army of Ermac comes as a bonus with any pre-order, while ordering from Amazon will grant Reptile, Best Buy will grant Sub-Zero and Gamestop will grant Scorpion. The team from NetheRЯealm Studios has sent out these high definition renders seen on the websites mentioned above in low or standard quality.

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.

The rumored HD collection of the original three 2D Mortal Kombat games has once again made an appearance, this time being listed at GAME, an online merchant site for gaming in the United Kingdom. This reflects Gamestop's current listed release date for the game, currently slated for 11/16/2010.

The folks over at ScrewAttack Have put together a list of what they perceived to be the top ten worst Fatalities in MK's history. In addition to general gripes about Babalities, Frienships, etc. as well as 18 skulls and 32 ribcages in the style of the MK3 era of violence, there are specific finishers they find issue with. Here they are:

10. Tanya's Neck Breaker Fatality (MK4)

9. Kabal's Face Scare Fatality (MK3)

8. Sindel's Swan Dive Hara-Kiri (MK Deception)

7. Kenshi's Telekinetic Destroyer Fatality (MK Deadly Alliance)

6. Quan Chi's Neck Stretch Fatality (MK Deadly Alliance)

5. Raiden's Dual Electrocution Fatality (MK Deception)

4. Reptile's Chimpanzee Animality (Ultimate MK3)

3. Motaro's Head Pull Fatality (MK Trilogy)

2. Liu Kang's Cartwheel Uppercut Fatality (MK1)

1. MK vs. DC overall.

To see the video of the list in its entirety, click here.

Over on the official Mortal Kombat Twitter page, the fans were challenged to give their favorite fatality for the original Mortal Kombat arcade game, as part of what was tagged #MortalMonday. The votes are in, and today the winner was announced as part of #FatalityFriday. The winner, unsurprisingly. is Sub-Zero's spine rip!