Hot on the heels of the announcement that Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks has gone gold, Cinder over on the Midway Boards has posted two more pieces of koncept art! This time, the two pieces of koncept art feature the heroes of MK: Shaolin Monks: Liu Kang and Kung Lao (who is featured with a furry little familiar friend)!

After years of brain-storming, story-boarding, and development, Midway Games has announced that their epic title Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks has gone golden!

For those who are not aware, a "gold title" is a piece of software that has been completely finished, and is now being sent to manufacturing. A gold title does not refer to how many copies of the game have been sold.

With the game now complete, gamers who have read the Developer's Diary, scanned through the promotional renders, and watched the movie clips in awe will finally be able to step into the shoes of their favorite Mortal Kombat legends, and whup some Outworld tail within the next few weeks.

Check out GameSpot for the full story!

The WWE has announced a new sweepstakes based upon Midway's upcoming action/adventure game, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks! The Grand Prize winner will win a new X-Box video game system, a copy of MK: Shaolin Monks signed by a WWE superstar, and four tickets in the Grand Prize winners area at an unspecified WWE event!

GameSpot has posted another video in their Developer Interview series of videos for Midway's upcoming Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. In Developer Interview 3, Ed Boon and Shaun Himmerick discuss a wide array of topics, ranging from Paradox (now Midway L.A.) approaching Midway with the game that would eventually become MK: Shaolin Monks, to Midway L.A.'s dedication to the sanctity of the Mortal Kombat II era as shown in the game, the game mechanics and fighting engine (including the kombat puzzle system, block/lock-on mechanics, and the boss battles), and even the future of the Mortal Kombat franchise and how they want it to branch out. For example, an RPG is specifically mentioned as a type of genre, but nothing is confirmed and Ed admits branching out "is a little intimidating, but at the same time, I think it's necessary".

So Cinder over at the Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks forum gives another couple pieces of content; this time, it's an MP3 of the music from the Forest Battle boss stage and a concept picture of Scorpion from that very battle. To listen to the original MP3 and check out Cinder's post, click here. Thanks to MK Online forum poster and #mortalkombat IRC chatter DECEPTION for yet another News Lead!

Over at Amazon.com you can now pre-order the strategy guide to MK: Shaolin Monks. They've got it listed for $11.55 and they have the release date listed as September 27, 2005. As mentioned in a previous update here, the strategy guide by Prima will include a free CD. Check out the cover: To check out the whole pre-order page, click here. Thanks a lot to MK Online forum/chat guy DECEPTION for the word on this update!

Update: An even better version of the cover can be found here, thanks to MK Online chatter/forum poster fraysol for this part of the update!

Cinder of the Midway Boards has come through for the fans once again. This time, he has posted renders of the main characters from Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks: Liu Kang and Kung Lao! These renders are in the same format as the other released renders, with the characters posing in Shang Tsung's throne room.

Midway has released five new screenshots from their upcoming action/adventure game, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks! These five shots show a couple of interesting surprises, including Scorpion's UMK3 costume, Reptile giving an odd kick to Liu Kang, and Mileena taking a bit of a fire bath.

Looks like Cinder from the MK: Shaolin Monks forums is at it again! In addition to yesterday's update about the Kintaro sketch, he now gives us some more koncept art, this time an early version of Kung Lao: Remember that the final game will have a Krypt, with tons of unlockable content such as concept art hidden away. Click here to check out the original forum post. Thanks to MK Online Flawless Account member Bloodline666 for the word on this update!

Looks like Cinder from the MK: Shaolin Monks forums decided to treat us to another sketch from the game! Though many fans have wondered about the scourge of the Outworld, Kintaro, none have been able to confirm his presence... until now. Check out another great piece of artwork from the upcoming action/adventure MK game: Click here to read the original post. Thanks very much to MK Online user Buterbals for being the first user to submit the News Lead on this story! (Though many more did submit news leads afterwards, and we appreciate each and every one!)