It's been twenty years since Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance undertook an ambitious reinvention of the series for a new era of console hardware. It introduced many exciting things to the series, but some ideas didn't make it into the final cut -- such as two arenas recently extracted from game files by intrepid fans. Read on for details:

The metaphorical door to NetherRealm Studios swung open to fans over the weekend as Chief Creative Officer Ed Boon welcomed fresh questions from die hards via Twitter. He technically revealed their next title in his last Q&A -- and had plenty of interesting things to say about character's futures and when we'll see the new game revealed! Read on:

Fighting games are nothing without a memorable final boss and Mortal Kombat has seen its share. Series co-creator and ultimate big boss Ed Boon used his powers to find out which of four major menaces fans think is the biggest bad of them all. Read on for the contenders:

The recent Story Mode Trailer showed how Kronika will bend time back to Mortal Kombat's past in Mortal Kombat 11, but if you thought that only meant revisiting the original trilogy - think again! Deadly Alliance is clearly on somebody's mind, adding two more references to the recent Hsu Hao watch billboard!

Last month, Sony made waves with the announcement of widespread PlayStation 2 emulation coming to the PlayStation 4!

Despite the immense global popularity of the second generation Sony console, players have been unable to bring their games forward to new generations since modifications to the original PS3.

Wired reported several Star Wars games were already available on the PlayStation Store at the time of the news, but a massive library of memorable games remains largely untapped. To aid in the selection process, Sony are monitoring the #ps2ps4 hashtag on Twitter!

PlayStation Software Developer Dave Thach made Sony's observation of the hashtag known earlier this month. For Mortal Kombat fans, this is a prime opportunity to revive a generation of modern klassics: Deadly Alliance, Deception, Armageddon and Shaolin Monks! To do so, join the many already retweeting Mortal Kombat Online [RT below], and tag us in when you tweet your own list!

Yesterday, we turned the spotlight on Sean Cantrell and his magnificent Mortal Kombat Lego. His blocky, toy inspired renders showed what might be if the world of Mortal Kombat were mere bricks and blocks. It was a wonderful proof of concept -- but what if you want to actually play with your toys?

Del Cottonwood is another industrious fan who has adapted the brutal world of Mortal Kombat into a simpler, blockier realm. Like Cantrell, he's adapted vast swaths of the Kombat cast, but in this case, they're downloadable skins for free-to-play sandbox sensation: Minecraft!

You would've had to have been lost in a pixelated underground cavern for the past few years to not know what Minecraft is. Launched in 2011; the stylized pixelated sandbox gives you a world of sky, water and earth to do with as you please. Its success has taken it to home consoles and driven an empire of paid alternatives, but the principle remains the same. Check out some of our favourites Minecraft Kombatants below:

Developments in the archaeological world aren't necessarily the first thing you'd expect to read about on Mortal Kombat Online -- or the first thing we'd expect to report -- but when it comes to uncovering the supposed bones of a vampire in Bulgaria [via Cosmic Log], well. That piques a certain MK interest.

Vampire Remains Discovered in Bulgaria [via MSNBC]

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.