You people criticizing Capcom, Namco and Tecmo do realize that they are not "anime companies", right? You do realize how stupid and for the lack of any better descriptions, prejudiced you all are being... surely you jest, and surely this is some sort of elaborate joke.

Resident Evil 6: Rated E for everyone, starring Yin Ming, Japanese schoolgirl!
Ninja Gaiden: Rainbow: Rated 10 and up, starring Ryu's kid brother!

Sorry, but "blood and gore" wasn't created in the good ol' US of A people. These companies have just as much experience with "the mood" and get this, they actually know how to make fighting games! But surely the creators of Halo and Grand Theft Auto would bring more glory to MK. Let freedom ring!

Oh... say mkflegend. That's a great avatar you have. It's a good thing the basis of Fujin was entirely American and any Japanese influence is void.

Nice drawings, I'm still not sure though. But as long as MK is MK and isen't trying to be something its not, I don't mind. I disliked Li Mei in "Deadly Alliance" because I thought she looked too tekkenish. I'm glad they gave her a more "MK" feel in Deception.

We already know that Mortal Kombat is based on Japanese mythology, but it was still created by Americans. Some people want it to stay American, I don't see why thats hard to understand.

If it already is based on Japanese mythology, then why is it so important that MK remain "American" (*rolls eyes*)? What exactly is the point of it, honestly? That's just prejudiced, nothing more to it. Anyone supporting this idea is throwing out wild and stupid remarks about Japanese developers, which are all untrue. I'm just waiting for the Asian stereotypes to start appearing honestly. You guys need to put the flag away, this is MKO, not a soapbox.

Aimless nationalism is probably less distracting than those that take it to the next step, actually claiming international influence would be a negative, and/or think common tropes of Japanese culture have no business in Japanese culture. Hyuk.

Good call on Li Mei, though.
Nothing says MK like gaudy bits of metal attached haphazardly to the human form!

I want MK to be developed by a Japanese company as much as I'd like the US to make the next Street Fighter game.

Victory!

Seriously though, that's what I'm talking about.

-- As a sort of side bar to that, if the MK developers stopped for a second, and looked at the core brand they've created, all this "extra shit" they've been mashing into these latest games should seem redundant. Hm...counter productive even.

It's the same message I've been trying to articulate for yrs now. "Do you better than they can do you. That, should be easy if you know who//what you are."

Unfortunately, it looks like the MkTeam hasn't had a chance to investigate to an intimate degree with itself in a while. Or at all, it seem.

I also said this in that Assessment at the end of the Gameplay section:
"It just looks they don't know what they're dangling in front of the fans. They must not know."



I think this is true too, but only to the extent of being silly, and narrow minded. Creatively lacking though? Maybe more hindering, due to a vast pool to draw inspiration from.

Look, I'm looking at it from a very American viewpoint. All that's saying is, I think of it like a melting pot full of potential. And I think MK embodies what that means because it has all these influences, and art styles within the game. I don't think they're suffering in spite of it being there.

My message to the MkTeam in that case is very simple in principle. "Refine That". Because through all of these things, there is an obvious constant that people keep trying to buy from them.

They haven't defined their particular constant, even though it's become blatantly apparent to the fanbase of MK games. They are also not investing enough in the modern players playing habits, OR in the modern players interests, despite MK being this sort of all encompassing, "anything is possible" sort of game.

Which I think is something that is also killing the interest in the franchise off. It's more sad than anything, because nobody in the industry is filling the void correctly.

Evidence of a game that got close enough to smack MK around a little bit was God of War. I mean, I thought GoW was a clear indicator for the MkTeam to refine the MK brand again. It was so similar in taste that it wasn't even funny. And btw, MKSM got the short end of that stick.

I think we know blood and gore shouldn't be the front running appeal to the games now. The American interpretations of the main elements of this game should be. We have those things though. We have American Storytelling methods in there, we have an American Fantasy element in there, we have American action, suspense, drama, ect....all in there already.

But the problem is, they're failing on each of those points to produce adequacy for what the modern gamer wants to see from a MK game.
The modern gamer is more versed than just "American" though. So that's why I believe it's still really safe to have all these influences fused together in MK.

So yea, go get some influence from anime, it's appropriate. But don't commit to it, and don't position yourself to be subjected to it. Hell no, because then that's not MK, that's Tekken...or whatever.




I don't see the point in that when the problem would still exist. It still screams "redefine your own shit with your own shit."

I mean, there isn't anything wrong with augmentation is there? The underpinnings of MK are still very strong. Sales are still really good...ect.

I just don't think they're able to describe what the "underpinnings" look like, or what it can handle.

To me it looks like they don't know the parameters of their "chasis" (for sake of the car analogy).....so, they can't capitalize on it....so they keep putting really random weight on top of that chasis....and, it's bogging the whole "car" down. lol

That's what it looks like to me.



That's agreeable. I mean, I don't see myself being patriotic here to tell you the truth. I see it like the prospect of changing the philosophy, without expecting any residual backlash.

All I'm saying is heed the backlash.



Need to wash my hands of this relativity real quick.

I'm not looking at this through a paper telescope. I also am not red-neck pro American either. The basis for why I support MK staying American, is because the the American interpretations of the elements in the games, are a great portion of the appeal to Mortal Kombat for me.

Those bastardized, exaggerated, and alot of the times, ill informed interpretations of (___insert __) culture that are harmless, are a good portion of what I like about MK.

Gameplay: I like that we can't get the martial arts perfectly right. ha! Because it plays as far as the fantasy element goes, to me. That's also why I like the idea of movie choreography martial arts in MK. Because yea, choreography is founded in a truth, but it's also merely, entertainment. So I like that we bend // break that rule. Foreign vendors may feel the need to fasten that belt, and that's not what I'd want from MK.

:: I think that if they refined what "MKs fighting" is, they'd find movie choreography. You'd hear people say

"Oh Tekken, DOA, KOF, and VF are the technical fighters, Street Fighter is the cartoon, but Mortal Kombat is the martial arts movie."

Characters: I like that we almost get the Japanese mythology correct. Because again, it plays to the fantasy element in the game, and it's not hurting anything to do that with a video game. So, I also like the idea of them bringing other mythologies into the mix (Greek, Spanish, Native, African, ect), and doing the same types of things with them. Raiden, for sake of argument is largely in limbo for what type of god he is, because of this. "He could be omnipotent, buuuut they don't showcase him like that....buuut they have stated that he has a more powerful side of his character that we haven't seen yet."

:: When they refine what that means in specifics for MKs characters, we're golden. They need to clarify and define everything about these characters.

Story: In the beginning, I liked that the story revolved around a central protagonist. That's not particularly "American", I know. But, just about every good action flick in the last what? American history has been built like this. From Superman to Batman, to Neo and well....Batman again. I like that the story is supposed to motivate a game too. Something that the other fighters are quickly gaining ground on just lately.

:: I will say this though, I am waiting for MK to expand in the ways that we can interact with the story element in the games. From delivery, to usage and involvement of that story. The door is still quite wide open right now.

Fantasy: Similar to everything else I've said here, I like that MKs fantasy element has a base in a truth...somewhere. Especially because sometimes, it depends on where you are in the MK universe, where the truth for that realm came from. Edenia is a prime example of this = Garden of Eden from the bible. I love that it's really quite loosely based like that.

:: The more they go away from this sort of thing, the worse the games get. Cuz nothin' "means anything" anymore. MkvsDc was a disaster in my mind on this merit alone. I don't wanna mention anything else about that right now though.

Mood//Feel//Whaever: Mortal Kombat's was undeniably better. I think right now though, you're right. Anybody can capitalize on MK's potential by reading the surface fanbase of any normal gamer group now days.

However, I feel like MK should be at least a leading contender for leadership on that front. Alot of what we're seeing from other games on the market, regardless of genre, can at least be argued as something Mortal Kombat had a steak in making popular.

:: They need to capitalize on the Horror genre, in a fighting game, like they started to waaaay back when! Not only is the door wide open, the Heavenly light of God himself is shining through it. haha... This thing should have entered the current systems on the base premise of a horrifying nightmare.

===So anyway,

I'm not completely fixated on the "American Only" badge. However, it's extremely hard for me to imagine getting ^^ that stuff right, without there being an American Ideology//Philosophy at the wheel.




Exactly my point..

It's a disaster waiting to happen, regardless of the fact that they could make the game and slap the title on it. They could even benefit in a few ways.

But hell no, that's instant ash tray coaster material for sure if that were to happen. That goes for any of the other ones too (Tekken, and so on)

Click!
UDON's US economy destroying cameo from Street Fighter IV #1!
(Manipulated for easy viewing. Click for original SubScorpTile!)

The next MK should be made by Europeans. America is a country run by religon and the only reason MK was ever released was because it was made in America.

Beat that one with logic!

Seriously though what would be the problem with any other "country" taking over the MK series? Most publishers have multiple offices across the world.

Plus looking at the art work for Capcom Vs SNK 2 I would say that the characters looked "realistic" enough for MK.

Not all Japanese artwork is Mecha, busty, large eyed schoolgirls fighting tentacle monsters and not all American artwork is realistic
.
Also, if there was one person of Japanese descent in the MK team, then we wouldn't have men named: Reiko and Hotaru (Japanese girls names).

Does anyone think that the recent DCU collaboration might be a selling point for the MK brand? I do. There night be a publisher interested in picking up the MK license and then talking to DC Comics about obtaining a license.

Metal? Li Mei dosen't where metal.

Sorry, I must have meant the elaborate papier mache she wears.




At least we can all agree that the nasty anime-styled economic saboteurs ruined the MK sensibility with their hybrid ninja. HIDEOUS!!!

What he said ^ lol. Since we're on this topic I'd like to chip in :)

MK is based on a few different things/elements as we all know combined into it's own thing from Boon's mouth he said in a few past interviews.

He's said MK was inspired by SF, Kung Fu flicks and certain hollywood trends/inspirations.

Concerning Fujin, a few minor things to consider being different.

A. American/MK Fujin has nothing over the "u" unlike the Japanese spelling of Fujin.

B. It's no secret Fujin is known as the Japanese Wind God, however in MK they give him a story, form and purpose as a cool developing character as oppose to just a Japanese myth)

C. MK=American, not Japanese

Japanese have done similar things(but failed at times) take Beast Wars. Original BW show is American but recorded in Vancouver Canada, prior to that they obviously needed Japanese's ok to use the "Transformer" name but BW is American none the less with Canadian animation.

Now, shortly after BW ended later the Japanese made their "attempt" at a Beast Wars 2 the movie/show spin off which failed horribly flat on it's face compared to Beast Wars it's was rather sad.

And let's not forget the whole Anime Batman made last year(who wouldn't have interest in doing Batman right?)

P.S. Fujin rocks(MK Fujin)

I don't know if you indented that or not Mick, but that link lead to an Adult webdite when I clicked on it. Had to remove it, and replace the recipient site, with just the image.

Doesn't seem like there was any harm done or intended, so no foul. According to the rules though, it could've been alot worse had the site actually had porn on it.

It's cute how you think character development, not following the mythological character basis to a tee and altering the spelling are all landmark ideas created in America, mkflegend.

No comment on my other reply about the knowledge of Japanese developers? Meh, didn't really expect any of you to honestly.

There's no doubt that there are good Japanese creations and good American ones. However, Crow, you can't blame some people for being a little apprehensive about a Japanese take on the American franchise, MK. Remember what happened when there was an American take on the Japanese franchise, SF? Well, for many SF fans, the SF movie was the worst day of their lives... but for me, it was a Tuesday.

Nobody's accusing American developers of making better games.

Well, concerning your first statement. That's MK, MK isn't Japanese it's American which it's "own" storyline.

I just really like the unique look, overall story they (MK/Boon etc) gave Fujin outside of the spelling and wind god status from his Japanese definition. Kind of cool IMO.

I just fear it would lose it recognition, and that it would stray too far from the fundamentals of the series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwyrNmrO-NE

One example of what I'm talking about.

The point being, though – sometimes things get "lost in translation" when one culture's take on a subject may be vastly different from the original one. I could see why some would be hesitant to accept a Japanese-made MK, even though I myself would readily accept one.

Wow, what? Yeah... I'm not responding any further. I have no idea what you're even trying to say with that. You've already called the developer of Resident Evil a "PG13 anime company" so I'm not sure why I've bothered replying to you over and over again.

Since when did Japanese in cooperation in a product make automatically become anime? I love anime, big anime nerd but why the hell does it mean that if a Japanese developer buys MK that it means it's gonna be ruined by their damn kiddish cartoons (sarcasm). Don't blame another developer for snatching up a profitable title whether it be American or foreign for doing so when Midway shit the bed on the past 5 MK games and just about the rest of their franchises to begin with. There is a reason why people love SF more than MK, because it knows how to build a fucking fighting game and not a glitz and glam game with no substance. Ask any person who plays fighting games and they'll tell you that MK is a bullshit fighting game that takes little skill to enjoy. And to those who say well it's suppose to be for those who are getting into fighting games well, SF IV is doing fine with both sides of that market and as most people know by now, those who play fighting games are those that have a deep interest in it. You don't see too many casual fighting game players flocking to any title.

And half of you people need to take a principles economics course because patriotism and spewing crap out about the economics of MK makes you seem like huge tools. Midway, an American company, was loosing great deals of revenue and because their costs exceeded their profits, they went bankrupt and have to sell of their franchises to make money. A company who sees such a lucrative and Midway's only lucrative titled would be enticed to snatch it up to gain further profits. With this they can fine tune it and they themselves make more revenue. It's called globalization, something that's been going strong since the early 90s. Thought people would be use to something like this by now but guess I was wrong. There's a 2 minute microeconomics session.

Now I don't care if a foreign company or an American company buys MK, haven't cared about MK since 04 and don't plan on to ever again. Whoever buys it then godspeed and I'd recommend a complete reboot of the series and delete all the past history and story and gameplay mechanics and build from the ground up because the overhaul's Midway always said they did where nothing but bullshit. Honestly who cares about Motor Kombat? If Capcom or another Japanese franchise buys it then by all means let them run with it.

Say what? lol that's not what I meant..the style of Capcom is very animeish as oppose to USA's style.....clearly somewhere someone misunderstood what I said. I didn't mean in terms of "Anime company that makes anime films" I was merely referring to the style of Capcom(and most Japanese video game companies) as oppose to Midway's concerning fighters/MK in general. Which looks more animeish? If you Answer that simple question then you'll see what I meant, thus why I don't want MK to become Japanese because it'll suck and kill the true essense of what MK's about like the MK has with their characters thru out the years IMO.

Clearly somewhere someone is awfully lame with their excuses and they don't even realise that they constantly prove their utter ignorance.

Oh, wait... I forgot something...

lol

Yup, now it looks more convincing.


Fortunately, there's still some unbiased logic in the thread as well. BTW, well said, travelingwilbury.

It's an unfounded, naive, and paranoid perspective, though, surely.
Very few arguments here have done much to put forward any of the more sensible concerns, if they can be called that.
Worrying about a nation steeped in very similar culture screwing up MK is especially silly, given Midway's list of lowlights that have led to this point.

I imagine a complete lack of perspective for criticism hasn't helped.
I don't think anyone is trying to say Midway necessarily needs to sell MK, or that a Japanese developer needs to buy it. Just that there's a lot of potential there to refresh and reassess the franchise in a very exciting way. Particularly if Tecmo or Itagaki picked it up!!!

It's just silly to wave the flag over something like MK, which really doesn't posses anything inherently American that is advantageous. Nor would it inevitably lose anything in an international conversion.

Explain to me how Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Haunting Ground or even the Mega Man series is remotely "animeish". You can't. Street Fighter is what it is... because that is STREET FIGHTER. That's what it's supposed to be, but clearly Capcom is capable of developing and producing a wide variety of games in different genres and styles. Resident Evil and Devil May Cry are every bit as dark and serious as ANYTHING Midway has EVER done, moreso even. Yes, I'm capitalizing words now. I'm hoping that'll help you see the light.