Fatalies will probably be less violent. He said that the heroes wouldn't do them, not that they couldn't be killed. It doesn't make sense for the others to be able to kill each other but not the heroes just because the heroes don't kill. It's not fair and pretty retarded.

I think the problem here is that everyone is thinking in terms of fatalities being "ripping someone's head off." And then after that saying "DC probably won't want Superman's head being ripped off."

Yeah, that's probably true. But it's also probably true that the game will not feature fatalities akin to ripping anything off. Superman might not be getting his head ripped off but he'll probably be frozen. A good number of classic MK fatalities were T rated stuff to begin with. Kabal's incredibly funny "OMG I SCARE UR SOUL"? Quan Chi's "neck stretch"? "The Foot"? Even basic stuff like Raiden's electricity would be fine provided it doesn't end in a bloody explosion.

What I understood from the interview is that DC is being a lot more understanding than originally planned. Once the outcry from fans worried about the fatalities and violence level of the game was revealed, Boon must have made contact with DC and said "Look, this isn't going to work without fatalities" and DC said yeah you're probably right. How gory the fatalities will be is still in question, but I'm not losing sleep over it, it's fantastic news already.

I think one thing people seem to forget is that, while MK used to push the envelope with its violence and gore, it's really nothing anymore. You can make a pretty damn violent T rated game. The ESRB is more concerned about slapping an M rating on a game over a T rating based on things like having sex with hookers and using curse words. Violence in videogames is pretty much accepted at this point, but thats just my point of view. I honeslty wouldn't worry about the violence level of them, and on top of that like Tony said, fatalities can be done well without a huge gory ending.

One more thing I have to say, is that it makes PERFECT sense for MK characters and DC villains to have finishers and the DC heroes to have brutalities. Oh, and I also wouldn't worry about whether or not you can finish Batman, I'm betting that you can. Just because I wouldn't murder someone, doesn't mean some other nutjob wouldn't. Just because Batman wouldn't finish scorpion (he would probably just subdue him, or doing what he envisions as being right) certainly does NOT mean scorpion wouldn't kill Batman any chance he got and would probably enjoy it. You can control what you do to others, but not what they would do to you, so I wouldn't worry about whether you can finish superman or not. It's gonna be fun.

On a side note to end this message: brutalities are back, woot! In the interview, Boon didn't say "the DC heroes will get finishing moves similar to brutalities" he flat out said they will have brutalities. Think about how cool it could be. Flash is a DC hero, thus will have a brutality; how cool is that gonna be? Using his speed to whip your ass into a bloody pulp? Not to mention Brutalities have never been seen in 3D before. This is just as exciting as the announcement of fatalities to me. Sounds like they're going all the way with finishers for us after our backlash.

Thank you Boon!

Exactly. BUT, hopefully fatalities have blood and are a tad violent when done to MK and DC villian characters, who by the looks of it, will kill.

If they dont want us to murder the heroes, they can just give us a special unique Brutality move (or unique "fatality" move specific for the heroes but I seriously doubt this) for each superheroe.

Very nice about fatalities. Now a bunch of the whiny 12 year old haters will likely be back...

I love it how some people who said only n00bs cared so much about things like fatalities are the same people collectively creaming all over their keyboards at this news. as ed boon says "MK fans never cease to amaze us"

The news is good but I wouldn't have been bothered if fatalities were replaced with semi-violent finishers.

Am I the only one who thinks it odd that MK vs. DCU is gunning for a T-rating with blood, brutality, and fatalities, and yet Dead or Alive 4 is M-rated for bouncy breasts? Double standards, I say! Well, I think MK vs. DCU can pretty much have all the gore and violence it wants... but Sonya's boobs might need a reduction to please the censors.

LMAO! As long as they dont make them bounce that much, they could remain with the, er, size they have. O_0'

Hold on second, Boon. If we thought there were no fatalities, it's because you gave distorted info.

Seriously, Ed Boon is being incredibly unfair to the negative reactionists. He talks like we were irrational to believe there were no fatalities in the game. Let's look at the quote again:

I was surprised to see so many stories stating (with so much certainty) that the game wasn't going to have fatalities. As if we made an official announcement.

In the news release in April, Boon told us that A) the game had a "T" rating, and B) Subzero would not be able to spine-rip Batman (which implied DC would not let their characters be killed). Since Boon did not add in his interview that "fatalities will nonetheless be present," we made a rational assumption they would be absent. We may not have had absolute confirmation, but until now, all the evidence pointed to no fatalities. Even the hidden message on noob.com said "there will be blood," not "there will be fatalities."

We may have made an untrue inference, but IT WAS THE LOGICAL INFERENCE! What else were we suppose to believe given the evidence? And before any disagrees, answer this: why did all the non-haters (read: people who supported this project) avidly defend the absence of fatalities? They didn't say "you're wrong, there WILL be fatalities," they said "why do fatalities even matter." If they had made the "proper" inference, they would have disagreed with us about their in existence in MKvsDC, but instead they argued fatalities were never an essential element. I agree with them: I stopped throwing money down for fatalities after MKII. I boarded this train for the characters and story alone.

I hate this. I have to watch Midway produce a game I don't want, and now I'm being called irrational for believing ideas they spoon-fed us. That hurts, Ed.

To be fair to Ed, he probably doesn't even remember what he said or how he said it back then. We're the ones reading transcripts and stuff like that. He's the one taking a few minutes out of his day to give a few words and then probably going back to whatever it is he was doing. So it's not that crazy to think he just didn't remember and when he saw people talking about no fatalities he thought "Wait...I never said that."

I guess Ed doesn't remember saying anything.Like that the next MK will return back to its roots.That it will be darker and have the look like gears of war.So to be fair,I guess don't listen to what ed states until a month before its release.I'm just saying,but ed is a cool guy probably and I like him for what hes made so far.

But I do remember ed saying that the game wouldn't have fatalites but it would have some sort of finishing move.

Oh God, please, no more explosions PERIOD. The death's became far too ridiculous when ever character started exploding for the dumbest possible reasons. I want to see a far more 'realistic' approach. Something "gritty" that will creep me out and make me say to myself "God, that's a horrible way to go!". I want to see the wounded crawl away in fear, I want to see the beaten claw for a breath of air, I want to see the disfigured running amok looking for their severed limbs, I want to see the poisoned cough out blood, I want to see the abnegated slowly stop screaming and moving, I want to see the burnt fall to the floor and fight off the fire... but whatever they decide to do, PLEASE-- NO MORE SILLY EXPLOSIONS!

I'm glad I finally got that out... I'm done now.

Now I'm starting to remember why I stopped coming here, you all overreact about nothing.

You will be able to do fatalities on Batman and Superman and such, but the fatalities in this game simply won't have any dismemberment or decapitations. They'll be stabbed, burnt, bashed, impaled, etc.

The addition of "Fatalities" is a nice touch but it's ultimately incredibley unimportant overall, the Gameplay matters, and from the looks of it this is going to be the best MK game since at least Deadly Alliance. The Graphics are also starting to look fantastic, just looking at the gold details on The Flash it looks fantastic, and it's really nice to see a game go for high detail instead of coating everything in KY Jelly (Virtua Fighter).

I'm looking forward to this game a great deal, but there is only one thing thats keeping me tentative, the roster. Not even the DC side, I'm worried about wich MK characters will make the cut, I gotta say if Liu Kang and Kung Lao don't make the cut I'm going to be incredibley dissapointed.

#1. Since I was the biggest harp on the graphics(pretty sure I was..), I need to say this:

THANK YOU FOR THE IN-GAME SCREENS!!.....finally. lol

I NEEDED to see that in order to correctly determine if my opinion was completely ludicrous, or if there was some weight to what I was saying, vs what is actually going on.

Turns out there is some weight to what I was talking about, BUT, the in game graphics look fine. I repeat, I like how the in-game graphics look. My opinion hasn't changed about the character renders though. I still believe those should've looked way better, per, the introduction of such a radical idea to begin with. Still believe that with an idea as un-warranted as this crossover, what-they-showed-us-first should've compensated. I mean, especially if they expected anything like the reaction that they got from fans//media.

So, even though I can now look at the in-game graphics and form an opinion about those (which, my opinion is that they are good, if anyone hasn't caught that), this content has failed to convince me....still.

ALTHOUGH, on the flip side, seeing these was a good step in the right direction. I was happy to see them. NOW, ....now, I can argue who's in-game stuff looks better for what it is if I want, and we can have a legitimate argument about it. Because I can see what the MkTeam was trying to do more accurately, and separate the in-game stuff, from the render stuff. THAT's all I was asking for//complaining about, or what have you, about the graphics up til this point.

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IF we see a render of Sonya, The Flash, Raiden, or whoever else, separate opinions can be accomplished (render vs in-game), and I'll have no problem with doing that. Never have as a matter of fact, but the content wasn't available for me to do that until now.

======

NOW....

From those pictures there, (and the circulating scans) all I can see that's "wrong", is that facial expressions aren't there. But really, how much of that can you tell from a still image? I'm gonna wait on a newer video for that.

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#2. About the interview:

Good God thanks for that interview. I'm not really concerned so much about now calling "Finishers", "Fatalities"(it's still T rated, so it makes no difference what they call it to me). That seemed like a pretty logical step to take to me, since "Fatality" sell the games. I could almost anticipate that happening sometime before release if it hadn't happened now.

But, I was more entertained by how he says they reacted to the fans reaction to this game. lol

I like that they recognize that if any franchise is going to cross with MK, that they have to come to terms with the fact that WE KILL YOU if you come over here. It is a bare minimal standard. lol! It will not be a pretty picture, if you tell us that, "just because your characters have an integrity about them, we can't kill them."

Ah ah ahhh, no no nooo. YOU-WILL-DIE! in Mortal Kombat...over and over and over too.

lmao!
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#3. I also liked how there's a part in there that confronts one of the threads on this forum.

Does anyone get the impression that the gaming world doesnt care about MK vs DC?"

Boons' response?:

"We were really surprised how much of the media that don't normally cover video game news covered the story."

To that, I'd say: Then realize the potential still there, and or get somebody to explain to you how to look at your product, like a fan looks at your product. Say, you like Scorpion right? Well, how do you see Chris Casamassa, John Turk, and Daniel Pesina as the portrayers of that character? Just some guy? Or, "holy shit, that guy is Scorpion!" (there is no "relationship" that determines that reaction, just face value)?? How intimately do you know Scorpions story, and what direction should his story go next? How should Scorpion feel when you play him in a game(not his "feelings", I'm talking about "the feel of".)? Ect... But, THAT content, IS a whole game to alot of people. Gimme.?. lol

Same deal for me with Raiden, or someone else with Sonya, Shao Khan, Shang Tsung, Reptile, and on and on and on.. I think the best MK games would come from that understanding, and the knowledge of a person//people actually capable of realizing that perspective in a game.

Anyway, this first entry, I believe would have gotten the same play all over the net(just positive instead of negative), if it were closer to what people could expect from MK. A "next gen Mortal Kombat" was enough to do that much. It wouldn't be in-correct of me to assume that all most fans(hard core or casual) really want, is the best MK game for the current consoles and current technology. The concept of a crossover was on nobodies mind. "Next Gen Fatalities"?, THAT, was on everybodies mind. Next Gen Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Raiden, and the like, was.

However, I'd hope that the concept of this crossover doesn't sting so bad on the sales side of things. But, I'm not gonna worry about that part. I'm gonna hope you include Raiden, and do him justice.

============

#4. On another note, I'd say to Boon and Company about how people perceive pre-released content, that people judge your game based on pre-released content. lol I don't see how that's new, or surprising to them considering they've released more than 10 games now. I think that if they treated pre-release content, like his response in this latest interview(more blunt, straight to the point, and seemingly directly responding to the fanbase), it would be different pre-release content. It's not our "fault" for mis-receiving the content, or the overall concept of this game.

I love the way he responds in this interview, but it's like, Boon, we like "real" now days man. If you know you're only gonna release a little information//content, and you know we're gonna speculate and assume about it.....make what we're speculating about, immaculate BEFORE you give it to us.... Do whatever you gotta do to make sure it's immaculate too. Compare it to other stuff, go back and tweak it to accept stuff people see as "omg wow"...or whatever.

Don't only release teaser content, and expect people not to judge the whole project off of....the teaser content(lol). Make sure the teaser content//pre-release content is immaculate by the current day standard. MkvsDC doesn't look immaculate, it looks like it barely caught the cliff (that is, without playing it of course). I know it takes a long time to make a game, so I know it's hard to capitalize on what's going on in "2010", when my game started production in 2008. I can understand that.

====================

#5. And another thing that he mentions is the fact that people started speculating and such, "after seeing practically zero gameplay".

I think that's kinda cool that he might have started feeling that anguish actually. Mainly because hopefully, it means somebody (fans or otherwise) told him how badly people look at MKs' gameplay since like, MK2. Hopefully, it does prompt them to make the game insanely fun to play. Innovative in some respect, and that prompts them to get rid of alot of the old ideology in execution of things as far as game play is concerned.

I mean, didn't help that the trailer was lack luster, but if gameplay was supposed to be something that they wanted to help sell this game, I just think they showed us the wrong stuff first. Using the trailer as an example here, wouldn't it have made more sense to show us that instance Boon has talked about?

Kinda like this:

Enter the teaser on Sub-Zero, who is just walking around doing his own thing(or whatever you wish to imagine, maybe he's walking through the forest that they're fighting in -in this current teaser trailer, or maybe through a blizzard, whatever. Just some scenery that obstructs plain view for SZ), and suddenly(clips to first person view for SZ perspective), he sees a dark caped figure walking towards him really cautious-like but can't make out anything but a silhouette, causing him to ready his walk for an attacker. Then out of nowhere, *bam!* some projectile hits SZ in the face "breaking part of his mask"(hint hint, mask are breakable) (*gasp*!) what the hell was that!?!

End teaser trailer. Que MK (only) logo

Then, us fans do the footwork of slowing down the video to find that the projectile that hit Sub-Zero in the face was Batmans baterang.

*ho-ly shit* right? THEN we get this current trailer on gameplay, THEN we get these renders OR Batmans arena or something like that. THEN Boon hits the press.

BUT Nope, what happened? Sub-Zero and Batman are fighting...mm kaaay
What?!

Just saying, they could have done it differently. Oh well.

==============================

#6. There's one last thing that he talked about that I wanna touch on, and that's the comment about MK being "watered-down".

Well, MK with a T rating pretty much says it all Boon & Co. The way Ninja Gaiden 2 went would have been ideal. lol Gears of War 2, Condemned 2, Bio Shock, Prototype, GTA 4, CoD4, as well as a slew of others, are in the vein of probable, or proven huge selling games that are M rated. As the leader//initiator in that vein, you can imagine the put off from a T rated MK. 'Cmon....and besides that point, those games did the best of their games the best they could...and it worked for those games that are released already. Makes everybody look at MK like wtf are you doing, "Leader of the M rated games"?

Seriously, it's like, if those games are that good and M rated, and MK provoked the ESRB rating system, and became known for it's M rating, then Shouldn't MK be standing out in this area here? Begs to question the want for a T rated MK. Shouldn't we wait for the return of the M rating?....

*sigh* A T rated MK game = Watered down MK, and there really isn't much of an argument to be made to oppose that imo. Even without playing the game yet, and with the (oh my god) "promise" of pushing the T rating to the limits.

MK history, though the content of the past is questioned alot, is indicative of a most realistic, most violent//brutal, and most "mature" game on the market without violating the M rating itself, in a current gen form. MK could logically define the M rating for alot of people. Fighting, with blood, and killing. Can't really get more "mature" than that unless you're talking about adding more sex than MK already has, into the mix.

Just check yourself Boon and Co. If you don't want people to speculate a watered down MK, then don't make it watered down then....right?

=====================================================


#7. Overall, I like the interview, and the updates, and the images. I like that he kinda talked right to the fanbase. We NEED to see more of that kind of attitude in the games, and in these games' pre-released content.

Besides "having the balls" to make a drastic change to the game this time around, they'd also need to make sure to recognize that this kind of "attitude" is what people are judging and playing games with now.

You'd have to think, that if it is possible to squeeze MK down into a T rating now, what's the prestige of a M rating that keeps the big selling games with that rating, selling so well? And if the idea is to become a relevant fighting game again, Why not do MK1, 2, 3-T over again, but with all the knowledge of those ventures invested in "the new MK games"?

Why am I still playing MK2 and UMK3, and never playing MKDA - MKA? Nostalgia? I don't think so, I think it's because those games are more fun to play than all the "rebooted" successors. Favorite characters? Yep, but even then, Raiden wasn't in MK3 & UMK3.....Story? Yep. Even though all the ups and downs, and truths or not truths are irritating from time to time trying to decipher. Graphics? Not lately. If I want good graphics from MK, I'll get out MK2, arguably MK3-T, or most notably from the newer games, MKSM.

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probably editing...didn't mean to type all that...kept leaving and coming back to my pc.

I ***LOVED*** reading your post!!! And yes, I agree with **almost** everything. Well said Pred! I laughed and nodded in agreement in many parts.

Specifically Ed’s attitude...I wasn’t wrong that there’s some sort of weird “vibe” from him, was I? As if he was upset (and who can blame him though? There are many ungrateful stupid fans out there) with the fans.

The interview did feel like he was pulling our ears or hitting our butts with a piece of wood filled with nails on it.

But hey, I love ED, and he really did make a lot of valid points, and I loved reading what he had to say. Once again:

THANK YOU ED, AND MK TEAM!!! WE LOVE YOU

As for you pred, great post man! It was a good read.

PS: Im happy with the renders, but yeah, they could had looked so much better....I hope the new ones rock!

That's GREAt news !
This decision will save some salles.
Throw out the T rating and we are all ok!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3MbNfHJX1w

Some of the people don't get it . Basically hes just saying there are finishing moves , saying its fatalities are kinda the right term in dictionary , but NOT the right way that MK handled in the Arcades . I don't believe you Boon that these will be considered fatalities unless you take that T off and put the M for Mortal Kombat in it to make what MK was known for , what gotten us to play MK from the start . Hes just making the same gimmick by saying fatalities , trying to please us MK fans by saying its fatalities , while the term that and finishing move for T rated is practically almost the same . Until it is M rated , don't expect gore coming out or seeing opponents blow up with bunch of gore or spines being pulled out .

Thanks appreciate it, and I'm at least happy to entertain.

And I mean yea, I'm sure Boon and Co are all good people, I'm never gonna question stuff like that. Frankly, that's not my business, so I won't go there about a game.

I just think that 16yrs is alot of time to forget. It's like, as soon as we start seeing really odd changes like this game has presented, based off the merit of sales, and "becoming relevant again", questions pop up.

The part that's mainly got me thrown off still, is now they've got to effectively "sell" me something that was a predetermined buy last year. Heh, check the irony in that.



Yea, I caught that. Though my gripe really isn't those things, I do not think that they are any less significant for MK, than the "worshiped" mechanics of other games. It's supposed to be there....so put it in there. Duh right? Seems like a "gimme". So they went:

"People aren't responding well to "no blood and no fatalities", so show them some blood, and change the name from "finishers" to "fatalities". hahaha...magnificent strategy.

At least they recognize the fault eh?

Watch it work though.

Indeed, sofar this looks like a non T Rated game. But Boon said they would push the limit as much as possible. They probaly have ways to push the limit or circumvent certain rules, like in legal cases.

bout the fatalities.. I think they will be like MK 1on the SNES. I remember how dissapointed I was back then (and with the blood), but still..I was too happy that I could play MK on a home system.

You're kind of missing the point. The reason that Bats and Supes won't have fatalities is because they don't kill. That's the same reason Liu Kang's fatlity didn't kill in the first MK. That doesn't mean that you can't kill them.

Anyways, this is exactly what I predicted in regards to fatalities. Characters who kill will still get to kill (though it ill be less gory) characters who don't, won't/

Hopefully Green Arrow is in so we have an example of a hero willing to kill people. (Hopes for Greek Fire Arrow fatality)

@queve: I can certainly understand Boon & Co. being frustrated by disparaging remarks when the game's not even close to being released, but they had to see it coming. This is arguably the biggest shift in direction that the MK team has ever made; it was bound to ruffle some feathers. I don't think that he really conveys any resentment for upset fans in his answer, though (and I'd be quite disappointed in him if he did). I actually found his answer very level-headed and refreshing; it sounds like he's very understanding of fans who had different expectations of the direction of the new game:

In an odd sort of way, I was actually impressed to see how much passion the MK fans still have for the series. If they didn't care, you wouldn't have seen anywhere near the volume of discussion that came from the announcement.

See? Boon gets it, even if some of the fans of his work don't. Speaking for myself, if I didn't care about the MK series, I wouldn't bother criticizing the MK team when I feel that they're taking a bad step. Hell, same with music. I'm much more critical of bands that I like than bands that I dislike. Why bother wasting mental energy on shit that sucks? I've said it before but it goes back to holding the stuff you like to a higher standard.

All that said, gamespot's crapping out on me so I can only see the excerpts on MKO at the moment. Grrrrr. Hopefully that'll fix itself soon.

Nice.

YES!

*masturbates furiously*


Now that I'm more hopefully on the gameplay front with the removal of dial-a-combos, they've pleased me on the aesthetic front by not taking away my beloved murder moves. Yay for killing!

So what with the T-rated shit now huh