Tonight, Saint Nick will go about his rounds and deliver presents to all the good boys and girls. Tomorrow however, you’ll most likely be getting together with family. And we all know how much families hate each other, to the point where they want to beat the ever living shit out of one another. So instead of beating down your loved ones in real life, why not check out these games that let you do it in the video game world?
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By 2002, the Mortal Kombat series had become a running gag of the fighting game world. The last gamers had seen of the series was an awful port of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and the horrific action game Mortal Kombat Special Forces. Now granted, the fighting game scene was in a slump, but even then there were still quality titles such as Capcom vs SNK 2, King of Fighters, and Dead of Alive 3. Midway knew that they if Mortal Kombat was once again going to be relevant, they would have to go back to the drawing board, and they did just that with Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance.
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Warner Bros has released a new trailer for the game they’re simply calling “Mortal Kombat” and its a mixed bag. Yep, its super violent, and it promised to be a return to the 2D roots of the franchise after dancing in 3D for the last decade or so.

But I’m kinda disappointed that the “Rebirth” video that took the internet by storm less than 48 hours ago has nothing to do with the actual next game. A bold new direction for the franchise would’ve been cool. Instead the game here looks kinda hokey with the saw blade hat, the ice sword, and Shao Khan’s unaltered appearance. Still looks very 90s, even running in high def.

UPDATE: Jeri Ryan has chimed in via her twitter account:

Okay, so… Mortal Kombat. It’s not a game trailer. Actually was made for the director to sell WB on his vision for a reimagined MK film. I did it as a favor to a friend. No idea yet what WB’s reaction to it was. And I’m not sure how you can contact WB to push them to make it. But you guys are resourceful…!

So that’s it folks, nothing to see here. At least not yet. The near unanimous fan reaction will hopefully get Warners to at least move in this direction if not actually use this particular pitch. Original post follows…
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Since the alphabet is the building block of our language, the Powet Alphabet is the building block of what makes us geeks.

The sixteen bit era of video games is considered by many to be the bridge between the past and modern eras of video gaming, and there were two kings of the ring: Nintendo’s Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega’s Genesis. Though there were more powerful systems that sprang up around the time, it would be these two that would outlast and outperform all of them, thanks to their accessibility. This was due not only to the technologies that the two systems boasted under the hood, but also with the library of games that were released for the two. It also gave rise to some of those most heated fanboy wars of our hobby. If you think system wars are bad now, you should have seen how bad it was during the 16-bit days, especially when system manufacturers were openly taking pot shots at each other. However, it was pointless for fanboys of both systems to argue with each other, as both systems not only had an equally impressive library of games (even if many multiplatform releases on the Sega Genesis tended to have inferior audio and visual quality to their SNES counterparts), but they outlasted and outsold the more powerful systems that sprang up around the same period. Click below to take a look back at one of gaming’s most exciting eras.
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Dane Boe of Gagfilms.com knows how to mash. Sure theres a thousand Mugen videos on Youtube, and there’s no shortage of flash junk on Newgrounds either. But these simple and to the point videos are ridiculous fun and have better production values than you might expect.

Watch two more films putting pitting Contra and Sonic against easy targets. [Read the rest of this entry…]

As was reported on some time ago, Midway Games is in the midst of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, as well as the possibility of having Warner Bros. buy them out. Well, you know what they say. When it rains it pours. Now it appears, since money is being thrown around, the producer of the two Mortal Kombat movies and owner of Threshold Entertainment – Larry Kasanoff – is now suing Midway to hold onto his IP rights over the movies and copyrights associated, as reported by GamePolitics.com

Kasanoff has stepped forward, claiming that not only were his movies and TV shows the main reason why Mortal Kombat became as widely known as it did back in the 90’s, but also that Threshold was responsible for turning game big-names like Lui Kang and Scorpion into the icons they are today with all the media it produced. Kasanoff’s suit also moves to block Midway’s proposed sale to Warner Bros.

So remember kids, if your ego is big enough and money’s involved, you can pretty much make up any bullshit story you want to in order to protect your “interests”. Lets all get out the rulers and measure just how big Mr. Kasanoff’s reach is.

Kotaku is breaking news that the Mortal Kombat team, that has been delivering games in the franchise for 17 years is looking to split with the publisher. Apparently they’ve been denied the bonus for delivering MK vs DC and meeting sales goals due to the publisher going into bankruptcy protection. Top on that they’re one of the few teams that can deliver a game on time while other projects spiral out of control, and they’ve got a right to be frustrated.

Here’s why this might be the best news this week: They’ll be leaving Mortal Kombat 9 behind. Giving up what work they’ve done will hard, but think about what they can do now.

The MK team will be free to go outside of the universe they built and make a game that doesn’t have to have Scorpion and Subzero. 17 years is a long time to do anything, and if you don’t think mixing it up once in a while and doing something else isn’t a good idea, just ask George Lucas.

Meanwhile, if Midway keeps MK (or sells it), a brand new team will be able to re-invent the franchise. The name is still gold in the industry, selling a million copies to dedicated fans at least with each outing. A new team would have the chance to take a chance and mix up the formula and perhaps take the franchise in a new direction, since the story and game play have been kind of running on fumes for the last 6 years.

My favorite MK game of the last decade had to be Shaolin Monks. Aside from providing a new take on the events of MK2, it showed how much more can be done with the characters and universe of Mortal Kombat. It also showed that the MK team could make a brawler as good as any God Of War in my opinion. 50 talented developers would HAVE to be able to keep making great games in a new house, right? And Mortal Kombat can survive a new style of play, maybe a new art style or control scheme would bring it back to the glory days.

Mortal Kombat needs this. Its too big of a franchise to sink under a failing publisher with a crossover. And the team needs this, they’ve been dilligently making games that sell well while Midway falls. Its whats best for everyone I think.