Presumably not too many of you are sitting here watching Fernando Torres do his best impression of a footballer, but I’ll leave that alone until tomorrow. In the meantime, and having nothing at all to do with Chelsea Football Club, the Champions League, or Mr. Torres, there’s word of a big Mortal Kombat tournament that will take place at Bally’s in Las Vegas on May 15 and May 16. There’s $21,000 in prizes at stake, so pay attention if you still know how to pull off Sub Zero’s fatalities without checking GameFaqs.

The tournament has been put together by Performance Designed Products, the same folks behind the Mortal Kombat Fightstick that I mentioned a few weeks ago.

The tournament uses the Xbox 360 version of the game, and it’s open to anyone over the age of 18. And unless you plan on sleeping on the Strip, Bally’s has special rate for tournament attendees.

Australia’s Classification Review Board has refused to rate the upcoming Mortal Kombat re-boot. Without a rating, the game cannot be sold there, ie, the game is effectively banned down under.

The game, which will be released on April 19 here in North America, contains the usual level of Mortal Kombat violence, judging by the videos I’ve seen online. You’d think we’d be past the thinking that “violent video games” turns everyone in maniacs, but apparently not. Never mind that the average age of a gamer, according to the Entertainment Software Association, is 34-years old.

Australia has a long and storied history of refusing to rate games games, the biggest recent example being Left4Dead 2. Valve was forced to submit a heavily modified version of the game to the classification board, which then approved this version. Valve tried to get the uncensored version approved, but the classification board again refused.

It’s pretty great: think of the thousands and thousands of hours sunk into Left4Dead 2 by gamers all over the world, and I can’t remember one story where someone picked up an axe then started swinging wildly in a circus.

The big Mortal Kombat re-boot lands on April 19 for the 360 and PS3. You mauve have already known that. But did you also know that Performance Designed Products has created a fancy fight stick to go alongside the game? It’s called the Mortal Kombat Fight Stick—that’s easy enough to remember—and it’ll be used in the big Mortal Kombat tournament in Las Vegas in May.

I’m not going to waste your time explaining what a joystick is, but I will mention that the game’s developers, NetherRealm Studios, worked with PDP to create the stick, so we can probably assume it’s at least halfway decent.

Along with the game, GameStop announced (indirectly) that the Tournament Edition will include a customized MK Fight Stick, as well as classic character costumes and other download bonuses. The Fight Stick is the real winner here, with the buttons in that classic arcade layout for the true Mortal Kombat warrior. You’ll even have the ability to open the controller up to store the cable for it, along with the game and the severed fingers of your fallen enemies. Don’t expect to get this tasty package for free though, GameStop lists it at $149.99, and available for both the PS3 and the Xbox 360. Finish Him!

[via Kotaku]

Does the world need another Mortal Kombat movie? No, probably not, but that won’t stop Hollywood from attempting to exploit a license that was last hot in 1994. Word on the street is that Warner Bros. wants to, yes, “reboot” the series. (Note: You cannot reboot a dead computer, so I don’t know if it’s possible to reboot a dead movie franchise.) To that end it has hired Oren Uziel to write the script. You’ve probably never heard of Uziel, but he wrote Shimmer Lake. You’ve probably never heard of that, either.

This is good news for, well, Uziel, who does, to be fair, have quite a bit of lore to work with. Granted, most of that lore is a hodgepodge of flimfam, but I’m sure a long weekend can be spent parsing through Outworld this, thunder god that.

Of course, this is all what horror site Bloody Disgusting was told. If it ends up being false, blame them.

Or, actually, don’t blame anyone, because I’ve been reading about a third Mortal Kombat since a 1997 issue of GamePro magazine.

Clearly we need a YouTube clip to remind us of godawful Mortal Kombat: Annihilation was. (The first movie wasn’t terrible. It can be watched without wanting to jump out a window.)

via Destructiod

Well this is a sentence I’ve been wanting to write for some time now. There will be a third Mortal Kombat movie. So confirmed the actor who played Scorpion in both Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon.

Yup, according to Chris Casamassa, filming will begin in September.

Casamassa is now 44 years old, meaning that he was a spritely 30 years old when he was fighting Johnny Cage in The Living Forest in Mortal Kombat.

Now, I haven’t seen the original movie for a few years now, but I have memories of it not being a piece of junk. That is to say I remember it being halfway decent, as far as silly action movies go.

The second movie, on the other hand, was rubbish. I knew that when I saw it in the theaters in 1997.

Finger’s crossed!

(Shame the franchise has gone to dust since 1995, though.)

Let me preface by saying that kids shouldn’t be playing video games as much as they do, but parents don’t seem to care and they end seeing far worse things on their Xbox or PS3 then they do on the news or in the movies. Assuming their pudgy bodies are capable of lifting said pudgy bodies off the couch to get the remote. I remember a time when kids would play in the street with other kids face-to-face. It was a better time.

Midway’s upcoming title that pits the Mortal Kombat crew against the comic book DC Universe is getting a T-rating in the US and with that rating comes a toned down Joker fatality. It’s unclear what other characters fatality moves have been altered, but we know for sure that the Joker’s has been edited.

The real finishing move involves a gag gun with a “bang” flag then a real pistol that blows your opponent’s brains out except in the US we won’t see the latter half of that fatality. So then what’s the point?

Senior Producer Hans Lo had this to say,

“That’s partly true [that the fatality has been edited]… You know, for North America we have a Teen rating, and teen really means 13 and above. Thirteen is pretty young, you have to admit. For Europe we have a 15, 16+ rating – so it’s a bit different.”

Lame.

Videogamer

Alex Ross is living the dream, man. The comic book geek dream that is, which is why Midway tapped him to create the cover for the Kollector’s Edition of Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe. Watch the video to see how he went about hand painting the whole thing. The KE will also come with a removable print and bonus video content. Hit the jump to see the finished product.

via Xbox 360 Achievements

So, who still likes Mortal Kombat? Bless your heart, then, for a new three-game collection has shipped to stores nationwide. It’s called Mortal Kombat: Kollection, and it includes 2004′s Mortal Kombat: Deception, 2005′s Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks and 2006′s Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. It’s for the PS2, as you can plainly see right there.

In truth, none of these games really impressed me when I first played them, but the price, $30, isn’t entirely unreasonable.

You know what’s even cheaper, though? Downloading MAME and playing the arcade version of Mortal Kombat II, by far the best in the series.

The fine gents over at Kotaku spoke to Ed Boon, the Godfather of the Mortal Kombat series, who says that the next game in the series, Mortal Kombat 9, will be bloodier, more violent, and more Mortal Kombat than ever before.

In other words, it’s the Mortal Kombat you fell in love with, all those years ago.

Can we all agree that MKII was the bestt? It all sorta fell apart from there, though seeing MK4 in the arcade for the first time was pretty cool. Granted, I was 11 at the time, but I remember being wowed by it.

A few months ago, it was percolating around the net that the upcoming Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe would have “little to no blood and no fatalities.” I can’t speak to the lack of fatalities based on the above trailer, but it does appear that there’s a fair amount of bloodletting.

via Gametrailers.com

What do you guys think? Hit or miss? Check here for more details.

Thanks for sending this in, Scott.

Well, since you won’t be seeing any fatalities in MK v DC, just watch this (awesome) video instead.

Remember last month I informed you all that a new “Mortal Kombat” title was coming? Well, I think something big is going to be announced on April 17th a 3PM EST. Why? Because Midway has registered noob dot com and I’m led to believe that something MK-ish will come of it. Why else would the dragon be the dot?

Capcom is set to release Street Fighter IV soon, but does anyone remember another arcade fighter from the same era? “Get over here!” Ring any bells? Well, Midway has revealed that a new Mortal Kombat title is coming this year! I remember playing on the PC and it was darn fun. I pwnd everyone with Sub-Zero and had many a flawless victory.

Details are extremely limited on this one, but it will most likely find its way onto the Xbox 360 and PS3 platforms. Ed Boon, the genius behind MK hinted that the new installment would be unlike anything we’ve seen before. I can’t wait!

I’m still undecided as to which game had the better movie, Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter. Thoughts?

“Next-gen” Mortal Kombat this year [CVG]

Zoe is said to have told the teens to stop before losing consciousness after being punched, kicked and body-slammed. The teens attempted to revive Zoe by running water on her and “attempting CPR” before calling 911. Zoe died at the hospital. An autopsy revealed a broken wrist, heavy bruising, swilling of the brain and internal bleeding along the neck and spine.

When asked why they didn’t stop when Zoe asked Roberts responded, “I don’t know, I was drunk.” They’re facing up to 48 years in prison.

Teens charged in ‘Mortal Kombat’ killing [CNN]

This spring has seen the release of a few long time favorites, including our beloved treasure hunter Lara Croft, plus the premier fighting franchise has made the jump to the Wii. Say what you want about old school games, but these are like old friends finally coming home. Of course not lived up to our fond memories. But isn’t that what reunions are always like?

Tomb Raider Anniversary Edition
Eidos
ESRB: Teen
Platforms: PS2/PC/PSP
Poor Lara Croft hasn’t had it easy, and we’re not talking about what the upper class Brit had to endure in the game, but rather a few of those lackluster games themselves! However, we can focus on the original outing that essentially redefined action games — and made watching a character run and jump so much fun.

Actually, it’s hard to believe it has been a full decade since Ms. Croft first ran, jumped, climbed and tomb raided her way to pop icon status. There have been numerous sequels, movie adaptations and about a half a dozen models who have donned the famous Tomb Raider shorts and t-shirt. But despite it all, the original remains the best. Now for the 11th anniversary (we can only guess they needed extra time, especially considering Tomb Raider games never seem to arrive on time) Lara Croft is back in a retelling of her first adventure.

More than a remake, the Anniversary Edition offers new gameplay based on the original game, letting you guide Lara from the snow covered peaks of Peru to the temples of Greece and to the lost valley of Egypt, where you’ll head into mysterious crypts and race through jungles battling a variety of animal and supernatural enemies. This revision of the classic features a new 3D game design, along with improved controls and interface, making it easy to pull off Lara’s signature moves. Over the past decade Lara Croft has had her shares of ups and downs, so its nice to head back to one of her finest outings and have it look better than ever.

Sim City DS
Electronic Arts
EA
ESRB: Everyone
Platform: Nintendo DS
The Sim City franchise never had any colorful characters, nor did you ever really “win.” But despite both facts it was one of those games that was nearly impossible to stop playing. With the new handheld version, which features graphics that even surpass the original, you might have trouble wanting to put it down as well.

While a real city planner’s job probably requires endless meetings, countless proposals and a lengthy process to determine zoning issues, you need not worry about any of it in Sim City DS. This handheld version of the classic city building game lets you cut through the red tape so you can get down to building the city of your dreams. Of course there is still more than just laying roads and hoping that people will come. You’ll need to supply water and electricity, provide city services such as police and fire protection, provide schools and build up the basic infrastructure. Plus you’ll have to raise the money to pay for all this, and that likely means taxes. In other words it still isn’t easy, but as a game it is addictive fun, and in this new version you have all the power in the palm of your hands.

Mortal Kombat Armageddon
Midway
ESRB: Mature (Blood and Gore, Intense Violence)
Platform: Nintendo Wii
Fighting games have evolved since the early 1990s, but little has changed with the gameplay that essentially remains a contest of button mashing. But despite this fact, some of the best fighting games have actually been the most innovative. The Wii edition of Mortal Kombat Armageddon is just such a game, and it might just have you forgetting any other version.

This latest title in the popular fighting franchise features more than 50 fighters from the entire MK universe (past, present and somehow the future), plus it adds kick-ass Kreate-A-Fighter and Kreate-A-Fatality modes, along with a new Konquest mode. The fatality system lets gamers further lets gamers get way into the game, using the Nintendo Wii’s unique control to customize their attacks.

The control scheme is easy enough, and is a far cry from simple button mashing. In fact this is one of those games that parents should want their cubby couch potatoes to play. OK, it is a mature-rated title with violence, blood and gore. But it is also a game that requires you actually getting a small workout to deliver the pain to your rivals. If that doesn’t do it for you and you’d rather slowly turn into Jabba the Hutt, there is an option for classic controller support as well.

The game lacks online multiplayer, but don’t blame Midway for the fact that Nintendo still can get its act together. But on the plus side to compliment the ass-kicking gameplay, the developers still found time to include a cart-racing mode that is exclusive to the Wii version of Armageddon. And if there wasn’t already a lame series with the name, we’d almost expect this to be the makings of Mortal Kombat Carmageddon!

Mario Party 8
Nintendo
ESRB: Everyone
Platforms: Nintendo Wii
Somewhere in a bank is Tokyo is a vault filled with all the money that Mario has racked in for Nintendo over the years. So much money must be there that Bono of U2 should go and try to get some of it to pay off Africa’s debts, and something tells me there’d still be plenty of cash left over! This isn’t a dig at Nintendo, but Mario Party 8 has arrived!

Some third world countries probably wish they had a gross domestic product equal to what this little virtual plumber brings in. Between the straight adventures, cart racing games, Paper Mario, Wario, and stuff like this Mario and his Italian family have made more money than Tony Soprano! But despite this, since the Wii was released last fall Mario hasn’t really done much to help the system. So the plumber decided to phone in this party game.

This isn’t to say that Mario Party 8 is bad, but to keep up with the pop culture references anytime stuff reaches into this many sequels it starts to look desperate. Do we seriously think Die Hard 8 or Rocky 8 would be good? Mario Party 8 is an OK game, but it lacks the originality of previous titles. A compilation of past games for the Wii would have been more welcome. Likewise, the mini-games in this one are good for parties but that’s about it. They’re also too focused on making sure everyone has a chance and can win, thus lady luck outweighs skill. This isn’t bad if you have friends who would otherwise dominate at video games, but skill should still count for a bit more.

Finally, if you have to pull out games like Mario Party 8 when you’re entertaining, you might need a new class of friends!

There’s a veritable dearth of gaming news here today—let’s fix that. Mortal Kombat Armageddon just came out for the Nintendo Wii. The Wii controller (are we no longer allowed to say “Wiimote”?) is used to pull off all the special moves, fatalities included. Midway just published the full list of all the jukes and jives you need to do to lop off your opponent’s head. Here’s a video of some guy doin’ it up.

So am I the only one who think the Mortal Kombat series died when the second movie hit?

Move List (PDF alert~!) [Midway via Mortal Kombat]

This week we’re examining the issues of video game violence and content in a multi-part series of interviews with industry insiders. And this is a tricky subject, because what might offend one individual won’t cause another to even blink. Content that might be fine for one gamer may truly disturb another. This is where the ratings were suppose to clear things up.

Today, all major video game releases receive a rating from the ESRB (Electronic Software Rating Board). This non-profit, self-regulating body was established in 1994 by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), and it is this group that assigns computer and video game content ratings and enforces industry-adopted advertising guidelines.

According to the ESRB:
“The rating system is voluntary, although virtually all games that are sold at retail in the U.S. and Canada are rated by the ESRB. Many retailers, including most major chains, have policies to only stock or sell games that carry an ESRB rating, and most console manufacturers will only permit games that have been rated by ESRB to be published for their platforms.”

Information on how the ratings work, and how they’re determined can be found on the ESRB Web site.

However, as we’ve already touched upon the ratings were developed in 1994, and in part due to the content of games such as Mortal Kombat. At that time there were two major console players including Nintendo and SEGA, and since then we’ve seen three generations of hardware improvements. Is it time to revisit the ratings?

Crunchgear interview ESRB spokesman Eliot Mizrachi in part one of our week-long series on video game content:

Crunchgear: Since the introduction of the ratings in 1994 the graphic detail has greatly increased, and thus games look more realistic. Has this been considered at all, at least in terms of whether game ratings should be readdressed? Games in 1994 looked much more like cartoons than today’s games, which are close to photo-realistic, so is this being considered?

Eliot Mizachi: The degree of graphic detail and realism has always been and will continue to be among the considerations taken into account by raters, along with other elements like the degree of player control, reward system, context and overall level of intensity.

CG: In terms of violence and sex, I know that the AO (Adults Only) rating was created for games that “may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity” (ESRB Web site). But has any title to date actually received an AO rating for violence or more importantly subject matter?

EM: Absolutely. We’ve rated games AO for sexually explicit, extremely violent or other types of adult content, such as real gambling. It’s important to point out that we’ve assigned the AO rating more often than it actually remains as the final rating. Publishers always have the option of revising their game’s content and resubmitting it to ESRB, and oftentimes they do so given the limited ability to get broad distribution for a game that carries an AO rating.

CG: And in truth hasn’t the AO rating to some extent become akin to the NC-17 rating for movies, where it is still seen to be for content that is pornographic in nature?

EM: Sexually explicit content may tend to result in an AO rating more readily than does other content, a judgment that merely reflects our cultural norms and community standards. However, the AO rating is intended to communicate that the content in the game goes beyond what is typically socially or culturally acceptable for young adults, and most certainly unacceptable for all children no matter what age, whether it be due to sexual content or not. Additionally, it should be noted that content does not need to qualify as “pornographic” or obscene to warrant an AO rating assignment. In this respect, our AO rating is no different than the NC-17 rating.

CG: Discussing subject matter, where is the line drawn on plot, characters and overall goal of the game? My example: the Call of Duty franchise is rated Teen, but the World War II franchise Brothers in Arms is rated Mature. The difference seems to be the depiction of blood and some harsh language. But Doom3 was also rated Mature, and that seemed much more violent and graphic, and finally Scarface was also Mature. This game features a character that is a drug dealer, fights law enforcement as part of the process to “win” and is able to randomly beat up innocent people.

So my question is where is the line in terms of what is Mature and what might be considered Adults Only?

EM: With only six rating categories, we are obviously dealing with varying degrees of intensity for each grouping for age appropriateness. When a Mature rating is assigned, our raters believe the content and context of that game is most appropriate for ages 17 and older. Obviously no two games are identical, and so a game will always reside somewhere along the spectrum of a given category. That’s why content descriptors come in so handy.

To use your examples, Doom3 was rated Mature with descriptors for “Blood and Gore” and “Intense Violence,” whereas Scarface carried those two descriptors in addition to “Sexual Themes”, “Strong Language” and “Use of Drugs.” The additional descriptors indicate the differences in content in each game, and that’s why we encourage parents to use both parts of the system when choosing games.

When a Mature rating is assigned, we believe that communicates a sufficiently strong warning that a particular game is typically not appropriate for children. Therefore, in order for a game to warrant an AO rating, it must include content that goes beyond what is generally considered appropriate for young adults and most certainly is unacceptable for all children no matter what age. And ultimately that’s a judgment call our raters make based on a wide range of factors, to which I spoke earlier. Moreover, research regularly conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates with over 400 parents shows that the vast majority of the time parents agree with our Mature rating assignments. And, finally, it also bears mentioning that the FTC’s recently released report on the Marketing of Violent Entertainment to Children found that 88% of parents said the ESRB does an “excellent,” “good,” or “fair” job of informing them of the violent content in games.

CG: While there are descriptors for the use of alcohol and drugs, this isn’t really defined to whether the alcohol and/or drugs are being used by the player’s character or a non-player character. Is this factored in at all during the rating’s process? What I’m asking is alcohol depiction considered in the context? Such as if you play a game based on the life of Elliot Ness and you’re enforcing prohibition vs. a game where you’re alcoholic gangster?

EM: We have descriptors for both “Use of” tobacco, alcohol and drugs as well as “Reference to” those substances. The “Reference” descriptor is more likely to pertain to a depiction or dialogue whereas the “Use of” descriptor entails exactly that, whether by the player or another character in the game. Context of a depiction is always a consideration in the assignment of ratings. For example, the contextual depiction of sipping sacramental wine in a religious ceremony may not warrant a “Use of Alcohol” descriptor whereas the drinking habits of your “alcoholic gangster” would be more likely to. Of course, content descriptors are assigned in context of the rating category assigned, so such depictions in an E-rated game, for example, would be more likely to result in a descriptor than would such a depiction in an M-rated game, which may include warnings about other types of content that may pose greater cause for concern, have had much greater impact on the overall experience of playing the game and, as such, the rating category assigned.

CG: I can attest that when I’ve asked game developers/producers if they think any child under 18 should be playing a certain title, I have heard, “well, we see this as a game for adults.” So I have to ask, why isn’t it rated AO then?

EM: One could always argue that ratings should be more or less restrictive depending on their own personal views. Going back to what I said earlier, 82% of the time parents agree with our ratings, and another 5% think we’re too strict. The overwhelming majority of the time, parents agree with the Mature rating assignments, too. The FTC’s recent Report also found considerable agreement with the ESRB ratings among parents, as well as 87% saying they are “very” to “somewhat” satisfied with the ratings we assign. Given the diversity of values and opinions in this country, these are significant levels of agreement and satisfaction, and we’re very committed to ensuring that our ratings remain reflective of consumers’ expectations about content. But at the end of the day, whether you assign an M or an AO rating, those games are labeled as being inappropriate for younger ages, and the difference is really just a matter of intensity or extremity.

CG: I think it is safe to say that most publishers would fight an AO rating because it would make it harder to sell, but considering the factors I’ve discussed such as more realistic graphics, do you foresee a time when this rating might be necessary for more graphically intense depictions of violence?

EM: I can’t stress enough that the ESRB has no reluctance whatsoever to assign the AO rating when it’s warranted, even if it’s for violent or other non-sexual content. It’s impossible to predict what the future holds; all we can do is continue to assign ratings that provide reliable guidance to consumers and inform their purchase decisions.