io9: mortal kombat

Lightning Joins All The Other Things Striking In Mortal Kombat Vs. DC

Graeme McMillan — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:40:00 PDT

It had to happen — all the hype about Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe has given Batman a splitting headache. Or maybe it's just a visual metaphor for the clash of the two franchises in the cover art for the "Kollector's Edition" of the much anticipated upcoming game. The full image, and more details, under the jump.

The cover for this special North American-only version of the game — which will also include a print of the artwork and "exclusive video content" — was created by fan-favorite comic book artist Alex Ross, painter of Marvels and Kingdom Come. Kotaku has video of Ross creating the cover, giving you the chance to be impressed and confused by his method (Seriously, why does he do everything in black ink first if he's just going to paint over it anyway?). Alternatively, you can just spend as much time as we have nitpicking what's going on with the DC heroes' outfits — What's going on with Green Lantern's shoulder padding? What's with the Flash's armbands? Is that the post-Flash: Rebirth costume (in which case, which Flash is that?)?

In case you're as anal as we are about these things, Comic Book Resources are reporting that DC will publish a tie-in comic that leads into the game's release, as created by Mortal Kombat co-creator John Tobias. Crisis On Infinite Modes, anyone?

VP Debates, Mortal Kombat Style

Meredith Woerner — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 15:00:00 PDT

A tiny warrior woman will fight the big sword slinging elderly knight tonight on the Biden/Palin debate. But if you can't wait for the blood bath to ensue, Kung Fu Election has just updated their Mortal Kombat-esque fighting game that pins the candidates against one another. So if your ready to see a fur clad Palin whack Biden with a hockey stick or get your chance to silence Palin with a shiny blade, then you're in luck. It's got all the players loaded in including a Kill Bill dressed Cindy McCain and samurai-bouncing Obama.

Pick any candidate you want, even their spouses are available. I gotta admit, though — tiny Cindy McCain looks hilarious and Michelle Obama is vicious with her big hammer/pick axe.

I actually assume that this is how Biden is preparing for tonight at this very moment.

Palin's secret weapon is a big fat gun, which she uses an unfair amount of times. Go play now at Kung Fu Election.
[Atom]

Watch The Flash Burn Alive In MK vs. DC Trailer

Meredith Woerner — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 08:20:00 PDT

At last we have video proof that Mortal Kombat's fatalities will lay the smackdown over DC's weak "brutalities" in the Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe game. All the giant-breasted Catwoman can do is straddle Sonya and claw at her. Meanwhile, the poor Flash gets lit ablaze and roasted to death.

I've been pretty upset about the DC characters' inability to kill in the traditional Mortal Kombat fashion, but at least it'll provide some amusement to watch Johnny Cage punch Batman's head off. That's what you get if you don't allow your kick-ass comic characters to kill: some shirtless loser who wears sunglasses to fight will decapitate Batman with his bare hands.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe will be released in November of 2008.

Mortal Kombat Characters Will Kill Every Last DC Superhero

Meredith Woerner — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:40:00 PDT

The Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe video game gives us a peek at the Gotham fighting rings where our DC superheroes will battle the gang of Mortal Kombat. Fans have been debating whether or not this game will be worth playing if the creators keep it PG and leave out the infamous Mortal Kombat fatalities. But now MK creator Ed Boon has explained that the MK characters will all keep their fatalities but the DC characters will instead have "brutalities." Click on for a closer look at the game's version of Gotham and a gallery of new character art for Sub-Zero and Batman.

Ed Boon tells Ripten, "All of the MK characters and all of the DC villains will have fatalities. The DC heroes who don't kill that often will have brutalities that will function just like fatalities but don't actually kill the opponent." Boo, that's just awful. Was there any other reason to want to play this game other than to watch Superman rip out his opponent's spine? Sure spine-ripping may not be in Superman's wheelhouse, but what's the point of teaming up with Mortal Kombat if there will be no mortal combat for half of the characters? [World's Collide and Ripten]

Finally, A Video Game Movie For Smart People

Meredith Woerner — Fri, 09 May 2008 08:40:00 PDT

Dystopian-future video game Bioshock will soon be a movie from Universal Studios, directed by Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean). Finally, a video game movie that has a chance at holding the audience's attention. According to Variety, this is the biggest video game-to-movie-deal since the abortive Halo film. At least we'll get to see the unraveling of an underwater dystopian society gone mad, with sea slugs and diver gear. Could this be the first decent video game movie ever? Click through to decide for yourself.

Bioshock's main character is the video game's Jack who crashes his plane into the underwater city of Rapture. This dystopian society is based upon its founder's idea to start a new Eden, but of course it goes horribly wrong with mutant sea slugs and scary 'Big Daddys' and 'Little Sisters,' which are little girls embedded with sea slugs. The Aviator and Star Trek: Nemesis writer John Logan is also rumored to be attached as the writer to this project.

In the wake of Resident Evil (all three), Silent Hill, Tomb Raider, Doom, Mortal Kombat, Super Mario Bros., BloodRayne and Hitman, I ask you: has there ever been a good movie based on a video game? [Variety]