In the midst of all the Metacrtic user score bashing, you may have missed out on some fairly important Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe news. The Joker’s Gag Gun fatality that took the internet by storm has been reworked due to ESRB Teen rating scrutiny.

If you have been following our coverage of the game here at Ripten, you already know that we had a chance to sit down with Hector Sanchez (the game’s producer) at E3. He walked us through the latest MK installment, and we spent some hands-on time with it as well.

Overall, my impression was positive, and I was looking forward to the game’s release. That excitement escalated further when I saw Hector unveil the Joker’s Gag Gun fatality in late August on GameTrailers TV. He wrapped up the segment by addressing skeptics.

“So for all the people that thought that this was going to be Mortal Kombat light, you’ve seen it here first on GameTrailers TV, the Joker actually blows Katana’s head off.”

The concept was vicious and yet the blood wasn’t persistent — something Hector explained to be a key requirement in order to achieve a Teen rating. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to be enough to convince the ESRB powers at be.

The Joker’s Gag Gun fatality that I fell in love with just two short months ago has been further “teen-a-fied”. Kotaku describes the new version after experiencing it first hand:

Joker still whips out his prank gun, a “BANG!” flag unfurling. Unfortunately, you won’t see the follow up of Joker shooting someone in the face; that actually happens off screen now, the headshot safely out of sight.

Meh. I’m disappointed. Personally, I find those damn Highschool Musical films more disturbing than a little non-persistent blood. It’s too bad. I’m holding out hope for Hector and the crew at Midway, but it appears that the ESRB has them right where they want them — drained, dazed, and ready for a finishing move of their own.

We recently stumbled on a video highlighting the “kombat modes” of Mortal Kombat versus DC Universe, and the end of the clip reveals yet another Joker fatality.

The first MK vs DC Joker fatality, which we reported two months ago, utilized a gag gun double take to brutally finish off the opponent, while the second installment gives new meaning to the saying “Jokers Wild.”

Hit the jump and see why the Joker’s version of fifty-two card pick up only needs five cards.

Some of the dudes working on the upcoming Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, namely Senior Producer Hans Lo and Associate Producer Hector Sanchez, put together a little video to help us all understand this crazy new fighting game.  Arguably, the most important factor in what makes a good fighting game is good fighting (no shit), and these producer fellas give us the rundown on how exactly we can beat each other’s asses.  It also showcases another one of the Joker’s fatalities (yeah!). Video follows.

Today has been busy for me to say the least. While I have not posted anything personally to this point, I have been hard at work on a site redesign. However, when news hit that the new MK vs DC cover had been revealed, I said “what would the GEICO caveman do?” Posting articles about cover art — so easy a caveman can do it.

Prior to Midway’s Leipzeig conference, Midway released a bunch of new screenshots that showed the Green Lantern and the Joker in action. After the Leipzeig conference, people noticed 4 new characters that hadn’t yet been announced, but were shown briefly in a Midway slideshow- Kano & Raiden from Mortal Kombat, as well as Wonder Woman and Deathstroke from DC Comics.

Previously announced characters also showed up in new screenshots that Midway released to the press earlier today. You can see the gallery of images below, including an image of The Joker smiling sadistically as he gets the crap beat out of him. Fantastic.

Here is an updated list for those who haven’t been keeping up with the game’s slow trickle announcements.

Mortal Kombat: Jax, Kano, Kitana, Liu Kang, Raiden, Scorpion, Shang Tsung, Sonya Blade , and Sub-Zero

DC Universe: Batman, Catwoman, Deathstroke, The Flash, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan version), The Joker, Shazam (Captain Marvel), Superman, and Wonder Woman

Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon also stated that the DC characters would all follow a list of character archetypes, and thanks to Aeropause, we now have a list of archetypes matched up to the current roster.

Prototypical Hero: Superman
Speedster: Flash
Mystical Hero: Captain Marvel
Masked Vigilante: Batman
Military Hero: Green Lantern
Amazon Queen: Wonder Woman
Sexy Villainness: Catwoman
Crazy Villain: The Joker
Ninja Villain: Deathstroke
Archvillain: ?
Epic Villain: ?

There are still two slots left open for the DC Universe characters, and I’m completely puzzled as to who it could be. Who do you think would be the Archvillain or the Epic Villain? Darkseid? Lex Luthor? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Source: Aeropause

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After reporting $34.8 million in losses, Midway is axing in-development title “Career Criminal” and firing 90 to 130 personnel.

According to a statement released by Midway will remain open as Midway’s outsourcing.

“While this was a very difficult decision, we feel it was the right thing to do for the future of Midway,” CEO Matt Booty said. “We view every game as an investment that must meet certain standards for quality, scheduling, and profitability.”

The Austin studio developed titles such as Area 51 and BlackSite: Area 51.

Source: midway.com

“Look at it!” Destructoid’s Jim Sterling did, and his conclusion was that the latest render of Kitana, created for the upcoming Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe game, had a little too much “bump” in her lower region bump map.

What do you think? Is Kitana now Midway’s unofficial spokesperson for transvestite ass-kickery, or is the girl too busy lopping off heads to trim her own hedges?

Assuming that she won’t be swinging more than her fists in the latest installment ok MK, Kitana appears to be suffering the side effects of an insane Kegel workout regimen that has gone too far, or she desperately needs to invest in a Gillette Venus.

Source: Destructoid

Midway’s Comic-Con 08 panel revealed several new MK vs DC characters today. Shazam, the Green Lantern, and the king of “why so serious?” himself – the Joker surfaced as DC additions, with Shang Tsung, Liu Kang, and Kitana rounding things off on the MK side.

We had a chat with Hector Sanchez, the game’s producer, at E3 just a few weeks ago, and were surprised to see that his childhood favorite has yet to be announced.

While the panel did not showcase any specific footage of the characters announced, it treated everyone to news of a comic (imagine that) related bundle.

The bundle, titled ” The Mortal Kombat: Kollection”, is specifc to the PS2, containing the previous three installments of the MK game, and a DC published comic. Due to hit stores in September, the bundle will kost you $29.99 in kold-hard-kash — or kredit.

What are your thoughts on the kurrent list of kharacters? Ok, no more puns, I promise — are you happy with the direction the game seems to be heading?

Andrew, JZ, and I made our way into the Midway press lounge for some hands-on MK vs DC action with the games associate producer, Hector Sanchez.

We began taking turns kicking each others’ ass as we tried to master the game’s controls. There were a ton of “cheese moves” being thrown around early (mostly by me), but it didn’t take long for us to get the hang of the characters’ signature attacks.

The MK characters are fairly familiar for those who have played previous iterations of the MK franchise. The DC lineup however, had a more comic book feel (naturally) and offered up a nice complement to the MK Universe.

Playing as Superman lets you do cool things, like hover in the air while you fire laser beams from your eyes, and take deep breaths that suck your opponent towards you. This is a great way to set up more powerful attacks. Batman drops smoke bombs that transport him to another location on the screen, and zips batarangs as a ranged attack.

If you are not familiar with the way Midway is handling the DC and MK crossover “fatality” aspect of the game, this paragraph is for you. MK characters will be able to perform “fatalities” (fatal moves that kill the opponent), while the DC characters will perform finishing moves called “brutalities” (brutal attacks that seem to render the opponent unconscious).

While only a handful of the fatality/brutalities were available in the build we played at E3, what we saw looked very nice. Superman’s brutality utilizes successive downward fist smashes to drive his opponent into the ground like a nail, and hardcore fans of the MK series will be happy to know that Scorpion’s “Toasty” fire breath fatality is in the game, and looks pretty bad ass.

Many of the other brutalities and fatalities were still being worked on. We asked about whether or not Sub-Zero “Deep Freeze Uppercut” would make the cut, being that we felt it was the least gory of his classic fatalities, and were told that they were still in the process of trying to figure out how that could work.

Aside from the fact we all agreed the game was flat out fun to play, we couldn’t believe how much blood Midway managed to cram into a Teen rating. Hector explained, that while the blood is not persistent (it doesn’t remain on screen very long after impact), it certainly doesn’t feel like you’re playing a kiddie game.

MK vs DC is a mix of classic MK head to head bruising combat, with a few welcome twists. For example, moving in close to an opponent allows you to initiate a close quarters combat sequence. During that time you will need to follow on screen button queues in order to successfully block the blows being thrown at you. We had a lot of fun playing around with this feature.

In addition to the zoomed in hand to hand combat, you will also be able to smash your opponent through walls, and grapple with them as the two of you plummet into a new zone. Wall smashing is more of a button mashing task, while mid air battles also utilize a timed on-screen button sequence.

The combination of well animated character specific attack moves, impact generated blood, and real-time character bruising made for such a satisfying gameplay experience that we all ultimately agreed we would be picking it up when the game finally hits stores.

We realize that a large part of the MK lure revolves around the game’s long line of memorable finishing moves, so as we wrapped up our visit to the Midway lounge, we began to discuss whether or not hardcore fans would be satisfied with the MK vs DC fatalities/brutalities.

It is true that the MK finishing moves are deeply rooted in gore and over-the-top dismemberment, but beyond that there is a certain level of embarrassment dished out each time to the individual being finished off. That said, you need to ask yourself which of the two aspects hold more weight with you as a gamer: Are you satisfied with embarrassing your opponent, or do you need the over-the-top gore?

The reality is that the game has plenty of on-screen blood and persistent character bruising that takes effect in real-time upon impact, but it’s not the M-rated meat grinder fatality bloodbath some gamers may have been hoping for.

The finishing moves, while brutally embarrassing for those on the receiving end, do not go beyond that in a blood-filled, in-your-face graphic nature. If you can live with that, then this game will make a great addition to your gaming library.

I love it when developers take the complaints of reviewers and the requests of their fans and deliver a sequel that addresses every one. It looks like Eidos Hungary is prepared to do that with Battlestations: Pacific, the follow-up to last year’s Battlestations: Midway.

Battlestations manages to be both a real-time strategy game and an action/simulation experience. While you are in charge of commanding different task forces, it’s possible to take on the role of one of the troops and save the day. Pacific picks up right where Midway left off, but packs double the campaign of the previous game — one “historically-based” version, where things unfold as you would expect, and one “historically possible” version, where you play as the Japanese and kick America’s ass. Twenty-one new vehicles; cockpit views for the fighters, torpedo bombers, and dive bombers; Kamikaze attacks; and the new Island Capture system (as well as improved graphics, since they were developing strictly for 360 rather than worrying about the original Xbox) round out the new features.

The first mission we saw was the invasion of Port Moresby, which didn’t actually happen. In the real world, we beat the Japanese back at Coral Sea so they never got to Australia. Instead, in this mission, you’re playing as the Japanese and three initial goals are to take the radar station, take the airstrip (one of those islands to capture), and take out the Americans.

The command screen shows a color-coded birds-eye view of the action as it’s happening, but now includes extra data, like exactly how captured the radar station is (in percentage form) and the health of every unit on the screen. Another example of this more data push — which is something the fans have been requesting — is the way your cruiser weapons now have a time indicator while they transition from yellow reloading to green and at the ready.

You can go about your objectives as you like, but flexibility is key, since you can’t be sure how your AI-led units will fare. If you’re doing well, there is an assortment of random secondary tasks to complete to boost your high score, good for achievements and straight-up bragging rights.

Jon Zungre and I both took a turn on another level where shooting three targets proved more difficult than our non-flight sim trained thumbs were capable of handling — it’s definitely not an arcade-y experience. Mostly we just enjoyed watching details like the little guys running around on the decks of the boats or the convoys rolling across the island as you advance.

Battlestations: Pacific is set to ship in Q1 of 2009, and we’re betting fans of the original will be quite pleased.

About a week ago, we received the news that Mortal Kombat vs. DC was in fact going to have Fatalities. While this remains the case, in an interview with Gametrailers.com, Ed Boon stated that he may at some point be interested in publishing another M-rated Mortal Kombat game in the future.

“…I also wouldn’t rule out doing another M-rated Mortal Kombat game.”

That pretty much guarantees that this next installment of the MK universe will be rated teen. Some of you might be asking “How can the game include fatalities if it’s rated T?” The answer is simple– they will likely tame them.

Boon said that Scorpion will still have his fire breath fatality, which is something that the SNES version had as well back in the day. If anyone remembers the first Mortal Kombat on SNES, Nintendo refused to allow any kind of bloody violent acts to be depicted on their system. So how did Midway get around this? They tamed them. Scorpion’s original finisher was kept, but the company changed many of the others resulting in fatalities that proved to be a bit boring for most gamers and fans of the arcade version.

Luckily at that time, the Genesis version (which had a code that unlocked the blood and arcade fatalities) was available for gamers seeking an experience more true to the arcade counterpart. Sadly, this time around, it appears that we’ll be forced to buy the non-gruesome version with no alternative in sight.

If I had to point the finger of blame in any direction, I would decisively point it towards DC (not Ed Boon) as they likely didn’t want to risk bloodying the tights of their superheroes.

Thanks to /film for sending this our way.

The latest installment of the NBA Ballers franchise is due to hit retail outlets later this month, in the form of NBA Ballers: Chosen One. It’s been two years since NBA Ballers: Phenom was released on the original Xbox and the Playstation 2, to a rather underwhelming reception. However, with Superman himself, Dwight Howard, gracing the cover art, hopes are high for a much-improved sequel.

What can fans of the series, and basketball games in general, expect from this latest outing?

A little business first– due to licensing conditions Midway and Electronic Arts are limited to releasing their “arcade” basketball titles every other year.

In essence the agreement means that Midway is able to release an NBA Ballers game in one year, with the following year being EA’s turn to release their latest NBA Street title. With this two year development cycle you’d think the games would benefit from extra attention and time.

Nonetheless, that didn’t stop EA’s first current-gen NBA Street title, Homecourt, from seriously lacking in the depth department (a lesson they still haven’t learned – here’s looking at you, FIFA Street 3).

Shallow gameplay and a lack of options seem to be an all too common criticism of this genre. Chosen One seems to be attempting to break the cycle however, with a reworked story mode that promises to combine on-court performance with your superstar’s off-court celebrity lifestyle.

Your created character will need to take on the NBA’s finest in the ultimate tournament to be considered the “Chosen One”, all while partaking in a few off-court scenarios such as filming commercials and other glamorous events that are all part of the modern NBA player’s routine.

Character creation and customisation takes centre stage in Chosen One. As well as extensive options to alter your appearance, in terms of both physical features and clothing, you’ll decide who will accompany your player to the court, and just how you want to make your big entrance.

Customisation also extends to your characters abilities. Defeating NBA superstars allows you to then add their special moves to your own repertoire as you see fit, giving you the ability to match your character’s abilities with your preferred style of play.

You are guided through the story mode by the legend that is Chuck D, who will interview players, comment on your progress and call the in-game action play-by-play. Hip-hop producer Just Blaze takes control of the soundtrack, with over thirty beats created exclusively for the game.

There are also 65 current NBA players in the game (including Nate Robinson– Go Knicks!), in addition to 15 former NBA stars. The wealth of talent on show is impressive in itself.

As well as the story mode, other game types include quick custom matches for 1 versus 1, 2 vs. 2 and 1 vs. 1 vs. 1, as well as online multiplayer competition. The game supports up to four players both locally, and to my understanding, online.

Two minigames have also been included: shoot-out, in which you attempt to make shots from designated places on the court for varying amounts of points, and the standard three point shoot-out.

The on-court action aims to be as in-depth as it is just plain over-the-top. A simple to pick up, yet in-depth skills and super moves system will allow you to take full control of the action.

By performing fancy combos and complex skills you will fill up your super meter. Divided into three sections, the super meter allows to you pull off devastating moves designed to both embarrass your opponent and pick up a few points in the process.

A small selection of these include handstands, break dancing and tripping up your opponent to use them as a vaulting platform. Think AND1 and then multiply the craziness a couple of hundred times and you’re nearly there.

Graphically, as you can see from the screens, the game looks astounding. Animations look slick and crisp, and the details such as players faces and attire look like the real deal. With huge variety in the court locations and character customisation items, this should be a game you’ll not grow bored looking at, at least for a significant period of time.

NBA Ballers: Chosen One looks very promising, and the addition of off-court shenanigans seems to be a fun, humorous, and natural addition to the genre as a whole. Only time will tell if the game can avoid being labeled with the shallow tag, but Midway should be applauded for at least seeming to attempt to move the genre forwards. The game is due for release on April 21st in the US and April 25th in the EU, so look for a review then.

While Midway has yet to announce the cover athlete and box art for the upcoming TNA iMPACT wrestling videogame, they have just sent us six new screens from the game. Have at them after the jump.

Six New TNA iMPACT Screens

6 Photos

 

For those who missed it, EGM (according to Editor Dan Hsu) was supposedly cut off from receiving preview and review copies of games by Sony, Midway, and Ubisoft due to what the publishers felt where unfavorable review scores and or practices.

While I can understand why Dan may have felt the need to call out the poor sportsmanship of Sony’s Sports Division, the low blow of Midway’s Mortal Kombat Team, and the stealthy exit of Ubisoft, I question his decision to do so, and can’t help but feel that an unnecessary trend is beginning to take place.

My feelings are that gaming sites, as well as printed publications, will now start to air their dirty laundry in an effort to proactively defend themselves, and reassure readers that they are on the up and up.

I sure hope that I am wrong, because while I am not saying that this is the case here with EGM, I really don’t want to be reading about how enormous publications/websites will now have to resort to buying games (just like their readers) in order to review them — Boo freaking hoo.

Most gaming outlets (including us) do not receive every game that they review directly from the publisher in advance, and at no cost. In fact, many purchase the majority of their games just like you do.

While I do not necessarily agree with the way the publishers treated EGM here, they are free to decide how they want to distribute their product. Below you will find a reprint of Dan’s editorial from the February issue of EGM via his blog page on 1up.com

Gamemakers have been taking issue with our reviews for as long as EGM’s been around (almost 19 years now). It goes with the territory: Be honest and tough with your critiques, and you’re going to piss just about everybody off at some point. But when I took over as editor-in-chief in 2001, I also wanted us to get more real with our previews. I was tired of the press-release rehashes our industry had become accustomed to, so I asked for more sincerity and opinions from our writers and editors. Naturally, you have to be fair — the products aren’t finished yet, after all — but judging from reader feedback, our opinionated previews have been a hit.

Except with some game publishers, of course. Less-than-totally-positive previews don’t sit well with those who are used to those press-release rehashes. Combine that with our candid reviews, and you can imagine the consequences that we have to face constantly.

For the time being, you’ll get little, late, or no coverage of the following products: anything Mortal Kombat (they didn’t like our reviews), anything from Sony’s sports department (ditto), and now, anything from Ubisoft (it seems our coverage of Assassin’s Creed was the last straw). So in case you’re wondering why you’re seeing so little of these games in our magazines and on our websites, now you know.

What do we do now? Nothing. We won’t treat these products or companies any differently, and we’ll just cover them to the best of our own abilities, with or without their support. Because, after all, we’re writing for you, the reader — not them.

In closing, while I agree that these scenarios do occur, I personally don’t think we should be bickering about them to our readers, and I truly hope that this does not become the norm.

On the outside it appears as though Midway has given Sony a swift kick to the stones, with the announcement of the delayed release of “Unreal Tournament 3,” and the European PS3 release of “BlackSite.”

Midway claims that they have run into some “bumps” in the development of UT3 for the PS3. President and chief executive officer, David F. Zucker, had this to say:

“While we regret that these delays will cause us to lose some valuable holiday sales in the near term as well as shift revenue for some of these titles out of 2007 and into 2008, we remain confident that our technology strategy and product plan position us to grow both revenue and market share as we move into the heart of this console cycle.

Looking ahead to 2008, with our core technology platform now in place, we expect to release a number of titles, including already announced console versions of Unreal Tournament 3, a next generation installment of our NBA Ballers franchise, Wheelman, and TNA iMPACT! the video game. We also expect to release several as-yet unannounced titles such as next generation versions of our hit franchises Blitz and Mortal Kombat, and two exciting new ambitious open world games. We intend to give more details on our 2008 release schedule in the near future.”

Midway revised sales estimates reveal a lost of $11 million for the end of their third quarter and an overall lost of $55 million for the year due to the delayed releases. Midway will miss the holiday release for “Unreal Tournament 3” as the game moves into the first quarter of 2008. This puts the UT3 to be released sometime between January and March of next year.

In my opinion, this all just a clever marketing scheme, in other words I believe they pushed back the date to release UT3 because of Halo’s release. With IGN Entertainment’s GamerMetrics report that among the 15,000 gamers surveyed, the Xbox 360 SKU of Midway’s “Unreal Tournament 3” doesn’t sit too well with Halo lovers. Not only that the Halo boom was sure to over take the proposed UT3 sales. Of course this could also be Microsoft’s plan to begin with; a lack of new games for the PS3 for the upcoming holiday season Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is sure to make a lot more money.

I mean it’s not hard to put together just look at the dates. In February Amsterdam-based independent developer, Streamline Studios, announced that it will be creating 3D content service solutions for Epic Games’ upcoming UT3, expected to launch later this year for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. Then three months later Bungie releases the online Beta for Halo 3 followed with a September release date for the Final.

UT3’s delay isn’t as big of stab for Microsoft as it is for Sony, but then again I could be making up conspiracy theories in my basement while draw circles on the newspapers pasted to my wall. I mean it’s not like the gaming industry ever gave misleading information to the public before (DualShock 3)..

This wouldn’t be the first time the industry has given the public misleading knowledge (The SixAixs can’t have vibration, duh).

E3, also known as “min-E3″, is being held this year from July 11th to the 13th at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, CA. Anyone who is familiar with the E3 of old knows that the new “min-E3″ pales in comparison to the event held in years past, that said … it is still better than nothing.

A schedule of events was released by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) for the show on the official E3 website.

Getting the ball rolling this year will be Microsoft with a “pre-E3 conference” at 8:30pm on July 10th. Next up will be Nintendo, offering up a tasty batch wii goodness, with a conference at 9:00 the next morning. Sony will bat clean up with a conference of their own at 11:30am on the 11th.

Time slots have also been granted to third parties such as Konami, Activision, Take Two, EA, Ubisoft, and few others. For your convenience we have posted the full show schedule below:

7/10/07:

• 8:30pm – Microsoft Press Conference

7/11/07:

• 9:00am – Nintendo Press Conference
• 9:00am-5:30pm – Meeting suites open at the Fairmont Hotel
• 11:30am – Sony Press Conference
• 1:00-6:30pm – Barker Hanger open to view games
• 2:00pm – Electronic Arts conference
• 3:15pm – Activision conference
• 4:30pm – Midway conference
• 5:45pm – Konami conference

7/12/07:

• 8:00am – Take-Two conference
• 9:00am-5:30pm – Meeting suites open at the Fairmont Hotel
• 9:15am – THQ conference
• 10:30am – Ubisoft conference
• 1:00-6:30pm – Barker Hanger open to view games
• 1:00pm – Namco Bandai conference
• 3:30pm – Disney Interactive conference

7/13/07:

• 9:00am-3:30pm – Meeting suites open at the Fairmont Hotel
• 11:00am-3:30pm – Barker Hanger open to view games

Booths will be set up for over 30 companies on the floor of the hangar, however we are sad to report that there are some notable names that will not be offering up formal conferences namely; Capcom, SEGA, and Square-Enix.

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