This Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe video should put any fears to rest that the game won't ship with a respectable amount of murder intact. The game's producer, Hector Sanchez, walks us through the Joker's move set, explaining that "Rage Mode" that we half-understood during our latest hands-on with the title. Mr. Sanchez ends it with a bang, demonstrating how the Joker takes people out, Mortal Kombat style.

If you haven't seen this one yet, don't skip it. It's full of win.

A few weeks ago our intern Jim got some hands on time with Wheelman, the latest game to feature Vin Diesel. In this video, mission designer Mark Thompson walks us through one of the first missions and what we can expect when the game comes out. The slow motion in car sequence actually looks pretty good. I don't know if Wheelman will be another Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher bay, but hey, it's always possible. The game is scheduled to ship Q1 2009 on Xbox360, PC, and PS3.

In this new This is Vegas trailer we get to see some of the awesome visuals they are working on for the game. I know GTA has covered this to some respect but it will be interesting to see an entire game built around this theme. Regardless, This is Vegas will do just that allowing you to make VIP connections at the hottest clubs or race cars on the underground circuit. The game will be released sometime in 2009 for Xbox 360 and PS3.

Midway had a new build of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe on hand at the Leipziger Messe, giving Games Convention attendees a total of ten fighters to choose from, including the newly added Kitana. While the most recently announced kombatants weren't yet unlocked, the first villain on the DC side Joker was. How does he fight?

Mike and Mike are hip-deep in Games Convention 2008 coverage as we speak, tackling press conferences and getting all handsy with games. Midway just announced what we can expect to see from them. On the list, not a whole lot new, though This is Vegas is included. I wonder if that means hands-on?

Midway's press conference, set to start right about now, will be hosted by German entertainer Oliver Pocher and a guest line-up that includes: TNA iMPACT! star Christy Hemme, as well as the creators of Wheelman and This is Vegas. Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon will also be presenting the upcoming Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, and will be revealing a selection of new characters.

Sounds like the presser will score us some news. Make sure to check back to read what surprises they unveil and check out our running list of Games Convention 2008 coverage here.

Freshly released to commemorate the beginning of the Leipzig Games Convention, here's a bunch of new screenshots for Mortal Kombat vs DC. Which show that the Joker loves nothing more than a good punch in the face. And that Green Lantern's looking look like our first choice character when we get our hands on the game.

When Midway scrubbed their Austin studio and binned a game nobody had ever heard about - Career Criminal - many people were left, well, nonplussed. After all, it's a bit hard to get worked up over a game that you've never heard of. But a few retrospective tears may be in order today, as Variety brings word that Hollywood director Tony Scott was attached to the project. Don't know Tony Scott? Dude directed Top Gun. And the last of the great corny action movies, True Romance. He was working as a kinda creative consultant, continuing a recent trend/fascination Midway have had with getting Hollywood types working on their games (John Woo/Stranglehold, for example). So while we may never see Career Criminal, we can at least rest assured that if we had, guitar solos, sexually-charged one-liners and dimly-lit sex scenes would have featured prominently.

Tony Scott was attached to Midway's canceled Career Criminal game [Variety] [Pic]

NBA Ballers: Chosen One lead designer John Vignocchi recently gave his two weeks notice at Midway Chicago to help start a new venture capital backed studio in the city.

The new studio, located on the north side of Chicago, will concentrate on creating games for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

Vignocchi leaves Midway after working on five games with the company over the past 8 and a half years. His departure is just the latest in a stream of lay-offs and departures in the financial strapped company.

In an email obtained by Kotaku last night, Matt Booty, interim CEO and president of Midway, told employees that the company laid off 90 Austin workers because the company felt that their open world game Career Criminal was likely not going to be successful, so they killed the project.

The layoffs hit less than a week after Midway confirmed to Kotaku that a trio of high-level folks had left Midway's Chicago studio. Among those to leave were Mike Bilder, head of the studio, the internal developer responsible for Stranglehold, Mortal Kombat and Blitz: The League. Other confirmed departures include Mona Hamilton, vice president of marketing, and Reilly Brennan, director of media relations. Two other high level staffers were rumoured to have quit, including Vignocchi.

Matt Booty, interim CEO and president of Midway, emailed employees of the company today, explaining the reasoning behind the shuttering of its Austin-based studio and the decision to nix the unannounced Career Criminal. The game, described by Booty as a "a large, ambitious, open-world project" was dropped — and most of the team laid off — because the "resource needs, feature set, schedule and financial profile for the Career Criminal project were not converging towards a reasonable chance of success".

In the e-mail forwarded to Kotaku this afternoon, Booty emphasises that Midway's Austin studio will soldier on, albeit with a much, much leaner staff, and continue to work on "other projects in development at the studio" as well as house its Central Outsourcing Group.

The full communication from Booty to employees can be found after the jump.

Midway has confirmed that they have canceled an "as-yet-unannounced" project in Austin and is laying off 90 of 130 people.

Earlier today we wrote that 70 to 90 people had been let go this morning and that free-roaming crime game Criminal had been axed.

"While this was a very difficult decision, we feel it was the right thing to do for the future of Midway", said Matt Booty, interim CEO and president of Midway Games Inc.. "We view every game as an investment that must meet certain standards for quality, scheduling, and profitability. Midway remains committed to producing the highest quality entertainment, as evidenced by our strong holiday line-up which includes TNA iMPACT!, Blitz: The League II, and Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe starring a team of MK characters and some of the most recognisable DC Comics personalities such as Batman, The Joker, and Superman."