Proce, who contributed to Midway’s final fighting game before being snapped up by Warner Bros, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, wrote that the re-imagining of the MK franchise proposed “mixing modern muti-player and dismemberment game design with the original fighting mechanic.” The artist’s take on four Mortal Kombat mainstays—Raiden, Kano, Scorpion and Sony Blade—are more dramatic, grittier and certainly a welcome change.

Proce describes his Scorpion as “a wraith wearing the yellow blood of the demon” that resurrected him and his Kano as “half Japanese half US military bad arse.” His Sonya, which will likely draw the most criticism, was redesigned as “the daughter of a Texas Ranger who’s sex appeal weakens her opponents while her Special Forces training kicks their asses.” Finally, his Raiden pitch portrays “a god [whose] feet rarely touch the ground.”

We’re not sure what direction the Mortal Kombat team is taking the series at its new home, but I’m personally hoping it’s more along these lines—a darker, more dramatic, less comic book-like tone with a pared down cast—than what we got with Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. I enjoyed that game as much as the next guy, but I like my MK with a little less Wonder Woman.

Here are the never before seen Mortal Kombat characters… [Vincent Proce Art Blog via GameSetWatch/SRK Forums]

After news that dozens of capable game developers have lost their jobs, a LOL-tastic video game mash-up—in this case, Mortal Kombat vs. Donkey Kong—can cheer us up. Oh, Scorpion! You ham!

(Yes, this is another impressively successful video bite from the creator of Sonic the Hedgehog vs. Pac-man and Contra vs. Duck Hunt. I’d say this man is on a roll.)

Duck Hunt, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mario Kart and Mortal Kombat are just a few of the classic games that Gamerpaper gives the achievement treatment, to varying degrees of funny. Button mashers will enjoy the Mortal Kombat “No Luck” achievement, which requires that you actually do a move intentionally. I’m not sure the Roller Coaster Tycoon achievement that requires you to create a coaster that ends instead of killing the riders is realistic, and the TMNT “Leonardo? Psh…” achievement means nothing to me, as I was always a Donatello fan, but all in all it’s an excellent selection of achievements that makes people in video game website comment sections want to add their own *hint hint*.

If Classic Videogames Had Achievements [Gamerpaper - Thanks Emily!]

Unless of course Warner Bros. is keen on tossing about the term “revolutionise” willy nilly, the new owners of the Mortal Kombat IP following Midway’s fire sale have big plans for the franchise’s online play. From the job listing:

“You will work closely with architects and designers on both the Mortal Kombat team and the advanced technology group to help design and implement functionality ranging from the core network transport layer all the way to owning the final implementation of brand-new features that will revolutionize online play”

Revolutionising online play in Mortal Kombat shouldn’t really be all that difficult, with only rudimentary online included in the most recent entries in the series. Here’s hoping the WB does things up right!

WB Seeks Online Features For Mortal Kombat [Gamasutra]

While we were well aware that the WB would secure properties like Joust and Spy Hunter, new trademark ownership of some classic Midway IP give us insight into what the new home of Mortal Kombat also secured. Some of it is positively ancient, like the Super Sprint spin off Badlands, and the classic Sinistar and Defender.

Trademark snooper superannuation dug up at some of the trademarks transferred to Warner Bros. so far, a list expected to update as time goes on. Missing from the list is Mortal Kombat, actually, which should show up as a WB property any day now.

Warner Bros. has contacted the United States Patent and Trademark Office to transfer proprietorship of the following Midway trademarks, Part One [superannuation]

But they could have! Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon has today revealed some artwork for a proposed crossover between the two franchises, which would have seen a Mortal Kombat-infused court made available in NBA Jam. With spinal columns, dismembered heads, the works.

Sadly, despite allowing gamers the chance to play as Bill Clinton and Prince Charles, playing on a Mortal Kombat court was a bridge too far for the NBA, who said nothankyou to the whole thing.

[noobde @ Twitter, via 1UP]

The sale to Warner Brothers is expected to close in the next 10 days, according to Midway spokesperson Geoffrey Mogilner. That will put the Mortal Kombat licence, the This Is Vegas project, Midway’s sports and arcade brands as well as the company’s Chicago and Seattle studios under the WB umbrella.

Among the studios and properties not part of WB’s acquisition are Midway’s Newcastle and San Diego studios. The San Diego team has been working on a new TNA game, according to Mogilner, but neither the team nor the wrestling licence is part of the WB deal. The team at San Diego, as required by law, was given 60 days’ notice on Wednesday. Wheelman studio Newcastle had already received similar notice, though Mogilner was uncertain how long ago that had been provided. Newscastle has been working on the new game Necessary Force. The spokesman said it is “entirely possible” that those studios could be acquired, but no bids are on the table.

One update about Midway’s sports lines: The Blitz brand is part of the Warner Brothers deal, but Midway’s NBA Ballers and NFL Blitz games, which were a product of expired Midway deals with pro sports leagues, are not.

Kotaku reported WB’s interest in Midway in April. The media giant’s $33 million bid succeeded after an obligatory waiting period saw no other formal suitors, according to the LA Times.

Midway is one of the original video game developers and publishers in the industry, one of the few active companies that was making games before the rise of home consoles.

The recollections of the recently-deceased pop star continue to make the rounds in the media. And video games have gotten another mention, even though we weren’t asking this time.

Author Paul Theroux recalls in today’s U.K. Telegraph a phone call the writer had with Jackson that turned to the topic of dealing with the aftermath of the rush of performing on stage:

Jackson: “It makes people do strange things. A lot of our famous luminaries become intoxicated because of it – they can’t handle it. And your adrenaline is at the zenith of the universe after a concert – you can’t sleep. It’s maybe two in the morning and you’re wide awake. After coming off stage, you’re floating.”

Theroux: “How do you handle that?”

“I watch cartoons. I love cartoons. I play video games. Sometimes I read.”

“You mean you read books?”

“Yeah. I love to read short stories and everything.”

“Any in particular?”

“Somerset Maugham,” he said quickly, and then, pausing at each name: “Whitman. Hemingway. Twain.”

“What about those video games?”

“I love X-Man. Pinball. Jurassic Park. The martial arts ones – Mortal Kombat.”

“I played some of the video games at Neverland,” I said. “There was an amazing one called Beast Buster.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s great. I pick each game. That one’s maybe too violent, though. I usually take some with me on tour.”

“How do you manage that? The video game machines are pretty big, aren’t they?”

“Oh, we travel with two cargo planes.”

Jackson was a gamer, no doubt. Anyone remember Beast Buster? I missed that one.

My trip to Neverland, and the call from Michael Jackson I’ll never forget [Telegraph]

According to the LA Times‘ report on the matter, Warner’s $US33 million bid for the better portion of the company’s assets was the only serious offer. There were no other formal bids.

As part of a buy out time line that would accept offers until June 24th, Midway’s goods and people were previously planned to go up for auction on June 29th to the entity with the deepest pockets. No need for that now.

Warner’s bid would net the media giant development studios in Chicago (Mortal Kombat, Stranglehold) and Seattle (The Suffering, This Is Vegas) and rights to new and classic IP. It would also almost certainly mean another Mortal Kombat and DC crossover.

Midway still has two orphaned studios, one in San Diego, one in Newcastle (Wheelman), with the latter currently seeking a buyer for the team and its original Necessary Force property.

More details at the LA Times.

Warner Bros. emerges as sole bidder for Midway Games [LA Times]

The complaint filed by Kasanoff’s Threshold Entertainment seeks to protect the company from losing intellectual property rights to certain Mortal Kombat characters and the ability to create movies and television shows based on the series in the event of the sale of Midway assets to a third party, such as Warner Bros. The suit contends than no such protection is currently on record, and any sale occurring without such protections in place could result in the unjust losing of said rights.

The suit goes on to contend that it was Kasanoff who made the series into the brand it is today, taking the property and characters such as Liu Kang and Sonya blade far beyond the relative obscurity of arcades, delivering a household recognition that the series would have never seen otherwise.

In a way I suppose he is right. While those of us steeped in gaming would recognise those original digitised fighters anywhere, the movies did go a long way towards establishing the characters in mainstream culture.

If the suit is successful, it would suddenly make Midway assets a great deal less valuable to Warner Bros., perhaps halting the sale completely pending some sort of resolution. Check out the link below to view the full court document.

Kasanoff’s Complaint Against Midway [Game Politics Document Dump - Main Article]