Anyway, it's been changed up a bit, toned down to just slightly less than awesome to secure that highly coveted T-rating that Midway and Warner Bros. are so adamant about. In the latest build, 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.

It's a minor change, but a noticeable one.

We asked Midway's Ed Boon about the difficulty in getting that T-rating, something he said the team has been working closely with the ESRB on. They've sent "at least three" submissions to the ESRB, going in with something that's full of M-rated content, getting feedback and "scaling it back."

Another Fatality that's seen some revision was Kitana's, one that involved her opponent being impaled by her trademark blade-fans. Initially, the first fan went into the torso, the other into the forehead. That second was a T-rating no-no. Double fans delivered to the chest, however, that's a T-rated way to end someone's life.

Sure, it's disappointing — Joker's original finishing move was one of the best we've ever seen — but the game would simply not exist with an M-rating. We'll just have to take solace in the archived video-only version, occasionally rewatch it misty-eyed and forlorn, and realize we're going to get the game regardless.

That doesn't mean it was a wasted visit, however, as Boon and Garcia showed us aspects of the game we'd never seen before. Not only did we get to see every character in action, like Raiden, Lex Luthor and Kano — and many of their Fatalities — we got a peek at the spectacular single-player story mode, a look at the new Combo Challenge feature and serious eyes-on with Sonya Blade's in-game model, thanks to the included model viewer.

Boon and Garcia first showed us two of the newer characters, Mortal Kombat II's Baraka and DC's Deathstroke, in action. Both deviate from the rest of the line-up by having weapons, with Baraka's familiar arm-blades matching Deathstroke's beefy sword. These are the only two characters that we know of that have weapon and stance options, not unlike what was introduced with Mortal Kombat 4, then later explored in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance.

Boon seemed particularly excited to show us Deathstroke's fatality, one that starts with a nasty sword slice to the torso, then a quick neck-breaking twist of the head. Expect lots of shattered spines in MK vs. DCU, as you won't see decapitations and dismemberment.

Yes, those Fatalities — and the "Heroic Brutalities" performed by DC's good guys — are more tame than what we've come to expect from the past seven games. Catwoman will break necks with her whip and Jax will finish you off with his sub-machine gun, both of which are noticeably bloodless.

The T-rated finishing moves may turn off the more superficial Mortal Kombat fan, but it's likely the engaging story mode will rope them back in.

It's surprising how well integrated the storyline is into the head to head fighting. Garcia kicked off the DC version of the single-player mode — each side is expected to take 2 to 3 hours to burn through — which starts with players controlling The Flash. He goes head to head with Deathstroke after a cut scene, which is then immediately followed by a fight with Kano, after the two are introduced by another cut scene.

These cinematic portions are certainly of higher quality than expected — no offense, MK team. They flow nicely into the action, with not a moments pause between someone issuing a challenge and the two kombatants squaring off. The voice over work and visual direction aren't too shabby either.

The story mode also helps explain exactly why the Mortal Kombat and DC universes are crossing over. That "Rage" mode, the reason why Captain Marvel and Green Lantern would ever fight each other, and just how Scorpion winds up in the Batcave are all explained rather elegantly through these scenes.

After playing as the Flash, who has a dust up with Batman, we transitioned to playing as Batman. The whole thing is wonderfully seamless and we genuinely look forward to seeing how it all works out. What's potentially more interesting is that, as the world's crossover, we'll get to see how it plays out in both universes at the same time.

The entirety of the plot should be considered off-canon. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is a standalone entry, similar to DC's own Elseworlds line of comic books.

And speaking of Elseworlds, Boon brought up, when we asked about alternate costumes, that they're trying to secure some of those alternate reality outfits for the DC side. We should just expect palette swaps for now, Boon said. Trying to get Superman's Soviet costume from Superman: Red Son, for example, was a bit of a challenge. Perhaps as DLC? Boon says they're having internal discussions now to figure that out exactly which alteranate looks and costumes they want to go after.

After the story mode, we got a look at the Combo Challenge, a series combo completion tasks that's not just excellent practice, it's its own mini-game. The concept isn't new, by any means, just a bit more streamlined. You'll see the combo string for your character as a supertitle that you'll need to perform. Any failed attempt to pull it off can be quickly restarted with the Select or Back button. Mostly painless. Captain Marvel looked to have about a dozen combos of increasing complexity. Fortunately, the player can just bounce around the list — they don't have to be completed sequentially.

Another nice bonus is the model viewer, located under the Extras option in the main menu. It's extremely straightforward fan service. You simply have a flexible camera with which you can pan, zoom or rotate around each character's 3D model, sans HUD, to see all their details. Again, not groundbreaking, but a nice feature that we wish every game would include.

We've said many times before that we're eagerly anticipating Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, even as lapsed fans. Our most recent hands-on time made us want it that much more. We'll let you know how the final release, due November 16, ultimately pans out.

Jaffe writes that he met with Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon way back in the mid-nineties to discuss such a venture, but that "nothing - clearly - ever came of it."

Of course, this was when arcades were still viable and Twisted Metal was but a fledgling series. They were also the heady days of Cruis'n World and War Gods, two indicators that it was probably best for all involved that Twisted Metal Arcade never saw the light of day.

Still, we'd love to have a peek into the alternate universe where it did. If only for the laughs!

SAN DIEGO COMIC CON 2008 [DavidJaffe.biz]

Having already discussed the previous take on Mortal Kombat 8 at length — with Boon telling me that it had been scrapped in favor of MK vs. DCU and that the ninth proper entry in the series may take it back to its ultra-violent roots — I wondered how much sleep Boon and crew had lost over the decision to junk that, instead adding a bunch of out of place superheroes.

Given that MK vs. DCU has no plans to introduce any new Mortal Kombat characters to the mythos — Boon called the MK side a "greatest hits" line up — how did the team feel fans would react to the inclusion of DC's finest? (The other "Vs." option Boon told us about chilled us to the bone, by the way.)

"If you're asking me to put a number on it, from one to ten, I'd have thought [the reaction to MK vs. DCU's announcement] would have been a four," Boon said at Midway's reception last week. "Turns out it was more like a nine."

Even if you're still turned off by the notion of superheroes and supervillians crashing the Mortal Kombat party, take comfort in this. Some unnamed Midway employees had actually suggested Mortal Kombat vs. Blitz as a viable option for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 entry. Boon said this with a straight face, after I asked him about the possibility of another High Impact Football game in his future, so be thankful you're getting what you're getting.

Boon didn't have to do much convincing to spark our interest in the game. We'd already been enjoying our hands on time with Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe for the better part of an hour when he sat down.

Updated impressions? Catwoman's got a fantastic ass.

We also got a look at some new environments, including the Fortress of Solitude, and a look at Captain Marvel's in-game model.

Boon also announced that an MK vs. DC comic book would included in the limited edition of the game, illustrated by John Tobias, co-creator of the Mortal Kombat series. The game's final boss and a the remaining line-up of fighters was promised to be announced over the next few months.

While that grittier, darker version of MK didn't make it far beyond the technology development stages — Boon told us there was little in the way of concept art for the grimier spin on the series — the next next Mortal Kombat may strive for more blood, more violence, more of everything that warrants an M-rating.

The artistic vision of a less saturated, less Superman filled fighter is still swimming around Boon's head, a title that may rest on the success of MK vs. DC. We spent more time with the crossover fighter tonight and talked with Boon about plenty of other MK-related topics. Tune in tomorrow for the rest of our conversation.

Obviously, that didn't quite happen; Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe did. Boon said that the down and dirty MK8 was scrapped when the DC Comics deal solidified.

While MK Vs. DCU was met with mixed results, it wasn't an unexpected by the MK team. Frankly, we were pleasantly surprised by the game — despite our very much looking forward to the team's previous vision — and think that will show when we post our impressions of the Midway fighter later today.

They're also giving away posters! Hopefully, said posters feature Wonder Woman and Sonya Blade for extra poster-kissability. For those who aren't able to make the trek to Comic-Con, perhaps these day old MK vs. DC in-game screenshots will soothe the pain.

We only know the rest of the line-up through vague descriptions from a separate source, such as Prototypical Super Hero, Mystical Super Hero, Amazon Queen, Sexy Villainness, Crazy Villain, and Military Superhero. Many of those aren't hard to figure out, but series creator Ed Boon says the full line-up has yet to be correctly guessed by fans.

Boon clears up a slew of misconceptions in a new Q&A with GameSpot, noting that DC villains will come equipped with the series trademark Fatalities, but that the good guys will just beat each other into a pulp. The PG-13-ing of Mortal Kombat somehow manages to break a little bit of my heart. Which will go on, by the way.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe Q&A [GameSpot]

Just don't assume that fatalities are a thing of the past. Boon says they're simply "modifying" fatalities for Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. "The names of these moves, and the level of violence we use, are to be determined," the MK co-creator said. "But it's certainly not a feature we plan on eliminating from the series." Just please, please make good use of Plastic Man, Ed. Maybe Elongated Man, too. They're begging for some fleshy Wile E. Coyote-style murderous contraption. Begging.

Mortal Kombat's Creator Talks [GameTap]

I did a couple of write-ups and whatnot on it, and sometimes we'd get really close to it but issues like our representative for the other company left the company for some reason, and that reset the whole thing back to beginning.

Ed Boon Interview [CVG via N4G]

In addition to those two sequels, David F. Zucker, president and CEO, hinted at two "new ambitious open world games" but provided no further details.

Not only does it contain the last decent Mortal Kombat arcade game in a teeny lil' DS card, it also finds a way to squeeze in local and internet wi-fi head-to-head play. UMK3 for the Nintendo DS also contains the not so bad Puzzle Kombat game on top of that, one-upping the Xbox Live Arcade release.

Anyone else shocked that UMK3 DS is now on their must buy lists? Michael McWhertor

Ed Boon on Ultimate Mortal Kombat [IGN]

He tells CVG that Mortal Kombat VIII will be "a lot more realistic-looking... we're not going to joke around in this one." I guess that means no more chess, puzzle games, babalities or karting. Boon has previously mentioned his admiration for the look and feel of Epic's Gears of War. In addition to changing the aesthetics to something "grittier", Boon reveals that weapons-based combat and multiple fighting styles may be out the window. When will we see these changes? Not until 2008.

Look, all I care about is that the cheese factor is turned down. That means cool it with the goofy costumes, the robo-ninjas, and the sixty-four character roster. Michael McWhertor

Next MK fighter will be "real serious" says Ed Boon [CVG]

"To me, when I saw Gears of War, I was like, 'Holy s___!' That's the look that we've been talking about." Visually, that's what we want to do."

Everything is getting trashed. We're reinventing everything from the ground up. We really think that's needed—you know, we're on Mortal Kombat 8, in a sense—to kind of wipe the slate clean every once in a while, and I kind of feel that now is the time."

MGD 07: Ed Boon Interview [GameInformer.com via Team Xbox]

This one will probably be a rental for me. I wasn't all that impressed with Armageddon in the first place, and while the Wii controls look entertaining, they don't exactly look $50 entertaining. Michael Fahey

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon Q&A [GameSpot, via Joystiq]