Mortal Kombat Team "Modifying" Fatalities For DC Crossover

Midway Sees $34 Million Loss in First Quarter

Developer-publisher Midway has taken another loss for the fiscal first quarter of 2008, the company announced today. The company saw $29.9 million in sales, more than twice its performance for the same period last year, but nonetheless, Midway's first quarter net losses were $34 million, while it lost much less - $19.8 million - in 2007's first quarter.

Mortal Kombat Vs. Street Fighter Kind Of Almost Happened

Mortal Kombat Vs. The DC Universe, announced last week, doesn't sound so bad. But did you know that we almost had Mortal Kombat Vs. Street Fighter in its place? Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon recently revealed that:

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]

MK Vs. DC: Batman Versus Sub-Zero

MK v DC Has Little Blood, NO FATALITIES?

Mortal Kombat fan site Mortal Kombat Online are claiming that this image (click for bigger version), supplied to them by "a source within Midway", is the first piece of official art from the next Mortal Kombat game. And yeah, as you can guess from the miserable, hulking guy on the right, it'll be a Mortal Kombat vs DC game. Out of love for the DC universe, I'm trying to both accept this is real and be excited about it, but...firstly, there hasn't been a decent Mortal Kombat game in over ten years, and second...hey guys, Capcom did this a little while ago. With Marvel. You may have heard of it. Little late to the comics crossover party, aren't we?
Mortal Kombat Online [thanks everyone!]

Good morning, campers. Thought we'd start the day off with some screenshot candy and a pointer to the first look at Gauntlet for the Nintendo DS. IGN's got the goods on the classic cooperative dungeon crawler, which introduced "Warrior ... is about to die!" into our inside-joke lexicon back in 1985.

Obviously, Gauntlet's addictive gameplay remains the same as the coin-op and its spinoffs, with upgraded enemies and AI. Graphics naturally are state of the art for the DS. But the real two-dot-oh for this Gauntlet, IGN reports, will be in the multiplayer, will full Wi-Fi support for linking up to three mates and the ability to talk to them over a mike. Everybody, all together now, "Elf needs food!"

Exclusive First Look at Gauntlet [IGN]

This Is Why Midway's CEO Is No Longer Midway's CEO

Going off naught but anecdotal evidence, it's easy to see why Midway CEO David Zucker was binned (as if he actually "resigned") earlier this week. Guy didn't do a very good job, and leaves Midway in worse shape than when he came in. But that's just a general assumption: it's a lot more fun to look at some numbers showing just how shitty the company have become since 2004, when Sumner Redstone bought a majority stake in the company (which ties in nicely with Zucker's tenure, which began in 2003):

- Midway have lost around $300 million dollars since 2004
- Their revenue growth from 2004 through to 2007 was -3%
- The increase in net losses from 2004 through to 2007 was at least 399%
- Midway's stock value has dropped by 79% since 2004
- Sumner Redstone have lost over $500 million in equity since taking over Midway

All paint a bleak picture, but me, I think Zucker's fate was sealed the day somebody at Midway saw Cruis'n on the Wii and said "yes, brilliant, let's release this".
Midway CEO David Zucker canned after Sumner Redstone stacks up huge losses [Variety]

"I am excited to have the opportunity to lead our game teams and talented associates as we roll out our 2008 releases," said Matt Booty. "Our plans include significant front-line releases, ambitious new intellectual properties, reinvigorated franchises with well-established fan bases, and new offerings in the casual games space."

Pontiac Ad Does Spy Hunter Oh So Right

Thanks, Josh!

Midway Announce *Another* Mortal Kombat Game

UT3 Sells 1 Million Copies, Better Late Than Never

Things weren't looking good for Epic's once-powerful franchise, Unreal Tournament. The release of UT3 met slow sales during a November when new IPs were dominating the charts as the holidays approached. Now Midway has announced that UT3 has sold 1 million copies. The catch? That figure includes both PC and PS3 titles. I think that at this point we can call it—Unreal Tournament is no longer a powerhouse franchise.

Of course, Epic still has Gears of War and the oft-licensed Unreal Engine. So they're not going hungry or anything.

UT3 and Stranglehold hit 1m sales [MCV]

EA/T2 Rumblings = Cash Money For Other Struggling Publishers

This Is Vegas Trailer

New Mortal Kombat Movie Sounds Awful Already

Todays audience is a savvy, involved group so the film must be A plus plus in every area in order to capture the magic of the first film...The original Mortal Kombat game was born a child of many visual loves by the creators at midway so this latest version borrows heavily from that pioneering spirit and must be thought out and executed at the highest level in order for it succeed in today's market place.

Relax, Viacom (Probably) Aren't Buying Take-Two

A powerful businessman is starting to turn everyone's favorite den of sin and debauchery into a family-friendly tourist trap! Madness you say? THIS IS VEGAS! *slow-motion kicks you into a bottomless pit* Sorry. This is Vegas is Midway's newly announced open world lifestyle action experience, in which you must build your own seedy underground empire in order to bring back the best parts of Vegas - sex, corruption, and gambling. You'll find yourself hanging out at seedy night clubs, gambling, racing cars, beating people up, and seducing women, all in the name of restoring Sin City to it's former 'glory'.

"We are thrilled to be unveiling the first-ever videogame experience which allows players to live out their wildest Vegas fantasies," said Alan Patmore, studio head, Surreal. "Whether it's partying in the hottest night clubs, racing in underground circuits, testing your luck at the tables or getting into a barroom brawl, This is Vegas has it all."