Ever since Midway announced the next Mortal Kombat title with MK Vs. DC, new media for the game has been somewhat scrarce. Now though, we can at least get a peek at what Scorpion will look like in the upcoming game. As you can see, not too much has been changed about his basic appearance, though his costume has undergone a slight makeover. Of course, there’s not much Midway could do to the guy that wouldn’t result in him looking like a badass.

Via Kamidogu

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When Mortal Kombat Vs. DC was first announced, a lot of people went, “Whoa, that’s awesome!” Then they sat down, though about it for awhile, and went, “Wait…that’s ridiculous.” But what outraged people the most was when it was revealed the developers were aiming for a “T for Teen” rating, indicating that they would be abandoning the series’ signature “Fatalities” this time around. Recently, GameTap sat down to discuss these issues and more with Ed Boon, the creator of Mortal Kombat. At one point, Boon vaguely explained how Fatalities will still have a presence in the game:

“There was never any statement on our part that fatalities will be gone or that finishing moves will be gone. We did acknowledge that we won’t be able to do the same kinds of outrageous moves, like tearing someone’s head off and the spine being attached to it. But there are a lot of assumptions that there will be no blood in the game, that there are no fatalities in the game. It’s an assumption that, because the DC characters will be in there, those features will have to be dropped. My response is that, no, we’re modifying fatalities. But I have every intention to keep finishers. You know, to let gamers do a really cool secret button combination and follow with a really outrageous finishing move to end the match. The names of these moves, and the level of violence we use, are to be determined. But it’s certainly not a feature we plan on eliminating from the series.

…I certainly can’t speak with authority as to what DC will permit. There will certainly be some limitations. But my intention is that we want to push the envelope of a T-rated game as far as we can without being an M-rated game.”

He also went on to give some hints as to how they plan to make sense of these two universes colliding. Read the full article

Turbine is celebrating a year of Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar by inviting any former players back for “Welcome Back Weekend.” Prodigal players are invited to log into their old accounts from Thursday, May 8th until Monday, May 12th to experience the changes in LotRO for free. Former subscribers will have access to their old characters, and are invited to check out the LOTRO Anniversary celebration events, explore new areas and quests.

Here’s a quick list of some of the changes and upgrades that LotRO has seen in its first year:

• New Region - Explore the icy reaches of Forochel
• New Quests - Over 100 new quests
• Hobby System - Feel like going fishing?
• Enhanced Monsterplay - New monster class: the Orc Defiler
• Looking For Fellowship Enhancements - Mustering Horns and UI improvements
• More customization options - cosmetic clothing, traveling clothes, and barbershops!
• New PvMP dungeon - The Delving of Frór
• Return to Angmar - completely overhauled to enhance playability and fun

via Press Release

Craig Alexander, Turbine’s Vice President of Product Development took time to talk with MMORPG about Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar. The interview covers Book 13: Doom of the Last King, but also reveals details on the first true expansion for LotRO; Mines of Moria.

Book 13 introduces the frozen land of Forochel in Northern Eriador. Like the Misty Mountains, the area has an arctic climate which brings a new facet of PvE to players, who will have to keep themselves warm.

The Mines of Moria is a vast underground environment that required the developers deal with it in a whole new way. It will be a labyrinth of tunnels as big as Bree or the Shire. They’re using a duel height map technique to create the ground as normal. However, what would be sky outside is the ceiling in Moria. It’s a very simplified explaination, but it does allow them to create this vast underground environment without loosing detail or creating performance issues.

Moria will also feature a more intelligent game AI, dynamic lighting and player lights. Look for more on Moria in the next few months.

via MMORPG

KingsIsle Entertainment has announced its existence after being founded in 2005 and revealed that they are working on several online games. The studio is headed up by CEO Elie Akilian, previously the co-founder of Inet Technologies, and president David Nichols, a former senior VP at Midway.

“We founded KingsIsle with an approach that fosters ingenuity,” said Akilian.

“Our focus is in the online environment and will continue to be so in the future. We’ve pulled together some of the most creative minds around and given them room to push boundaries and create superlative entertainment experiences.”

“We’ll continue to build on that base of originality.”

I wouldn’t blame you for being skeptical, of course. Time and again we’ve seen games try something that is supposedly different in the MMO space, yet simply amount to a sub-par World of Warcraft clone that isn’t worth your time or money. (’sup, Tabula Rasa?)

The development of KingsIsle’s first game, expected to enter beta this spring, is being headed by Todd Coleman, who previously played a key role in the Shadowbane MMO. Another of the company’s projects is being headed by creative director Tom Hall, co-founder of both id Software and ION Storm. So there’s no lack of talent, it would seem, but we’ll have to wait and see if they’re able to capture an audience in the crowded MMO market.

via GamesIndustry.biz

Let’s be honest: when it was announced last week that the next Mortal Kombat game would in fact pit Sub-Zero and Co. against heroes from the DC universe, a lot of people’s initial reaction was, “Whoa! Awesome.” And then, just as quickly, their reaction changed to, “Wait…that’s kind of goofy.” Well, Midway’s got a little salt to rub in those people’s wounds. Co-creator of Mortal Kombat, Ed Boon, recently stated that the next MK game was very nearly “Mortal Kombat Vs. Street Fighter.” He also outlined some of the problems the team ran into trying to put that together:

“If we were to do a Street Fighter vs. Mortal Kombat game, who’s going to develop it, and who’s going to own the rights to it? It’s that kind of issue,” said Ed Boon. “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.” It was that close, when asked if it could ever come up again “Maybe, I still want to see it happen.”

You hear that noise? That’s the sound of thousands of MK and Street Fighter fans simultaneously banging their heads against the wall. Seriously, that’s a team-up that gamers have been wanting for over a decade now. So close, and yet so very far.

Via TheGameReviews [image via The Kombat Pavilion]

Midway has officially announced Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, and in order to save all they know, “the heroes and villains of Mortal Kombat must wage war against the combined might of the DC Universe. How can either side prevail when rage blinds them to the dark threat poised to destroy them all?” That was culled straight from the press release and it stated more than I ever could.

For the first time ever Scorpion, Sub Zero and the warriors from Mortal Kombat will face off against Batman, Superman and other DC Super Heroes, featuring signature attacks for both sides and a unique, intertwining storyline written as a collaboration between the Mortal Kombat creative team and comic scribes Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray .

MK vs. DCU is slated to ship for the PS3 and Xbox 360 in the Fall.

Hit the jump to read the quotes from the press release which like most, are full of gushing praise for all involved.

I wonder if we will ever get a press release that includes quotes from people who hated to work with one another? For example: “Bob was drunk all the time and kept playing grab-ass with all the female employees” or “John was such a tyrant that I wanted to spit in his tall quadruple half-caff ,light foam latte with soy milk every morning. God I hated that guy” or “Pete stunk so bad that even after I got home of the evening I could taste cabbage in the air - even in my apartment”.

Via: Press Release

Read the full article

I have to admit, when I first heard about the upcoming game, This Is Vegas, with it’s focus on just partying in Vegas, I was skeptical. The whole premise of doing virtual partying in a GTA-style world just sounded like it might be odd. Now I’m sure it is. I can’t decide what seems more ridiculous in this trailer: Saturday Night Fever dancing, beating up people for the way they dress, or curing drunkenness by taking a leak. No wait, it has to be the virtual wet T-shirt contest (and I really really wish I were just joking about that). Something tells me this will end up on the anti-video game lobbyists radar sooner or later.

Back in September Jonathan posted an interesting notion about the new Mortal Kombat vs DC Comics game being devoid of fatalities. Today, an ex-Midway employee has confirmed this little fact, which to be quite honest has dashed my hopes of Scorpion ripping his mask off and burning The Green Lantern to death. Supposedly, according to this former employee, the game features “no fatalities and little-to-no blood”.

Then what is the point? I suppose, if you were to allow the MK characters to perform a fatality move, then Batman should be able to do the same thing - but that would be cool. He could swing his cape around, which would of course have razor sharp edges, and have it cut Sonya in half - or Robin the Boy Wonder could bitch slap Raiden to death. Just think of all the cool things they could do! Wonder Woman could use her lasso of truth to hang Reptile from a tree, The Flash could go into super speedster mode and literally jump through Kano and Aquaman could call denizen’s from the deep to eat Sub-Zero alive. The possibilities are endless, and it would make the game one of the biggest sellers of all time.

Alas, this will not be the case apparently. Check back for updates and release information, as I am sure something will be announced soon.

Thanks: Kotaku

Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar is about to give monster play its very own healer, the Orc Defiler. Chapter 13: Doom of the Last-King will bring these fell servants to the conflict in the Ettenmores.

“All right, maggots! Mordírith’s grown tired of you whining wretches and sent us Defilers from the sulfur swamps and wastes of Angmar to plug your bleedin’ wounds and make those lily-loving Free People suffer! All your belly-achin’ and screamin’ finally yielded somethin’ other than my whip! Well, maggots, that make me angrier than ever — I’ll not spare the lash from any of you spineless curs for any longer!

“We’re at war here in the Ettenmoors and that means you fight and die for Angmar… When you bleed, they’ll see your wounds closed…if…you decide to whine and cower they’ll let me know and then you’ll feel the sting of my whip on your back shortly before they turn their talents to bringing about the greatest pain you have ever known…maggots!”

This creature is both healer of the wounded and torturer of the reluctant to enter into battle. The Defiler will be able to deal some rather nasty splash damage with its gourd as well as using natural slimes and fungi to heal the dark lord’s forces. The class also has the ability to call down curses on opponents. This new monster class is sure to radically change monster play, making for much more interesting PvMP.

via The Lord of the Rings Online 

Turbine has released a spotlight on the latest update for The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, Chapter 13: Doom of the Last King. Chapter 13 has a lot more than just fishing to offer players. There is a new region for high-level players called Forochel. There’s also something for monster play lovers; a new healer class the Orc Defiler. There are also improvements to the LFF/Social Panel that should make it even easier to find a group for those fellowship quests. New rules for “Frost” damage and mitigation will be added as well.

Aside from wholly new additions to the game., Chapter 13 also adds tweaks to Annúminas and avatar animation. Get more details on Chapter 13: Doom of the Last King on The Lord of the Rings Online.

Many Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar players are already looking forward to the upcoming Chapter 13 update. I know I am excited by the new zones I may one day see but one of the biggest reasons is that Turbine is finally introducing Hobbies in LotRO. The first hobby? Fishing.

Players can get trained in the art of fish and tackle from Hobby masters in one of these four areas:

• Bree-town (Scholar’s Stair Archives)
• Michel Delving (Bird and Baby Inn)
• Ered Luin (Thorin’s Halls)
• Rivendell (Hall of Fire)

Once you’ve got your pole, you can go fishing in any area you find water. After you get the hang of it and build some skill, you can add bait to your hook to attract the more illusive fish. Sell your catch, cook it in one of the new fish recipes or have it stuffed for mounting on your wall. I’m not a fan of fishing in real life, more the waiting and drinking beer part of that but surprisingly I’ve spent hours fishing in other games like Zelda and WoW. Maybe it’s the loot.. if only there were purple loot drops in real life I might find fishing more fun.

Get the full details on The Lord of the Rings Online.

With all the talk of Activision-Blizzard and EA’s attempts to acquire Take-Two, I had nearly forgotten about the perennial takeover target, SCi. According to The Guardian (via GamesIndustry.biz), takeover talks are likely continuing to take place as share prices rose 20.4% yesterday.

Back in January, rumor had it that Midway and SCi were talking about a merger. Despite a denial of interest in SCi back in October, Ubisoft may be one of several potential bidders for the company, alongside Infogrames and Time Warner. Time Warner purchased a 10% stake in the company a year ago, but SCi has seen major changes since then. In late February, 14 projects were cancelled as 25% of jobs were cut.

SCi is the parent company of Eidos, so Lara Croft and friends have a vested interest in seeing how this turns out.

Turbine has put out an article on the Developers Corner featuring Book 13: Doom of the Last-king content for Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar. This developer diary specifically covers the Forochel area and soloing in the new chapter.

Most of the new Epic quests will be soloable although players will still have to band together for a few of them. The Bay of Forochel is geared towards solo players from level 44 through 50.

Forochel is a highly contested area which contains a key element for both Angmar and the Free People of Middle-earth that dare oppose the Witch-king’s forces. The area introduces the Lossoth, which will be the first people that players will start out being viewed as “unfriendly” with. The developer also promises an alternative method of accruing reputation by taking on the new daily reputation quests. The developers had a lot of fun with this area and are offering what they hope are more than a few surprises.

We wanted our players to see and visit a number of important locations and people in Book 13, including the ancient Dwarf-mines, the ill-fated elf ship, and maybe even get a glimpse of an ancient spirit whose deeds remained unfulfilled. Hopefully the Book 13 epic will provide a few twists and turns that you won’t see coming!

via Lord of the Rings Online

Turbine has announced the new website for the first Lord of the Rings Online expansion, Mines of Moria is up for North America and Europe.

There are also new minigames including King Under the Mountain available for play as part of a new PR campaign for the expansion.

“The ‘Unlock the Mines of Moria’ campaign is part of an innovative launch strategy that offers players an interactive social gaming destination where they can individually and collectively delve into the first major expansion to The Lord of the Rings Online,” said Jim Crowley, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. “Whether you are new to the world of Middle-earth or a long time member of our community, we invite everyone to explore and share the wonders of Moria.”

The King Under the Mountain game is based of Tolkien’s description of the building of Khazad-Dûm; the Dwarven capital and testament to Dwarven ingenuity built in the depths of Moria. This “old Dwarven” tactical strategy mini-game features the winning combination of caverns, gems and fighting. Players who register at www.unlocktheminesofmoria.com can play solo or take on their friends. You don’t need to have a subscription to play.

Unfortunately, when I checked the site had this message posted:

Due to overwhelming response this website is temporarily down for maintenance.

Please check back soon for site updates and news about The Lord of the Rings Online™: Mines of Moria™”

via Press Release

Jeffery Steefel, Executive Producer for Tolkein’s World of Warcraft.. err. Lord of the Rings Online took some time from his busy producing to speak with Ten Ton Hammer’s Jeff Woleslagle about the upcoming Mines of Moria game expansion as well as some of the content that players should expect to see in Books 13 and 14 of the game.

Steefel discusses The Lord of the Rings timeline in relation to the game and how players can expect the game to develop over time, even with the expansion.  The game is moving across the Misty Mountains through the biggest dungeon crawl imaginable. It’ll be interesting to find out how they keep the content related to the world of the book without expanding too much into something that drags characters away from the focus on the growing darkness in Moria and the growth of Sauron’s forces. Along with Moria, Steefel mentions that the elven lands of Lorien will be appearing.

Book 13 adds a new region to the north of the current lands - including a big concentration on the arctic setting and new environmental effects like frost and exposure. Book 13 is expected to make a Spring release. While it seems odd to be exploring the north of Eriador while the Fellowship continues south Steefel mentions the decision was needed to give the Fellowship time in the game’s chronology to make their way forward into the 2nd volume of the series.

via Ten Ton Hammer

As Jonathan reported earlier, the new (free!) map pack for Unreal Tournament 3 is now available for download from the PlayStation Store. You’ll get Facing Worlds and two other maps I couldn’t care less about because Facing Worlds is the greatest thing ever, courtesy of Epic Games and Midway. That sure is awfully nice of them, and it makes me wonder if we’ll get to see a similar pack for free on Xbox 360 once the game gets moved over to Microsoft’s box.

Turok also is getting the downloadable content treatment today, although it’s not free. $4.99 will net you five new maps (although that statement might not hold true if you don’t view changes in time of day as constituting a “new” map).

$8.99 is the asking price of the new flOw bundle, which simply includes the full game and its expansion pack. Nothing new about the actually content, but if you want to take the plunge with flOw, this is the way to do it.

For the next two weeks (until April 15) you’ll find Warhawk on sale for just $29.99, $10 cheaper than it normally costs. You can use that saved money to buy some of the downloadable content that’s been released for the game since last August, or maybe you can just change paces and pick up that flOw bundle.

Videos, themes, Rock Band tracks, and an update to High Stakes: Poker Edition are also new on the Store. Hit the break for the full list of content. Read the full article

Midway and Epic Games have announced that three new maps are now available for download for Unreal Tournament III on the PS3 and PC. As icing on the cake, it turns out this new content is 100% free for both versions of the game (take that microtransactions). PC users can download the maps by clicking the link below, while PS3 users can find them on the Playstation Network. The three maps include Morbias, Facing Worlds, and Searchlight:

Morbias is the deathmatch arena that started it all, perfectly suited for anything from small intense duels to chaotic free-for-all matches.  The Unreal Tournament classic, Facing Worlds was one of the most played maps in gaming history.  This beloved sniper map makes its return alongside an intricate new capture the flag map, Searchlight, designed for both z-axis rooftop runs and strategic indoor gameplay.

Maybe this will convince more people to jump on this woefully underappreciated game.

Via Press Release

The latest landmark featured on the Lord of the Rings Online: Exploring Middle-earth series is Tâl Bruinen. It’s a wilderness region that lies south of Rivendell between Hollin and the Trollshaws. Other then a few fisherman and sturdy hunters, the region has been all but abandoned.

Once this land was the northern part of Eregion, the Elf-realm where the Rings of Power were forged. Now bands of Orcs from Mordor to the south and Mount Gundabad and Angmar to the north roam to area. Worms have taken up residents in the heights.

For more details on Tâl Bruinen, check out the LotRO Lorebook.

Midway has announced that Matthew Booty has been named as interim Chief Executive Officer and president while the company seeks to fill the position permanently.

“Dynamic new leadership is needed to bring Midway to its full potential,” said Shari Redstone, Chair of the Board. “I believe that Midway has the resources and creative capability to once again be competitive with the best in the videogame business. The Board is confident that a new CEO will be selected who can fully utilize the opportunities presented by this next-generation console cycle to renew Midway’s position as a major player in the videogame industry.”

Matt Booty is stepping in for outgoing CEO David F. Zucker. Booty has served Midway in ever more vital capacity since 1991; most recently as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Studios. There is no word at this time who will be stepping in for Booty or whether he is under consideration to fill the position of CEO permanently.

via Business Wire