This is it. It’s the big one! Right before the New Year, we posted our awards for the best of gaming in 2011. But there was one all important award that we needed some extra time to deliberate on… The Game of the Year.
In this episode, JC and WallE forgo the usual format of the Bitcast and engage in a conversation where they, along with some input from Flickcasters Matt Raub and Cortney Zamm, decide on what game earns the coveted title of Game of the Year.
And The Nominees Are:
While we were away at Comic-Con last week, a few interesting things seemed to happen. Not only did we get word that Frank Darabont would be leaving Walking Dead, but in gaming news, it looks like Freddy Krueger will be returning to the consoles for the first time since the mid 1980s as the final DLC character for Mortal Kombat.
The news comes as bit of a surprise at first, because not many people think of the Nightmare on Elm Street killer when they think about fun playable fighting characters, but then it makes some sense when you realize that this is Warner Bros’ way of cross pollinating between brands.
The character will be available in a few weeks, and will be fully loaded with tons of claw-slashing and hellfire-based moves and combos. Note that this is also the most recent version of Freddy, and not the original Robert Englund version of the character we’ve loved for decades.
It is a shame that this is the alleged “final” DLC character for the game, as Warner has some pretty cool other franchises that they could dip into, as long as they stay away from any of the territory that was covered in Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe.
Who wouldn’t want to see Scorpion take on Voldemort or watch Sub Zero get pummeled by Zach Galifiniakis from The Hangover or even watch Sherlock Holmes slap the hell out of Shang Tsung? Let’s hope that the DLC does well enough for WB to look into a few more options down the road.
In the meantime, check out the full DLC trailer after the jump.
We’ve got too much stuff to do to be everywhere so as we did for Ubisoft and Microsoft, we also skipped the Sony press conference as well. Heck, we just wanted them to apologize for all the PSN problems lately and tell us a solution had been found to actually secure their network.
As we knew that probably wasn’t going to happen it didn’t seem like a press event we absolutely had to attend. Not when we could do the same as before and rely on our friends at Geek Week for some help. Although, we did already bring you the news of the new Sony Vita.
Here’s the rest of the highlights from the Sony press conference last night:
• Sony previews MORTAL KOMBAT, UNCHARTED 3, and RACHET & CLANK: ALL 4 ONE in 3D
• Gameplay of UNCHARTED 3 is demoed, and a 3D trailer is shown
• RESISTANCE 3 is demoed in 3D; on September 6, Sony will offer a $150 sharpshooter bundle for RESISTANCE 3, which includes the game, a gun, and a Move kit
• GOD OF WAR: ORIGINS COLLECTIONS announced, with 3D support
• Sony is developing a special 24″ television with two-player splitscreen technology that will allow players wearing special glasses to play two-player games on one screen
• Kobe Bryant does a Move demo of NBA 2K12; the game is due out October 4
Video game fans are probably one of the hardest groups to please. Last year, when the Mortal Kombat Rebirth trailer came out, fans where out of their skin and wanting more from director/creator Kevin Tancharoen and his crazy adaptation of the classic gaming universe.
Now that Warner Bros and Machinima have brought that world to the internet in a weekly webseries titled Mortal Kombat: Legacy, that initial group of fans has been split. One side loves everything Tancharoen is doing with the universe, in rebooting each of the characters and their origins. The other, however, is more than outraged at how Tancharoen is “bastardizing their childhoods” with his changes.
In the latest episode, we get a preface explaining the world. Let’s see if this makes a difference to the haters. Here’s the synopsis.
The following episode represents director Kevin Tancharoen’s “different take on the Mortal Kombat universe,” combining the perfect amount of gritty realism mixed with a hint of mysticism… When Lord Raiden, God of Thunder and protector of Earth, finds himself in an earthly mental institution in the year 2011, his ‘delusions’ are treated with some rather primitive forms of therapy (involving an ECT machine and an ice pick).
Nonetheless, Blue, his beautiful, fragile yet insane fellow inmate, is Raiden’s only hope of escaping the mental hospital and making his way to the Mortal Kombat tournament to defend Earthrealm from Shao Khan.
Things definitely get dark in this episode. Check it out after the jump.
Machinima’s Mortal Kombat: Legacy, the live action web series rebooting the epic fighting game and it’s universe, has really taken off. Each week, we’re getting more of our favorite characters broken down and retold in new and innovative ways.
Yesterday marked the brand new, fourth episode, and it’s an epic two-parter about the deadly twinsKitana and Mileena. Here’s the synopsis.
Beautiful, athletic, and trained as highly skilled assassins, Kitana and Mileena have grown up thinking that they are sisters. Shao Kahn, Emperor of the Outworld, has tricked Shang Tsung into becoming his servant for Mortal Kombat by making him clone Mileena as a Tarkatan clone of Kitana, out of Shao Kahn’s fear that Kitana wouldn’t love him enough if she ever found out the truth about her Mother and Father.
This may be the first episode where the budget was a bit obvious, as half of the story is told using a classic “storybook” style with animated imagery and a God of War-style voiceover.
Take a look at the new episode after the jump, and try not to get too angry at the cliffhanger, we only have to wait six days for the next episode.
Machinima has been blowing up over the past 3 weeks with their new original series with Warner Premiere, Mortal Kombat: Legacy. The first two episodes features an utra-real storyline with Michael Jai White as Jax and Jeri Ryan as Sonya Blade. Now we’re moving onto another universe favorite, with Johnny Cage.
Right off the bat, this episode takes a different turn than the previous two, as Cage’s background is a Hollywood action star, the episode starts off as with an Insider feel, delving into the life of Johnny Cage. Here’s the official synopsis.
After unsuccessfully trying to sell his reality television pilot pitch to a studio exec, Johnny Cage, an American action-hero movie star who has fallen on hard times, is recruited by Shang Tsung, a powerful sorcerer who has the power to suck souls from people, to fight in the upcoming Mortal Kombat tournament.
Not as much star power as the previous two episodes, as Matt Mullins is returning from the original Rebirth short to reprise his role as Johnny Cage. There are a few nice potshots at Steven Seagal’s Lawman, so it’s definitely worth a watch.
Check out the episode after the jump, and stick around till the end to catch links to the previous two, if you haven’t already seen them.
This week marked one of the biggest decision making events in recent geek history, as both NetherRealm’s Mortal Kombat reboot and Valve’s sequel to the hit game Portal both hit gaming stores on the same day!
Needless to say, this made quite a quandary for most gamers that couldn’t afford $120 for both games. Both have an intense single player and online multiplayer aspect, so there’s the possibility of missing out on what your friends are playing either way.
What is one to do? Buy Mortal Kombat and listen to all of his friends gush about GLADOS and all of her issues in Portal 2? Or pick up the latter and miss out on bone-crunching action and braggability rights when whupping your online pals in a deathmatch?
Well, rather than solve the problem, the guys over at The Game Station offered a third alternative…Portal Kombat!
Check out what we’re talking about after the jump, and pick up either Portal 2 or Mortal Kombat (or both!) in stores today.
For those of you who missed it, Machinima launched the first episode of Warner Premiere’s brand new web series dedicated to the world of Mortal Kombat last week, titled Mortal Kombat: Legacy.
With just over 5 million views in under a week, the show was a massive success. Director Kevin Tanchoroen’s new view of the classic video game universe has come at the perfect time, as the game has gotten new life this week with a brand new release on both XBox 360 and PlayStation 3.
In the first episode, we were introduced to Jax (Michael Jai White), Sonya Blade (Jeri Ryan) and Stryker (Battlestar Galactica’s Tahmoh Penikett) as they attempt a take-down of terrorist Kano (Darren Shahlavi).
Take a look at episode 2 after the jump, and keep your eye out every week as the web series progresses.
We’ve been following developments on the new, upcoming digital series Mortal Kombat: Legacy for some time now. First, when it was just a really cool short film and later when it was given the green light and turned into a full blow series.
Now, we’re glad to bring you the official word that the new series has a premiere date and where you’ll be able to watch it. According to a press release, the show will premiere on April 12th and be exclusively on the website Machinima.com, one of YouTube’s largest entertainment networks.
The series is directed by Kevin Tancharoen and stars Jeri Ryan as “Sonya Blade,” Michael Jai White as “Major Jackson ‘Jax’ Briggs” and Darren Shahlavi as “Kano,” and will “take gamers deep into the history of the warriors they know and love.”
“With over 500 million monthly video views and 50 million monthly viewers, Machinima has the world’s most highly-engaged gaming audience, which makes this agreement with Warner Bros. such a great fit,” said Allen DeBevoise, Chairman and CEO of Machinima, Inc. “Mortal Kombat is an epic franchise with a rich story and characters, we’re truly excited to bring ‘Mortal Kombat: Legacy’ to our community.
With our global scale and reach, we can now drive greater engagement and viewership than anyone for entertainment properties that fit our young, male-centric demo. Kevin’s new incarnation of the Mortal Kombat franchise is precisely the type of world-class, high-octane action content that our audience will love.”
Sounds cool. We’ll be there on April 12th. In the meantime, check out a preview scene for the series after the break.
Welcome to another edition of On the Radar where we delve into all corners of the entertainment, tech and geek Internets for news, views and whatnot that may have escaped our regular coverage during the week. Let is know if we missed something interesting.
Let’s get started!
• The first reboot of the Spider-Man franchise hasn’t even gotten a trailer yet, but James Vanderbelt is already locked in to write a sequel for Sony.
• We love the original series The Wire, but one question we never asked was “What if it was Written as a Classic Novel?”
• Turns out millennials aren’t the only reason for the degradation of the English language, as both LOL and OMG seem to have a pretty deep history.
• If last night’s episode of Community wasn’t enough Pulp Fiction for you, how about these original Pulp Fiction action figures?
• In more casting news for Superman: Man of Steel, star of Boardwalk Empire Michael Shannon is in talks to play the film’s villain.
• Just after Netflix’s deal with Showtime’s original series went sour, Starz has issued a 90-day delay for new original programming to hit the instant servers.
A few weeks back, we announced that Warner Bros. independent production company, Warner Premiere, was taking Kevin Tancharoen’s Mortal Kombat: Rebirth fan short and extending it into a full web series.
Now, as production continues, 3 players from the original short have been cast in the new series. So fans of Jeri Ryan as Sonya Blade, Michael Jai White as Jax, and now Darren Shahlavi as Kano now have plenty to get excited about. Here’s the official press release.
Warner Premiere today announced initial casting for their upcoming live-action digital new media series “Mortal Kombat” which is based on the iconic gaming franchise. Jeri Ryan, (“Star Trek: Voyager”) will reprise her role as the headstrong “Lieutenant Sonya Blade” from the unofficial fan short. She is joined by Michael Jai White (“The Dark Knight”) as “Major Jackson ‘Jax’ Briggs” and Darren Shahlavi (“300”) as the sly and cunning “Kano.”
Kevin Tancharoen who directed and produced the popular, unofficial “Mortal Kombat: Rebirth” fan short that garnered over 10 million views worldwide, is bringing the same immersive directing style to this live-action digital new media series. Fans will be able to delve deep into the history of the warriors they know and love including “Sub-Zero” and “Scorpion.” Shooting for “Mortal Kombat” is currently underway in Vancouver.
The web series is expected to premiere later this Spring.
Back in June, we brought you the very interesting web video that was circulating to just about everyone in the video game and film world. The film was titled Mortal Kombat: Rebirth, and had no legal ties to the Acclaim game, but re-envisioned the classic characters in a modern, crime-ridden world.
The short came from video game diehard Kevin Tancharoen, the director behind 2009′s remake of the classic musical Fame (talk about a leap, eh?). The internets were all abuzz after the video was released, with the most outrageous being that this was actually a trailer for the upcoming Mortal Kombat film, and they had secretly been shooting the thing for months.
Sadly, that wasn’t the case. Yes, Warner Bros. is working on a film reboot of the franchise with Oren Uziel writing a script, but this isn’t it. It looks like the studio is passing on Tancharoen’s vision of the film, and instead he’s taking his idea to the web in the form of a 10-episode web series.
Not much is known about production or distribution, but the webseries is set to begin filming next month in Vancouver. So fear not, MK fans, you’ll still get your gritty, crime-drama world (and possibly Michael Jai White), just not on the big screen.
For those who missed the short film back in June when it hit, you can check it out after the jump.
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