Earlier before, I had written about how the latest installment in the Mortal Kombat series shouldn't even be considered part of the series. However, I'm well aware that my blog isn't going to talk Midway into the suddenly stopping the production of the game. None of us are going to be able to do that. It's time that we start facing the fact that Mortal Kombat vs. DC Comics is coming and thinking of ways to ensure that it doesn't fail. If this game fails, then the series fails. This is an extremely important year for the MK series.
The MK fanbase has had enough of lackluster game after lackluster game. Many fans, most notably MortalKombatOnline.com users, have sworn that if the next game sucks, they're going to write the series off as dead. Midway can't afford to lose its hardcore MK fans simply because the series isn't as mainstream as it was back in the day. Very few members of the gaming community consider the series worth a try any longer, and chasing these fans away would end it. Sure, future games would still sell, but how many copies would be sold? Would it be enough copies to turn a decent profit and convince Midway bigwigs that continuing the series would be a good business move? Highly unlikely.
Midway hasn’t felt pressured by the market to produce a quality product in quite a few years now. The fighting genre has dwindled over the years with very few releases, and the popularity has dropped even harder. Midway has released three different titles with little to no opposition: Deadly Alliance, Deception, and Armageddon. Many fans felt that these titles were outright awful with some fans praising the new generation of MK games in contrast. Either way, Midway knew that nobody else was on the block to steal their sales. Midway was well aware that if the fighting fans wanted a nextgen fighter title, then they would look toward the Mortal Kombat series.
However, this is no longer the case. Possibly the most influential fighting title in the history of the genre will be releasing its newest installment in the months to come: Street Fighter 4. Midway’s enemy from the 90s has returned with plenty of potential to ram them directly into an early grave if this new Mortal Kombat title is anything less than amazing. Hopefully Midway is aware of this and takes heed before they get completely demolished in the market.
Fans are tired of poor quality in Mortal Kombat games, and competition encourages quality. Quality encourages sales, and sales encourage a market – or genre – to grow. Who wins in this epic battle that many thought was over years ago? The fans win due to offers of quality games for fair prices.
However, as I said earlier, Midway’s arrogance can ruin this theory entirely. I can only hope that the execs at Midway actually think this through and ensure that they’re producing at least a competitive product that can stand up to competition. If not, then I fear that we can say goodbye to Mortal Kombat come this fall.
I want nothing more than to see this series turn around and become the gem that many fans of the series’ early days can remember. But I, like the readers of this article, must admit that things are not looking good for our favorite series. It is close to death, and we could be reading its eulogy in just a few months. Let us hope that this doesn’t happen and that Ed Boon can rescue his dying creation.
-Debaser
A Static Blog?
Most people who read my material quickly realize that I talk a load about Mortal Kombat mainly because it's been my favorite game series for well over a decade, and I have plenty to talk about.
I've considered creating a static blog that will be updated every monday titled - to no surprise of fans - Mortal Monday. Any comments or suggestions would be great.
MK Crossover
In my first blog I completely trashed the idea of Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe. However, digitaldebaser is right. We're not going to stop it from being made, so let's make sure they make good use of what they have to work with.
See my blog for a more elaborate explanation.
http://www.myspace.com/retrogamezone
The last good
The last good MK game was Mortal Kombat 4. Unless they can pull a Mortal Kombat 5 outa their ass and bring back the arcade style play, they're boned. Lately it's been "You either do this combo over and over again or you die".
I love mortal kombat... God
I love mortal kombat...
God i hope they can turn things around...
As much as I would like this game to be good...
I just can't escape the doubt of being betrayed again...
I'm sorry but the whole idea feels like two ill-fitting cogs instead of what the fans really wanted...
....a fresh start...without the needless clutter or gimmicks...
I know, right?
That's what the entire point of Armageddon was supposed to be - a fresh start. I guess Midway lied to us and started counting the dollars again.
I wrote about this in my
I wrote about this in my rant on Mortal Kombat Vs. DC.
http://www.screwattack.com/node/1748
I agree with what you are saying, and I think that if this game should have ever been released it should have been 10 years ago when Mortal Kombat was at the height of it's popularity. Honestly, the last good MK game I played was MK3, and that would have been the time.
Let's Brawl!
You know....
I didn't read the blog...not because it isn't interesting, I'm just trying to do homework.
I did read the title. All I can say is I am a MK freak.
But the series is dead to me. Has been for a while. I tried to like the last gen games, I own them all. But it just is so...normal. Bad controls, average graphics, bad game play, and the fatalities are played out.
To me, the pinnacle of Mortal Kombat was Trilogy. Since then, it's been a slippery downhill slope.
Turning their back on what works
No fatalities is just an insult to MK. I get they don't want people's favorite heroes becoming incredibly brutal anti-heroes but this is freaking Mortal Kombat guys. Fatalities is why MK even became famous so why turn your back on what works and what got you here in the first place geez.
I love mortal kombat but i
I love mortal kombat but i think im gonna check out the mortal kombat vs dc
I think it would be cooler if it was
mortal kombat vs marvel
One phrase....2-D
they should make it like the super smash bros., a 3-D environment on a 2-D plane like the originals
The death of Mortal Kombat
The death of Mortal Kombat was near in 1998. When was the last time you heard your friends talking about a MK game ? With all the more fluid Japanese fighting games( Soul Calibur, DOA, Virtua Fighter, Tekken, etc. ) released since MK went 3D, it shouldn't even be a question, the series is beyond stale.
Why does this sound
Why does this sound familiar? Haven't I heard about this about Sonic?
MK need changes
i love Mortal kombat but i stoped likeing the game since part 4. i also love street fighter and most of their games are in 2D and they are a success. i do not understand why wont mortal kombat go back to 2D or at least be similar to street fighter 4.
Im a good person but play bloody and violent games and mk vs dc is going teen what is going on with that? i think they are going to lose what ever fan base they have left.
but im hoping for the best because i do not want to see Mortal Kombat die even if the games sucked after mk 4.
Yes, The End Was Near. In 1996.
Sorry, but I feel the points raised in your blog entry were redundant before the turn of the century. Its well known Mortal Kombat sucks the boabby, and has done since crap like Mythologies and Trilogy were released. Enough said about Mortal Kombat.
MortalKombatOnline.com would
MortalKombatOnline.com would love to show you just how wrong you are. There are still diehard fans that frequent the site in huge numbers(possibly bigger than Screwattack) daily. However, they're ready to give up and leave if this newest installment sucks.
I agree
I think your pretty much right for the most part, personally I never gave the series much respect, using digitized sprites and having terrible fighting controls made for a totally shitty game in the first place, the only thing that ever saved the game in the beginning was its violence. In my opinion the games have all ways been crap, capcom all ready won with street fighter 2 back when that came out. And street fighter 4 will rape whatever fighting game comes out in the foreseeable future, it will be an impossible standard to live up to
JESUS, I LOVE MK2!!!
I gotta say I myself have no idea as to how a good MK game would be made in this generation. Kill off a bunch of useless characters and maybe do a bit of revamping on the gameplay with vomit-up your-stomach-and-other-organs fatalities with stylistic GFX. I dunno. All I know is that I can beat my friend every time on MK2. JESUS I LOVE MK2!!!
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-Monsteroids XBL: M3KAMonsteroids.
MK vs. SF
A lot of people are not so sure how SF IV will turn out either, however. Have you seen Rufus? It seems a lot of people despise him. The game itself seems to be a rehash of II, with 3-D models and whatnot. Some elements of III, such as parrying, have also been removed, which some hardcore fans (and me personally) are not glad to see gone. I guess this can steer the argument back to fighting games not being as prolific as before.
You are right about MK vs. DC to not be considered part of the series. IS Marvel vs. Capcom considered part of the Street Fighter series? Nope. It seems though Midway is treating MK vs. DC as Mortal Kombat 8, instead of an aside game like Shaolin Monks (which in itself is debatable as to whether its storyline can be considered canon).
If MK vs. DC is to be part of the actual series, then some kind weird, no doubt convoluted story will come out to explain how these universes collided. This will probably end up retconning much old storyline, most specifically Armageddon, if they continue from there (we don't know what happened with that anyway).
So, yep, you are right, Midway has a LOT of work to do, or they will screw up. Bad.
Already six feet under
MK died for the competitive fighting game player after Ultimate MK3. Since MK4, they have been increasingly broken and dumbed down. The current gen MK games are not about quality gameplay at all, but about making the game as gorey as possible. For some reason there is this hype around MK that I just don't understand - the company making these games don't care about quality, but people keep buying them. MK needs to die in a fire.