Celebrating Ten Years of The Realm of Mortal Kombat

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Jeff Greeson

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Ten years ago, on <b>December 5th, 1996</b>, the <a href="http://www.trmk.org/news/1/annihilation_starts_footage.html">first news post</a> on <b>"The Realm of Mortal Kombat"</b> was made. Honestly, when I started this website, I had no intentions to have this project stick around for so long. Who knew that <b>Mortal Kombat</b> would still be around and still be relevant 10 years after <b>Mortal Kombat 3</b>? Looking back through all of our <a href="http://www.trmk.org/oldnews/">news archives</a>, I wonder to myself, did we actually write all of this? Did we really cover all of these games?

<a href="http://www.trmk.org/images/news/mk_hotweird_com.jpg"><img src="http://www.trmk.org/images/news/mk_hotweird_com_sm.jpg" width="140" height="114" class="newslink" hspace="4" vspace="4" align="right"></a>Listing through all of the games makes these <b>ten years</b> of <b>TRMK</b> really special. Officially, <b>TRMK</b> started in-depth coverage with <a href="http://www.trmk.org/games/mk4/">Mortal Kombat 4</a>. Then followed <a href="http://www.trmk.org/games/mkgold/">Mortal Kombat Gold</a> for the <b>Sega Dreamcast</b>. We then got in the middle of <a href="http://www.trmk.org/oldnews/1999/8/">the great split</a> of the co-creators of <b>Mortal Kombat</b>, with the departure of <b>John Tobias</b> and several veteran designers. Out came the abysmal <a href="http://www.trmk.org/games/mksf/">Mortal Kombat: Special Forces</a>, which tested the resolve of any die hard <b>Mortal Kombat</b> fan.

The <b>MK Team</b> took a break from fighting games and took their talents back to the arcade with the campy linked-cabinet multiplayer third-person shooter, <a href="http://www.trmk.org/games/thegrid/">The Grid</a>. While the <b>Ed Boon</b> led team was hard at work on <b>The Grid</b>, <b>John Tobias</b> was hard at work building his own games studio, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studio_Gigante">Studio Gigante</a>, developing a fighting game of his own for <b>Microsoft Game Studios</b> and <b>Xbox</b>, <a href="http://www.trmk.org/games/taofeng/">Tao Feng: Fist of the Lotus</a>.

After one of the longest hiatuses in new fighting game releases, <b>Mortal Kombat</b> returned, this time directly to home consoles, with <a href="http://www.trmk.org/games/mkda/">Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance</a>. With <b>Deadly Alliance</b>, <b>Mortal Kombat</b> experienced a rebirth in many ways, including fighting styles and art direction. This momentum was capitalized on with the stellar releases of <a href="http://www.trmk.org/games/mkd">Mortal Kombat: Deception</a> and an action adventure title that exceeded the expectations of the <b>Mortal Kombat</b> franchise, <a href="http://www.trmk.org/games/mortal_kombat_shaolin_monks/">Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks</a>.

<a href="http://www.trmk.org/images/news/mk_hotweird_com2.jpg"><img src="http://www.trmk.org/images/news/mk_hotweird_com2_sm.jpg" width="140" height="114" class="newslink" hspace="4" vspace="4" align="left"></a>Finally, the end of the current <b>Mortal Kombat</b> mythos was signaled with the release of <a href="http://www.trmk.org/games/mortal_kombat_armageddon/">Mortal Kombat: Armageddon</a>. And what a fitting way it is to end our first ten years of <b>Mortal Kombat</b> coverage. The death of a storyline we've followed for a decade brings us great satisfaction that we've been around - and in many instances been behind the scenes - the culmination of one of the greatest video game franchises and mythologies ever created.

During this time we've been able to cover the <b>Electronic Entertainment Expo</b> in <a href="http://www.trmk.org/features/e3/1998/">1998</a>, <a href="http://www.trmk.org/features/e3/1999/">1999</a>, <a href="http://www.trmk.org/features/e3/2000/">2000</a>, <a href="http://www.trmk.org/features/e3/2001/">2001</a>, <a href="http://www.trmk.org/features/e3/2002/">2002</a>, <a href="http://www.trmk.org/features/e3/2004/">2004</a>, <a href="http://www.trmk.org/features/e3/2005/">2005</a>, and the last one <a href="http://www.trmk.org/features/e3/2006/">2006</a>. We've also have created numerous <b>strategy guides</b> and <b>special features</b>, including <b>game reviews</b> and <b>exclusive interviews</b>.

It's all pretty cool when you look back at all of the history <b>TRMK</b> has been apart of and we have many people to thank for allowing us to still remain after ten years, most notably <b>Ed Boon</b> and <b>John Vogel</b> especially for being there for us throughout the years. Thanks to <b>Frank Chan</b>, <b>Derek Fridman</b>, <b>John Overlie</b>, <b>Nick Bennett</b> and <b>Matt Vargyas</b> for their contributions to <b>TRMK</b>. Thanks to the <a href="http://forums.realmmedia.com">Realm Media Networks Forums</a> members and the hard working moderators. And special thanks to <b>Joe Fielder</b> for all of his help in our early years and for my brief stint as a <b>Contributing Editor</b> at <a href="http://www.gamespot.com">GameSpot</a>.

<a href="http://www.trmk.org/images/news/trmk_org.jpg"><img src="http://www.trmk.org/images/news/trmk_org_sm.jpg" width="140" height="114" class="newslink" hspace="4" vspace="4" align="right"></a>And of course, we have you, our readers, to thank for coming to our website over all of these years. If we didn't have an audience, then we would not have stuck with this project for so long. We are constantly reminded on the shear number of fans we have helped out throughout the years and hope that we can continue to provide this service to all of you in the future. Thank you for everything you have allowed us to experience, including numerous features and mentions in print magazines, and to be your voice to the <b>Mortal Kombat</b> team. We are always striving to be even better and we continue to make changes that will bring our readers unparalleled coverage and information on all things <b>Mortal Kombat</b>. We hope to continue this tradition for many years to come and look forward to what <b>The Mortal Kombat Team</b> has in store for us in the next-generation of consoles. We thank you for being along for the ride.

Sincerely,
<b>Jeff Greeson</b>, <b>Patrick McCarron</b>, and <b>Jonathan Wilcox</b>
The <a href="http://www.realmmedia.com">Realm Media Networks</a> Staff.
 
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A lovely 10 it was! Hope you guys are here for another 10! Oh yes, don't you Mean Shaolym Munks in the article instead of Special Forces? Also, don't know if it's just me, but two of the links don't work: the ones for Deception and I guess SM.
 
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A lovely 10 it was! Hope you guys are here for another 10! Oh yes, don't you Mean Shaolym Munks in the article instead of Special Forces? Also, don't know if it's just me, but two of the links don't work: the ones for Deception and I guess SM.

grr I do that all the time. Thanks.
 
Awesome. Too bad I wasn't around for the whole ten years. But it's a great milestone and hears to many more to come!
 
Congrats Jeff and the rest of trmk contributors (I know theres a bunch of you guys). Site has always been premier and the goto site for any and all mortal kombat news. I don't know how you were able to keep up with the site maintenance through out the years as I know it takes a ton of work as well as dedication. Shows what true commitment you have to the game itself and everything that happens behind it.

We as fans and viewers of your site thank you for your time and willingness to keep up with a now seemingly ageless game :)

Electrici (Michael)
 
10 years is amazing, you guys are great. Been here only a couple myself, but I know that TRMK has always been the number one place for MK.
 
Congratulations on your 10 years, and thanks for a great website! It's helped me waste loads of time at work! :mrgreen:

Cheers - G.
 
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