Mortal Kombat 11 General Discussion Media Thread

While I would prefer Scorpion sit out of a cover, I think some ya'll need to relax with this "overwatch esports" nonsense narrative, having a brighter logo don't mean there trying to pretty up to nobody, hell I prefer it over the dark abstract bleakness we got for X's main cover.
 
The difference here is that Sweet Tooth was always on the cover. Both Sweet Tooth and his vehicle, represent the theme in the game. It is "TWISTED". What is supposed to be an innocent ice cream machine and a happy clown, is actually a killing machine with psychopath behind it's wheel.

Mortal Kombat on other hand, started as Mortal Kombat. It wasn't about Scorpion. It was the Dragon. The tournament itself. That's why people feel that Scorpion is being forced down their throat. Up until Armageddon, the cover art of Mortal Kombat games was always the dragon symbol, show in different frames. (Except MK4 one as it had Goro, Tanya and Raiden. But even then it showed multiple characters, representing the idea of a Tournament between MULTIPLE characters) and logo was still in the center of attention.

Now with Midway being reborn as Netherrealm, marketing boys offered them to have a mascot. Ed Boon's favorite character is Scorpion. Simple. I myself create logos for other people, so I usually know how marketing guys think. They most likely believed that Dragon symbol as a mascot was too weak, and they needed an actual face.

In MK9 they picked two most popular iconic characters, and placed a logo behind them. Trust me if Raiden was more popular than Sub Zero and Scorpion, they would have picked him. But also I believe they picked them for aesthetic reasons too and it was a good representation of rivalry, two opposing forces.

So once MK9 shipped they checked for feedback, did some analysis, and decided to make Scorpion as the primary face of the MK for MKX. Ed Boon's opinion could have easily influenced the decision as well (after all he is the face of MK then it comes to communications). Sub Zero became a secondary option. Hence why he only appeared on MKXL Cover. While Scorpion is the primary cover art and is even the face of Kombat Pack. Even from design point of view, you can see the difference in how much effort is put into Scorpion's Art and Sub Zero's one. Scorpion is given a variety of cinematic poses. Front, side view of battle ready Scorpion and the Scorpion with his chain spear at the ready. Sub Zero is just put there standing in neutral pose, looking straight forward.

Now with email being pretty much proven real (mostly). It is unfortunate to see them treating MK Logo as a second thought. Judging by the content of the email and previous versions of Cover Art, I can tell that it was a pretty valid option of not even having an MK Logo included. Even the previous version with the logo, had Dragon being very transparent and hard to see due flashing effects. And while I am glad, they decided to not only keep it, but make it brighter, I already see them walking down the dangerous path.

Dragon logo is the foundation of Mortal Kombat games. It is far bigger than any character of MK. Dragon is the Mortal Kombat. It represents the idea of a tournament where fighters engage in a deadly Mortal Kombat. The problem with MKX and now MK11 cover art is that it gives a wrong impression. Pulling Solo Scorpion on the cover art for the second time, sells him as a main character of the series, even though he is a side character, then it comes to a story mode.
Making Dragon Logo less visible and hiding it behind the character, leads to a risky path of forgetting the very foundations. Scorpion was never the foundation of MK. He was PART of it. Hence saying that the only reason why MK3 had a tough time was because Scorpion was missing, has no clue what the he/she is talking about. A lot of original cast was missing. It was a prime example of what happens when you cut out the foundation. A lot of franchises and companies made the same mistake of neglecting the very core of what made them who they are today and paid the price of being shut down or forgotten. You can't cut down the base of the tree and then put the sapling beneath the trunk. Trunk is just gonna die without its roots and sapling will get crushed by sheer weight of the tree.

One has to move forward, yes. But to move forward, means you have to respect the base platform on which you have grown. If you want to grow, you have to make sure the base grows with you, you upgrade it, make it better so it matches the current time and that way it allows you to expand. If you neglect it, it will sooner or later give out and you will fall to your death.

This is just my assumptions and opinion as a designer.

I couldn't have said this any better.
Thank you.
 
I think if they were truly downplaying//cutting the logo down, they wouldn't have used it for the opener of the VGA announcement, I think they still understand the hype the dragon logo brings.
 
I think if they were truly downplaying//cutting the logo down, they wouldn't have used it for the opener of the VGA announcement, I think they still understand the hype the dragon logo brings.

So, then, why do they (the NRS marketing team) feel the need to shove Scorpion down our throats at every chance they get on a box cover?
By that logic, the dragon logo should be enough to sell the game without having to force Scorpion in there, no?

Misucra said:
Now MKX cover art? What's that? Only Scorpion and black background with basic Text and Logo. Hmmm. Scorpion must be playing a pretty importa... aaand Cassie Cage is the main protaganist and the game is about passing the torch to new generation. Yes. That Cover Art definitely reflects that...
Couldn't give "Thanks," but agreed, again.
Regardless of whether there was a technical "Tournament" in MKX, there was still Kombat between Mortals and immortals that took place, in hopes to either conquer or save EarthRealm (depending on which side you look at it from. So, I'd still argue that the theme of combatants fighting to save their realm (since MK1) is still very much in effect and that the dragon logo is a much better representation, in that regard.
 
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Because they know Scorpion is popular and the face of the franchise is as easily recognizable by the casual as the Dragon Logo, pretty obvious there.
 
So, then, you agree that they are downplaying the dragon logo on the cover, in favor of Scorpion?
It's hidden behind him, barely popping out.
 
I agree that there is definite Scorpion push (you know like every other fighting game that has a poster boy), but I do not think they are sacrificing the Dragon logo to the degree that they are "sacrificing the integrity" of the franchise, they know that casuals know both the Dragon logo and Scorpions ugly mug.
 
Welp, I'm starting to lean more towards the digital version, then, so that I don't have to see this overrated turd when the game drops.
To me, it DEFINITELY does feel like they are sacrificing the integrity of the franchise by replacing Scorpion in favor of the dragon logo.
It's been 3 games now with Scorpion being on the cover, since MK9, and (IMO) it's just getting really old and played out with the same shit on the cover, game after game after game.
 
To me that's a super melodramatic position but you do you dude.

I care for the cover, as I usually like to have physical collectible versions of the game on my shelf, as I've done before with MK1 thru X.
MK11 was the straw that broke the camel's back, as far as that goes.
Don't care if anyone thinks it's ridiculous or "melodramatic."
People collect sports memorabilia and I like to have MK stuff.
MK is 1 of the few IPs that I like to collect things for, aside from Back To The Future and DeLoreans (in general).

As for Takeda, Jacqui, Jin and Cassie, I hope that they all return.
Hopefully Sonya and Jax can sit out a game, especially Jax, since he was just fodder for Jacqui being in, because the 1 rule of life that NRS hasn't broken yet is that dead people / beings can't procreate.
Mileena can also be out for a game.
Hopefully they swapped her out for another dead character or saved that roster slot for a character that hasn't been in yet.
 
I got news for you, Sonya is probably in the game, so now my hope is that Cassie isn't in with her.

I also hope that one leak is fake... Jacqui back, and Bo Rai Cho and Li Mei in the main roster... Ugh!

I'm happy to see that the event will be 7 hours long, and that Kittelsen is helping with the story! Awesome news!

I've also got news for you, Cassie likely isn't going anywhere since she was 1 of the top characters that people loved to play as, according to the character usage list. (Always in the Top 7 of played characters)

Jacqui, Bo Rai Cho and Li Mei on the main roster would be awesome, imo, so I'm down for that, especially if they add a few others like Fujin, Reiko, Havik, Hotaru and Sareena.

As for Kittelsen being part of the writing team, I agree with you 100% there, and hopefully we'll get a much better MK story than what we got for MK9 and MKX.
 
To each their own, then, but after what they did with Kenshi and Tanya in MK9 and MKX I'm willing to see what NRS can do to revamp some of these other characters, as well. I'd like to think that they can do a good job in bringing some of those back.


As for the logo being discussed earlier, yeah, I think that this is much better than just Scorpion on the cover.......

Mortal-Kombat-11-logo reworked.jpg
 
Seems more realistic to me.

I just hope Reiko is in. It’s been a while since we’ve seen him in game, and feel like he could be an interesting aspect in the modern story.
 
Do we know of kittelson had total control on the story in the comics? Or did NRS just give him a guideline? Because kittleson on the main game, maybe his influence with affect the roster . ( Reiko, Havik)
 
I'm pretty sure that Kittelsen was given a basic guideline as to "these are the characters we want and the ones you can kill off" and otherwise was given a good amount of free reign, which would explain why there were plotholes between some aspects of the comics-to-game story continuity.
 
It kinda felt like he was given an outdated script or something simply because when the comic did reference game events they always felt slightly off.
 
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