It appears that Midway is hitting magazine shelves this month with a huge 2 page layout promoting Mortal Kombat Gold for the Sega Dreamcast. Both Sega Dreamcast and Mortal Kombat Gold are available in stores next month, 9/9/99. Below are scans from the September issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly courtesy of Joe E.

According to Eurocom, the mystery character found by Game Informer, Belokk, will not make the final cut for Mortal Kombat Gold. Reasons for Belokk not making the final cut were not stated other than he will not be in the game.

Videogames.com has updated their preview on Mortal Kombat Gold with 22 new screenshots and 2 new movies. These screenshots show off the brand new "NetherRealm" and reworked "Ice Pit" stages. Also you can notice that the shadows still remain to be blocky polygonal representations. Keep in mind that these new pictures and movies are from a production version, so some things seen may change by the time the final version ships.

The gang over at MKX are reporting that MK series co-creator, John Tobias, has quit Midway. Unfortunately, this isn't the end of it. MKX is also reporting that around 20% of the arcade games division has been laid off. Hop on over there to get the full scoop.

Dreamcast.net has a review of the Sega Dreamcast arcade fighting stick. Although they say that the stick will cost around $70, its sturdyness and craftmanship totally justifies the price in my opinion. I've played MK Gold with this stick and it exhibited no problems and felt perfect for MK Gold, definitely better than the regular Dreamcast controller. It features the same components that will be used in Naomi based arcade games. So, when those games come to the Dreamcast, you'll have the same graphics and feel as the arcade version.

Sometime pretty soon, MK series co-creator, Ed Boon, will have an all new Mortal Kombat Gold AVI movie on his website, Noob.com. Remember folks, September 9th is exactly 1 month away. Stores like Toys 'R' Us, Electronics Boutique, and Best Buy have been taking pre-orders for both the Sega Dreamcast hardware and Mortal Kombat Gold. So don't forget to pre-order to ensure that you have a copy of MKG waiting for you on 9/9/99.

TRMK has confirmed that indeed several Mortal Kombat development team members have left Midway. Contrary to previous reports, John Tobias, Dave Michicich, and Josh Tsui have been gone since the beginning of August. It is unknown of what will happen with Mortal Kombat Special Forces; however, it will receive a definate set back given that Tobias and Tsui were heavily involved in the project. It is rumored that these three will join forces to work together on their own videogame projects.

Videogames.com have gotten their hands on 5 new screenshots of Mortal Kombat Gold. Along with these new screenshots, Videogames.com has learned some new information based on a hands-on look of a reviewable copy of MKG. Here is the extra info:

Mortal Kombat Gold is currently in a reviewable state, and it's coming together quite well. The game's new characters take a little getting used to, though most of their moves have remained the same. Cyrax's bombs have been simplified to a mere F, F, HK or B, B, HK, depending on what distance you'd like to use. Also, the game's alternate outfits are in. The outfits are selected in the same way that they were used in the console versions of MK4. Most of the new characters' outfits are simple color changes, but Cyrax's alternate outfit features the robot ninja without a mask, revealing his human form. Could this be a taste of the storyline in MK5? How exactly did Cyrax get his human soul back? Only time will tell.

Graphically, the game looks as good as the arcade version of MK4. The only new graphical element that sticks out is Cyrax's net, which doesn't really move very well and looks a little odd. It'll probably get cleaned up by the time the game comes out. There are several new backgrounds in the game, including one with a lot of spikes along one of the walls. Hopefully this will be a new stage fatality. Load times are very slight, the most noticeable being Shinnok's impersonation moves, which halt the game for a good second or two while the new move data loads in.

We were just given this Press Release from someone within the departed. Here is their official statement:

MORTAL KOMBAT DESIGNERS DEPART MIDWAY GAMES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Chicago, Illinois (August 20, 1999) - John Tobias, co-creator of the highly successful Mortal Kombat video game series, announced his resignation from Midway Games Inc. as of July 30th, 1999. Also departing are David Michicich and Joshua Tsui, veteran Midway game designers. The three have been responsible for the art direction and design of Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II, Mortal Kombat 3, Mortal Kombat 4, Ultimate MK3, MK Trilogy, and MK Mythologies: Sub-Zero, as well as a handful of other Midway video games.

"Our careers at Midway have been prosperous for ourselves as well as the company. Now it’s time to seek new opportunities that will only be possible by taking this step," said Tobias. "We would also like to express thanks to our incredible fan base for their continued support and welcome them in joining us on our further adventures."
Management at Midway approached the group to complete Mortal Kombat: Special Forces, the current MK game in development, but could not come to an agreement. "We seriously considered Midway’s offers to complete the game, but were unable to reach an agreement consistent with our long term goals," added Tobias.

With 21 years of experience between them within Midway, The trio intends to pursue several creative ventures in the entertainment industries. Further details will be available shortly.

The highly successful Mortal Kombat series has sold tens of thousands of coin-operated arcade units and over 20 million home games (released on all major consoles). It has also spawned two major motion pictures (Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation), a live-action television series (Mortal Kombat: Conquest), an animated series (Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm), as well as hundreds of licensed products. Altogether the Mortal Kombat franchise has generated billions of dollars worldwide.

Jason Thomas of MortalKombat.com, Threshold's MK franchise website, sends word that they will be holding an Internet Chat with Mortal Kombat co-creator, Ed Boon. Details follow:

Ed Boon, co-creator of Mortal Kombat will be our guest on the August 25th edition of MortalKombat.com's Fight Night Chat!

The chat starts at 9:00pm Eastern/6:00pm Pacific.
Java Chat - http://www.mortalkombat.com/chat.shtml

The chat can also be accessed via a Irc Chat Program from
http://www.mirc.com/

server: irc.webmaster.com
port: 6667
channel: #mortalkombat

The chat session has ended. Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon provided us with some insight on the goings on at Midway as well as upcoming MK games. Here are some of the other key points from the chat session:

Mortal Kombat Gold is finished. Despite recent departures from Midway, Mortal Kombat: Special Forces is still under development. Mortal Kombat 5 is in early development stages with an estimated release date of late 2000. An advanced chip from 3dfx will be used for arcade versions of MK5 Scorpion is currently the first character being worked on for MK5 "Test your might" will possibly be returning in MK5 MK5 will sport a more complex weapon system

You can view the log of what was said here. Special thanks to Jason Thomas for putting this chat session together. We really appreciate it!

During tonight's chat MK co-creator, Ed Boon, mentioned that Midway has scrapped plans to use the next-generation in house Zeus II chip and have decided to go with one from 3dfx for arcade versions of MK5. Given the planned development schedule, it is very likely that MK5 will use a variation of 3dfx's code-named "Rampage" graphics chip, which has been under development by 3dfx for over 20 months. "Rampage" has been planned for a First Half 2000 release and promises to revolutionize 3D graphics the same way Voodoo Graphics did. Furthermore, Ed elaborated by stating that it blows everything away -- including the PSX2.

It appears that MK fans have another treat to look forward to. Recently departed MK co-creator, John Tobias, will be in the spotlight at this week's MortalKombat.com Wednesday Fight Night Chat. This chat should be very interesting given that this will be John Tobias' first public chat since he, Dave Michicich, and Josh Tsui left Midway Games to start their own entertainment projects. Here is all of the standard chat information:

John Tobias, co-creator of Mortal Kombat, will be our guest on the September 1st edition of MortalKombat.com's Fight Night Chat!

The chat starts at 9:00pm Eastern/6:00pm Pacific.
Java Chat - http://www.mortalkombat.com/chat.shtml

The chat can also be accessed via a Irc Chat Program from
http://www.mirc.com/

server: irc.webmaster.com
port: 6667
channel: #mortalkombat