According to Kotaku, the development studio EA Chicago, home of the successful Fight Night boxing series, announced that it was shutting its doors today. Amongst the staff affected by the closure of EA Chicago are noted Mortal Kombat development veterans, Dave Michicich and Josh Tsui. Michicich and Tsui were a part of the 1999 exodus of several long-time Mortal Kombat staff team members, including most notably, franchise co-creator John Tobias. Michicich and Tsui went on to create their own development shop Studio Gigante and went on to create two titles, one of which was fighter Tao Feng: Fist of the Lotus.

After that studio disbanded, Michicich and Tsui went on to EA Chicago to become art directors on Fight Night Round 3 and were believed to be working on a next-generation Marvel Fighting Game.

No word yet on what will happen to that game and the Fight Night and Def Jam franchises and where the 150 plus employees affected by this closing in the Chicago area will end up. We wish them luck in this transition.

Midway announced today that it has shipped Ultimate Mortal Kombat the latest release in bringing back the classic arcade Mortal Kombat games to current generation game systems. The game should begin to appear in stores tomorrow November 13th.

Ultimate Mortal Kombat brings the lighting fast fighting technique found in the arcade version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, along with Puzzle Kombat from the critically acclaimed Mortal Kombat: Deception to the handheld Nintendo DS. Gamers can perfect their fighting skills in single-player mode or challenge friends and enemies alike via multi-player over the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection network. Ultimate Mortal Kombat is rated M for Mature by the ESRB and is available for the U.S. suggested retail price of $29.95.

Midway released the latest Ultimate Mortal Kombat trailer marking the release of the first-ever Mortal Kombat game on the Nintendo DS. This video is an exhibition of fatalities initially featured in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. It includes demos of several of the fatality finishes but with gore and blood turned off only for the video. Ultimate Mortal Kombat is in stores now for the Nintendo DS.

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Ultimate Mortal Kombat combines the visceral thrills of the classic Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and the addictive puzzle action of the Puzzle Kombat component of the best-selling Mortal Kombat: Deception in a single DS-friendly package. With unlockable content, new record-keeping capability, and Wi-Fi-connected multiplayer, players will be able take Ultimate Mortal Kombat anywhere for fighting action on the go.

Visit our newly opened Ultimate Mortal Kombat Forum to discuss the game and share Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection friend codes!