Official Xbox Magazine's latest podcast features a great post-release interview with Mortal Kombat Team "head honcho" Ed Boon. The interview is done by long time friend of ours, Dan Amrich, and his co-host Ryan McCaffrey. In the interview Ed talks about the post-release reactions, technical aspects of Unreal Engine development, the reasoning behind character selection, downloadable content (DLC) possibilities and even a mention of a immunity system that Ed had didn't make the cut. Ed even teases alterations to the game engine that are already in progress for Mortal Kombat 9, stuff like lighting, graphics and even gameplay mechanics.

It's a very interesting interview, so be sure to go check it out!

Episode #9 of MKast has finally been posted over at Worlds Collide and on iTunes. This new episode features special guests MK Creative Director Ed Boon and Senior Designer Paulo Garcia. This episode was created just after the game's release and their initial reaction to the players getting their hands on the game. They also reveal some Fatalities and Pro Moves, which due to the late release of the podcast are already known. Lots of topics are discussed from past to future games.

What I really enjoyed was Ed talking about the past and how Fatalities all had to be discovered in the arcades. He wouldn't tell people how to do them, and always be amazed when he saw someone do them. He mentioned how he first saw someone do Shang Tsung's Kintaro Morph Fatality from Mortal Kombat 2 at the now closed Dennis' Place For Games. These are the days that I miss, of the community having to actually discover each fatality one at a time. I remember going to the arcades each day to see what else has been discovered, or even rushing to the arcades after reading about a new discovery on the Usenet. Brings back some great memories.

During the MKast they also teased Mortal Kombat 9 again, which they jokingly referred to as MK9: Attack of the Dogs. We're not sure what that means, but it'll be interesting to see what they have up their sleeves. Ed had mentioned before that development has already begun in some form. Since the engine is already in place, I'm sure it wont be too long until we know more about the next Mortal Kombat game. I just hope it doesn't have a "Attack Dog" feature like Call of Duty: World at War does!

Thanks to MK_Sarah over on the Midway Boards for the headsup.

Midway has finally released a high-resolution render of Dark Kahn from the recently released Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.


Check out more coverage of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, including an in-depth interview with Ed Boon along with trailers available in 720p HD in our Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe GameRealm.

This Sunday is the 2008 SpikeTV Video Game Awards hosted by comedian, musician and video-game star Jack Black. All Mortal Kombat fans should not forget to tune in because our favorite fighting game is nominated this year. That right, Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe is nominated for Best Fighting Game for 2008. The game is up against the likes of Soul Calibur IV, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit. Best of luck to Midway and the Mortal Kombat Team we all hope to see you guys come home with a well deserved award!

The 2009 SpikeTV Video Game Awards starts at 9pm EST this Sunday, December 14th and is also available this year in High Definition wherever Spike TV HD is available.

Updated Post Show Comments Below:

Sadly Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe did not win the Best Fighting Game of 2008 it went to Soul Calibur IV. This is very disappointing because of all the games up for the award, Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe was the only game to bring dramatic changes to their series in the form of it being a crossover and a whole new 3D engine and gameplay modes. The other titles were simple rehashes of their previous game and formula with nothing drastically new brought to the table. But my biggest problem with this actually was that Spike TV didn't even dedicate more than 10 seconds to this category, it along with another 9-10 awards were done via a minute long montage segment towards the end of the broadcast. Yet they subjected viewers to 10 minute skits for upcoming movies and had many recording artists perform entire songs.

Not to mention I felt the entire awards show is beginning to feel more and more like the MTV Movie and Music Awards combined into one, which isn't too surprising since Spike TV is owned by MTV. Instead of using strictly only video game industry related people to present the awards, they primarily brought in the hottest names in movies, music and the tabloids to present the awards. The only presenters I can remember that have any business at all on stage at the VGAs would be host Jack Black (for his upcoming game Brutal Legend & the King Kong video game, and who was a great host), Tony Hawk (for the countless Tony Hawk games) and Neil Patrick Harris (who is in the upcoming game Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard).

I may have missed a few, but the many other presenters shouldn't have been used if they wanted this show to be taken seriously. There are plenty of entertaining creative people in the gaming industry that would be great to see on the stage presenting awards for their colleagues. Spike TV needs to make this show more like the Oscars by keeping the show limited to people "in the industry," especially if they want to keep comparing the game industry to the movie industry, because the way the show is today only holds back the gaming industry from being taken more seriously.

Did Santa forget to put Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe in your stocking this year? Well, don't be upset. Target has a deal for you this week to celebrate the New Year. Target will be selling both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game this week for only $39! So head out to your local Target and pick up a copy, as the last day for the deal is January 3rd, 2009!

Also of note, this deal is not available online but in stores only.

Thanks to Trash-MKX for the tip!