Mortal Kombat -vs- DC Superheros

[EvilMonkzilla]

but Aquaman sucks plus we dont need a other hero we want a bad guy and they better not forget about MK vs DC when there r working on MK9 i want my DLC bitches xD

[Evil Rick]

Bad News

It's official, Midway is at the brink of bankruptcy and what most of the fans of Mortal Kombat feared is becoming true.

Midway is Selling Mortal Kombat

Troubled publisher ends 17 year relationship.
by Martin Robinson, IGN UK

UK, March 2, 2009 - Midway is selling off the Mortal Kombat franchise, ending a long-running association with the series as it tries to save itself from financial meltdown.

Having debuted in 1992 with the seminal arcade hit, the franchise spawned some 17 games during its time under Midway, the most recent of which, Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, launched to a generally warm response towards the end of last year.

Midway filed for bankruptcy last month, and recently handed publishing duties for forthcoming title The Wheelman over to Ubisoft. Now Mortal Kombat is being put out to tender, with the successful sale of the franchise imperative to rescuing the Chicago based developer – as well as acting as a milestone that would tie in with significant bonus payouts for "officers, management-level employees and other non-insider key employees," as reported on netDockets.

These bonus payouts – amounting to some $3,755,000 – would come against the backdrop of laid off staff having promised monies withheld, as reported by Kotaku.

Any potential home for the Mortal Kombat series remains a source for speculation.

Rummors of Ubisoft, EB games, Rare and Warner Broders as the posibles candidats for buing the franchside are alredy spreading around.

With this, the release of the patchs with downloable characters is unsure

[Blackbeard D. Kuma]

^This is pretty sad news, but in a way this is the beginning to what the Mortal Kombat franchise needs, a competent fighting game developer. Midway obviously did not know how to properly make good fighting games, and so now there is a chance for the Mortal Kombat series to be taken seriously by the fighting game community depending on which company will buy the franchise. Personally, I feel Capcom or Namco are good candidates for the acquisition of Mortal Kombat.

[Jan-Poo]

I don't see that happening, i doubt that any japanese company would be interested.

[Blackbeard D. Kuma]

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

I don't see that happening, i doubt that any japanese company would be interested.

I only said the companies I felt would do a good job with the franchise, not the ones most likely to acquire it. I am a huge Mortal Kombat fan and I feel that this series needs some good treatment so that it could be comparable to the elite fighters like Street Fighter 4, Virtua Fighter 5, Tekken 6, etc. Only then will it get some recognition and respect from the fighting game community.

[JubeiYamazaki]

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

I don't see that happening, i doubt that any japanese company would be interested.

If Square could buy something like Edios then ANY company is up for grabs. In total honesty I'm surprised they lasted as long as they did. Here's hope Namco picks em' up and does right with the characters.

[Evil Rick]

Because the Mortal Kombat series are a franchside from America, the posibilities of a japanese desarollator like Namco or Capcom adquiring the series is not probable in any sense.

The strongest candidate so far is no other but Warner Brothers, taking the incredible hit that was MK-vs-DC, there are strong rumors of Midway making the deal with Warner Brothers

Other strong candidates are EB games, Rare, Ubisoft and Epic Games

[kguthrie]

I have been playing MK since it came out while I was in high school. It would be a sad day if the series didn't continue.

[Jan-Poo]

It's not just a matter of nationalities, is a matter of style. Mortal Kombat is something that is very very different from any japanese 1vs1 fighting game out there. I argue that even if a japanese company would acquire it, they would not make a good work out of it.

[JubeiYamazaki]

Originally Posted by Evil Rick

Because the Mortal Kombat series are a franchside from America, the posibilities of a japanese desarollator like Namco or Capcom adquiring the series is not probable in any sense.

Actually Japan is losing its grip in the gaming world and has been for the last decade, western companies are pushing in on their turf and gaining ground. Capcom devs have always said their market is shrinking and needed to stop focusing on the Japanese consumers and have more western appeal with their games, thats specifically why games like Lost Planet and Dead Rising were developed. And why Square used the Havok system for their last 360 RPG and acquiring of Eidos. So what better way to really break into mainstream america then accuring one of the west's most popular fighting game franchises? ESPICALLY at such a dirt cheap price, ANY company would be stupid not to pick it up.

[Jan-Poo]

if japan is losing its grip in the gaming world, why is that that western companies bankrupt and get acquired by japanese companies and not the other way around?

[Blackbeard D. Kuma]

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

if japan is losing its grip in the gaming world, why is that that western companies bankrupt and get acquired by japanese companies and not the other way around?

JubeiYamazaki is talking about the gaming populace in general. In Japan, some games don't appeal to the Japanese that much, and as a result, the consumer market goes way down and revenue is greatly diminished. To compensate for this, as JubeiYamazaki stated, they incorporate some western elements into their games so that they can at least appeal to western gamers and make money off of them. The Castlevania and Metal Gear Solid series are prime examples of games made by Japanese developers that sell much better in the West.

[Jan-Poo]

But since i seem to understand that things aren't bright for western developers, even if we assume that japanese developers are experiencing a crisis, how do i know that it's not just a general crisis for the world gaming industry opposed to "japanese games losing ground in favor of western games" as Jubei seems to imply?

In other world is this statement backed by a clear evidence? If yes can i have the source?

BTW the examples you made do not convince me that much, because those games didn't change their basic philosophy since 1986/1987

[Blackbeard D. Kuma]

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

But since i seem to understand that things aren't bright for western developers, even if we assume that japanese developers are experiencing a crisis, how do i know that it's not just a general crisis for the world gaming industry opposed to "japanese games losing ground in favor of western games" as Jubei seems to imply?

In other world is this statement backed by a clear evidence? If yes can i have the source?

BTW the examples you made do not convince me that much, because those games didn't change their basic philosophy since 1986/1987

Looking at the gaming scene in Japan will give you all the evidence you need. Do you ever go to gaming sites like Kotaku?

I don't quite understand what you are saying about the unchanging philosophy of the games I listed. Care to clarify what you meant?

[JubeiYamazaki]

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

But since i seem to understand that things aren't bright for western developers, even if we assume that japanese developers are experiencing a crisis, how do i know that it's not just a general crisis for the world gaming industry opposed to "japanese games losing ground in favor of western games" as Jubei seems to imply?

In other world is this statement backed by a clear evidence? If yes can i have the source?

BTW the examples you made do not convince me that much, because those games didn't change their basic philosophy since 1986/1987

You name 2 lack luster companies that should of been out a LONG time before that and claim its not a bright future? What does that say about the Japanese scene when you have studios like Clover and Jaleco close down then? What about EPIC, EA, Blizzard, Bungie, Activison, Valve, do they not count at all? Starcraft is a league in Korea, Koreans still play an 11 year old game at tournament level LIVE ON TV sponsered by their own TV stations, AND it brings comparable ratings to BIG sport events. This is an example of a western game of having prominence in the east. Granted Korea and Japan have had issues, but even in Japan outside of stuff like SBO I haven't seen any game have such a mainstream frenzy and marketablity as Starcraft has in Korea.

As for Metar Gear Solid's internatonal market, look at who the lead is, and look at the settings and types of gameplay MGS offers, and its pretty obivious you don't need to change that formula.

Also I'm not trying to say "Japanese gaming is going to be instinct in the next year" but I'm saying is that Japan no longer has the grip on the gaming world it did a decade ago and they want to adapt.

As for evidence just look at this and last generation of games from Japan. But if you want something specfic I just typed in a simple string into google and copied the first thing that popped up hopefully its accurate cause I didn't even read it. http://www.kotaku.com.au/games/2009/...lobally-2.html

[Jan-Poo]

Also I'm not trying to say "Japanese gaming is going to be instinct in the next year" but I'm saying is that Japan no longer has the grip on the gaming world it did a decade ago and they want to adapt.

That's something i'm not so sure about. You claim that japan had this "grip" in the gaming world and that it's losing it. Is this shift in balance confirmed or is it your personal opinion?
Western games and Japanese games always coexisted there have been great masterpieces in both of them since the beginning. Even if you mention recent successes like half life or starcraft, i still remember that there's been equivalent even in the past.
Myst anyone? It was the number one in the selling charts, no game ever sold more than myst before. And this is 1993. Even as today the only game that beat Myst is "The sims".

That's why i don't really see any evident change. Imho western games always had a certain advantage on the selling charts.

Blackbeard seems to claim that MGS and Castlevania are evidence of an effort to make games more open to western culture. But japan has been making such games since the very beginning. Kojima specifically always made games with western settings or western appeal. The first metal gear was released in 1986. Ghosts 'n' Goblins (makai mura) is another good example. To a certain extent Mario itself doesn't show anything related to the japanese culture. There isn't even a single character with a japanese name.

[JubeiYamazaki]

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

That's something i'm not so sure about. You claim that japan had this "grip" in the gaming world and that it's losing it. Is this shift in balance confirmed or is it your personal opinion?

I've posted several links to prove my point, why don't you prove to me of YOUR view with a link or two? Here's another one for fun, just like I did last time put in a simple string into google and copied the first hit, and again I didn't read it, because I don't need to: http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/...western-devs/1

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

Western games and Japanese games always coexisted there have been great masterpieces in both of them since the beginning.

How old are you? I don't mean to sound mean or anything but I've been gaming since the mid 80s and through out that time the only spot western games have thrived was in the PC department because for the most part a majority of western games for consoles SUCKED HARD outside of sport series, with that 1 or 2 gem in the sea of japanese games that's why the Japanese and the west have co-existed because Japan dominated the console market while the US dominated the PC market but it was until the past generation of games that western devs REALLY stepped and began taking away Japanese heat on the console market. Halo, Obilivion, Burnout, GTA, Prince of Persia so many new/re-visited franchises began taking their market share so now the Japanese are in a predicament of trying to appeal to western demographics without losing their identity.

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

Even if you mention recent successes like half life or starcraft, i still remember that there's been equivalent even in the past.

No. They're never has been anything not at the level of SC in Korea. I think you don't understand the seriousiness of SC in Korea. This is A SPORT, people are PAID TO TRAIN, they do DRAFTS, sign contracts have ENDORSEMENTS. Again heres me providing proof (see the trend here?): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarCraft

If you can find it, I KNOW its on youtube and other streaming sites but check out GAMER GENERATION by Discovery Channel. Awhole hour is devoted to SC in Korea, it is serious business. As I said the closest thing I can think of to something like that is probably SBO and Pacman fever back in the 80s but that pales in comparison. Fatality is a nobody compared to their fame, seriously.

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

Myst anyone? It was the number one in the selling charts, no game ever sold more than myst before. And this is 1993. Even as today the only game that beat Myst is "The sims".

Thanks, that again proves my point.

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

That's why i don't really see any evident change. Imho western games always had a certain advantage on the selling charts.

Blackbeard seems to claim that MGS and Castlevania are evidence of an effort to make games more open to western culture. But japan has been making such games since the very beginning. Kojima specifically always made games with western settings or western appeal. The first metal gear was released in 1986. Ghosts 'n' Goblins (makai mura) is another good example. To a certain extent Mario itself doesn't show anything related to the japanese culture. There isn't even a single character with a japanese name.

Did you read my previous post....?

"As for Metar Gear Solid's internatonal market, look at who the lead is, and look at the settings and types of gameplay MGS offers, and its pretty obivious you don't need to change that formula."

Castlevania and MGS HAD INTERNATIONAL APPEAL FROM THE START THERES NO REASON TO CHANGE THAT.

If you make it right from the start with the proper appeal why change it? Capcom devs said the main reason for changing RE4 into a 3rd person shooter was to appeal to western audiences, thats an example of changing a style of gaming for appeal, all your other examples didn't need changing hence why they've remained virtually the same.

Regardless of what's been said I've provided TWO links from Hideo Kojima (one of the BIGGEST NAMES IN JAPAN) and a dev from Capcom (ONE OF THE BIGGEST GAMING COMPANIES IN JAPAN) saying the samething and the bottom line is there's an issue, weither you want to accept that or not, is up to you but certainly there's A LOT of other people that thinking very differently then you in that department and until you start providing links, this pretty much case closed on your end and there's no more reason to discuss it.

[Evil Rick]

Midway just revealed that Mortal Kombat is still not officially in sell, in an interview to MTV Geoff Moglilner, representant of Midway said "There had been alredy conversations with some other companies, the franchside of Mortal Kombat is really cotisated among many games desarrollators (didn't pointed which ones) But we have a big interest on Mortal Kombat, our goal is not to sell the title but it is a posibility in an extreme case"

Mogliner added that the MK team is still working on the next Mortal Kombat although he didn't said anything related with the DLC for MK-vs-DC.

I think that this is pretty obvious, we're speaking of a saga that had given 1,5 billons of dolars to Midway in the last 17 years, Midway would be selling its best title.

[Jan-Poo]

I've posted several links to prove my point, why don't you prove to me of YOUR view with a link or two? Here's another one for fun, just like I did last time put in a simple string into google and copied the first hit, and again I didn't read it, because I don't need to: http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/...western-devs/1

Several? Excuse me but i only noticed a single link before this post. None of them provide factual data but only opinions. Plus they only state that the obvious dominance of the western market not a change in a trend.

How old are you? I don't mean to sound mean or anything but I've been gaming since the mid 80s and through out that time the only spot western games have thrived was in the PC department because for the most part a majority of western games for consoles SUCKED HARD outside of sport series, with that 1 or 2 gem in the sea of japanese games that's why the Japanese and the west have co-existed because Japan dominated the console market while the US dominated the PC market but it was until the past generation of games that western devs REALLY stepped and began taking away Japanese heat on the console market. Halo, Obilivion, Burnout, GTA, Prince of Persia so many new/re-visited franchises began taking their market share so now the Japanese are in a predicament of trying to appeal to western demographics without losing their identity.

Excuse me but i have to ask you how old you are to name "prince of persia" without knowing that it was a big hit in 1989 and it was available on NES.
Also you totally ignore the importance of title like: Shadow of the beast, Ultima, Eye of the beholder, King's quest, Space quest, Doom, Monkey island, alone in the dark, another world. All of them were great hits a long before the "last decade" you mention.

No. They're never has been anything not at the level of SC in Korea. I think you don't understand the seriousiness of SC in Korea. This is A SPORT, people are PAID TO TRAIN, they do DRAFTS, sign contracts have ENDORSEMENTS. Again heres me providing proof (see the trend here?): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarCraft

If you can find it, I KNOW its on youtube and other streaming sites but check out GAMER GENERATION by Discovery Channel. Awhole hour is devoted to SC in Korea, it is serious business. As I said the closest thing I can think of to something like that is probably SBO and Pacman fever back in the 80s but that pales in comparison. Fatality is a nobody compared to their fame, seriously.

Then again you completely ignore that in Korea there are several competions based on KOF.

Thanks, that again proves my point.

No i think you don't get my point. You say that NOW the western companies are winning against japanese companies i claim it's always been like that. Myst came on the gaming scenario only 6 years after the home gaming market became something relevant. and since that 15-16 years have passed.

[JubeiYamazaki]

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

Several? Excuse me but i only noticed a single link before this post. None of them provide factual data but only opinions. Plus they only state that the obvious dominance of the western market not a change in a trend.

I thought I edited the "several" part out but I guess I forgot thats my bad. But thats still 2 links you haven't come up with expressing ANYTHING towards your own view. And if the opinions and views expressed by the two biggest names in the industry doesn't prove anything I guess there's nothing else to say on the subject. For fun here's another: http://www.gamepolitics.com/2008/10/...shers-alliance

That's 3 so I guess that qualifies for several....?

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

Excuse me but i have to ask you how old you are to name "prince of persia" without knowing that it was a big hit in 1989 and it was available on NES.
Also you totally ignore the importance of title like: Shadow of the beast, Ultima, Eye of the beholder, King's quest, Space quest, Doom, Monkey island, alone in the dark, another world. All of them were great hits a long before the "last decade" you mention.

Ahem.... I'll blod the part you missed...
"Halo, Obilivion, Burnout, GTA, Prince of Persia so many new/re-visited franchises began taking their market share so now the Japanese are in a predicament of trying to appeal to western demographics without losing their identity."

And yep those were all awe-inspiring games, esp. the Sierra Quest series which I own all of in its entirety. But guess what all those games wereon ? You guessed it PC, the market Japan never really tried to fight for. All the other games I mentioned were HUGE successes ON CONSOLES. Which if you actually read instead of jumping gun you would of seen.

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

Then again you completely ignore that in Korea there are several competions based on KOF.

... Serious...? You find me a link that shows me any indication that KOF tournaments are even CLOSE to the fan frenzy, and successfulness of Star-craft in its mulit-million dollar take in, and I'll say you win in everything I have said. And I guess you don't follow my links because I just realized I linked the wrong thing, here's the proof: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarCra...al_competition

Originally Posted by Jan-Poo

No i think you don't get my point. You say that NOW the western companies are winning against japanese companies i claim it's always been like that. Myst came on the gaming scenario only 6 years after the home gaming market became something relevant. and since that 15-16 years have passed.

Yes NOW IN TERMS OF CONSOLES. Lemme post my previous statement.:" but it was until the past generation of games that western devs REALLY stepped and began taking away Japanese heat on the console market. Halo, Obilivion, Burnout, GTA, Prince of Persia so many new/re-visited franchises began taking their market share so now the Japanese are in a predicament of trying to appeal to western demographics without losing their identity."

And I'll do it one more time incase you missed it the first time and I'll make it easier for you by bolding the important parts: "but it was until the past generation of games that western devs REALLY stepped and began taking away Japanese heat on the console market. Halo, Obilivion, Burnout, GTA, Prince of Persia so many new/re-visited franchises began taking their market share so now the Japanese are in a predicament of trying to appeal to western demographics without losing their identity."