With Midway selling off their major franchies last year, Warner Bros was able to scoop up the rights to Mortal Kombat for movies, games and whatever other marketing for the franchise. Lately there have been reports of Warner wanting to reboot the movie franchise along with the game, with Ed Boon stating that they will make a very M-Rated Mortal Kombat for their next release. Up until now, there hasn’t been much word on a movie reboot but a new video has popped up on-line which is either a very expensive fan film or a viral marketing ploy by Warner to get some buzz for this reboot. The short stars Michael Jai White (Spawn and Black Dynamite) and Jeri Ryan (Star Trek Voyager and Boston Public) as Jax and Sonya Blade and features many other characters re-visioned to fit in a modern world setting while keeping the characters faithful to how they were in the game (Baraka and Reptile are homicidal maniacs). Personally I think this teaser/fan film is fantastic and would love to see this if it actually materializes as a real film, which with E3 coming up who knows what info could come out.

Thanks to Kotaku for the heads up. And just a FYI, the pic at the top is of Reptile and his look is explained and totally makes sense.

Well not officially, but according to ESPN.com EA sports is looking to reboot the franchise on the Wii console. The rights are up in the air right now due to the Activision/Midway sale last year, so there is an easy possibility that this game could get made. In the past years there have been many NBA Jam clones (NBA Street, NBA Hoopz and NBA Ballers) but none have really come close to the excitement of the original NBA Jam series. So here’s hope we get a new version, and as stated in the ESPN article, the creator of NBA Jam Mark Turmell has been hired to do the relaunch. Of course this is all rumors right now, but if it comes out and I can play as Bill Clinton or the Beastie Boys then consider it sold.

This has been a rough few years for Chicago, video-game developer-wise. EA Chicago, after making the brilliant Fight Night Round 3, shut their doors forever. Nerd City favorite MIdway Games, after a much-publicized financial collapse, even while still producing excellent games, filed for bankruptcy and is currently being auctioned off to Warner Bros. (See Nerd City’s coverage of the merger here). This does not neccessarily bode well for the Chicago-based office, and could result in the closing of one of the most important gaming companies in history.

Yet there is still hope. Robomodo, a Chicago-based video game company started by two casualties of the EA closing, is currently working on the new skateboard-peripheral based Tony Hawk game. If this game is a hit, which it could easily be, it would represent a new chapter in Chicago-based video game development, filling a much-needed void. So please buy Tony Hawk Ride when it comes out, and support your local video game company.

For more details on Robomodo, read  Jake Malooley’s excellent article in Time Out Chicago here.

The sale of Midway to Warner Brothers should become official in about 10 days. According to Midway spokesman, Geoffrey Mogilner, this will put the Mortal Kombat, This is Vegas, the Midway sports titles (i.e the Blitz: The League series), Midway arcade titles along with the Chicago and Seattle based studios. The San Diego and Newcastle studios are not included in the purchase. Also not included with the purchase would be the TNA license, which maybe we could get a good TNA game now. The purchase is slated to be for $33million.

After declaring bankruptcy last week, Midway has now be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. To me this unfortunately looks like a end of a once great company. But anythings possible so maybe we won’t see EA’s Mortal Kombat anytime soon.

Direct Link to Youtube Video

Chicago video game publisher Midway Games announced today that Mortal Kombat Vs. DC has shipped close to two million copies. This is great news to hear, as Midway’s recent financial trouble has been well publicized. One of the most influential game developers in history, Midway is an integral part of Chicago’s Nerd scene. Please continue to support them and their games.

After a self-proclaimed “difficult time”, Chicago publisher Devil’s Due’s comic books are back in stores. With economic troubles facing several Chicago Nerd organizations (see Midway Games), it is now more important than ever to support your local nerdery. And with books like the soon-to-be-a-movie Hack/Slash and Heroes‘ Milo Ventimiglia’s Rest, Devil’s Due makes it easy. Buy D.D. @ Chicago Comics.

Man the video game industry is really taking a hit lately. First Midway starts closing down multiple development studios, now Free Radical has completely shut down. For those of you not familiar with Free Radical, the studio consisted of a team of developers that worked for Rare and created Goldeneye 64 and Perfect Dark 64. They created my favorite first person shooter series of all time and that was TimeSplitters. Combining fast action and over the top weapons and characters, it brought back the great times of sitting around my Nintendo 64 playing Goldeneye all night with my friends. So it is sad to hear that this studio closed, considering they were working on TimeSplitters 4 and a rumored Star Wars Battlefront game for LucasArts. So we bid you a fond farewell Free Radical, you supplied me and others with fantastic games. Hopefully these guys will find work at another studio and maybe we will still see the release of TimeSplitters 4.

Wow this wasn’t expected, but Sony has announced that full open beta for Playstation Home will be available for download starting tomorrow, Dec 11th. If you don’t know, Home is Sony’s attempt to bring a more social online gaming experience to their console. In the past if you wanted to meet people to play against you had to meet them in game and add them to your friends list, with Home you will be able to travel through a virtual world meeting new people all over the place. Whether it be in a bowling alley, arcade, clothing store or just the commons square; full interaction with as many people possible is available and will help you accumulate more “friends”. Now I have been in the beta for a few months now and maybe it’s just me, but I don’t really like it. I understand what Sony is going for and will probalby be more enjoyable as more people use the service, but right now it feels like second life and not much is really going on.

It is neat that you get to fully customize your avatars living quarters, looks and how they dress; and of course you will be able to buy new clothes and furnishings for you apartment through the playstation store for real money. So give it a try as it is free, you may get more enjoyment out of it then me. Official press release below:

PLAYSTATION®HOME BETA SERVICE WILL BECOME AVAILABLE TO ALL PLAYSTATION®3 USERS ON DECEMBER 11
Highly Anticipated Service Open For All PLAYSTATION 3 Users

Tokyo, Foster City, London, December 10, 2008 – Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE) today announced that its highly anticipated PlayStation®Home Beta service for PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) will become available for all PS3 users around the world *1 on December 11, 2008. Following the successful completion of the closed beta service, PlayStation Home’s open beta service will continue to evolve with new features and functionality.

PlayStation Home is a ground-breaking 3D social gaming community available on PS3 that allows users to interact, communicate and share gaming experiences. By leveraging the power of PS3, PlayStation Home delivers overwhelming visual graphics and rich gaming social experiences only possible on the PS3 platform. Within PlayStation Home, users can create and customize their own unique avatars and explore the virtual community in real time where they can communicate freely through text or voice chat. PlayStation Home users will not only be able to enjoy variety of entertainment content such as mini-games, videos and special events along with their friends, but will also be able to create their own community by using the “Club*2” feature to create clubs with other PlayStation Home users who share the same interests. PlayStation Home also allows groups of users to launch directly into their favourite online games together from PlayStation Home.

PlayStation Home, available as a free download*3 starting December 11, will launch directly from the PlayStation Home icon on the PlayStation®Network column of XMB™ (XrossMediaBar) on PS3. Users will be able to experience basic features and services of PlayStation Home, free of charge*4. PlayStation Home will allow open interaction among users, business partners, and SCE, and will evolve with additional features including dedicated game spaces, special events and exclusive themed items, to further enrich the entertainment experience on the PS3 platform.

“PlayStation Home is truly a promising network community service on the PlayStation platform, made possible with the powerful combination of PS3’s overwhelming computational power and PlayStation Network that covers many countries around the globe,” said Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO, SCE. “We are committed to providing PS3 users with exciting gaming experiences with PlayStation Home and together with our partners and users, expand the new world of interactive entertainment as we move forward.”

For users accessing PlayStation Home in the Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) regions, themed virtual environments will be available to explore. Starting with a themed Far Cry 2 space, PlayStation Home will offer game inspired environments that allow people to discuss the specific games, plan strategies and access content and clues that will enhance the gaming experience. The number of gaming environments such as this will regularly increase, with spaces for Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune™, Warhawk™, Motorstorm and SOCOM following very soon. SCEE is working with leading publishers such as: Electronic Arts, UBISOFT, Midway, Sega and Atari to create engaging environments that will provide users with an on-going gaming experience.

“We are very excited to be bringing PlayStation Home to Europe and the PAL territories, offering users an interactive, social, gaming experience,” said Daniel Hill, Home Service Manager, SCEE. “PlayStation Home is unique to anything else in the gaming world and by partnering with both global and regional gaming and non-gaming brands, we are able to offer exciting and entertaining content that will enhance the PlayStation experience.”

SCEE today also announced the first partnerships with some of the world’s most respected lifestyle brands for the Open Beta. Fashion leader Diesel, contemporary furniture designers Ligne Roset, energy drink Red Bull, film studio Paramount Pictures and video content providers Hexus TV and Eurogamer are the first on board. They will offer resident’s virtual clothing for their avatar, virtual furniture for their PlayStation Home apartments, exclusive video content and a virtual flying challenge: the Red Bull Air Race.

Visitors and residents will be able to explore PlayStation Home with their avatar character and, thanks to Diesel, avatars can look great from the start with Diesel offering the latest men’s and women’s designer avatar clothing, with items ranging from free of charge to €1.50. So for those visiting PlayStation Home, they can dress their avatars in the latest jeans and jacket prior to getting out and about.

On the home front, PlayStation®Home gives everyone their own apartment to spend time in and entertain friends – who will now be able relax on exclusive Ligne Roset furniture. At the virtual store, people will be able to choose from a selection of the most popular Ligne Roset designs, including the iconic Togo and Facett upholstery collections. It will be possible to personalise furniture by selecting from a wide selection of fabrics and leathers allowing a unique and individual look. This is an opportunity to get acquainted with Ligne Roset’s cutting edge designs created by some of Europe’s most talented designers.

As the very first consumer brand space, Red Bull has created the Red Bull Island where visitors to the Island can interact and take part in many of Red Bull’s unique events. Initially there will be the opportunity to get inside the cockpit of a Red Bull Air Race plane and compete against the PlayStation community. The real-world Red Bull Air Race World Championship has become a global phenomenon in just four years, attracting millions of spectators. Now those spectators can leave the stands, become a pilot and tackle the Red Bull Island course themselves. The Red Bull Island will continue to expand, adding new and exciting content in early 2009.

Taking full advantage of the PlayStation Home Theatre, SCEE has partnered with various content providers to enhance the cinematic experience. Offering a wide range of content, the PlayStation Home Theatre will provide lifestyle technology programming from Hexus TV, gaming content from Eurogamer and exclusive film content from Paramount Pictures. Starting with the release of the highly anticipated film, Watchmen, Paramount Pictures International will use PlayStation®Home to promote its latest films. Initially, PlayStation®Home residents will be able to view an exclusive video greeting from Watchmen Director Zack Snyder as well as the latest Watchmen trailer. A selection of virtual Watchmen merchandise e.g. T-Shirts with the smiley face logo, Doomsday clocks and character statues, will also be available in the New Year, ahead of an exclusive Q & A event where cast and filmmakers will meet selected press and competition winners fans within the Watchmen themed environment.

PlayStation Home is exclusive to PS3, free to download and easy to join. It’s the ultimate online community – a place where you can meet friends, try the latest games, hear new music, watch videos, relax in the apartment of your dreams and much, much more. With more and more spaces being created and partners like Diesel, Ligne Roset and Red Bull coming on board, the PlayStation Home experience is just getting started.

SCE will vigorously promote the expansion of the world of PS3 by introducing new services that will open up new possibilities and enjoyment in interactive entertainment.

*1 PlayStation Home will not be available in some regions.

*2 To be a “Clubhouse” owner, user will need to buy the entitlement to run the club.

*3 When the service is available, PlayStation Home icon will appear after booting/ re-booting the PS3 system. To enjoy PlayStation Home, users will need broadband network connection and PlayStation Network account in addition to the PS3 system.

*4 Some content and services are charged.

Well, it seems as if Midway is getting closer to the grave. This past weekend, the wall street journal reported, that Summer Redstone (the majority controller in Midway) sold off his majority stock for $100,000. Now you might be thinking that buying the majority of a company for that low, roughly $0.0012 per share, is a great deal. But by taking on the majority of stock, investor Mark Thomas also took on the $70 million in secured and unsecured debt associated with the company. With Midway possibly losing their listing on the NYSE soon, it appears that the company will be under sooner than later. Which is a shame as MK vs DC turned out to be a great property along with TNA Impact that did well in sales, it appeared that they could get back on their feet. Sadly I don’t see this happening and my guess is we will see a sale of the company/properties by the end of the year if not early 1st quarter of next year.