If you wanna preview the new unsexy Wonder Woman comic, be my guest.  (chicagofree)

Satanism has given us so much cool stuff, from heavy metal to horror films…don’t you think you owe it to Satanism to take a look back on it’s wonderful history?  (asylum)

Attention art nerds and anyone named Ben Spencer: here’s a gallery of Shigeru Komatsuzaki’s work from the 1960’s and 1970’s.  Commence creaming!  (pinktentacle)

This dog can fetch beer, which is why once again dogs rule and cats…well, they’re assholes.(comedy)

Speaking of assholes: Mel Gibson is an asshole.  Oh, and his racism has sparked a new internet meme.  (filmdrunk)

6 classics despised by the people who created them.  My parents could say the same thing about me.  (cracked)

Top 50 Mortal Kombet characters.  Holy shit, there’s more than 15?  (ugo)

“I thought I was looking at my mother’s old douchebag, but that’s in Ohio.”  (founditemclothing)

Top 10 All-American video games, which is the only thing I look for when choosing one.  (askmen)

This weekend was the 4th of July, so you know what that means: fireworks and competitive eating.  (guyism)

Speaking of eating obscene amounts of food, here’s a heartattack pizza with extra stupid.  (pbh3)

I’ve always thought the Hunter S. Thompson quote, “Too weird to live, too rare to die” always applied to me, but I never knew how to convey that to others.  But now I can do so easily with this t-shirt.  (vigtees)

Tipper Gore was all ‘parental advisory’ back in the mid-80’s, but I think it’s because she just didn’t like 2 Live Crew, Ice-T, and GNR.  Otherwise, she would have slapped a Tipper Sticker on these gems from the 1930’s.  Sidenote: anyone ever notice that Ice-T’s name is Ice-T.  (iheartchaos)

Ever notice how the stupidest, most time-wasting things are usually the most entertaining?  I present you with the “Top 5 slow-motion video game deaths”.  Exactly.  (unrealitymag)

Why hasn’t there been a fitting Bruce Willis internet video tribute until now?  I really don’t know.  But quit asking questions and just watch.  (nextround)

Fresh off of the success of the Mortal Kombat short film pitch (sorry turns out that great short film was just a pitch by director Kevin Tancharoen as a way to persuade Warner Bros to let him make a new MK movie), Warner Bros has released the official trailer for the next Mortal Kombat game. The new Mortal Kombat will be heavily gory, as you can probably predict from the trailer, and to my enjoyment will be 2D gameplay with 3D graphics. Mortal Kombat has always been best in 2D in my opinion and I love that they are going back to the original gameplay style. Included in the new version will be 4-player tag-team fighting (just like Marvel Vs Capcom 1) and the “biggest story mode for a fighting game ever” according to Ed Boon. No release date yet, but with E3 next week I think we’ll be getting some more news for this PS3 and Xbox 360 game.

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.

Over the weekend, the Chicago Tribune ran a story about the financial trouble currently facing Chicago-based video game company Midway Games.

The article cites Midway’s continuing stock drop, an unforgiving economic climate, and mounting debt troubles for majority shareholder Summer Redstone, as signs of Midway’s impending doom.  A financial analyst from Wedbush Morgan is even quoted as saying, “How much value is left in essentially a few development studios, the ‘Mortal Kombat’ brand and a library of classic games?”.

Well, I’ll tell you asshole: A lot. Midway releases like Pacman, Mortal Kombat, and the Blitz series are the reason many people got in to video games, (myself included) and their probable closure represents a true Nerd tragedy, particularly for those who reside in Chicago. With the recent shutdown of EA Chicago, the city is sorely in need of developers, and although  Day 1 Studios still fights the good fight, the closure of Midway would represent the end of one  the most important video game companies of all time.

Direct Link to Youtube Video

The really sad thing is that Midway is still releasing great games. Blitz: The League II is super fun, and the underlying commentary on the NFL and sports in general, as well as the gratuitous ultra-violence, makes it a truly unique must-play in a genre commonly known for being generic and overcrowded. The recently released Mortal Kombat Vs. DC is a masterpiece, and represents a wet dream for any self-respecting video game/comic book nerd. The concept alone is worth checking out, and the fact that the game is well-thought out and mechanically sound elevates the title from good idea to exceptionally great game.

Direct Link to Youtube Video

As the holiday season approaches, and scratch is slim, every consumer decision counts. Games consistently represent one of the most popular gift choices this time of year, and it is more important then ever to think about where your dollars are going. Put Blitz: The League II and/or Mortal Kombat Vs. DC on your list not only because the games are good/fun/bloody, but because Midway needs and deserves our help.  So please, support your local video game developer and buy Midway.