Apocalypso's Atomic Arcade: Mortal Kombat

Showing posts with label Mortal Kombat. Show all posts

2010/09/01

Video Game Urban Legends: Duke Nukem 3D’s Secret Cheat Code

You know, I like conspiracy theories, mysteries, and secrets. They’re fascinating.

I bought the new NAG magazine recently, and saw that GameTrailers have come out with a new series that explores these urban myths, and seeks to prove them fact or fiction by testing them out. It’s called Pop Fiction, and it’s quite thorough, and I actually want to see more of it. The show’s inspiration obviously comes from The MythBusters, when I look at the format.

The one about whether Reptile was in every original and perhaps every Mortal Kombat game in existence was one that captivated me, seeing as he’s likely one of my favourite characters in the franchise, next to the other ninjas like Scorpion, and my childhood idol – Sub-Zero. He was cool.

I also came across something interesting on Digg the other day, and it was a list of the Most Widely Believed Video Game Urban Legends. It’s like urban legends and so on, but relating to video games obviously.

There were only a few that I actually had heard about. And only a few of those were games I’d actually played.

Anyhow, on this list, I added a comment which explained one of the most memorable urban legends in video games, from my childhood. It went as follows (edited a bit):

When I was young and still in school, a friend (now ex-friend and bitter enemy) told me of a secret cheat in Duke Nukem 3D. He’d heard of it through a friend of his who claimed to have made it work. This cheat was known as DNLIPSTICK.

Practically all cheats entered in Duke Nukem 3D began with “DN”, which no doubt stands for “Duke Nukem”.

What the cheat allowed you to do was this:

When you’re in the Red Light District [E1L2] area’s strip club, and you enter the cheat correctly, Duke will allegedly be able to screw one of the strippers there, who so eagerly bare their assets when handed cash. Why not go all the way with the “cashman”?

In the past I tried and tried to make this cheat to work, but to no avail. My friend told me to try entering the code in different ways, and in different combinations, with some in capital letters and others not. But with no console back then, it made it difficult to see how you were typing it. It’s hard enough to just type a cheat normally and activate it.

So my opinion of this urban legend, if I have to be thorough about it is that it’s very likely fiction. Duke Nukem 3D was controversial enough back in the day without this sort of “interactivity” going on in it. This code is also not mentioned anywhere on lists of codes for the game, and due to my personal past experience with trying to get it to work, it doesn’t.

Plus, I’ve also talked to a bunch of forumites over at Duke4.net, and even though one might have heard of a similar rumour, they hadn’t seen or heard of DNLIPSTICK – the cheat code which is associated with it. Hell, if you google “Duke Nukem 3D DNLIPSTICK”, you’ll only get a few hits on a page – and they’re all from me, including this one.

The one reply pointed me to his website where I saw this and shook my head:

“To get the naked girl ending you have to beat the game 10 times in a row on the hardest setting while only using kick and you also have to not kill any lizards. If you do this you will get a movie with the lady from the strip club on level 2 show off her whole body and **** duke nukem!”

This guy also heard it from a friend at school. Go figure. They lie.

And to top it off I even contacted George Broussard of 3D Realms via Formspring. He said he’d never even heard of it. Okay, so he didn’t respond, but that’s life, huh?

Myth Busted.

2010/06/15

Apocalypse Then: Mortal Kombat 3

It was fifteen years ago, in 1995, that the third game in the legendary, lengthy Mortal Kombat series was released: Mortal Kombat 3.

It was developed by none other than Midway, released initially on arcades, with the ports handled by Williams.

I remember that I first played it when I borrowed it from a friend of my brother’s years ago. I gave the game back a while later, but I’ve actually still got the manual for it. I was so taken in my the drawings and diagrams in that book that I traced the picture of the new Sub-Zero, the younger unmasked brother of the other Sub-Zero [or Noob Saibot] in it and hung it on the wall in my room.

One thing that many didn’t like about it was that it replaced or simply left out a number of favourite characters in the series, like Scorpion and Reptile, and most of the other ninja like fighters that were present in previous incarnations.

This was remedied when Midway updated the game with Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, which put those characters back in. I remember playing that one at my neighbour's house years ago. Then after that it was updated for a second time to bring what was considered one of the last great Mortal Kombat games: Mortal Kombat Trilogy. A game that I still have and occasionally play to this day.

It was also more westernized than previous MK titles in character design as well as arenas in the game. Smoke was the hidden character, and was one of three cyborg characters. All of the characters in MK3 were digitized rather than a combination of digitization and hand drawn sprites. The soundtrack also had more of a westernized feel, with instruments sounding like guitars as well as drums.

Animalities were a new addition to series in this game, as well as Mercy.

MK 3 also inspired the second and least appreciated movie, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, with characters like Stryker and Kabal referenced, as well as others like Rain and Ermac.

If you want to play a classic, you can get Mortal Kombat 3 here at Amazon.

2010/06/12

New Mortal Kombat Game Coming Next Year, New Movie in Future Too

I agree with those who say that the last great Mortal Kombat game that ever showed up was indeed Mortal Kombat Trilogy. MK II was great, but Trilogy just put it all together – fighters and arenas from all previous games up to that point.

I will say that the animations from MK II were actually quite good - particular the ninjas and so on like Scorpion.

After Trilogy, back in 1996, the series has taken a long, slow downward turn, which culminated in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe not too long ago. Many argue that it lost its edge. And of course Midway fell apart last year and went bankrupt, with Warner Bros. buying out the studio responsible for the MK games.

Anyhow, the new Mortal Kombat game headed by Ed Boon and NetherRealm Studios, formerly known as WB Games Chicago, received a trailer and a lot of fanfare recently. They say it’s a kind of a like a remake of the original games, but in 3D. But more like Street Fighter IV, where even though things are in 3D, the fighting and so on is strictly 2D.

The first MK game to try 3D out was Mortal Kombat 4. Likely nowhere near as good as Trilogy, it looked awful – even back then.

This new Mortal Kombat, called “Mortal Kombat 9” for some time now, but now just titled Mortal Kombat, is set to be the series’ rebirth. it should be out on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2011. This all means that upon its release, it would have taken 15 years to get another great MK title.

Now I hate to be nitpicky, but if you really want to win people over again, you should come up with at least a decent PC port. Stay tuned for a petition coming your way soon.

Hey by the way, there’s also a video clip that is said to have been a pitch for the new Mortal Kombat movie doing the rounds on the net which you might like to see. They say its pretty damn awesome as well.

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Source: [Kotaku]

2010/03/24

Mortal Kombat Tribute in Dexter Series [Random Madness]

It’s common knowledge to most of us, apart from Ed Boon, Mortal Kombat co-creator, who only recently found out and tweeted about it last month, that in Dexter, Dexter’s father is none other than James Remar, the man who played Raiden in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, the second MK film [also known as the cr@p MK movie].

So most of us know about that, but I couldn’t help but smile when, in series 4 of Dexter, which we’re currently watching here in SA, Dexter was complaining about lack of sleep as usual, you could hear his baby crying in the background.

If you paid attention, and if you’ve played the Mortal Kombat games before, you would have figured out that the sound was the same as the sound of the baby crying when a fighter executed the babality finisher on an opponent, which I believe debuted in MK II.

Raiden wins.

2009/11/25

Some Cool Mortal Kombat Concept Art

The concept art I’ve seen for a proposed Mortal Kombat by former Midway visual creative director ,Vincent Proce, is pretty good to say the least. Not only has some concept art been revealed, but Vince attempted to write a more in-depth back story for the characters, which so far include Sonya Blade, Raiden, Kano, and Scorpion.

“The basis for the idea was a re-imagining of the Mortal Kombat franchise from the original premise but mixing modern multi-player and dismemberment game design with the original fighting mechanic,”
“The game idea isn’t going to happen now that I no longer work there.”

The art for the latter two is very cool indeed. Vince is going to do more art and back stories for other characters in the series as well when “he finds time”. Do Sub-Zero. He’d be cool.

He made this post a couple of months ago though, so I don’t know when there will be any new stuff.

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http://vincentproceart.blogspot.com/2009/09/here-are-never-before-seen-mortal.html http://www.thatvideogameblog.com/2009/11/20/the-mortal-kombat-that-could-have-been/

2009/09/01

Apocalypse Then: Mortal Kombat Trilogy

Developers: Point of View, Inc. (Saturn), Avalanche Software (PlayStation), Williams Entertainment (N64)
Publishers: Midway, Williams Entertainment
Series: Mortal Kombat
Engine: Updated UMK 3
Platforms: Nintendo 64, PC, PlayStation, Saturn, Game.com
Release date: September 1, 1996
Genres: Fighting

On this day in gaming, in 1996, Mortal Kombat Trilogy was released.

Mortal Kombat Trilogy combines practically everything from Mortal Kombat 1, 2, 3, and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, hence the name "Trilogy".

Back in the 90s, I was obsessed with this game. I picked it up at a reasonable price at a local secondhand shop.

My favourite character was Sub-Zero, of which there were two, the masked (older, who is now Noob Saibot), and the unmasked (younger). In fact, this is the first out of two games in the series, the other being Armageddon, to feature all the ninjas, except this game just had them as palette swaps with different moves.

I was unable to play this game on Microsoft Windows XP for years, until I discovered a patch on a fansite, totalmortalkombat.com that makes this possible. Replaying the game while listening to Megadeth, especially Countdown to Extinction, was like going back in time.

Out of all the classic MK games I've ever played, I maintain that this is one of, if not the best, even though there are others who feel differently, particularly those who got one of the console versions.

You can pick up Mortal Kombat Trilogy here if you want to play a classic.

2009/08/24

John Tobias' Birthday Today

On this day in 1969, John Tobias was born. He turns 40 today.

Tobias, a comic book artist, graphic designer and video game designer, is known for being part of the duo, along with Ed Boon, who created Mortal Kombat. He designed many of the original characters in the game.

In the late nineties, he left Midway, and after that, the mysterious character known as Noob Saibot (which is Boon Tobias backwards), became known mainly as Noob.

Tobias then formed Studio Gigante which later closed down a few years afterwards, and now works as a consultant.

2009/07/11

Another Mortal Kombat Film

And now for a title that we're all familiar with- Mortal Kombat.

Just after the recent trouble over at Midway, the director of the next Mortal Kombat film has cried foul and wants compensation by suing Midway.

That has however, confirmed the rumours that have been circulating about a third Mortal Kombat film. Chris Casamassa, the actor who took the part of Scorpion in the original, has also said he will take the part in this film as well.

Apparently this Casamassa guy is an eighth dan black belt in Karate. I had a geography teacher who was only a sixth dan in Judo.

I suppose we're all wondering why they should bother with another MK film since the second one tanked, but it is an opportune time seeing as Midway is practically gone as far as I know, bought by Warner Bros. and the continuation of the video game series is unknown.

Source:

Rumor: Third Mortal Kombat Film In Development
http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_12742587

2009/03/04

Mortal Kombat for sale

I've been going on about Mortal Kombat quite a bit recently. Well, this is news.

Recently, it has been reported that Midway is definitely considering selling Mortal Kombat, one of its most prized franchises.

Apparently Midway is in a big cash crisis, which is probably not uncommon for many devs and publishers nowadays.

And they say that the videogame industry is recession-proof...

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/midway-seeks-mortal-kombat-sale

2009/03/03

Street Fighter IV for PC!

It seems as though someone finally has some sense.

Capcom is planning to release Street Fighter IV on the PC this year. It was released on the consoles in February.

Now if only we could get Mortal Kombat and WWE Smackdown vs. Raw on the PC…

2009/02/23

Games I want: Mortal Kombat for PC

We pro- PC people haven’t had a good Mortal Kombat game since MK 4 came out. Even still, the best Mortal Kombat game I ever got to play on PC is undoubtedly Mortal Kombat Trilogy.

If they want more sales, why don’t they make even a semi-decent port for the PC? I wouldn’t mind playing a Mortal Kombat game again after all this time, but something newer..

Someone even started a petition to get the developers to make one of the next games available on PC. I would even settle for Mortal Kombat Armageddon, mainly because it had the most characters to choose from in any Mortal Kombat game.

http://www.petitiononline.com/mkforpc/petition.html

http://www.petitiononline.com/mkapcpsp/petition.html

Mortal Kombat: What in the world happened to you?

What happened to Mortal Kombat? The latest title in the series, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe just reeks of a cash- in.

Gone are the edgy days of our favourite beat-‘em-up as it now sinks even further into this commercial pit. When a game starts featuring all these new characters and teaming up with comic characters too, like from the DC stable, I just get the feeling that the developers have kind of lost their imagination and are just putting them in to create more sales and to appeal to mainstream audiences.

And not to mention, even with all the new features and pretty graphics, it just feels kind of tame. I mean, this is the series that got the ESRB up and running, and gave them something to shout about (and they haven’t stopped since).

Mortal Kombat is a household name in its own right, and its characters are well-known as it is.

Ed Boon has apparently shown interest in seeing a Mortal Kombat vs. Street Fighter as well, so it looks as though this trend is set to continue.

Next it will be Mortal Kombat vs. Dead or Alive, Mortal Kombat vs. Soul Caliber, Mortal Kombat vs. Rumble Roses, Mortal Kombat vs. (insert other fighting game here).