"Shadows" Trailer/New Boon Interview

Here's the new trailer:, featuring shadows of fighters as they're in battle

[ame="http://xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/14317283/mortal-kombat/videos/mortalkombat_trl_shadowstrailer_83010.html"]IGN Video: Mortal Kombat Xbox 360 Trailer - Shadows Trailer[/ame]

IGN interviews Ed Boon


IGN: Ed, thank you for joining us today to talk about Mortal Kombat. The first and primary concern for everyone out there, I think, is "Where is Superman?"

Ed Boon: Where is Superman? He's resting.

IGN: Will he ever return to Mortal Kombat?

Ed Boon: I don't know. There's no current plan.

IGN: All right. Well, those were all of my questions.

Ed Boon: Great.

IGN: It's been a pleasure talking – ah, I'm just kidding with you. Where are we right now? Where are you guys in the development of the game?

Ed Boon: Well, right now we're getting ready for the PAX show. This is going to be the first time that the public gets to play, and we're excited about that. We have a number of these events, shows and things that we're planning for. So we do that while at the same time kind of advancing the game forward in general, but our most immediate goal is getting a version ready for PAX.

IGN: For the people coming into PAX who maybe don't know that much about it, where dos this one stand in the Mortal Kombat legacy? What are people getting into?

Ed Boon: Oh, wow. You mentioned Superman in the beginning, and while [Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe] performed well, it certainly created a hunger or a lust for a little bit more bloodshed and a little bit more of what Mortal Kombat has been notorious for. We saw this opportunity to sort of give [fans] what they want on every single level – not just the fact that we're going to an M-rated presentation, which is big, but give them the gameplay they've been clamoring for. There's been a lot of clamoring for Mortal Kombat to sort of return to the 2D stuff, and I think sort of Street Fighter has verified that's a good direction. And also giving them a lot deeper of a gameplay experience than we've ever given. This Mortal Kombat is probably the one where we're most consciously going after the sort of hardcore fighting game player while staying accessible, which is something Mortal Kombat's always kind of focused on – that anybody can have fun with it.

This is Mortal Kombat kind of going back on two or three different levels: M-rated presentation with the crazy fatalities, the 2D combat, and a deeper fighting engine.

IGN: So, how hard is it to balance that? You're talking about still wanting to have that "pick up and play" type of thing where anyone can just jump in and have fun but also balance it so the super-hardcore people who put 300 hours into the game can still get more out of it.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]: It's a constant source of conversation that we always have, but I guess I would describe it as layers. The analogy I always bring up is that I want anybody to be able to throw Scorpion's spear. I want anybody to make Sub Zero slide through an ice ball. I don't want to do attacks that only 20 percent of the public have the dexterity to perform. That's always, to me, a negative. But at the same time, we're cutting up our moves so that there are opportunities within a move that the casual player might not be interested in or might not dig into – certainly immediately – but the hardcore guy can get into. Like when you throw Scorpion's spear, there might be a moment in there, a few frames where they can break out of it or enhance it or put another move in there.

From the casual guy's standpoint, he can still do cool, macro fun stuff, but we're dissecting things and creating opportunities that the hardcore guys can really dig into.

IGN: Excellent. Who all's going to be back for this? What characters are we looking at?

Ed Boon: Well, the announced characters –

IGN: No, no. I don't want to hear the announced ones. I want to hear the one's you're revealing right here.

Ed Boon: Well, I wish I had the OK to give you that information. I can tell you this though, and I've said this a number of times, this is in some ways a retelling of the [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] I-II-III storyline. I think for the most part, if you have a favorite character from Mortal Kombat I, II and III, there's a very good chance that they're going to be in the game.

IGN: As far as PAX then, this is people's first chance really to get hands on with it. We haven't really seen any footage outside of the trailer at Gamescom. Where is this build? What can people expect when get there? Who is actually playable in Seattle?

Ed Boon: There's going to be all the characters from E3 – which I think there were six or eight – with the addition of Kitana from Mortal Kombat 2 and Cyrax from Mortal Kombat 3.

IGN: It seems like there's been a little bit of a Mortal Kombat renaissance. You figure the game we've been hearing about for a while now, but what did you think that trailer that went up that people were freaking out about? [Only registered and activated users can see links. ].

Ed Boon: Oh, I was freaking out along with everybody. I was person number 1 million sitting in front of my computer monitor going "What the hell is this? Oh my God." This reimagining of Mortal Kombat, and I thought it was cool. I thought it was something they should be given the chance to make. It certainly had a very defined personality and style and direction. This guy has a vision, clearly, so I would love to see it happen.

IGN: Have they reached out to you since then?

Ed Boon: No. Nobody's reached out to me. I've been asked a number of times about it. To be honest, it's really not my decision. I suppose I could help champion the cause by just throwing in my endorsement or something like that, but I don't own Mortal Kombat. Warner Brothers does. So it's not like "Ed, do you want to make the movie? Nope? Then, OK, we won't."

IGN: But, I mean, you're Noob Saibot. You could make it happen.

Ed Boon: I can have some influence, probably, but I don't know if I could make it happen.

IGN: Well, great, is there anything else you want to touch on? This is the big reveal for the public; what do you want them to know coming into PAX?

Ed Boon: It's funny. Whenever people play this game, everybody to me kind of volunteers this information of "Wow, this reminds me of playing Mortal Kombat II at the Pizza Hut down the street" or "the 7-11 when I was 15 years old." Just some oddly specific memory that they want to volunteer for me. That's what this game is. It's the Mortal Kombat II and III kind of experience. The 2D stuff. Those great strategies of jumping over projectiles and ducking under projectiles and throwing people and stage Fatalities and really shocking, gruesome Fatalities. Stuff that has been very signature to Mortal Kombat that we took a departure from.

And now, we're coming back with a vengeance. As aggressively as possible in all those categories that I talked about. To me personally, I'm confident that the people who play are going to walk away totally psyched to buy this game.

IGN: Final question: of the announced characters, who has the coolest Fatality?

Ed Boon: Who has the coolest Fatality? Let me run through them in my head.

IGN: Watch them all in slow motion.

Ed Boon: Kung Lao, I think to me, is the coolest Fatality. It's the combination of his two Fatalities from Mortal Kombat II. He throws his hat and it's like a boomerang style. So when it comes back, it cuts the other guy's head off. And that's like one of his Fatalities from last game. But then, before he falls over, he splits the guy like a banana right down. From his neck down, and then those two parts peel away. And then you just have three parts. His head and the two halves of his body. It's awesome.

IGN: Excellent. Can't wait to see it.

Ed Boon: It's even cooler in 3D.[ame="http://xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/14317283/mortal-kombat/videos/mortalkombat_trl_shadowstrailer_83010.html"][/ame]

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