Yet another member of the press reports from their attending Midway Gamers Day, this time IGN. Most of the article covers what we already know from previous news bits, but they go a bit more in depth on how the indicator lights work in determining what state your character is in during gameplay. From the article:

As far as the fighting mechanic is concerned, the biggest change is the inclusion of indicator lights that show you what state your opponent is in. For instance, if an opponent launches an attack that misses, he may be open to a counter, and the lights will indicate that. By the same token, if you unleash a strong attack, your own fighter's light will show that, and give your opponent information on how to go about attacking you. While some fans may balk at this concept, it seems like it will add an interesting dynamic to each fight. Those well-versed in reading the indicators should do a lot better. And of course, there is always the option to turn the lights off completely.

Also, they touch on how each of the two confirmed consoles will get online:

The PS2 version will go online thanks to GameSpy, and the Xbox game will, of course, use Xbox Live.

As well, IGN also has three exclusive screenshots, showing Nightwolf, Ermac and Baraka, and alternate uniforms. In one background shown, there is a bloody tornado which has bones swirling in the mass...very likely a stage element which can be interacted with. You can read the full article and see the screenshots for yourself here.

Special thanks to forum members Agilo, Cham, and ShoHayabusa for the news.

Game Informer was also able to attend Midway Gamers Day. The most exciting news on MK Deception from the article is the fact that they have confirmed the presence of Kabal. The plan is to have 24 characters total (as reported by GameSpot yesterday, with 14 available from the start, 10 unlockable. 8 of the characters are brand new (like Hotaru and Ashrah), 6 are returning from Deadly Alliance, and 10 from classic MK games. Also, check out some of the really cool stages we can look forward to in Deception:

One was a collapsing pillar level where through out the match, the outer rings will continue to collapse until you have a small center pillar. The other was a Ying Yang type level where the Ying side was a nice beach area, and the Yang side was a rainy, desolate opposite. While you are fighting the Ying and Yang sides switch randomly.

They also go into detail on the Puzzle Kombat mode:

Puzzle Kombat is basically a puzzle fighter type game with a Mortal Kombat twist. There will be special moves that you can perform, and of course fatalities will also play a role as well.

Read the article in its entirety here. Thanks to MK Online Forum members ShaolinChuan and mister_satan666 for the news.

GameSpot has released a massive two-page preview of the next installment of the bloodiest franchise ever, Mortal Kombat: Deception! Included is new information that was not mentioned in the April issue of PSM. For instance, from the start 14 playable characters will be available with a grand total of 24 on the select screen. GameSpot also dwells in further on the improved fighting system. Though based on the popular Deadly Alliance core engine, the following details have been learned:

The additions to the combat system appear to be adding a level of strategy that should please fighting fans looking for more depth. A new position switch move, similar to the position swap seen in Tekken 4, will let you quickly switch your place with an opponent if you're backed into a corner, which should come in very handy. However, the most interesting addition is undoubtedly what Boon dubbed "fight state indicators." The indicator appears vertically on the lower left- and right-hand sides of the screen and identifies your fighter's current state on-the-fly during a battle. The color-coded indicators let you know when you're vulnerable to attack, able to counterattack, or are in a danger zone. Obviously, when the indicator isn’t reacting at all you'll know all is well. The stoplight-like meters, whose appearance is still a work in progress, struck us as a training wheel-like addition to the game. The indicators should help veteran players hone their skills to perfection and let new players get a better understanding of the fighting system, which seems like a pretty savvy equalizer to include.

The article also gives a great description on the new interactivity associated with the different stages and backgrounds:

Another sign of the fighting system's evolution is the way its new features relate to the game's backgrounds. The arenas will be multi-tiered and feature a high level of interactivity that will end up enriching the fighting system. Boon stated that the arenas will end up playing a big role in the flow of the battle, almost as much as the character you choose, based on their unique size and shape. Some will slowly crumble as you fight on them, making a "ring out" sort of victory possible. Another background Boon talked about was a sort of "yin and yang" arena that randomly flips between good and evil. On the good side, you'll see a Virtua Fighter-like beach, complete with seagulls and a generally peaceful setting. But when that flips around, you'll get an evil version of the same background. Getting knocked out of the arena on the good side won't be so bad for the losing player... but getting knocked out when things aren't so pleasant will probably be a bloodier affair.

For the rest of the gruesome details, you can check out the preview in its entirety here.  Below are three new screenshots that appeared with the article:

Thanks to Mortal Kombat Online forum/chat user JRF and MK Online Network member Murdoink for the news tip!

Movie site Dark Horizons is reporting that Threshold Entertainment has stated that despite any reports to the contrary, the third Mortal Kombat movie is still in production. From the article:

Despite reports last week it seems to have died, other gossip has surfaced that the third "Mortal Kombat" film still has something of a pulse: 'Dave' contacted Threshold Entertainment and asked if it was off, their response: "No, most certainly not. It's happening, just not at New Line. We have Christopher Lambert, Lynn Red Williams, and Linden Ashby amongst others starring".

There is no word yet of a release date, but we anticipate that it should be no earlier than 2005. To read the article in its entirety, click here.

Our thanks to MK Online Network member Shinnokxz of the Unofficial Mortal Kombat 3 Movie Page for the heads-up on this story!

The Official MK Deception site has released a high resolution version of the Mileena image found in the April edition of PSM. Our thanks to MK Online forum member Glacius for the tip.

Playstation.com has come through with a few more details concerning Mortal Kombat: Deception, that they took note of while attending the Midway Gamers Day in Las Vegas. From the article:

You begin your quest as a 13 year-old apprentice warrior whose appearance you can choose to customise before you set off seeking your fighting fortune. You'll roam through six different realms, learning three different fighting styles of your choosing. Depending on which masters you visit on your travels, you can mix and match your styles - meaning if you want two weapon-based styles and one 'open palm', you can do that.

Best of all, once you feel your character has what it takes to crack digital heads, you can take them online and say "Fight me!" to anyone else with a PS2, Network Adaptor... and the game, naturally. As Midway pointed out to us, the more you roam in Konquest mode, the more likely you'll be turning heads with your exotic fighting styles and super special moves.

For those of you who couldn't get enough of those extra goodies packed into Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, and strived to open every Koffin available - well, there's good and bad news. The good: plenty of secret stuff to find in Deception. The bad: it's going to be spread all the way through those six, huge realms... Look out for more Mortal Kombat: Deception details soon, here on PlayStation.com.

Thanks to Mortal Kombat Online forum/chat user Murdoink for the news tip!

We finally got our hands on the Mortal Kombat: Deception screenshots from the PSM article that are slowly surfacing. These are also the same shots that showed up at WorthPlaying, a few days ago. Click on any of them below for your viewing pleasure.

From the Article:

Midway recently held an event to show off its 2004 lineup. The company is headed in a much different and much better direction this year. Gone are the days of Freaky Flyers and Dr. Muto, and in are edgy action games like NARC, unique stealth-action games like Psi-Ops, and ridiculously smooth arcade-sports titles like NBA Ballers. The company's future is looking bright, but the best is yet to come. Midway showed a teaser of the next Mortal Kombat and talked a bit about John Romero's (remember him?) work on the next Gauntlet.

There are oodles of goodies for you to check out. We have previews of upcoming titles, tons of screens, great movies, impressive presentations, and a special video of what Psylancer really does when he's at a press event. Soak it all in!

The Article covers several games, some new, and some older titles given a new lease on life.
Games such as NARC, Area 51, Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy, The Suffering, Mortal Kombat: Deception and several others are previewed.
And, of course, Videos and Teasers such as The Mortal Kombat: Deception Trailer and a Midway Gamers Day 2004 spycam video are covered as well. (downloads require at least a basic fileplanet membership)

You can find the full article with links to previews and content HERE, courtesy of Gamespy.com

The guys over at GameSpot have written an article entitled: When Two Tribes Go to War: A History of Video Game Controversy. Of course, no such article would be complete without mentioning Mortal Kombat - one of the main games that inspired the rating system still used by video games today.

What made it stand out? "Everything was over the top," said Greeson. "From the pools of blood spewing from your character, to the outrageous gruesomeness of the game's fatalities. Mortal Kombat not only shocked anyone who had ever played the game, but those who simply walked by the game were mesmerized by its gore."

Head on over and read the full article here - and thanks to forum/chat member Agilo of Scorpion's Realm for alerting us to the presence of this article.

WorthPlaying has updated with five screens from Mortal Kombat: Deception! The screens (which appear to be identical to some shown in the recent PSM article about MK: Deception) feature a screenshot of Puzzle Kombat, Sub-Zero kicking Ermac through a barrier, Scorpion being knocked through a wall, the Archon-like MK strategy game (which appears to use sprites from MK: Deadly Alliance), and Sub-Zero facing off against Baraka.

To see the article in its entirety, click here. Users of software or browsers that block pop-up windows should be warned that the full-size images will not be displayed until the pop-up blocking is disabled.

Our thanks to the many members of the forum who gave us the heads-up on these screenshots!

Forum/chat member Hydro was able to get us a copy of the PSM feature article on Mortal Kombat: Deception, and it was worth the wait! The issue is chock-full of information on the different play modes. Rather than quote the article, we're going to summarize what we have learned.

Konquest mode has returned in a much expanded form. Unlike MK: Deadly Alliance's Konquest, the new version is much more akin to something out of Grand Theft Auto. You still have to attend the dojo to learn from characters like Bo'Rai Cho, but there are also random encounters and events in the village that can be the clue to secret techniques and other rewards. (You can even beat up hapless villagers for the heck of it). As in MK:DA, the goal of Konquest is to learn the combos and strategies of the game. Best of all, Konquest acts as a create-a-character mode, where you build up your generic monk character through the Konquest, and when done, can use him in the other game modes, including online play.

As far as characters go... Nightwolf is indeed confirmed to return in the game. Noob Saibot is also poised to return. One surprise, though, comes in the form of Sindel, who, like Nightwolf, is making her first appearance in MK since Mortal Kombat Trilogy. New characters include an armored warrior named Hotaru, and the mysterious white-clad woman in the trailer, called Ashrah. The unknown warrior referred to in the last news article is in fact Sub-Zero's alt costume; not much is revealed about him either. Moreover, it is revealed that the boss in this game is the Dragon King, whose unseen presence figured prominently in the events of MK: Deadly Alliance. Speaking of said events, it is also confirmed that the game takes place in the aftermath of Deadly Alliance.

The gameplay also has been tightened up since the last MK. As before, each character has three fighting stances, though they are barely touched upon in the article. However, the characters are now quicker and easier to move around. In addition to their armed fighting styles, the arenas now have weapons available that can be picked up, and they are more powerful than the characters' standard weapons. Also, stages have what are known as "Death Traps" (aka, stage fatalities), which are red areas in which a stage fatality can be performed. It doesn't say explicitly, yet it sounds as if Death Traps can be used in mid-battle. Other, more minor traps can be present, such as flames and the like. The levels are often huge, taking up multiple levels. An example of one arena was shown in the form of the Netherbelly, which is presumably the interior of the Nethership from MK: Deadly Alliance. This is the arena featuring the swinging corpses, and concept art shows Kenshi being grabbed if he gets too close to a wall with people looking through a window. Each character, according to Boon, will have two or more fatalities, and there are even rumours of "hara kiri" moves, which bring to mind the Suicidality rumours of yore.

Side games? They show that as well. These side games are different from the Test Your Might/Sight of old. The first is a strategy board game akin to chess or Archon, with the kombatants as pieces on a chessboard. Attempting to capture a piece requires the opponents to duke the characters out a la standard arcade mode. The other game, Puzzle Kombat, is similar to Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, where small deformed characters have it out in the middle of a Tetris-style puzzle game.

Due to copyright reasons, we are not able to provide scans of this article. You can find the PSM article in newsstands near you very soon!

Our thanks to Hydro and Dragula21 for the heads-up on the article!

PS2 IGN has revealed PSM's exclusive preview of Mortal Kombat: Deception, with an image of the front cover featuring Sub-Zero's new look, and a page from the actual magazine. The magazine page confirms the return of Noob Saibot by showing him fighting against Ermac, and also a glimpse of the mechanics of the Slaughterhouse stage fatality, by showing a red "danger" area from which a stage fatality can be performed. The stage fatality image shows an unknown warrior against Ermac; could this be another of the new characters?

The images (in both low-res and high-res form) can be found here. We'll report further as we have more information.

Our thanks to forum moderator Mobster4Christ and forum member TemperaryUserName for the heads-up on this story!

According to an article at TeamXbox, Mortal Kombat 3 will also be included in the Midway Arcade Treasures II collection.

Speaking of Mortal Kombat, the series will also be featured in the upcoming Midway Arcade Treasures II, which is set for a holiday 2004 release. Continuing on the strong stable of Midway classics, Arcade Treasures II will include the original Mortal Kombat, MKII, and MK3. Other titles set to be part of the package include the arcade versions of NARC, SpyHunter 2, Arch Rivals and Total Carnage. The full lineup hasn’t been announced, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted on what is sure to be one of the best compilation titles ever

We haven't heard official confirmation yet from Midway, but expect to hear more on this Midway Compilation in the future. It is not known at this time if the mention of MK3 above is referring to the upgraded Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 version. Thanks to Mortal Kombat Online users CAMK and takuguy for the tip-off.

UPDATE: We have confirmed with Midway that Mortal Kombat 3 is in fact included in the compilation, though it is not known yet whether it will be MK3, Ultimate MK3, or both. We will report more as we learn it. -- D'Arque Bishop

I spoke to a source within Midway Games today, and he confirmed for us that Mortal Kombat: Deception will not be released for Game Boy Advance. With that news, it appears that the only consoles MK: Deception is currently scheduled for release on are Playstation 2 and X-Box. However, our contact did state that a final decision concerning the GameCube version was still to be determined, despite earlier reports.

Our thanks to our contact at Midway for the heads-up on this information! We will report more information as we receive it.