With the release of Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict today, the official site has been updated with the bios for all the characters from this game - including, of course, Raiden from Mortal Kombat! Here it is:

Name: Raiden
Race: Elder God
Sex: Male
Age: Ancient
Birthplace: Unknown
Starting Weapons: Lightning Bolts, Thunder Staff
Adrenaline Abilities: Teleport, Stun Trap, Heal, Warrior Spirit
Data: As an Elder God, Raiden has been cursed with seeing the devestation to come. When the Gods stood firm on their decision not to interfere in the ways of mortals, Raiden pleaded with them to take action, but they refused. Disgusted, he relinquished his immortal status to travel amongst the realms, gathering the support of the greatest warriors against the coming storm. And there is no better place to recruit the champions of the galaxy then the Liandri Tournament.

Thanks go to MK Online chat/forum member DECEPTION for this update!

Rumours have been flying back and forth concerning the possibility of Mortal Kombat making its way to Sony's new PSP system. Such rumours have been fueled by listings in some game store sites. To get an idea of the truth, we checked with our confidential sources within Midway Games, who spoke to us under condition of anonymity. The answer they gave was a definite affirmative to the rumours. According to our confidential sources, Mortal Kombat: Deception will in fact make its way to the Sony PSP by year's end.

At this point not much else is known about the PSP port; we were given the impression that not even a ship date is known at this point. More official news will be forthcoming in the next couple of months, however. Keep it tuned here, as we will report more on these developments as we learn about them.

Our thanks to those people who emailed in News Lead Submissions about the possibility of a PSP port, and to our anonymous Midway source who helped confirm it!

Midway sent out a press release this morning announcing that they have shipped their most recent game to stores, Unreal Championship 2! Though not a Mortal Kombat game, the game is notable to MK fans because of the well-known fact that one of the unlockable characters in the game is the popular thunder god Raiden! From the press release:

"Midway, along with the millions of people involved in the Unreal community around the world, is extremely excited about the release of Unreal Championship 2," said Steve Allison, chief marketing officer, Midway. "Our recently formed relationship with Epic Games, Inc. is one that we feel extremely thrilled about, both for Unreal Championship 2 and for future Unreal products, and we are confident that gamers will be extremely enthusiastic about our first title together. Unreal Championship 2 has been given the time over its development process to be refined to its core and, as we hope people will soon see, the outcome is one of the best-looking Xbox games on the market and one of, if not the greatest Xbox Live title ever."

Unreal Championship 2 should be hitting retail shelves within the next couple of days.

To read the press release in its entirety, click here.

Update – the folks at GameSpot posted a video review of the game. To see the video review, click here. The video is available free as a free stream to all, or even as a free download as a GameSpot Basic member. Overall, they give the game a 9.4 out of 10, so it's definitely a game worth checking out! Thanks to MK Online forum/chat member DECEPTION for the info on the video review!

G4TV is at again! This time, on Attack of the Show, they give the Mortal Kombat series credit for being "the best fighting game of all time", and will see how the fighting games of today compare! Part of the episode's summary on their site:

Kevin R. is convinced that Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance is the greatest fighting game ever made. Kevin P. scoffed. After a short debate involving several other gaming titles, the two Kevins settled the matter with a round of Deadly Alliance. Kevin P. was thrashed, and the debate was tabled.

This episode of Attack of the Show will air tomorrow night at 7 PM EST. For more information on this episode, click here. Thanks to MK Online forum/chat member DECEPTION for the news!

Update – April 12, 2005 – Now that the episode has aired, it's clear that they were referring to the overall Mortal Kombat series as being the best fighting game (Not any one specific game in the series, though they compared it to Deadly Alliance). Here's some screencaps from the episode:

The guys over at Team Xbox posted six new screenshots of the upcoming game, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. The game really seems to be making a lot of progress, and these screenshots are absolutely gorgeous. Check them all out: Also, be sure check out their preview here. Thanks to MK Online user subzero256 for the word on this awesome update!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

MK Online Announces Mortal Kombat: Deception Evolution 2005 Pre-Register Program

COLUMBUS, OH - April 7, 2005 - Mortal Kombat Online, a global news leader in providing fans with the most comprehensive Mortal Kombat coverage on the web for the past six years, announced today its collaboration with the Evolution Fighting Game Championship team to push the induction of Midway Games' best selling fighting game, Mortal Kombat: Deception. Mortal Kombat Online is asking the MK Community to come forward and help get Mortal Kombat: Deception in the nation's largest tournament this August in Las Vegas, Nevada during August 12-14, 2005.

This is the chance for the Mortal Kombat Community to rise and give Mortal Kombat: Deception the chance to show the gaming elite what they have been missing. Only you can help prove that Mortal Kombat: Deception can deliver the same true tournament caliber play of games like the Tekken series.

"We are very excited to work along side the Evolution staff to finally give Mortal Kombat: Deception a chance to finally stand up among the crowd and prove that MK: Deception continues to be a strong contender as Best Fighting Game." said Scott Howell, webmaster. "Mortal Kombat has never had the chance to be at an event of this magnitude and importance, and this is something that can not be ignored. The fan base must rise to the occasion and support their game. It's either now or bust."

In order for Mortal Kombat: Deception to become officially inducted in the Evolution 2005 tournament this August, Evolution is requesting that 100 people must pre-register for the MK: Deception tournament and commit to going. Mortal Kombat Online is asking the entire MK Community and all Mortal Kombat fan sites to spread the word, pre-register, and become a part of Mortal Kombat history. Pre-Registration is planned to be open sometime within in the next week. Keep checking http://www.evo2k.com/ for details as it is announced. Currently you can view the exclusive Evolution 2005 trailer via the site.

About Evolution 2005:

The Evolution Fighting Game Championship (EVO) 2005 (http://www.evo2k.com/) is the premiere console fighting game tournament. The multi-day event plans to have over 3500 people competing in a myriad of games for over $20,000 in cash prizes. Each individual tournament has hundreds of entrants from all around the globe with thousands of people in attendance. With the addition of the Major League Gaming into the Evolution event, EVO 2005 will be the best console gaming tournament ever.

The EVO tournaments are a partnership between the VGO Network and leaders from worldwide fighting game communities. Their proven team has many years of experience working together on successful events, and includes both technical experts and hands-on tournament managers from the major sites including Shoryuken.com and TekkenZaibatsu.com. Several exhibitors and sponsors have shown support for this event in the past including Namco, Logitech, Brady Games, and NubyTech.

About Mortal Kombat Kombat Deception:

Mortal Kombat: Deception, developed by Midway Ammusement Games, pushes martial arts-style fighting and the Mortal Kombat franchise to new heights with an innovative fighting system, unparalleled depth and brutally intense action that will appeal to long-time Mortal Kombat fans as well as next-generation gamers. The game features lightning-fast, hand-to-hand and special weapons combat, secret and returning characters, new moves and combinations with death-dealing battles, and all-new life-threatening environments.

About Mortal Kombat Online:

Founded in 1998, Mortal Kombat Online has covered three E3 conventions, two Midway Gamers' Day events, two Mortal Kombat developer chats, and Game Stars Live in London. Mortal Kombat Online has gained the reputation of proving the best analysis of the games' progress while featuring exclusive hands on reviews of games like Mortal Kombat: Deception and Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, even before release. The website's growing relationship with Midway Games and the Mortal Kombat Team has supplied fans with information that can't be found anywhere else. Mortal Kombat Online in February of 2004, changed it's name from MK5.ORG, in an effort to expand its focus on the entire Mortal Kombat franchise.

Contact Information:

Scott Howell
Webmaster
scott@mortalkombatonoline.com

Joseph Schorr
Administrator
admin@mortalkombatonline.com

Scott Bishop
Senior Editor
drkbish@mortalkombatonline.com

Joey Cuellar
Evolution 2005 Director
mrwizard@shoryuken.com

Evolution 2005 - Fighting Game Championship
http://www.evo2k.com/

Mortal Kombat Online - The Ultimate Mortal Kombat Experience
http://www.mortalkombatonline.com/

Anyone who picks up the latest copy of GamePro Magazine (Issue 200, May 2005) will be able to read the winners of the 2004 GamePro GamePro Reader's Choice Awards which people have been voting on since January. From the article:

Deception's combination of Puzzle Kombat, Chess, and the time-consuming Konquest mode shot it to the number one slot. Fan favorite Dragon Ball Z ranked a surprising third, with the lovely ladies of DOA Ultimate landing at a solid second.

Congratulations to the folks at Midway for snagging yet another award for Mortal Kombat: Deception!

Midway Games announced today that Unreal Championship 2 has gone Gold, and is set to hit store shelves on Monday, April 18th exclusive to the Microsoft Xbox video game system. Mortal Kombat Online has followed this game since our Summer Gamers Day Coverage last year, when it was announced that Raiden would be making a special appearance with his unique move sets and abilities from the Mortal Kombat realm. From the press release:

The publishing & development tandem of Midway and Epic Studios have joined forces to take FPS gaming to an entirely new level by combining melee combat with proven 1st and new 3rd person FPS mechanics in its latest blockbuster endeavor, Unreal Championship 2. The highly anticipated sequel amplifies the explosive action fans have become familiar with when playing Unreal games complete with a full arsenal of new and classic ranged weapons for you to use at your disposal; plus new acrobatic, agility-based moves that will have you jumping and dodging for your life while fighting for the Ascension Rites and/or fighting against the world on Xbox Liveâ„¢!

To read the press release in its entirety, click here.

Looks like Jakks Pacific is going all the way as far as advertising their TV Games products! In addition to TV commercials, there are also advertisements placed in several gaming magazines – including, but not limited to, the May 2005 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly (Issue #191).

It just doesn't get much cooler than seeing 3-D renders of the classic Mortal Kombat characters in their original MK1 outfits!