Ninja_Arts Wrote:
Given how something like this would probably follow the same format as dk publishing's encyclopedia series, what all would you guys be looking for in that? I'm thinking precious timeline and current, background lore, etc...

Ninja_Arts Wrote:
I kind of wish you were authoring the book....haha

Ninja_Arts Wrote:
Coming up on 100. Come on guys. We need to make this a thing.

Gillbob316 Wrote:
I have mixed feelings...

I would absolutely love and cherish a quality MK Encyclopedia/Compendium... but... nitpicky fan that I am, I'm skeptical that if they made one, it would be of sufficient quality, lol...

The Marvel books by DK you cited, aren't without their flaws when scrutinized.

They often have errors or don't quite connect the dots of certain entries correctly. Glossing over details to create the wrong impression. But some of that could be attributed to the complex/retconny nature of the comic book stories they're summarizing. Some of that might also apply to MK, because MK is also complicated and retconny in its story telling. Not to mention all those half-true what-if endings muddying the waters.

The DK books are often kept very general, and don't go into a lot of detail. They give you a paragraph summary of most events/characters... not the type of in-depth info a hardcore geek might actually want.

I don't know about you guys, but I'd want like... an in-depth summary of what every character was doing during every game. A full summary of their story, as deep as we could possibly get with it for each character. Now I wouldn't expect we'd get like... info on Hsu Hao during MK1, for instance, but say... Sheeva. Her wherabouts/goings on during Deadly Alliance were explained during that game's Konquest mode. I'd want that to be in there, but I'm skeptical it would be. I feel like they'd just gloss over her major role in MK3 as Sindel's protector, then move on.

I feel like we'd be more likely to get general blurb descriptions for each character, much like the MK9 character bios. Things that tell us the broad details we all know and have heard 100 times, with none of the fine detail.

The way DK does it, Guys like Scorpion would certainly get a whole page or two, but the lesser characters would just be a half page and a paragraph. Which strikes me as lame. Frankly I don't need to know more about Scorpion, he gets enough attention. I'd LOVE to get more friggin' backstory on Chameleon though... which I doubt they'd put in there.

The artwork is also very often hit and miss in DK's books... I question some of their choices. I for one prefer a nice clean full-body render/drawing when it comes to that sort of thing... showing the character off well, but... DK usually gets really across the board, showing a broad variety of art. Which is good in some instances, but it others makes you go, "This picture sucks, why did they choose this one?"

SO... I dunno...

I love the idea in theory.
I'm skeptical it would live up to my expectations in practice.

I actually bought the MK: Armageddon guide hoping it might be a little like this. I was hoping there would be a biographical blurb for each character at least, so that some info might finally arise for guys like Meat and Chameleon. But nope. That guide sucked.

I also just bought the first MKX comic trade paperback, just because it had some extra concept art in the back... despite the fact I already own all the paper and several of the digital comics, lol...

SO ANYWAY YEAH... Super interested... but doubtful it would live up to my high expectations.

NinjaTweak Wrote:
I'd buy it, even if it cost $200-$250, but there aren't enough like me to make it a priority to a mega-corp who owns the property rights.

The problem is that physical books are dead. They aren't cheap, they certainly aren't cheaper with electronic competition and less demand now, and the more affordable you try to make it by cutting content, the less appeal they have.

It's a lose-lose if they aim for large volumes of sales. I'm not upset NRS isn't doing an artbook. I'm more sad that there's no official strategy guide for MKX, but even that is understandable.

I think its best chance is to do a limited run only. That, or only print copies after they're ordered. Neither of those will be cheap.