I'v always been a supporter of people who wernt afraid of what People think when it comes to creativity. I happen to be an Artist who is always Critisised and overllooked cause people think my Stuff is "too Dark and Disturbing" as for Midway and Mortal Kombat. I think alot of Times yes There are holding back. Becuse The Big corperation is Looking over there Shoulder. and Are really afraid of what those consequences are. Hopfully one day they will take that risk and Unleash whatever is in them no matter what other people will think

MK really has done everything it possibly could in terms of violent well.. anything. Our nation doesn't seem to place much of a wow in violence anymore when it comes to video games because it has become expected for any game with an M rating. The only way for MK to get more controversy is to probably aim for a higher rating and the only higher rating for MK would be AO (Adult Only), which Midway would never do due to the fact that most stores will never ever put an AO game on their shelves, which would mean many people would never buy an MK and certainly not many new people who didn't know about MK would pick it up, which would hurt Midway immensely (not being able to pull in new fans).

Anyhow, the only way for MK to get the AO rating would definitely not be from violence, but things like nudity or a sex-minigame like the unlocked Hot Coffee sex-minigame in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Things like that or explicitly put nudity and sex into the game.

In all reality, MK can't really be more violent. You can make it look more gritty and dark, but even then, dark games are also a norm nowadays.

The issue, i think, is that the game has almost fallen into 'cartoon violence' teritory. Its just too comical, and therefore, destroys the mood. Although dark IS the norm nowadays, that is where MK belongs. Mortal Kombat should be dark and gritty, with a balance of realistic and slightly over the top gore, but certainly not cartoony.

Great thread JoE, I couldn't agree more about the conteroversy issue for MK. Since the early/mid 90's, games have gone far above and beyond MK in terms of violence and gore (take Psi-Ops and The Suffering...Two Midway games no less, as examples) as well as shock value (GTA of course, as well as its many clones and others). I think that my problem with this is the fact that the shock value and the violence were new back then, and along with the digitized graphics and secrets and storyline all toegether culminated in a videogame that was nothing less than cutting edge. Since then, fighting games have evolved, may games taking cues from MK along the way, and with the myraid of other games out now doing violence and shock value, MK seems to have lost that cutting edge feeling.

Wooo oooh that cutting edge feeeeling. Oh sorry...Ummm...

Seriously though, MK's violence and gore was on the cutting edge for a long while, angering senators and shocking kids. Now that we've seen all of that, does MK need to take it to the next level (AO rating?) I say no. What MK needs to do, as Ember said, is eliminate the cartoon stuff. Make the characters look like real people. The next generation of systems will help with that. But also, the blood needs to look real, and the violence needs to look and sound real. No more 49 rib cages flying out of someone when they explode. The fatalities and attacks need to look sinister. The character being hit or killed needs to make the player feel their fear and their pain. I'm not just talking about suffering, though that's part of it. I'm talking about sheer panic being displayed as the character knows that their life is about to end. There should be mild struggle from the defeated opponent. Sweat glistening and running down their bruised faces (see NBA Live 05 next gen for what I'm talking about with the sweat), savage grunts from both characters, muffled screams, gurgling, bone chips, tissue exposed: The whole nine yards.

All of this done with characters that look as real as those seen in Gears of War for example. Fatalities should be cinematic in this regard, with close ups of fingernails breaking, blood soaked bones and tissue jutting through flesh, etc, but the in game engine should be just as good. We should hear the sounds (not just one or two canned screams that have been vastly over recycled throughout the years) and we should feel the pain of each punch to the ribs, each punch that knocks teeth out and rattles jaws, each sound of a bone breaking and each wincing moment of agony as a character is burned with a fireball. That, to me, is next generation violence. It needs to be real. Not plastic polygons ripping just ripping off limbs while galactic koolaid bursts from unseen vessels.

I think that MK can do all of this without getting an AO rating. I also think that they should. It's just one more way to get MK back to the cutting edge where it was over a decade ago. With new hardware should come new innovation. If we get the same plastic characters with some new moves and costumes, I'll be sorely disappointed. MK:D was a sequel to MK:DA on the same system. There should be no excuses when it comes to taking everything about MK to the next level on the new platforms. Lifelike graphics, realistic gore, more cinematic and grandios feel to the game (from storyline and plot to fatalities and the matches themselves) and the improvements to the fighting engine that this series desperately needs.

Just my ten cents.

I saw the intro to Tekken 5 on a demo disc today and the first thought that came into my head was if that wasnt heihachi and (whatever his sons name is) and those Jack bots were Terkunin, i would be lookin at the perfect style for MK7. Seriously, it has Jack bots being shot in mass numbers through the roof of a building, and a massive fight. But its the dark lighting, heavily detailed and realistic models, and fast pace action, that NEEDS to be in an MK game, not the light shading and cartoony action.

Also, i got my hands on God Of War demo. Grab-heavy hit on a standard enemy at the start... he tears them in two and lunges through their ripping body. Its this dark, gritty and although humanly impossible, so realistic you believe it style that Mortal Kombat needs. GoW isnt a game that violent that I think it would generate any controversy, but thats the kind of style that if injected into MK, would really draw crowds. I dont think its the controversy missing from MK, just the dark, gritty, realistic theme. Advertising a product in that sense would draw massive crowds.

Controversy does not risk a games selling potential. Grand Theft Auto 3 is the perfect example. If you are a 15 year old kid, you WILL find a way to gain a copy of an "M" or above rated title. I know I would have.

If anything, it makes more people want it. At least Mortal Kombat is a fantasy world, unlike the concept of Grand Theft Auto.

i think it would be a good idea for them to take the next step in what they are known for. To explain on this what i mean is the fatalities look cool yes...but why...because of technology. With technology comes better graphics. That goes hand in hand, better tech=better looking fatalities.

But what i think MK is lacking is the the will to emphasize on the fatality...details,realistic kills. There are pros and cons. In realistic views theres only so much that can happen...with imagination you can exaggerate things. But i think instead of people engulfed in flames running around...show they skin burning and melting off the muscles. Maybe only scorch their backs and rip of the clothing from their back peeling the burnt skin off with it like torturing your opponent. I think realistic things that could actually be done will boost MK to the next level of violence and maybe bring back the shock factor of "oh sh*t did he really do that" or instead of just ripping off a head how bout alittle more realistic, maybe start carving into the head or hacking it until it is loose then pulling hard.

Not only the torturing and more realistic fatalities but i strongly feel if they want that AO label (if) then they will have to be more realistic with the human figure. the porportions and details are all there...but be honest with yourself the women are wearing skimpy clothes and fighting and getting hit with blades, knives ect. Guys are fighting as well with loose clothes...In reality there will be nudity or partial nudity...mileena gets hit with a broad sword on her shoulder then her strap will be cut and that is that. Its reality.

There should also be body detail. If a arm is hit heavily with a sword or stabbed then its gonna leave a chunk. Gashes, cuts that are realistic. Weapons like axes do not leave bruises. thats just gullable and fake.

Also and lastly if MK wants to appeal to shock factor then make sinister characters more sinister. Example Kano is vicious and it is not brought out enough. I think Kano would seriously rape a women then slit her throat, or be psychotic and stab someone like Sonya up her P*$$Y with butterfly knives or do something crazy like chop off boobs or to a guy stab his nuts. These sexual features are avoided with caution but in real life combat they are attacked sometimes. A fatality where Kano would gut someone from the neck down to the groin in detail would be horrific if he unclothed them first and it zoomed in with intense realistic screams of pain and organs or stabbed them up the poop shute and then force the blades up their spine...even more grotesque would be someone dark like kano again actually incapacitate an opponent and then skinning them alive as they can only scream. As Kano would start to skin them very detailed the normal proceedure would play, kano wins! Fatality! as he is skinning them. Video game violence is somewhat diluted and steps like this would be the next phase...AO would only mean adults could buy the product but noones dumb here...kids will get a hold of it and they are not as bright as some of us. As games get more realistic you cant always rely on the fact that kids should know better than to do those things coz theres always gonna be one person out there that does that...i.e. the incident not too long ago when a couple of kids killed a boy performing moves from MKD on him. Increased violence would lead to things like this that some people (not me) would try to hold midway responsible and thats not something i think they wanna go through...yes they will win but it will be costly to dispute.

Mk has come far from the old days where someone blew up and there were like 9 feet laying around and a million bones. I think if they took realistic fatals and emphasized on inhumane deaths and indepth details on them to further evolve a character on how they would kill and fight then it will shoot straight up to AO. Also remember the clothing and body. Clothes rip, they come off, their shredded its natural. except armor its hard to stripp that off. Also bodies...they gash, open up, limbs fall off during battle, There should be limb strength. If hit severly enought through out the battle they can lose a limb and rely on a series of new attacks now that they have only one arm...Some areas are more disabling...obviously if hit in the head numerous times you will cut through it with a sharp object resulting in an in-battle fatality unlike the in-battle stage fatals during battle. It will also give you more reason to practice your high/low attacks...if you see their arm is weak utilize more attacks that side step to that limbs side and through high attacks.

the last thing to geteveryone mad was the hot coffee mod for gta san andreas so if midway wants to piss people off they should jsut let you unlock a scene of
"mk couples" having sex like a big orgy lol



it would totally cheapen the game tho...


the reason noone cars anymore isbecause games have jsut gotten more and more violent...


when mk 1 came out the most violent games were in cartoon form and there no blood...hence the splash it made