I worked for Midway in the Texas office from 1995-1999. Even after I left, I kept close relations with many of my friends until my return to the San Diego branch in 2002. From there, I was off and on with the company until I finally parted ways with them in 2005.
Reading all of the news with Midway’s current state saddens me. I won’t mince words in saying that I saw this coming a long time ago. It prompted my initial leaving of the company before the new millennium began, and my intent to “start fresh” with the company years later definitely reminded me that the writing I once saw was still on the wall.
When I joined Midway Home Entertainment (then Williams Entertainment), Mortal Kombat 3 had just released to the arcades. Williams/Midway was no longer letting Acclaim do publishing for their titles, as they were choosing to step into that arena themselves by purchasing Tradewest. I grew up at the arcades, and was more than familiar with titles such as Defender, Joust, Robotron, and especially Mortal Kombat. Shortly after I joined the company, they bought part Read the rest of this entry
Those keeping up on the gaming scene news may have read this little number about Midway’s *ahem* “thoughtful” means to protect and reward their top execs over… everyone else who worked there. Gotta keep those top execs who ran Midway into the ground happy with big bonuses for all their hard work, right? While I normally don’t get too snarky about one of my old “alma maters”, the misconduct is just poor, but it doesn’t surprise me. While I could tell stories, I’m not going to say more than that. I’d say from respect, but their recent antics have reached the high point of dickery, so I’ll do it more as a polite courtesy for old friends and the old good memories.
Among the recent decisions made is the now posted interest of selling the Mortal Kombat franchise to the highest bidder. Willingness to abandon a company’s flagship franchise is a sure sign that they have less intention of saving the company, and more intention of getting what the can cash-wise before they call it quits. It would be like Nintendo willing to say good-bye to Mario: The day that happens, the end is near.
Since last time, I’ve been plowing through games right and left, trying to stay ahead and check everything out. Fortunately, all of my “wants” are coming to an end, so I can just sit back and enjoy my spoils of war.
Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe has turned out to be fun. I’ve caught a little flack from my peers for liking the title, but I have a soft spot for Mortal Kombat, and it’s never gone away. That said, I’ve had some disappointment in some of the more recent titles in the series. MK Vs. DC, however, is a good return to basics. It plays like MK2 and MK3 (my two favorites in the series), and FINALLY gets rid of some of those unpleasant gameplay aspects that it picked up when it made the jump to 3D. It focuses on the better MK characters, and dumps all of the lame ones from the later games, the storyline is surprisingly coherent with that “gee whiz” comic book feel, and while the Fatalities are neutered, the control and gameplay have been restored to the special moves over combos style, and more importantly, is actually fun to play. Read the rest of this entry
An old co-worker buddy of mine sent me a link to the movies from the PSX version of Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero. Ah, 1997. Such an interesting year in my life. For many, this was just a group of actors doing some Mortal Kombat FMV. For me, it was watching a group of people I spent many years working with and who turned out to be a fun group of people.
Such an odd game, though. We petitioned so hard to get rid of that damn “turn” button….
I’ve had a day to digest this whole Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe thing. As I said before, I have a nostalgic soft spot for the series as most of my video game career was spent working on various games in the series. I’ve read a lot of the feedback from fans, watched the video, and processed the whole thought of it until now. While it’s true that Midway is 5-10 years late in coming to the party with this sort of idea when Capcom, Nintendo, and Namco have been doing this for years with putting unlikely characters their fighting games (which is also no different than Square doing similar moves with Mario and Disney characters), but I have to admit that I’m intrigued.
I don’t think the “T” rating will really hurt it. Let’s all really be honest and just admit that the Fatalities for the last few Mortal Kombat games have not exactly been the most original or inspired, and the series is no longer the leader in blood and gore like it used to be in the video game world. For a game series that is rated “M”, its generally marketed to fan base Read the rest of this entry
The Dread Pirate Guy
