Midway Puts Selling Mortal Kombat on the Table [Archive]

TonyTheTiger

03-02-2009, 02:36 PM

http://netdockets.wordpress.com/2009/02/25/midway-games-seeks-approval-of-a-key-employee-incentive-plan/

It's not a guarantee but the fact that an official statement even mentions the mere possibility of selling MK shows how dire things are for Midway. It looks like the ship is already almost submerged and now people are ripping doors off to use as makeshift rafts.

demen999

03-02-2009, 02:40 PM

That sucks. I remember when Midway was alright in the SNES days. They did some cool games. Sucks that it seems like they got lazy with it all, and half assed it. Although I do like MK vs.DC a good amount!
Wheelman or men whatever...It looks nice, but then seems like it will be all wacky. Just the names (Game name and Vin Diesel) alone makes me not want to try it :P

DreamTR

03-02-2009, 02:48 PM

I'm an investor in the company, and I just got my Chapter 11 Bankruptcy proceedings in the mail today for them....not looking good.

Kitsune Sniper

03-02-2009, 03:09 PM

Sudo

03-02-2009, 03:35 PM

This is Iron Draggon's big chance to buy the franchise and make it a Wii exclusive!

TonyTheTiger

03-02-2009, 03:47 PM

If this means they can pay the money they owe to their employees instead of the executives stealing it as "bonuses" then that's fine with me.

http://kotaku.com/5162447/midway-offloading-mortal-kombat-screwing-former-employees

Seriously. I'm no expert but it looks like the higher ups are looking for their golden parachutes.

heybtbm

03-02-2009, 04:06 PM

TonyTheTiger

03-02-2009, 04:18 PM

Does the average gamer even give a shit? Mortal Kombat was, at best, a B-tier title in its heyday.

I don't know about that. If I remember correctly, MKII was making more money than Street Fighter at one point. It's what inspired Capcom to try their hand at Street Fighter: The Movie.

Is the franchise even around these days? (Edit: I now see MK vs. DC just came out...got it).

I remember thinking the original arcade game was pretty cool for the time. Then came the whole "SNES version is censored / Genesis version has blood" drama. I don't remember caring since.

I guess my point is Midway treats MK as some revered, legendary franchise...while the rest of the world couldn't care less. It's kind of like the video game version of The Wrestler. Just sad.

When I think of MK I think of wasted potential. MK vs. DC is good but it's also too little too late. We should have been playing the MK vs. DC engine six years ago. The problem is that Midway as a whole is wasted potential. I can think of a number of good to great games that either never went anywhere or had shoddy sequels.

bb_hood

03-02-2009, 04:28 PM

I guess my point is Midway treats MK as some revered, legendary franchise...while the rest of the world couldn't care less. It's kind of like the video game version of The Wrestler. Just sad.

I couldn't have put it better myself!

CelticJobber

03-02-2009, 05:03 PM

Does the average gamer even give a shit? Mortal Kombat was, at best, a B-tier title in its heyday. Is the franchise even around these days? (Edit: I now see MK vs. DC just came out...got it).

I remember thinking the original arcade game was pretty cool for the time. Then came the whole "SNES version is censored / Genesis version has blood" drama. I don't remember caring since.

Just because you didn't care, it doesn't mean everyone else felt that way. Actually it seems like you must have been living under a rock back then. Because MK was HUGE at the time of the release of MK 2 and 3. It was easily the most famous video game franchise in the mid-90s, and one of the most famous of all time. Around 1993-95, you couldn't go anywhere or watch much of anything on TV without seeing a Mortal Kombat reference.

MK was on the cover of most videogame magazines, on almost a bi-monthly basis, for two years. And when I was in 5-7th grade, Mortal Kombat was literally almost the only game most of the kids ever talked about.

The hype only died down sometime around the release of the Mortal Kombat movie.

ubersaurus

03-02-2009, 05:34 PM

Does the average gamer even give a shit? Mortal Kombat was, at best, a B-tier title in its heyday. Is the franchise even around these days? (Edit: I now see MK vs. DC just came out...got it).

I remember thinking the original arcade game was pretty cool for the time. Then came the whole "SNES version is censored / Genesis version has blood" drama. I don't remember caring since.

I guess my point is Midway treats MK as some revered, legendary franchise...while the rest of the world couldn't care less. It's kind of like the video game version of The Wrestler. Just sad.

Did you live through the 90s? In the arcade era MK was THE big game in the US. Bigger than SF was at the time. They had a misstep with MK3, but made up for it with Ultimate...a game that still has a population of tourney-level players. Hell, I remember hearing an arcade around here had a few MK2 machines that were almost always full of people.

The franchise took a quality downturn with their 3d games, but they're still crazy popular, and MK vs DC was actually pretty good. Just because you don't pay attention to MK doesn't mean it has been irrelevant since MK1. As someone said, their success is what spurred Capcom to try and make SF the Movie the Game. If only that game had the development time it needed...

heybtbm

03-02-2009, 07:39 PM

Obviously, Mortal Kombat was a big deal back in the day. I never said otherwise because that's exactly my point. I'm contrasting its former "greatness" (mediocre IMO) to what it is today. In the past few years MK has become a sad, tired franchise. Midway seems to think it still has the mega appeal that it did back then. It clearly doesn't. I still say most gamers won't give a shit if MK is sold. I think my original post is pretty clear. Not sure what the angry diatribes are all about. Some people like MK, most don't. Big deal.

The 1 2 P

03-02-2009, 08:01 PM

Some people like MK, most don't.

Who gave you the authority to speak for "most" people?

I actually like the MK series alot. Theres no denying that they have made atleast a few miss steps but I also liked how they reinvented the franchise on the last gen systems(PS2,XB, GC). Having a cross over with DC was a cool idea but one that should have came after a cross over with Capcom, SNK, Tecmo or some other fighting game series.

Although MK isn't as popular of a series as it once was, it will always have gamers mindshare for the simple fact that it was so popular at one time. Regardless of if people like or don't like the series, the majority of people who have been gaming since the mid 90's have atleast heard of it. Because of that, when this series gets sold--it's going to be a big deal. That doesn't mean the next game will automatically be great but it's definitely going to make headlines.

MegaDrive20XX

03-02-2009, 08:10 PM

Kudos to whomever the buyer may be and I hope they can resurrect this series.

DreamTR

03-02-2009, 08:31 PM

Kudos to whomever the buyer may be and I hope they can resurrect this series.

ROFL

It's not like any of the major MK fighting games have "sold" poorly, and MK vs DC sold well. Not sure what people are even talking about here. If you are talking gameplay, MK vs DC is the best of the 3D games, and that is current franchise we are talking. WHat is there to "resurrect?"

Push Upstairs

03-02-2009, 08:33 PM

Danger!

dr101z

03-03-2009, 01:14 AM

Actually, I'm more concerned with what's going to happen to the classic Williams and later Atari titles when all this bankruptcy stuff really gets going. From what I understand Midway owns the rights to all Atari arcade games produced after the consumer and arcade business split up back in the 80's and all of the Williams arcade titles. It would be a real shame to see these games sold off piecemeal to a bunch of investment type companies that would whore out the products for a quick buck.

Damaramu

03-03-2009, 01:20 AM

Maybe Capcom should pick up MK, give it the SFIV style reboot....then maybe we'll finally see that Street Fighter vs Mortal Kombat game! ;)

swlovinist

03-03-2009, 01:36 AM

The MK series has seen its ups and downs, but it definately is a very decent franchise that has spawned alot of sequels that continue to sell well. While I mostly played MK as a teen, I think that it is better than many other franchises that continue to be "stuck". At least the series kept people coming back with unlockables and mini games.

To me MK II has a special place in my heart for pulling some all nighters with my friends playing to the early hours of morning only to have to walk like a zombie to work.

The MK games on the PS2 were not too bad as well.

Just think, if the MK series wen to Tecmo, Namco, Capcom, or even Sega

Not a bad thought.

MarioMania

03-03-2009, 01:58 AM

Whoever gets it should bring it back to it's roots, 2D

Rob2600

03-03-2009, 02:14 AM

it definately is a very decent franchise that has spawned alot of sequels that continue to sell well.

Like Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces? :)

CelticJobber

03-03-2009, 02:20 AM

Like Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces? :)

Those are side-games, the main MK titles usually sell respectable amounts.

And actually, I think MK Mythologies: Sub-Zero sold pretty well at the time of its release, even though it was kinda crappy.

Special Forces was a game that was never really finished after MK co-creator John Tobias and a few other original MK dev. team members left Midway, and it was dumped off as a value-priced game.

And you forgot MK Advance, which is arguably the most universally hated game of the MK franchise.

Iron Draggon

03-04-2009, 04:43 PM

COOL... maybe the new owners will be smart enough to release MK vs DC for Wii and/or PC... I'd certainly love to see this series in more competent hands

ROFL

It's not like any of the major MK fighting games have "sold" poorly, and MK vs DC sold well. Not sure what people are even talking about here. If you are talking gameplay, MK vs DC is the best of the 3D games, and that is current franchise we are talking. WHat is there to "resurrect?"

it would've sold even better if the idiots had made it for Wii and/or PC as well

This is Iron Draggon's big chance to buy the franchise and make it a Wii exclusive!

yeah, I'll just tap into my unlimited funds and buy back all the XBOX360 & PS3 versions already released to do that while I'm at it, just to piss off all the XBOX360 & PS3 owners on this board even more, since they all seem to think I hate them, just because I refuse to buy an XBOX360 or a PS3 for MK vs DC

kedawa

03-04-2009, 07:35 PM

The only way MK would make a dime on PC is if some talented developer made a MMO out of it.

Also, MK: Shaolin Monks is awesome. It's easily the best MK game since MKII.

kupomogli

03-04-2009, 08:42 PM

The only way MK would make a dime on PC is if some talented developer made a MMO out of it.

Also, MK: Shaolin Monks is awesome. It's easily the best MK game since MKII.

In my opinion, Shaolin Monks is the only good 3d MK game.

Back when MK was big I was a fan of it. Then MK4 came out. MK4 was definitely a huge step in the wrong direction, but it only got worse from then on. I played the PS2 games after that, horrible games, only for Armageddon to be a supposed reinvisionment of the MK series. So once it dropped to 19.99(which was only in a couple months,) I picked it up, and then sold it on Ebay about a week later. Armageddon is possibly the worst game I've purchased on the PS2. A crappy racing mini game, a crappy adventure mini game, and a crappy fighting mini game. The game in its entirety, just like the other PS2 titles is an incomplete product.

If MK is sold to a company that makes the series not suck, then I might give it another chance. However, the series would need to go through a complete overhaul as to not suck.