There's a reason Scorpion can fight Superman in "Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe," but game's scribe (and veteran comic author) Jimmy Palmiotti says it doesn't really matter.
"Why is that guy fighting that guy?" said Palmiotti during a brief interview at Comic-Con. "Well, ha! Why? Because it's fun, that's why."
Comic fans up in arms about the unrealistic nature of the fighting mash-ups weren't the only ones with concerns, though. When Palmiotti and fellow comics veteran Justin Gray were brought in to work with Midway and DC, they found the two sides didn't see eye-to-eye.
"The 'Mortal Kombat' people and the DC people were like 'No, no! You can't do that! Those guys don't meet, they're in different dimensions!' Blah blah blah!" he said. "We came in to fix that."
It hasn't yet been revealed what that fix is, however, as "Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe"'s storyline remains a secret. Palmiotti promised we'd learn the answers to everything as we get closer to the game's release.
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I've been attending E3 for more than a decade, but this year marked my first Comic-Con.
Games, like movie and TV before it, have continued to become a bigger deal at Comic-Con every year. Towards the end of the show, it struck me -- this is where the old E3 should end up.
Merging with Comic-Con would allow gaming to become part of the spectacle that was so desirable at the once-mammoth E3. It would fill the growing need for a public showing, giving companies a rare chance to meet one-on-one with their hardcore fans.
It makes perfect sense!
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I couldn't believe how many video game figures were on display at Comic-Con 2008. "God of War," "Gears of War," "Resident Evil 4," "Final Fantasy XIII," "Halo 3," "World of Warcraft," -- the list goes on and on and on. More impressively, many of them were debuting for the first time at Comic-Con.
Games were a bigger deal at Comic-Con than I could have ever anticipated. Below, I've slotted many more game-related figure shots. Unfortunately, I didn't take notes on prices or release dates, but what I do remember from all of them...they're all going cost a pretty penny. Time to start saving.
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Scorpion fighting Superman? Sub-Zero battling Batman? Really? Really? Yes, really, it turns out.
There are plenty of reasons to be skeptical "Mortal Kombat" co-creator Ed Boon and his team at Midway would properly harness DC Comic's greatest heroes (and villains) for a crossover game, but my time spent with "Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe" washed away most of those.
It's an addictive, deceptively simple fighter, where a seasoned "Mortal Kombat" player (read: me) can pair with someone who's never played -- and lose.
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There are four new characters in "Street Fighter IV" -- Crimson Viper, Abel, El Fuerte, Rufus -- but America is playing one more than any other: Abel.
That surprised the game's producer, Yoshinori Ono, while watching fighting fans play the game at Comic-Con 2008 last week. He told me he expected them to gravitate elsewhere.
"With all due to respect to him, he's a great character, but honestly we thought Crimson Viper would be a big hit here," said Ono. "We got a lot of marketing data and a lot of advice from our US branch in creating that character. She was kind of custom tailored for the States and we thought people would like her."
Ono watched "Street Fighter" fans over the four days of Comic-Con and intends to take their feedback -- Abel and Crimson Viper included -- back to Japan. "What we need to do now is find out what his [Abel's] deal is, why they like him and use that information going forward," he said.
Which new "Street Fighter IV" character are you a fan of, readers? What is it about Abel?
We still don't have "Street Fighter IV" on consoles, but I couldn't help but wonder if the game's producer, Yoshinori Ono, had look into the future.
With the major hurdles for the fourth installment conquered, has started thinking about …"Street Fighter V"?
Traditionally, the gap between "Street Fighter" games is vast. Will that be the case here, as well? Right now, Ono isn't sure.
"It's really early to be thinking about that because "IV" just came out in the arcades," he said. "I don't really think anyone at Capcom is thinking about "V" just yet. What we might see happen, depending on feedback from the arcade and what players think of this version of "IV," we may or may not see upgrades to "IV" before we ever take the next big step to "V." It's really is just too early to tell, to be honest."
Looks like the next step depends on your feedback, readers! Have any of you played "Street Fighter IV" yet? What suggestions do you have?
I didn't know what to expect of "Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe" before seeing it at Comic-Con 2008. Then I saw it and.. loved it. I'll have more on my impressions soon, but in addition to playing the game, I was sat down with "Mortal Kombat" co-creator Ed Boon.
Boon doesn't just love "Mortal Kombat;" he's a huge fighting fan in general. It's part of the reason he wanted to cross the "Mortal Kombat" universe with another world of characters. If this cross-over is a success, I asked Boon if it might open some doors to a collaborating with another series.
"In a perfect world, to me, I still think it would be cool as hell to see Ryu from "Street Fighter" and Scorpion from Mortal Kombat," said Boon. "I just think it would be cool. To me, "Mortal Kombat vs. Street Fighter vs. Tekken vs. Virtua Fighter" would be the coolest in the world."
"The reality is you're going to have [the other development teams] on the other side of the world," he continued. "So, who makes it? Who does what? It would be awesome. And who knows what they're gonna say if this is big. Or someone's mind is going to open -- "Tekken vs. Marvel"? Maybe "Tekken vs. Virtua Fighter." They'll just say, screw you, "Mortal Kombat"! [laughs]"
We'll have more on our interview with Boon later this week. In the meantime, what dream fighting collaborations would you like to see?
One of geekiest moments at Comic-Con 2008 was having a brief 10 minutes to spend talking with legendary comic artist Jim Lee. Given the excitement over "The Dark Knight" lately, you may best know Lee's work from the "Batman Hush" series. But I was there to discuss "DC Universe Online" with him.
At the end of our talk, I asked him to sign an autograph for my comic-loving girlfriend. Turns out that Jim Lee doesn't do autographs. Instead, he asked what my girlfriend's favorite character was (Joker) and drew it for her.
Amazing, right? You can scope out the entire drawing by reading on.
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The headline is slightly misleading. Technically, Comic-Con 2008 is on its fourth day -- but I didn't get a chance to share the great cosplay photos from the floor yesterday. Instead of hoarding them until next week, I've spent a little bit of my Sunday gathering some of the better ones for a final cosplay post. Oh, and I think we can all agree the one above is the best one I've taken so far. Classic!
As always, keep checking our Flickr account for more pictures (in high-res, too). I'll be uploading more throughout the weekend, whenever I get a chance.
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When someone told me the variety of cosplyers would grow as Comic Con went on, they weren't kidding. The last game I expected someone to be riffing on was "The Sims." It's my favorite costume so far. But there was much more today, including a Capcom-sponsored "Street Fighter" competition (see above), a curious baghead from "Resident Evil 4" and more.
Read on to check out some of my pictures, and keep checking our Flickr!
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