111-485: Midway Games Inc. (formerly Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway , and commonly known simply as Midway ) was an American video game company that existed from 1958 to 2010. Midway's franchises included Mortal Kombat , Rampage , Spy Hunter , NBA Jam , Cruis'n and NFL Blitz . Midway also acquired the rights to video games that were originally developed by WMS Industries and Atari Games , such as Defender , Joust , Robotron: 2084 , Gauntlet and
222-430: A free-roaming action-adventure mode. Both games include distinct minigame modes such as "Chess Kombat", an action- strategy game . Two other bonus minigames, "Puzzle Kombat" inspired by Puzzle Fighter and "Motor Kombat" inspired by Mario Kart , feature super deformed versions of Mortal Kombat characters. The games contain various unlockable content and hidden cheats . I think [ Mortal Kombat ] represents
333-497: A budget of well under $ 100 million (projected at between $ 40–50 million ) and a release date of 2013, but was ultimately delayed due to budget constraints. Tancharoen quit the production in October 2013. A reboot , Mortal Kombat (2021), was released on April 23, 2021, to mixed reviews, grossing over $ 84 million worldwide from theaters while also releasing simultaneously on the streaming service HBO Max . Production restarted on
444-622: A co-production between Warner Bros. Animation and either Studio Mir or Digital eMation . The first, Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge , was released in April 2020, as the first R-rated Mortal Kombat film. The second film, Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms , was released in August 2021. The third film, Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind , was released on October 11, 2022. A fourth film, Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match ,
555-421: A company controlled by Sumner Redstone. Midway's CEO, David Zucker, stated that the introduction of Unreal Tournament 3 , and the company's growing success in mass-market games, were setting it up for a "significant 2008". On March 21, 2008, Zucker resigned as CEO. He was the third executive to resign from the company in three months. Succeeding Zucker as CEO was former Senior Vice President Matt Booty. During
666-525: A different array of punches, kicks and blocks. Mortal Kombat 4 was the first Mortal Kombat game in which the characters could move in three dimensions and the first to use 3D computer graphics . From Deadly Alliance to Mortal Kombat: Deception , characters had three fighting styles per character: two unarmed styles, and one weapon style. While most of the styles used in the series are based on real martial arts , some are fictitious. Goro's fighting styles, for example, are designed to take advantage of
777-456: A display of friendship towards the enemy instead of slaughter, and Babalities, which turn the opponent into a baby. The series takes place in a fictional universe consisting of numerous realms which, according to in-game backstories, were created by the Elder Gods, an ancient, ethereal pantheon of almightest, eternal preternatural beings. The Mortal Kombat: Deception manual described six of
888-550: A feature that allows players to perform their own Fatalities by conducting a series of violent moves chosen from a pool that is common to all characters. Other finishing moves in the various Mortal Kombat games include Animalities (introduced in Mortal Kombat 3 ), in which the victor turns into an animal to violently finish off the opponent; Brutality (introduced in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 ) which consists of bashing
999-556: A fighting game featuring a digitized version of Van Damme. Intending to make a game "a lot more hard edge, a little bit more serious, a little bit more like Enter the Dragon or Bloodsport " than contemporary cartoonish fighting games, Tobias and Boon decided to continue their project even after the deal to use the Bloodsport license fell through. The first of Mortal Kombat characters, Johnny Cage (Daniel Pesina), became "a spoof on
1110-406: A hopeful posture that its strategic plans would pay off". On January 29, 2010, the bankruptcy court dismissed claims brought by Midway creditors for fraud and breach of duty against Sumner Redstone, Shari Redstone and Midway's other directors, concerning his 2008 loans to the company and his subsequent sale of his 87% stake in the company to Mark Thomas, which increased Midway's net debt and wiped out
1221-525: A lawsuit alleging that former officers of Midway misled shareholders while selling their own stock. In 2010, the bankruptcy court dismissed claims against Redstone concerning his sale of the company to Thomas and approved Midway's plan of liquidation. Midway terminated the public registration of its securities on June 9, 2010. Midway Mfg. Co. began in November 1958 as an independent manufacturer of amusement equipment founded by Henry Ross and Marcine Wolverton. It
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#17328587214141332-961: A player-decided champion defeat him and erase his timeline from existence. Through its iterations, the series has featured scores of player characters , some of them becoming mainstays, such as Baraka , Cassie Cage , Cyrax , Ermac , Fujin , Goro , Jade , Jax , Johnny Cage , Kabal , Kano , Kenshi , Kintaro , Kitana , Kung Lao , Li Mei, Liu Kang , Mileena , Motaro , Nightwolf , Noob Saibot , Quan Chi , Raiden , Rain , Reptile , Scorpion , Sektor , Shang Tsung , Shao Kahn , Sheeva , Shinnok , Sindel , Skarlet , Smoke , Sonya Blade , Stryker , Sub-Zero and Tanya . Among them are Earth's humans and cyborgs, good and evil deities, and denizens of Outworld and other realms. Starting with Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe , which featured several DC Universe heroes and villains, all subsequent games have included guest characters such as Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, Kratos from
1443-583: A pool of acid). Mortal Kombat: Deception added the Hara-Kiri , a move that allows the loser to perform a suicidal finishing move, giving way to a potential race between both players to see if the winner can finish off their opponent before they can kill themselves. There are two non-violent finishing moves in the series, which were introduced in Mortal Kombat II as a satire to controversies surrounding Mortal Kombat : Friendship moves, which result in
1554-544: A public offering of Midway stock. At the same time, WMS transferred its video game copyrights and trademarks to Midway while Midway transferred its pinball assets to WMS. In 1998, WMS spun off its remaining 86.8% interest in Midway to the WMS shareholders, making Midway an independent entity for the first time in almost 30 years. Midway kept Atari Games as a wholly owned subsidiary as part of this spin-off . Midway retained or shared some of
1665-404: A reboot in 2015 when James Wan joined to produce and director Simon McQuoid joined the following year. The script was written by Greg Russo and David Callaham with Lewis Tan , Jessica McNamee , Josh Lawson , Tadanobu Asano , and Hiroyuki Sanada starring. A sequel is in development with McQuoid returning as director and with a screenplay written by Jeremy Slater . * Cole Young
1776-557: A screenplay written and owned by their client. On December 2, 2008, Judge Florence-Marie Cooper of the United States District Court for the Central District of California issued a ruling granting summary judgment on all counts in Midway's favor. Judge Cooper found no evidence of copyright infringement. On March 6, 2007, Midway reported that it had entered into a new $ 90 m credit agreement with National Amusements ,
1887-663: A significant minority shareholder since the company's spinoff, began to increase his stake in the company and soon owned 80% of the stock. In 2004, in an effort to expand its market share, Midway began a purchasing spree of independent video game development studios to strengthen its product development teams In April 2004, Midway acquired Surreal Software of Seattle, Washington. In October 2004, it acquired Inevitable Entertainment of Austin, Texas (which became Midway Austin ). In December 2004, it acquired Paradox Development of Moorpark, California. On August 4, 2005, Midway acquired privately held Australian developer Ratbag Games . The studio
1998-487: A single 2D fighting plane, although characters are rendered in 3D ; unlike previous Mortal Kombat games, each of the controller's four attack buttons corresponds to one of the character's limbs, the buttons thus becoming front punch, back punch, front kick and back kick ("front" indicates the limb that is closer to the opponent, and "back" indicates the limb that is farther away from the opponent). Mortal Kombat: Deception and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon feature "Konquest",
2109-523: A team composed of the next generation of Earthrealm's heroes in defeating him. With Shinnok and Quan Chi defeated, Liu Kang and Kitana's revenants assume control of the Netherrealm while Raiden taps into Shinnok's amulet. Mortal Kombat 11 and its expansion, Aftermath, sees the architect of time and Shinnok's mother, Kronika, working to alter the timeline following her son's defeat and Raiden's tampering with her work. In doing so, she brings past versions of
2220-483: Is a film-exclusive character who has not appeared in any of the games. Midway published official one-shot issues based on Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat II , which were written and illustrated by Tobias and set prior to the storylines of both games. From 1994 to 1995, Malibu Comics published a licensed series consisting of two six-issue miniseries in addition to one-shot specials and miniseries dedicated to specific characters. Special tie-in issues were packaged with
2331-631: Is focused on the first incarnation character of Sub-Zero and is focused in the timeline before the first Mortal Kombat game. The next action game was Mortal Kombat: Special Forces , released in 2000 for the PlayStation, starring Major Jackson Briggs in his mission to destroy the Black Dragon. Both games were critically panned (although the reception of Mythologies was more mediocre). Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks , developed by Midway Studios Los Angeles ,
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#17328587214142442-486: Is the result. — Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono One of the most notable features of the Mortal Kombat series is its brutal and gruesome finishing moves, known as " Fatalities ". The basic Fatalities are finishing moves that allow the victorious characters to end a match by murdering their defeated, defenseless opponent. Usually Fatalities are exclusive to each character, the exception being Mortal Kombat: Armageddon , which instead features Kreate-A-Fatality,
2553-474: Is ultimately defeated by Liu Kang once more. After the Kahn's defeat, Edenia was freed from his grasp and returned to a peaceful realm, ruled by Princess Kitana. The following game, Mortal Kombat 4 , features the fallen elder god Shinnok attempting to conquer the realms and kill Raiden. He is defeated by Liu Kang. In Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance , the evil sorcerers Quan Chi and Shang Tsung join forces to conquer
2664-731: The God of War franchise (exclusively for PlayStation 3), Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th franchise, the Xenomorph from Alien , Leatherface from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, the titular character of Predator , the titular character of the Terminator franchise, the titular character of RoboCop , Spawn of Image Comics, Omni-Man from Image Comics 's Invincible , John Rambo , Homelander from The Boys , and
2775-521: The Rush series. The company was founded as Midway Manufacturing in 1958, as an amusement game manufacturer. The company was then purchased by Bally Manufacturing in 1969. In 1973, Midway moved into the interactive entertainment industry, developing and publishing arcade video games . The company scored its first mainstream hit with the U.S. distribution of Space Invaders in 1978. Bally then consolidated its pinball division with Midway in 1982, which
2886-647: The Joker , who was previously in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe , Peacemaker (more specifically: the character from the DC Extended Universe and DC Universe ), both from DC Comics , and Ghostface from the Scream franchise. Mortal Kombat started development in 1991 with four people: Ed Boon (programming), John Tobias (art and story), John Vogel (graphics), and Dan Forden (sound design). According to Mortal Kombat actors Richard Divizio and Daniel Pesina ,
2997-415: The Mortal Kombat and DC Universes begin to merge. This brings the warriors and heroes into conflicts after suffering bouts of uncontrollable rage. The heroes and villains of both universes repeatedly battle each other, believing each other to be responsible for the catastrophe, until only Raiden and Superman remain. The two confront Dark Kahn and team up to defeat their common foe. After Dark Kahn's defeat,
3108-474: The Mortal Kombat commercial for home systems, was released in 1993 as a single and was used as a theme music for the Mortal Kombat film series. Each film had their own soundtracks (including the hit and award-winning compilation album Mortal Kombat: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack ), as had the second video game ( Mortal Kombat II: Music from the Arcade Game Soundtrack ). The 2011 video game saw
3219-499: The Mortal Kombat series and other games, became part of Warner Bros. and was later rebranded NetherRealm Studios . On July 14, 2009, Midway announced that it had closed the Newcastle studio and terminated 75 employees. On August 19, 2009, Midway sold its French and German subsidiaries to holding companies called Spiess Media Holding UG and F+F Publishing GmbH, respectively. Spiess also purchased Midway's London publishing subsidiary on
3330-551: The Rebirth short, titled Mortal Kombat: Legacy and also directed by Kevin Tancharoen. The series' first season was released for free on YouTube starting in April 2011, promoted by Machinima.com , and the second season arrived in 2013. In 2014, Blue Ribbon Content had been developing a live-action series that was to tie in with Mortal Kombat X for a planned 2016 release, titled Mortal Kombat: Generations . The series, however,
3441-518: The Wii . Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe , a non-canonical crossover fighting game between the Mortal Kombat franchise and DC Comics , was released in 2008 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. A ninth game in the series, a reboot titled Mortal Kombat , was developed by the former Midway Games, now known as NetherRealm Studios . It was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2011, and
Midway Games - Misplaced Pages Continue
3552-443: The home console market. This was facilitated by WMS transferring its former home console division, Williams Entertainment, Inc., to Midway. The division had previously been known as Tradewest , which WMS had acquired along with its subsidiary Leland Corporation in 1994. The original arcade division of the company became Midway Amusement Games and the newly created home division was named Midway Home Entertainment. In 1996, WMS made
3663-490: The "Bally" brand. In 1991, however, Midway absorbed Williams' video game division and stopped using the "Bally/Midway" label for its arcade games. In 1992, the company's The Addams Family machine became the best selling pinball game of all time. In 1996, WMS purchased Time Warner Interactive , which included Atari Games , originally a part of Atari, Inc. Also in 1996, Midway changed its original corporate name, Midway Manufacturing, to Midway Games Inc., due to its entrance in
3774-485: The Aftermath expansion, it is revealed that Liu Kang inadvertently destroyed Kronika's crown, the item needed to restart the timeline. Her defeat also revives Shang Tsung, who was absent in the base game due to his imprisonment by Kronika. To recover the crown, Liu Kang sends Shang Tsung and other Earthrealm heroes back in time to obtain it before Kronika, though Shang Tsung manipulates events so that he comes into possession of
3885-478: The Bally brand, except as noted. Mortal Kombat Mortal Kombat is an American media franchise centered on a series of fighting video games originally developed by Midway Games in 1992. The original Mortal Kombat arcade game spawned a franchise consisting of action-adventure games , a comic book series, a card game, films, an animated TV series, and a live-action tour. Mortal Kombat has become
3996-638: The Company's assets." An auction was to be held on June 29, followed by a court hearing to approve the sale to the winning bidder or bidders. However, no other bids were placed for Midway's assets, and so the auction was canceled. On July 1, 2009, the bankruptcy court approved the sale of most of the company's assets to Warner Bros. subject to the intellectual property claims of a third party, Threshold Entertainment , which produced two Mortal Kombat films and some other Mortal Kombat entertainment properties. On July 8, 2009, Midway disclosed that it intended to close
4107-465: The PC release of Mortal Kombat 4 and for Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe , respectively. A Mortal Kombat X series by DC Comics , set before the game's events, ran from January to September 2015 with three miniseries of twelve issues that were released weekly in 36 chapter installments. A novel titled Mortal Kombat was written by Jeff Rovin and published in 1995, and featured an original plot that preceded
4218-461: The Realm of Order, whose inhabitants prize structure and order above all else; the Realm of Chaos, whose inhabitants do not abide by any rules whatsoever, and where constant turmoil and change are worshiped; and Edenia, which is known for its beauty, artistic expression, and the longevity of its inhabitants." The Elder Gods decreed that the denizens of one realm could only conquer another realm by defeating
4329-725: The San Diego studio by September. However, on August 19, 2009, THQ purchased the San Diego studio for $ 740,000 and extinguished Midway obligations to it. On July 10, 2009, pursuant to the terms of the Settlement Agreement that was approved by the bankruptcy court, Midway agreed to pay to affiliates of its majority owner, Mark Thomas, approximately $ 4.7 million in full satisfaction of all Midway debt to Thomas and his affiliates, and Thomas and his affiliates granted to Midway's Creditors' Committee an irrevocable proxy to vote his controlled shares of common stock in Midway and forever relinquished
4440-532: The U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The company began to operate as a Debtor in possession . A company spokesperson said, "We felt this was a logical next step for our organization, considering the change in control triggered the acceleration of the repayment options ... we're looking to reorganize and to come out on the other side stronger." Midway announced on May 21, 2009, that it had received a takeover bid from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (now Warner Bros. Games ), valued at more than $ 33 million, to acquire most of
4551-513: The U.S. and over $ 122 million worldwide; the film gained a cult following amongst fans of the video game series with Robin Shou , Linden Ashby , Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa , Bridgette Wilson , Talisa Soto and Christopher Lambert starring, and its success launched the Hollywood career of its director, Paul W. S. Anderson . Mortal Kombat Annihilation was directed by John R. Leonetti with Shou and Soto as
Midway Games - Misplaced Pages Continue
4662-511: The WMS executive staff and used some common facilities with WMS for a few more years. Over several years, Midway gradually terminated all material agreements and executive overlap with WMS and had a declining number of common members of its board of directors, until it shared only one with its former parent company. On December 22, 1999, Midway changed the name of its Atari Games subsidiary to Midway Games West, Inc. to avoid confusion with Atari Interactive . On June 22, 2001, Midway announced that it
4773-488: The assumption of related liabilities; Midway was no longer selling games and had been disposed of all fixed assets at that time. In October 2009, the U.S. District Court in Chicago dismissed a lawsuit against former officers of Midway alleging that they had misled shareholders while selling their own stock. The judge ruled that Midway's shareholders had not shown that the executives "said or did anything more than publicly adopt
4884-401: The bankruptcy court. Under the plan, intercompany claims would be extinguished and a partial recovery would be allowed to the unsecured creditors of Midway Games (who held $ 155 million of claims) to the extent of about 16.5%, and to the unsecured creditors of Midway's subsidiaries (who held $ 36.7 million of claims) of about 25%. Any settlement amount under the lawsuit against National Amusements
4995-553: The best-selling fighting game franchise worldwide and one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time . The series has a reputation for high levels of graphic violence, including, most notably, its fatalities , which are finishing moves that kill defeated opponents instead of knocking them out. Controversies surrounding Mortal Kombat , in part, led to the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) video game rating system. Early games in
5106-455: The chair of the board. On February 15, 2005, Midway signed an agreement with Cartoon Network to publish games, based on properties, namely that of Cartoon Network and Adult Swim , and had option to expand their own properties. Midway was ranked as the No. 4 video game publisher by sales in 2000. It was ranked as the No. 19 video game publisher in 2005 and had fallen to No. 20 in 2006, according to
5217-612: The company's assets, including Midway's Chicago and Seattle studios and rights to the Mortal Kombat and Wheelman series. The offer did not include the San Diego and Newcastle studios or the TNA video game series . Midway had previously worked with Warner Bros. on several games including Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe . Midway announced on May 28, 2009, that it would "accept binding offers up to June 24, 2009, to acquire some or all of
5328-501: The company's net operating losses and other tax assets. Judge Kevin Gross wrote that his decision was "not an endorsement of any of the defendants' actions. ... The defendants oversaw the ruin of a once highly successful company, only to hide behind the protective skirt of Delaware law, which the court is bound to apply." The court permitted other creditor claims to continue. In February 2010, Midway filed its proposed plan of liquidation with
5439-597: The company's subsidiaries shared about $ 9.2 million. A liquidating trust, administered by Buchwald Capital Advisors LLC as the Trustee, was created to pursue any remaining rights of Midway's bankruptcy estate and distribute any proceeds to Midway's remaining creditors. On June 9, 2010, the company filed a Form 15 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, terminating the public registration of its securities. The creditors' settlement of their lawsuit against National Amusements, in
5550-436: The costume, and while doing that we create the storyline and how s/he fits into the universe. Then we'll find an actor that kinda resembles our character." Tobias' writing and artistic input on the series ended around 2000 following the release of Mortal Kombat 4 . In 2012, he said: "I knew exactly what I was going to do with a future story. A few years ago, I [wrote] a sort of sequel to the first MK film and an advancement to
5661-501: The court dismissed the adversary proceeding by Threshold Entertainment. All of Midway's remaining unsold assets, as well as the subsidiaries of the company itself, were completely dissolved shortly thereafter but the entity remains in existence as of 2024 as a shell company incorporated in Delaware. The Midway Games trademark and logo is currently owned by Warner Bros. upon the sale of Midway's assets in 2009. All games were released under
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#17328587214145772-638: The crown. At the end, either Liu Kang or Shang Tsung becomes the Keeper of Time, depending on the player's choice (who they want to fight with in the final battle) and the outcome of the battle. Mortal Kombat 1 , the second reboot on the series' timeline, sees Lord Liu Kang has created his New Era and strives to maintain peace between all the realms. However, his plans begin to unravel when Shang Tsung and Quan Chi , despite his attempts to have them de-powered and unable to cause trouble, ally with General Shao in order to conquer Earthrealm and Outworld. Investigating
5883-489: The defending realm's greatest warriors in ten consecutive martial arts tournaments, called Mortal Kombat. The first Mortal Kombat game takes place in Earthrealm (Earth) where seven different warriors with their own reasons for entering the tournament with the prize being the continued freedom of their realm under threat of a takeover by Outworld. Among the established warriors were Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, and Sonya Blade. With
5994-555: The difference in philosophy. [....] So in Street Fighter when you're playing it's the moment to moment gameplay that should be the best, whether you win or lose doesn't really matter. Whereas in Mortal Kombat the fighting and playing is just a pathway to get to the result – it's the Fatality you want to see and you almost want to skip the fighting bit and get to the Fatality because that
6105-409: The end of 2007. In December 2008, Redstone sold all his stock and $ 70 million of Midway debt to Mark Thomas, a private investor, for $ 100,000. In February 2009, Midway Games filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment acquired most of Midway's assets, and Midway settled with Mark Thomas to relinquish his Midway stock and debt. The U.S. District Court in Chicago dismissed
6216-417: The ensuing battle, Shinnok is imprisoned within his amulet and various warriors are resurrected and freed from his control, though Quan Chi escapes. Twenty-five years later, the sorcerer resurfaces alongside the insectoid D'Vorah to facilitate Shinnok's return. A vengeful Scorpion kills Quan Chi, but fails to stop him from freeing Shinnok. To combat him, Cassie Cage, daughter of Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade, leads
6327-605: The evaluation of strategic and financial alternatives". The next day, Midway received a NYSE delisting notice, after its stock's price fell below one dollar. Midway's last title, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe , released around this time, in November 2008. On December 2, 2008, Sumner Redstone sold his 87 percent stake in Midway Games to Mark Thomas, a private investor, through his company MT Acquisition Holdings LLC. Thomas's company paid approximately $ 100,000, or $ 0.0012 per share. Thomas also received $ 70 million of Midway's debt that
6438-530: The events of the first game. Novelizations of both Mortal Kombat feature films were written by Martin Delrio and Jerome Preisler, respectively. Mortal Kombat: The Album , a techno album based on the first game, was created for Virgin America by Lords of Acid members Praga Khan and Oliver Adams as The Immortals in 1994. Its iconic theme "Techno Syndrome", incorporating the "Mortal Kombat!" yell first shown in
6549-417: The fact that he has four arms. For Armageddon , fighting styles were reduced to a maximum of two per character (generally one hand-to-hand combat style and one weapon style) due to the sheer number of playable characters. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe dropped multiple fighting styles for most characters in favor of giving each character a wider variety of special moves 2011's Mortal Kombat returned to
6660-401: The first game began as a ninja-themed project by John Tobias (a young new employee of Midway Games at the time) and them as well as Carlos Pesina, however their pitch to Tobias' boss Ed Boon was rejected by the management of Midway. Midway was approached to create a video game adaptation of the then-upcoming 1992 film Universal Soldier , starring Jean-Claude Van Damme , and Tobias imagined
6771-411: The first game, the male ninja fighters were essentially the same character; only the colors of their attire, fighting stance, and special techniques mark a difference. Later games added further ninjas based on the same model, as well as several female ninja color swap characters initially also using just one base model. All of them gradually became very different characters in the following installments of
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#17328587214146882-646: The first to feature the Bally/Midway brand. From the late 1970s through the late 1980s, Midway was the leading producer of arcade video games in the United States. In 1983, Bally Midway acquired arcade manufacturing assets of Sega Electronics from Gulf and Western Industries , and through the purchase also gained distribution rights to arcade games developed by Sega Enterprises, Ltd. in the United States for two years which included titles such as Astron Belt , Flicky , Future Spy , and Up 'N Down . Bally Midway
6993-447: The first two used a joystick and five buttons: high punch, low punch, high kick, low kick, and block; Mortal Kombat 3 and its updates added a sixth "run" button. Characters in the early Mortal Kombat games play virtually identically to one another, with the only major differences being their special moves. Through the 1990s, the developer and publisher Midway Games kept their single-styled fighting moves with four attack buttons for
7104-414: The following year. The following game, Mortal Kombat 4 , was released in 1997, and marked the jump of the series to 3D rendered graphics instead of the digitized 2D graphics used in previous games. Mortal Kombat 4 was ported to the PlayStation , Nintendo 64 and Microsoft Windows . Mortal Kombat 4 was the last Mortal Kombat game released for arcades. Its updated version titled Mortal Kombat Gold
7215-565: The form of an image of sound designer Dan Forden that randomly appeared in a lower corner of the screen after a player landed an uppercut . Hidden games of Pong and Galaga were included in Mortal Kombat II and Mortal Kombat 3 , respectively. The original Mortal Kombat game was released by Midway in arcades during October 1992, and has been ported to several console and home computer systems, with early ports released by Acclaim Entertainment . The sequel, Mortal Kombat II ,
7326-416: The game's audits screen was additionally interpreted by players as referring to a second hidden character named Ermac . Midway denied the character's existence in the series before adding him to Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 in response to the player rumors and feedback. Some Easter eggs originated from in-jokes among the series developers. One example is "Toasty", which was included in Mortal Kombat II in
7437-436: The game's mythological roots." The title Mortal Kombat was the idea of pinball designer Steve Ritchie , following difficulties trademarking the original title of Mortal Combat . Since then, the series often intentionally misspells various words with the letter "K" in place of "C" for the hard C sound. According to Boon, during the Mortal Kombat games' development they usually spell such words correctly, only making
7548-464: The gameplay had stayed in a 2D plane; this trend would continue for the following two games. The next sequel was 2004's Mortal Kombat: Deception , released for the PlayStation 2 , Xbox , and GameCube . Its port for the PlayStation Portable , Mortal Kombat: Unchained , was released in 2006. Mortal Kombat: Armageddon was published in 2006 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and in 2007 for
7659-569: The help of the thunder god Raiden, the Earthrealm warriors were victorious, and Liu Kang became the new champion of Mortal Kombat. In Mortal Kombat II , unable to deal with his minion Shang Tsung's failure, Outworld Emperor Shao Kahn lures the Earthrealm warriors to Outworld for a do-over, winner-take-all tournament, where Liu Kang eventually defeats Shao Kahn. By the time of Mortal Kombat 3 , Shao Kahn merged Edenia with his empire and revived its former queen Sindel in Earthrealm, combining it with Outworld as well. He attempts to invade Earthrealm, but
7770-572: The interviewer preferred the "precision and depth" of Street Fighter or the "gore and comedy" of Mortal Kombat and also stated that the Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat rivalry was considered similar to the Coke and Pepsi rivalry in the 1990s. Mortal Kombat didn't rely on just good looks and gore for its success. Although the intense gore was a great way to attract attention, Mortal Kombat offered another side – an often-overlooked side – that kept people coming back for more: its storyline, including
7881-414: The licensing and distribution of Taito's seminal arcade game Space Invaders in America. This was followed by Midway's licensing and distributing the U.S. version of Namco 's Pac-Man in 1980, and its sequel, Ms. Pac-Man , in 1982. Also in 1982, Midway became Bally Midway Mfg. Co. after Bally merged its pinball division with Midway. Three games released that year, including Satan's Hollow , were
7992-497: The magazine Game Developer . In 2006 and 2007, Midway lost a further $ 77 million on sales of $ 166 million and $ 100 million on sales of $ 157 million, respectively. It continued to finance its business with debt offerings and other credit arrangements. As of 2007, Midway Games was engaged in a legal battle with Mindshadow Entertainment for the Psi-Ops video game rights. Mindshadow alleged that Midway copied Psi-Ops ' s story from
8103-641: The matter, Liu Kang discovers that the Shang Tsung from MK11: Aftermath is responsible, as Liu Kang's attempts to access the Hourglass' power resulted in a break where every character in Mortal Kombat ' s universe defeated Kronika and gained control of the Hourglass . In an attempt to stop the sorcerer from taking control of all of the multiple timelines, Liu Kang leads an army of good variations in an assault on Titan Shang Tsung's dimension, where, after an intense battle with all their evil counterparts, Liu Kang and
8214-400: The only two returning from the first film. The film received a poor reception by critics, grossing $ 36 million in the U.S. and $ 51 million worldwide. In 2010, director Kevin Tancharoen released an eight-minute short film titled Mortal Kombat: Rebirth , made as a proof of concept for Tancharoen's pitch of a reboot film franchise to Warner Bros. Pictures . Tancharoen later confirmed that
8325-410: The opponent into pieces with a long combo of hits; and Stage Fatalities/Death Traps (introduced in the original Mortal Kombat Pit Stage where the victor can uppercut their opponent off of the platform into a bed of spikes below, later made more difficult in Mortal Kombat II by requiring a character-specific button sequence) utilizing parts of certain stages to execute a lethal finishing move (such as
8436-441: The original Midway, only two game designers were retained: Rampage designers Brian Colin and Jeff Nauman. WMS obtained the right from Bally to use the "Bally" brand for its pinball games since Bally had completely left the arcade/pinball industry to concentrate on casinos and slot machines. Under WMS ownership, Midway initially continued to produce arcade games under the Bally/Midway label, while producing pinball machines under
8547-798: The past Raiden attempts to alter the timeline to avert Armageddon amidst the tenth Mortal Kombat tournament, during the original game. His attempts to alter history mean that events play out differently to the original series. While he succeeds in preventing Shao Kahn's victory with help from the Elder Gods, he accidentally kills Liu Kang in self-defense and loses most of his allies to Queen Sindel, leaving Earthrealm vulnerable to Shinnok and Quan Chi's machinations. Mortal Kombat X sees Shinnok and Quan Chi enacting their plan, leading an army of undead revenants of those that were killed in Shao Kahn's invasion of Earthrealm. A team of warriors led by Raiden, Johnny Cage, Kenshi Takahashi, and Sonya Blade oppose them, and in
8658-420: The realm's heroes to the present, aligning herself with some while the rest work to defeat her. After nearly killing Liu Kang a second time, Raiden discovers Kronika has manipulated them into fighting across multiple timelines as she fears their combined power. Despite her interference and attacks by her minions, Raiden gives Liu Kang his power, turning him into a god of fire and thunder so he can defeat Kronika. In
8769-495: The realms as: "Earthrealm, home to such legendary heroes as Liu Kang , Kung Lao , Sonya Blade , Johnny Cage , and Jax Briggs , and under the protection of the Thunder God Raiden ; Netherrealm, the fiery depths of which are inhospitable to all but the most vile, a realm of demons and shadowy warriors such as Quan Chi and Noob Saibot ; Outworld, a realm of constant strife which Emperor Shao Kahn claims as his own; Seido,
8880-476: The realms from Armageddon by defeating a firespawn known as Blaze . In the end, Shao Kahn is the one who defeats Blaze and wins the war, causing Armageddon. The crossover Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe does not share continuity with the other games. After the simultaneous defeats of both Shao Kahn and the alien warlord Darkseid in the DC Universe causes both villains to fuse into the entity "Dark Kahn", both
8991-431: The realms, killing series protagonist Liu Kang in the process. By Mortal Kombat: Deception , after several fights, the sorcerers emerge victorious, having killed most of Earthrealm's warriors until Raiden steps forth to oppose them. The Dragon King Onaga, former ruler of Outworld, returned to merge all realms back together, but was eventually defeated by the game's protagonist, Shujinko. In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon ,
9102-467: The release of Mortal Kombat: Songs Inspired by the Warriors , a new soundtrack album featuring electronic music by various artists. An animated series titled Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm was released in 1996. It ran for one season and received negative reviews. In 1998, Mortal Kombat: Conquest was released. It lasted one season. In 2010, Warner Premiere ordered a web series inspired by
9213-595: The right to vote or dispose of the shares. The settlement reduced Thomas's claims by 93 percent, and Midway continued to operate as a Debtor in Possession. Also on July 10, 2009, the sale of assets to Warner Bros. was completed. The total gross purchase price for the sale was approximately $ 49 million, including receivables, and Warner Bros. assumed liabilities. The sale also triggered payments under Midway's Key Employee Incentive Plan of approximately $ 2.4 million to company executives. The Midway Chicago studio, responsible for
9324-594: The same day. The European sales resulted in cash proceeds of $ 1.7 million and the elimination of related intercompany claims. In September 2009, Midway shut down its Chicago headquarters and terminated all but a few of its remaining employees. Many of the former Midway employees at the Chicago studio acquired by Warner Bros. were retained by Warner Bros. On October 2, 2009, Midway and two of its subsidiaries, Midway Home Entertainment and Midway Studios Los-Angeles, sold intellectual property assets, including Midway's TNA video game licenses, to SouthPeak Games for $ 100,000 and
9435-510: The same year that Midway made its initial public offering of stock. In 1998, WMS spun off its remaining shares of Midway. Midway was ranked the fourth largest-selling video game publisher in 2000. However it experienced large annual net losses and engaged in a series of stock and debt offerings and other financings and borrowings. Midway exited the arcade industry in 2001. Sumner Redstone , the head of Viacom and CBS Corporation , increased his stake in Midway from about 15% in 1998 to about 87% by
9546-554: The series were noted for their realistic digitized sprites and an extensive use of palette swapping to create new characters. Following Midway's bankruptcy, the Mortal Kombat development team was acquired by Warner Bros. Entertainment and re-established as NetherRealm Studios . The original three games and their updates, Mortal Kombat (1992), Mortal Kombat II (1993), Mortal Kombat 3 (1995), Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (1995), and Mortal Kombat Trilogy (1996), are 2D fighting games . The arcade cabinet versions of
9657-473: The series. Eventually, Mortal Kombat 4 brought the series into 3D, replacing the digitized fighters of previous games with polygon models animated using motion capture technology. Most series releases included secret characters , secret games, and other Easter eggs . The original game contained the hidden fighter Reptile , who could be fought by players if they fulfilled an exact set of requirements. A counter for ERMACS (short for er ror mac ros) on
9768-431: The substitution when one of the developers suggests it. The characters of the original Mortal Kombat and its initial sequels were created using digitized sprites mostly based on filmed actors, as opposed to hand-drawn graphics. Mortal Kombat games were known for their extensive use of palette swapping , which was used for the ninja characters; many of the most popular characters have originated as palette swaps. In
9879-816: The summer of 2008, in an effort to trim costs, Midway closed its Los Angeles and Austin studios. These closures left Midway with four studios, in Chicago, Seattle, San Diego and Newcastle, England. During this time, Midway just released TNA Impact! and Blitz: The League II around September/October 2008, under the Midway Studios Los Angeles office (before its closure) and the San Diego branch (Midway Studios San Diego/Midway Home Entertainment). In November 2008, Midway reported that its cash and other resources "may not be adequate to fund... working capital requirements" and that it "would need to initiate cost cutting measures or seek additional liquidity sources". On November 20, 2008, Midway retained Lazard to assist it "in
9990-401: The titular catastrophe begins. Centuries before the first Mortal Kombat , Queen Delia foretold the realms would be destroyed because the power of all of the realms' warriors would rise to such greatness that it would overwhelm and destabilize the realms, triggering a destructive chain of events. King Argus had his sons, Taven and Daegon, put into incubation so one day they can be awakened to save
10101-464: The total amount of $ 1 million, was approved by the bankruptcy court on June 21, 2010, ending the outstanding claims against the Redstone family. Since December 2010, the trustee for the liquidating trust of the company, Buchwald Capital Advisors LLC, has filed 57 avoidance actions seeking to recover a total of $ 2,936,736 in transfers made by Midway to creditors prior to its bankruptcy filing. In March 2011,
10212-404: The two realms defuse, with Shao Kahn and Darkseid trapped in each other's universes to face eternal imprisonment. In the 2011 Mortal Kombat soft reboot, the battle of Armageddon culminated in only two survivors: Shao Kahn and Raiden. On the verge of death by the former's hand, the latter sent visions to his past self in a last-ditch attempt to prevent this outcome. Upon receiving the visions,
10323-556: The uniquely different kind of gameplay as far as the fighting system within itself. — GameSpot John Tobias said that his inspirations for the game's story and characters came from Chinese mythology and some of the stories and rumored events about the Shaolin monks . Regarding the film Big Trouble in Little China , Tobias wrote that although the film "kind of Americanized my obsession for supernatural kung fu films from China, it
10434-455: The unofficial short featured the writing of Oren Uziel , who at the time was rumored to be writing the screenplay for a third Mortal Kombat film. In September 2011, New Line and Warner Bros. announced that Tancharoen had signed on to direct a new feature-length film from a screenplay written by Uziel, with the intention of aiming for an R rating . Shooting was expected to begin in March 2012 with
10545-399: The whole Van Damme situation." Divizio credits himself with convincing Tobias to go back to the original idea and trying again. It was the success of Capcom 's Street Fighter II: The World Warrior that convinced Midway Games to let the team produce their own arcade fighting game, the genre chosen by Tobias for his game as to let him use as large digitized sprites as possible, but there
10656-448: Was announced; it is a role-playing game released in 2023 for Android and iOS. NetherRealm said it would be a cinematic experience and also it will be loyal to its core visceral nature. An animated prequel to 1995's Mortal Kombat film, titled Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins , was released direct-to-video in the same year as the live-action film. A series of direct-to-video films titled Mortal Kombat Legends began in 2020 as
10767-497: Was closing its arcade division due to a decline in the arcade market. Midway shut down Midway Games West in February 2003, but it remained as an entity. After losing money each year since 2000, Midway's losses accelerated in 2003, as it lost $ 115 million on sales of about $ 93 million. Despite these losses, the company was able to finance its business with stock and debt offerings and various credit arrangements. In 2003, Sumner Redstone ,
10878-504: Was not much influence by Street Fighter II on the project. According to Tobias, who cited 1984's Karate Champ as an inspiration, they intentionally worked on making a game different from Capcom's title in every way. Besides the digitized characters that differentiated it from its contemporaries' hand-drawn ones, one stark difference was in the very high amount of blood and violence. Capcom's senior director of communications later compared Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat by asking if
10989-484: Was not my biggest influence. My biggest influences came from Tsui Hark films -- Zu Warriors & The Swordsman . We had to get them from bootleggers in Chicago's Chinatown ." In 1995, he said about their general process of designing characters for the series: "First we figure out the type, like she or he and will she/he be big or small. Then we'll get the theme of the characters, like ninja or robot. Then we'll design
11100-733: Was owed to Redstone. National Amusements took a significant loss on the sale, although the loss allowed it to benefit from tax losses. In December 2008, Midway disclosed that it might default on $ 240 million of debt after the sale of stock to Thomas triggered clauses in two bond issues totalling $ 150 million of debt that allowed the bondholders to demand full repayment. In 2008, Midway lost $ 191 million on sales of $ 220 million, and Redstone's sale of his shares to Thomas eliminated Midway's ability to take advantage of accumulated net operating losses and other tax assets potentially worth more than $ 700 million. On February 12, 2009, Midway and its U.S. subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of
11211-511: Was ported to the PlayStation Vita in 2012 and Microsoft Windows in 2013. Downloadable content became a feature of games in the series at this time. Its first sequel, Mortal Kombat X , was released in 2015 on PlayStation 4 , Xbox One , and Microsoft Windows , and marked a return to numbered sequels. This was paired with the first Mortal Kombat game for tablet and smartphones, Mortal Kombat Mobile . A follow-up, Mortal Kombat 11 ,
11322-540: Was purchased by Bally in 1969. Bally, at that time, was a leader in the manufacture of slot machines. After some years making mechanical arcade games such as puck bowling and simulated western shoot-out, Midway became an early American maker of arcade video games . Throughout the 1970s, Midway had a close alliance with Japanese video game publisher Taito , with both companies regularly licensing their games to each other for distribution in their respective country. Meanwhile, Midway's breakthrough success came in 1978, with
11433-457: Was purchased in 1988 by the arcade and pinball game company Williams Electronics Games through its holding company WMS Industries, Inc. and its name was changed back to Midway Manufacturing. Midway moved its headquarters from Franklin Park, Illinois , to Williams's then-headquarters in Chicago , and WMS reincorporated Midway as a Delaware corporation . Although WMS retained many R&D employees from
11544-492: Was released for arcades in 1993, featuring an increased roster and improved graphics and gameplay, then ported to the numerous home systems in 1993–1995, released again by Acclaim. Mortal Kombat 3 followed in 1995 in both arcade and home versions. Mortal Kombat 3 received two updates which expanded the number of characters and other features from the game: Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 , released that same year in arcades, and Mortal Kombat Trilogy , released for home consoles
11655-584: Was released for the Dreamcast in 1999. At this point that the series started being targeted at consoles only. Also the series' naming scheme changed to favor the use of sub-titles instead of numbered installments, beginning with Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance in 2002. Deadly Alliance was released initially for the Xbox , PlayStation 2 and GameCube . Deadly Alliance was also the first Mortal Kombat game to feature fully 3D gameplay, where up to Mortal Kombat 4
11766-532: Was released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox, starring Liu Kang and Kung Lao and telling an alternate version of the events between the first and second Mortal Kombat games. A similar game entitled Mortal Kombat: Fire & Ice , which was to star Scorpion and again Sub-Zero, was canceled when the developers of Shaolin Monks "couldn't do it in time and under budget". On October 18, 2022, Mortal Kombat: Onslaught
11877-470: Was released in 2019 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch , and Microsoft Windows. A sequel to Mortal Kombat 11 , Mortal Kombat 1 , released in September 2023. Besides the fighting games, there are three action-adventure titles that work as spin-offs from the Mortal Kombat storyline. Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero was released in 1997 for the PlayStation and Nintendo 64; its story
11988-410: Was released on October 17, 2023. Mortal Kombat was adapted into two major motion pictures, Mortal Kombat (1995) and Mortal Kombat Annihilation (1997), both released by New Line Cinema . The first film was released on August 18, 1995, grossing $ 23 million on its first weekend. Despite mixed reviews from critics, Mortal Kombat became a financial success, grossing approximately $ 70 million in
12099-400: Was renamed Bally/Midway. In 1988, Bally Manufacturing sold its amusement games operations to WMS Industries , the former Williams Electronics, which used the plain Midway name for video games while using the Bally and Williams names for pinball. In 1994, WMS purchased Tradewest to bring publishing of home video game market in-house, with the latter becoming Midway Home Entertainment in 1996,
12210-540: Was renamed Midway Studios—Australia. Four months later, on December 13, Midway announced to its employees there that it was shutting the studio down, leaving its employees based at that studio without a job. Two days later, on December 15, the studio was closed and their Adelaide premises emptied. During 2004 and 2005, Midway lost $ 20 million on sales of $ 162 million, and $ 112 million on sales of $ 150 million, respectively. Redstone voted his shares to elect his daughter Shari Redstone to Midway's board of directors and later as
12321-448: Was to be paid to the two groups of unsecured creditors in the same ratio. Holders of secured and priority claims were to be paid in full, National Amusements would not receive any payment under its Subordinated Loan Agreement, and the equity holders would not receive any payment. On May 21, 2010, the bankruptcy court approved the plan of liquidation. Unsecured creditors of Midway shared approximately $ 25.5 million, and unsecured creditors of
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