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156-430: 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 the best-selling fighting game franchise worldwide and one of

312-404: A campaign mode , which involves a series of matches against several artificial intelligence opponents. Finishing each match or mission will advance the game's plot, often with cut scenes , and some games will reward a completed mission with new abilities or upgrades. Hardcore strategy gamers tend to prefer multiplayer competition, where human opponents provide more challenging competition than

468-428: 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

624-413: A mobile strategy video game. The origin of strategy video games is rooted in traditional tabletop strategy games like Chess , Checkers and Go , as well as board and miniature wargaming . The Sumerian Game , an early mainframe game written by Mabel Addis , based on the ancient Sumerian city-state of Lagash , was an economic simulation strategy game. The first console strategy game

780-423: A board game or paper map. Many later games adopted an isometric perspective. Even with the rise of 3D graphics and the potential to manipulate the camera, games usually feature some kind of aerial view. Very rarely do strategy games show the world from the perspective from an avatar on the ground. This is to provide the player with a big-picture view of the game world, and form more effective strategies. Exploration

936-580: A bonus to other units. Units may also have the ability to sail or fly over otherwise impassable terrain, or provide transport for other units. Non-combat abilities often include the ability to repair or construct other units or buildings. Even in imaginary or fantastic conflicts, strategy games try to reproduce important tactical situations throughout history. Techniques such as flanking, making diversions, or cutting supply lines may become integral parts of managing combat. Terrain becomes an important part of strategy, since units may gain or lose advantages based on

1092-489: 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 a co-production between Warner Bros. Animation and either Studio Mir or Digital eMation . The first, Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge ,

1248-523: 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

1404-453: 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

1560-638: 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 , 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

1716-547: 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

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1872-552: 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

2028-485: A fixed set of units, and downplay other strategic considerations such as manufacturing, and resource management. Tactical games are strictly about combat, and typically focus on individual battles, or other small sections in a larger conflict. Strategy games can take place in a number of settings. Depending on the theatre of warfare , releases may be noted as naval strategy games, or space strategy games. A title may be noted for its grand strategic scale, whether

2184-485: A franchise can even be created, which ultimately leads to the creation of brand worlds. Since the creation of Disneyland in 1955, bringing fictional media franchises to life through the theme parks slowly became increasingly popular as the way to perfectly blend tourism and real-life involvement with media itself. Similar to transmedia, the concept of bringing fictional media into a non-fictional space where fans can immerse themselves in real-life versions of elements from

2340-442: A genre, strategy games are most commonly defined as those with a primary focus on high-level strategy, logistics and resource management. They are also usually divided into two main sub-categories: turn-based and real-time , but there are also many strategy cross/sub-genres that feature additional elements such as tactics, diplomacy, economics and exploration. A player must plan a series of actions against one or more opponents, and

2496-650: A larger volume of online data. By 2006, reviewers expressed disappointment with the titles produced thus far. Critics argued that strategy games are not conducive to massively multiplayer gameplay. A single victory cannot have much impact in a large persistent world, and this makes it hard for a player to care about a small victory, especially if they are fighting for a faction that is losing an overall war. However, more recent developers have tried to learn from past mistakes, resulting in Dreamlords from 2007, and Saga from 2008. In 2012, Supercell released Clash of Clans ,

2652-424: A modeling agency, several television shows ( Playboy's Penthouse , in 1959), and even its own television channel . Twenty-five years later, Playboy released private clubs and restaurants, movie theaters, a radio show , direct to video films, music and book publishing (including original works in addition to its anthologies of cartoons, photographs, recipes, advice, articles or fiction that had originally appeared in

2808-480: A nation and the coordination of its resources. Diplomacy and war interact with each other and become the primary means of reshaping the world map consisting of various states. Players use their nation's resources to achieve national goals such as world domination, whether through military might, diplomacy, or economics. Unlike 4X games, Grand Strategy games might not include such elements as exploration, but it still can be there. Great examples of Grand Strategy games are

2964-585: 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 was ported to the PlayStation Vita in 2012 and Microsoft Windows in 2013. Downloadable content became

3120-419: A notable example. The latter games fall into the player-alternated TBS games category, and are subsequently subdivided into (a) ranked, (b) round-robin start, and (c) random, the difference being the order under which players take their turns. With (a), ranked, the players take their turns in the same order every time. With (b), the first player is selected according to a round-robin policy. With (c), random ,

3276-548: A part of wider subgenre of strategy games, while others consider them as a separate video game genre. Some games of this subgenre, like The Settlers, can include warfare, but this is not an essential element in them. Other strategy video games sometimes incorporate CMS aspects into their game economy, as players must manage resources while expanding their project. For example, base building and resource management in XCOM series. Usually applied only to certain computer strategy games,

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3432-961: 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

3588-580: 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

3744-404: A proof of concept for Tancharoen's pitch of a reboot film franchise to Warner Bros. Pictures . Tancharoen later confirmed that 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

3900-541: A screenplay written by Jeremy Slater . * Cole Young 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

4056-609: A screenplay written by Uziel, with the intention of aiming for an R rating . Shooting was expected to begin in March 2012 with 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

4212-486: 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",

4368-439: A specific and specialized goal. They are analogous to chess openings , in that a player will have a specific order of play in mind, however, the amount of the build order, the strategy around which the build order is built or even which build order is then used varies on the skill, ability and other factors such as how aggressive or defensive each player is. Early strategy games featured a top-down perspective, similar in nature to

4524-455: A structure that enables more advanced structures. Games with a large number of upgrades often feature a technology tree , which is a series of advancements that players can research to unlock new units, buildings, and other capabilities. Technology trees are quite large in some games, and 4X strategy games are known for having the largest. A build order is a linear pattern of production, research, and resource management aimed at achieving

4680-523: 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

4836-458: A team to achieve a victory condition which is to destroy the opposing team's main structure whilst protecting their own. Player characters , typically called "heroes" or "champions", are assisted by computer-controlled units that periodically spawn in groups and march forward along set paths (called "lanes") toward their enemy's base. Defensive structures, which are usually automatic "towers", are in place to prevent this. The first team to destroy

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4992-432: A time. Expert players can quickly flip between many different tasks, while casual gamers have more problems with this." Ernest Adams goes so far as to suggest that real-time gameplay interferes with strategy. "Strategic thinking, at least in the arena of gameplay, does not lend itself well to real-time action". Many strategy players claim that many RTS games really should be labeled as "real-time tactical" (RTT) games since

5148-481: A turn-based game is allowed a period of analysis before committing to a game action. Examples of this genre are the Civilization , Heroes of Might and Magic , Making History , Advance Wars and Master of Orion . TBS games come in two flavors, differentiated by whether players make their plays simultaneously or take turns. The former types of games are called simultaneously executed TBS games, with Diplomacy

5304-527: A unit, usually by clicking it with the mouse, and issuing an order from a menu. Keyboard shortcuts become important for advanced players, as speed is often an important factor. Units can typically move, attack, stop, hold a position, although other strategy games offer more complex orders. Units may even have specialized abilities, such as the ability to become invisible to other units, usually balanced with abilities that detect otherwise invisible things. Some strategy games even offer special leader units that provide

5460-473: A windowed interface to manage these complex challenges. Most strategy games allow players to accumulate resources which can be converted to units, or converted to buildings such as factories that produce more units. The quantity and types of resources vary from game to game. Some games will emphasize resource acquisition by scattering large quantities throughout the map, while other games will put more emphasis on how resources are managed and applied by balancing

5616-473: A world with high fidelity. Although many of these may still involve combat in the sense that units can capture or destroy each other, these games sometimes offer non-combat challenges such as arranging units in specific patterns. However, the vast majority of computerized strategy games are representational, with more complex game mechanics. Strategy games include single-player gameplay, multiplayer gameplay, or both. Single player games will sometimes feature

5772-407: Is Icehouse . Some players dispute the importance of strategy in real-time strategy games, as skill and manual dexterity are often seen as the deciding factor in this genre of game. According to Troy Dunniway, "A player controls hundreds of units, dozens of buildings and many different events that are all happening simultaneously. There is only one player, and he can only pay attention to one thing at

5928-413: Is a key element in most strategy games. The landscape is often shrouded in darkness, and this darkness is lifted as a player's units enters the area. The ability to explore may be inhibited by different kinds of terrain, such as hills, water, or other obstructions. Even after an area is explored, that area may become dim if the player does not patrol it. This design technique is called the fog of war , where

6084-588: Is also a growing subgenre of purely tactical games, which are referred to as real-time tactics , and turn-based tactics . These types of games are sometimes categorized as "strategy" games. Game reviewers and scholars sometimes debate whether they are using terminology such as "tactics" or "strategy" appropriately. Chris Taylor , the designer of Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander , has gone so far as to suggest that real-time strategy titles are more about tactics than strategy. But releases that are considered pure tactical games usually provide players with

6240-456: Is also sometimes considered a subgenre of real-time strategy , and thus may in this context exist as an element of gameplay or as a basis for the whole game. It is differentiated from real-time strategy gameplay by the lack of resource micromanagement and base or unit building, as well as the greater importance of individual units and a focus on complex battlefield tactics. Example titles include Warhammer: Dark Omen , World In Conflict ,

6396-414: Is awarded money for killing creeps, and this money can be used to buy more towers, or buy upgrades for a tower such as increased power or range. A good example of a game of this genre is Clash Royale made by Finnish developers Supercell . The term turn-based strategy ( TBS ) is usually reserved for certain computer strategy games, to distinguish them from real-time computer strategy games. A player of

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6552-682: Is placed upon economic and technological development, as well as a range of non-military routes to supremacy. Many 4X games also fit into the category of grand strategy . Games can take a long time to complete since the amount of micromanagement needed to sustain an empire scales as the empire grows. 4X games are sometimes criticized for becoming tedious for these reasons, and several games have attempted to address these concerns by limiting micromanagement. The earliest 4X games borrowed ideas from board games and 1970s text-based computer games. The first 4X games were turn-based , but real-time 4X games are also not uncommon. Many 4X games were published in

6708-502: Is seeking to present new candidates worthy of being known for "thought strategy" rather than "dexterity strategy". While Herzog Zwei is regarded as the first true RTS game, the defining title for the genre was Westwood Studios 's Dune II , which was followed by their seminal Command & Conquer games. Cavedog's Total Annihilation (1997), Blizzard 's Warcraft (1994) series, StarCraft (1998) series, and Ensemble Studios ' Age of Empires (1997) series are some of

6864-479: Is the Japanese term for a transmedia franchise. The term media mix gained its circulation in late 1980s and is first used to describe adaptations of Sakyo Komatsu 's Japan Sinks , but the origins of the strategy can be traced back to the 1960s with the proliferation of anime , with its interconnection of media and commodity goods. Some of the earlier popular Japanese franchises such as Vampire Hunter D in

7020-435: Is the result. 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,

7176-474: 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

7332-645: The Close Combat series, and early tactical role-playing games such as Bokosuka Wars , and Silver Ghost . Tower defense games have a very simple layout. Usually, computer-controlled monsters called creeps move along a set path, and the player must place, or "build" towers along this path to kill the creeps. In some games, towers are placed along a set path for creeps, while in others towers can interrupt creep movement and change their path. In most tower defense games different towers have different abilities such as poisoning enemies or slowing them down. The player

7488-731: 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

7644-537: The Wars and X-COM series, as well as tactical role-playing games such as the Jagged Alliance series , Fire Emblem series and Final Fantasy Tactics . Wargames are a subgenre of strategy video games that emphasize strategic or tactical warfare on a map, as well as historical (or near-historical) accuracy. The primary gameplay mode in a wargame is usually tactical: fighting battles. Wargames sometimes have

7800-525: The Golden Joystick Awards 1989's Herzog Zwei is often considered the first real-time strategy game, although real-time strategy elements can be found in several earlier games, such as Dan Bunten 's Cytron Masters and Don Daglow 's Utopia in 1982; Kōji Sumii's Bokosuka Wars in 1983; D. H. Lawson and John Gibson's Stonkers and Steven Faber's Epidemic! in 1983; and Evryware's The Ancient Art of War in 1984. The genre

7956-644: 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 ,

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8112-415: 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,

8268-489: The Mortal Kombat characters. Mortal Kombat has been one of the most successful fighting game franchises in video game history, previously only trailing Bandai Namco 's Tekken , Capcom's Street Fighter , and Nintendo 's Super Smash Bros. As of 2021, it has surpassed the competitor fighting game franchises in worldwide lifetime series sales. It generated more than $ 4 billion by the late 1990s and $ 5 billion in total revenue by 2000. A particularly successful game

8424-474: 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

8580-596: 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,

8736-483: The fantasy and science fiction genres. Similarly, fantasy, science fiction films and television shows are frequently adapted into animated television series , video games, or both. A media franchise does not have to include the same characters or theme, as the brand identity can be the franchise, like Square Enix 's Final Fantasy or the National Lampoon series , and can suffer from critical failures even if

8892-491: 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

9048-399: The streaming service HBO Max . Production restarted on 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

9204-423: The 1980s and Pokémon in the late 1990s, acted as benchmarks in the country's transmedia dominance. The latter in particular began as a video game available on Nintendo 's Game Boy , and crossed through the media of television, film, news, and other non-media related realms, such trading cards, merchandise, and more. A number of Japanese media franchises have gained considerable global popularity, and are among

9360-485: 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

9516-559: The Ancients (DotA), a community-created mod based on Warcraft III, is largely attributed as being the most significant inspiration for the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) format. Since the format was tied to the Warcraft property, developers began to work on their own " DOTA -style" games, including Heroes of Newerth (2009), League of Legends (2010), and the mod's standalone sequel, Dota 2 (2013). Blizzard Entertainment ,

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9672-467: The Hollywood career of its director, Paul W. S. Anderson . Mortal Kombat Annihilation was directed by John R. Leonetti with Shou and Soto as 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

9828-464: 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

9984-557: 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 , 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

10140-459: 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

10296-475: The Storm , and Smite being popular. MOBA games are well-represented in esports as well. In 2018, prize pools reached over US$ 60 million, 40% of the year's total esports prize pools. In management simulation games, players build, expand or manage fictional communities or projects with limited resources. Tycoons, city-building, business simulation and transport management games are considered by some authors as

10452-434: The advantages associated with both of the main types of strategy games. Most strategy video games involve a mix of both strategy and tactics . "Tactics" usually refer to how troops are utilized in a given battle, whereas "strategy" describes the mix of troops, the location of the battle, the commander's larger goals or military doctrine , as well as the act of building up something (a base, economy, etc.). However, there

10608-429: The artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence opponents often need hidden information or bonuses to provide a challenge to players. More recently, massively multiplayer online strategy games have appeared such as Shattered Galaxy from 2001. However, these games are relatively difficult to design and implement compared to other massively multiplayer online games , as the numerous player-controlled units create

10764-442: The availability of resources between players. To a lesser extent, some strategy games give players a fixed quantity of units at the start of the game. Strategy games often allow the player to spend resources on upgrades or research. Some of these upgrades enhance the player's entire economy. Other upgrades apply to a unit or class of units, and unlock or enhance certain combat abilities. Sometimes enhancements are enabled by building

10920-580: The best-selling games for the personal computer. It has been praised for pioneering the use of unique "factions" in RTS gameplay, and for having a compelling story. 2002's Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos has been an influence on real-time strategy games, especially the addition of role-playing elements and heroes as units. More than the game itself, mods created with the World Editor led to lasting changes and inspired many future strategy games. Defense of

11076-506: The considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and military tactics in generally small-scale confrontations as opposed to more strategic considerations of turn-based strategy (TBS) games. Turn-based tactical gameplay is characterized by the expectation of players to complete their tasks using only the combat forces provided to them, and usually by the provision of a realistic (or at least believable) representation of military tactics and operations. Examples of this genre include

11232-434: 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

11388-638: 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

11544-528: The day-in-the-life episodes of the many different Real Housewives series. Documentaries and docuseries are other highlights of the non-fiction branch of media franchises, such as the popular Planet Earth series, which serves as both a film and television transmedia franchise. Strategy video game Strategy is a major video game genre that emphasizes thinking and planning over direct instant action in order to achieve victory. Although many types of video games can contain strategic elements, as

11700-489: 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

11856-555: 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

12012-417: 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

12168-528: 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

12324-414: 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

12480-725: The fictional worlds they love, adds to the overall narrative the franchise creates through its other media. Marvel's Avenger's Campus park is one of the many franchise-based theme parks created in recent times, following the creation of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure and Star Wars' Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland and Disney World . Media franchises tend to cross over from their original media to other forms. Literary franchises are often transported to film, such as Nancy Drew , Miss Marple , and other popular detectives , as well as popular comic book superheroes . Television and film franchises are often expanded upon in novels , particularly those in

12636-437: 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 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

12792-466: The film The Matrix Reloaded and the video game Enter the Matrix were produced at the same time, using the same actors on the same sets, and released on the same day. Transmedia franchises occasionally release content through certain media that is not canon to the main or greater story that the franchise is built around, meaning that the elements of said content do not truly exist in the main timeline of

12948-467: The financial logic of cost-recovery for expensive productions by identifying that a single medium launch is a lost opportunity, the timeliness of the production and release is more important than its integrity, the releases should raise brand awareness and the cross-ability of the work is critical for its success. American Idol was a transmedia franchise from its beginnings, with the first season winner Kelly Clarkson signing with RCA Records and having

13104-453: 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 was announced; it is a role-playing game released in 2023 for Android and iOS. NetherRealm said it would be

13260-399: 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

13416-410: 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

13572-440: The first player is, of course, randomly selected. Almost all non-computer strategy games are turn-based; however, the personal computer game market trend has lately inclined more towards real-time games. Some recent games feature a mix of both real-time and turn-based elements thrown together. Turn-based tactics ( TBT ), or tactical turn-based ( TTB ), is a genre of strategy video games that through stop-action simulates

13728-445: 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

13884-603: The focus on the content of the commodity to "overlapping the commodity image with the character image". The book Anime's Media Mix: Franchising Toys and Characters in Japan, by Marc Steinberg, details the evolution of the media mix in Japan. Long-running franchises were common in the early studio era, when Hollywood studios had actors and directors under long-term contract. In such cases, even lead actors are often replaced as they age, lose interest, or their characters are killed. Spin-offs and adaptations of popular pieces of media within

14040-455: The following series of games: Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron, Crusader Kings. Artillery is the generic name for either early two- or three-player (usually turn-based ) computer games involving tanks fighting each other in combat or similar derivative games. Artillery games are among the earliest computer games developed; the theme of such games is an extension of the original uses of computer themselves, which were once used to calculate

14196-413: 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

14352-561: 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 ,

14508-433: The franchise's characters and settings. As one author explains, "For the studios, a home-run is a film from which a multimedia 'franchise' can be generated; the colossally expensive creation of cross-media conglomerates predicated on synergistic rewards provides an obvious imperative to develop such products." The trend later developed wherein franchises would be launched in multiple forms of media simultaneously; for instance,

14664-415: The franchise. Canon content often times breaks continuity, leading fans to speculate or seek to confirm which media are canon and which are not, which can get confusing if the franchise does not provide an answer themselves since entire media can be non-canon to the greater story, with a popular example occurring. On the other hand, specific episodes, volumes or parts of a series can be canon while others in

14820-615: The game is real-time, or turn-based. Strategy games also draw on a number of historical periods , including World War II , the medieval era, or the Napoleonic era . Some examples of these are: Hearts of Iron IV , Europa Universalis IV , and Victoria II . Some strategy games are even based in an alternate history , by manipulating and rewriting certain historical facts. It is also common to see games based in science fiction or futuristic settings, as well as fantasy settings. Some strategy games are abstract, and do not try to represent

14976-408: The game play revolves entirely around tactics, with little or even no strategy involved. Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG or MMO) in particular have had a difficult time implementing strategy since having strategy implies some mechanism for "winning". MMO games, by their nature, are typically designed to be never-ending. Nevertheless, some games are attempting to "crack the code," so-to-speak, of

15132-414: 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

15288-433: 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

15444-553: 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 the Wii . Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe ,

15600-414: The genre by other studios, such as Teamfight Tactics , Dota Underlords , and Hearthstone Battlegrounds releasing soon after. Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a genre of strategy video games in which each player controls a single character with a set of unique abilities that improve over the course of a game and which contribute to the team's overall strategy. Players work together as

15756-568: 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

15912-571: 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

16068-498: The landscape. Some strategy games such as Civilization III and Medieval 2: Total War involve other forms of conflict such as diplomacy and espionage. However, warfare is the most common form of conflict, as game designers have found it difficult to make non-violent forms of conflict as appealing. Strategy games often involve other economic challenges. These can include building construction, population maintenance, and resource management . Strategy games frequently make use of

16224-473: The magazine), footwear, clothing of every kind, jewelry, housewares (lamps, clocks, bedding, glassware), guitars and gambling, playing cards, pinball machines and pet accessories, billiard balls, bedroom appurtenances, enhancements, plus countless other items of merchandise. Non-fiction media franchises also exist in the television and film media, with reality TV being one of the most well-known examples; ranging from competition shows like The Amazing Race to

16380-641: 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

16536-400: The media fictional material is unrelated. Non-fiction literary franchises include the ...For Dummies and The Complete Idiot's Guide to... reference books . An enduring and comprehensive example of a media franchise is Playboy Enterprises , which began expanding well beyond its successful magazine, Playboy , within a few years after its first publication, into such enterprises as

16692-462: The mid-1990s, but were later outsold by other types of strategy games. Sid Meier 's Civilization and the Total War series are important examples from this formative era, and popularized the level of detail that would later become a staple of the genre. In the new 2000 millennium, several 4X releases have become critically and commercially successful. Grand Strategy games emphasize the management of

16848-416: The moniker real-time strategy ( RTS ) indicates that the action in the game is continuous, and players will have to make their decisions and actions within the backdrop of a constantly changing game state, and computer real-time strategy gameplay is characterised by obtaining resources, building bases, researching technologies and producing units. Very few non-computer strategy games are real-time; one example

17004-473: The most popular RTS games. Massively multiplayer online real-time strategy games , also known as MMORTS , combine real-time strategy (RTS) with a persistent world . Players often assume the role of a general, king, or other type of figurehead leading an army into battle while maintaining the resources needed for such warfare. The titles are often based in a sci-fi or fantasy universe and are distinguished from single or small-scale multiplayer RTS games by

17160-484: The most successful series of strategy games of all time. 4X games are a genre of strategy video game in which players control an empire and " e x plore, e x pand, e x ploit, and e x terminate ". The term was first coined by Alan Emrich in his September 1993 preview of Master of Orion for Computer Gaming World . Since then, others have adopted the term to describe games of similar scope and design . 4X games are noted for their deep, complex gameplay . Emphasis

17316-532: The need for direct action upon an opponent. Nevertheless, some authors consider construction and management simulation games, in particular city-building games, as a part of the wider strategy game genre. Although strategy games are similar to role-playing video games in that the player must manage units with a variety of numeric attributes, RPGs tend to be about a smaller number of unique characters, while strategy games focus on larger numbers of fairly similar units. The player commands their forces by selecting

17472-432: The number of players and common use of a persistent world , generally hosted by the game's publisher, which continues to evolve even when the player is offline. Real-time tactics (abbreviated RTT and less commonly referred to as fixed-unit real-time strategy ) is a subgenre of tactical wargames played in real-time simulating the considerations and circumstances of operational warfare and military tactics . It

17628-410: 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

17784-405: The opponents' main structure wins the match. The genre is seen as a fusion of real-time strategy games , role-playing games , and action games , however, players usually do not construct either buildings or units. This type of multiplayer online video games gained popularity in early 2010s, with Defense of the Ancients mod for Warcraft III , League of Legends , Dota 2 , Heroes of

17940-433: The overarching story and narrative of the franchise itself. A connection between the characters, settings, and other elements of the media franchise do still exist within the different media, regardless of the fact that they are being presented in sometimes completely different ways, such as the shared, interweaving storylines and elements of Spider-Man films, television shows, comics and video games. Espen Aarseth describes

18096-550: The owner of Warcraft property, developed a game inspired by DotA titled Heroes of the Storm (2015), which features an array of heroes from Blizzard's franchises, including numerous heroes from Warcraft III. Former game journalist Luke Smith called DotA "the ultimate RTS". Since its first title was released in 2000, the Total War series by the Creative Assembly has sold over 20 million copies, becoming one of

18252-490: The owners, the goal of increasing profit through diversity can extend the commercial profitability of the franchise and create strong feelings of identity and ownership in its consumers. Those large groups of dedicated consumers create the franchise's fandom , which is the community of fans that indulge in many of its media and are committed to interacting with and keeping up with other consumers. Large franchise-based fandoms have grown to be even more popular in recent years with

18408-798: 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

18564-512: The player can see the terrain but not the units within the explored area. This makes it possible for enemies to attack unexpectedly from otherwise explored areas. Strategy video games are categorized based on whether they offer the continuous gameplay of real-time strategy , or the discrete phases of turn-based strategy . These differences in time-keeping lead to several other differences. Typically, turn-based strategy games have stronger artificial intelligence than real-time strategy games, since

18720-654: The player's ability to explore or manage an economy. Even though there are many action games that involve strategic thinking, they are seldom classified as strategy games. A strategy game is typically larger in scope, and its main emphasis is on the player's ability to outthink their opponent. Strategy games rarely involve a physical challenge, and tend to annoy strategically minded players when they do. Compared to other genres such as action or adventure games where one player takes on many enemies, strategy games usually involve some level of symmetry between sides. Each side generally has access to similar resources and actions, with

18876-484: The popular Twilight book series that was adapted into the five films of The Twilight Saga . Other neologisms exist to describe various franchise types including metaseries , which can be used to describe works such as Isaac Asimov 's Foundation series . Multimedia franchises usually develop through a character or fictional world becoming popular in one medium, and then expanding to others through licensing agreements , with respect to intellectual property in

19032-453: 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

19188-420: 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

19344-495: 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,

19500-475: 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

19656-430: 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 ,

19812-480: The reduction of enemy forces is usually a goal. Victory is achieved through superior planning, and the element of chance takes a smaller role. In most strategy video games, the player is given a godlike view of the game world, and indirectly controls game units under their command. Thus, most strategy games involve elements of warfare to varying degrees, and feature a combination of tactical and strategic considerations. In addition to combat, these games often challenge

19968-500: The relationship between economic growth, technological progress, and conquest. That same year, Nobunaga's Ambition was a conquest-oriented grand strategy wargame with historical simulation elements. The Lords of Midnight combined elements of adventure, strategy and wargames, and won the Crash magazine award for Best Adventure game of 1984, as well as Best Strategy Game of the Year at

20124-415: The release of A Moment Like This becoming a #1 hit on Billboard Hot 100. The success resulted in a nationwide concert tour, an American Idol book that made the bestseller list and the film From Justin to Kelly . A transmedia franchise however is often referred to by the simpler term "media franchise". The term media franchise is often used to describe the popular adaptation of a work into films, like

20280-466: 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

20436-409: The rise of social media platforms, as many fans seek to interact with one another for discussion, debate and even to create their own fan-made pieces of media revolving around the franchise, on websites like tumblr , Reddit and Fandom . In the case of successful transmedia franchises, each different medium should expand the target demographic and fandom, build the interest of the consumers and add to

20592-516: The same medium are not, such as the fact that only some of the Battlestar Galactica comics are canon, with a large amount of them breaking the continuity of the main story. In Japanese culture and entertainment, media mix ( wasei-eigo : メディアミックス , mediamikkusu ) is a strategy to disperse content across multiple representations: different broadcast media , gaming technologies, cell phones, toys, amusement parks , and other methods. It

20748-554: 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

20904-472: 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

21060-580: The strengths and weaknesses of each side being generally balanced. Although strategy games involve strategic, tactical, and sometimes logistical challenges, they are distinct from puzzle games . A strategy game calls for planning around a conflict between players, whereas puzzle games call for planning in isolation. Strategy games are also distinct from construction and management simulations , which include economic challenges without any fighting. These games may incorporate some amount of conflict, but are different from strategy games because they do not emphasize

21216-428: 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

21372-474: The tanks, the velocity or "power" of the shot fired and the angle of the tanks' turrets. Auto battler , also known as auto chess , is a type of strategy game that features chess -like elements where players place characters on a grid-shaped battlefield during a preparation phase, who then fight the opposing team's characters without any further direct input from the player. It was created and popularized by Dota Auto Chess in early 2019, and saw more games in

21528-401: 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

21684-546: The trajectories of rockets and other related military-based calculations. Artillery games have been typically described as a type of turn-based tactics game, though they have also been described as a type of "shooting game." Examples of this genre are Pocket Tanks , Hogs of War , Scorched 3D and the Worms series. Early precursors to the modern artillery-type games were text-only games that simulated artillery entirely with input data values. A BASIC game known simply as Artillery

21840-420: The true real-time strategy MMOG. One method by which they are doing so is by making defenses stronger than the weapons, thereby slowing down combat considerably and making it possible for players to more carefully consider their actions during a confrontation. Customizable units are another way of adding strategic elements, as long as players are truly able to influence the capabilities of their units. The industry

21996-507: The turn-based pace allows more time for complex calculations. But a real-time artificial intelligence makes up for this disadvantage with its ability to manage multiple units more quickly than a human. Overall, real-time strategy games are more action-oriented, as opposed to the abstract planning emphasized in turn-based strategy. The relative popularity of real-time strategy has led some critics to conclude that more gamers prefer action-oriented games. Fans of real-time strategy have criticized

22152-404: 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,

22308-536: The uniquely different kind of gameplay as far as the fighting system within itself. 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

22464-671: The wait times associated with turn-based games, and praised the challenge and realism associated with making quick decisions in real-time. In contrast, turn-based strategy fans have criticized real-time strategy games because most units do not behave appropriately without orders, and thus a turn-based pace allows players to input more realistic and detailed plans. Game theorists have noted that strategic thinking does not lend itself well to real-time action, and turn-based strategy purists have criticized real-time strategy games for replacing "true strategy" with gameplay that rewards "rapid mouse-clicking". Overall, reviewers have been able to recognize

22620-445: 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 was not much influence by Street Fighter II on

22776-472: The world's highest-grossing media franchises . For example, Pokémon 's penetration into the American market of the franchise along with others of Japanese origin, such as Yu-Gi-Oh! , gave rise to the recognition of what is variously called transmedia storytelling , crossmedia, transmediation , media synergy, etc. Researchers argue that the 1963 Tetsuwan Atomu marked a shift in Japanese marketing from

22932-625: Was Mortal Kombat II , which had unprecedented opening week sales figures never seen before in the video game industry, for the first time beating the box office numbers of summer hit films. The Mortal Kombat games, however, have not been localized in Japan after the Super Famicom release of Mortal Kombat II , due to content guidelines against depictions of blood, gore and dismemberment (Tobias blaming their "very americanized" character design). Media franchise A media franchise often consists of cross-marketing across more than one medium. For

23088-541: Was a Risk -like game called Invasion, released in 1972 for the Magnavox Odyssey . Strategic Simulations (SSI)'s Computer Bismarck , released in 1980, was the first historical computer wargame. Companies such as SSI, Avalon Hill , MicroProse , and Strategic Studies Group released many strategy titles throughout the 1980s. Reach for the Stars from 1983 was one of the first 4X strategy games, which expanded upon

23244-482: 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

23400-495: Was not released. A stage show titled Mortal Kombat: Live Tour was launched at the end of 1995, expanded to 1996, and featured Mortal Kombat characters in a theatrical display on stage. BradyGames produced the collectible card game Mortal Kombat Kard Game in 1995. The Duelist called the game a "worse clone" of Magic: the Gathering . Score Entertainment 's 2005 collectible card game Epic Battles also used some of

23556-501: Was popularized by Dune II three years later in 1992. Brett Sperry, the creator of Dune II , coined the name "real-time strategy" to help market the new game genre he helped popularize. Real-time strategy games changed the strategy genre by emphasizing the importance of time management, with less time to plan. Real-time strategy games eventually began to outsell turn-based strategy games. With more than 11 million copies sold worldwide by February 2009, StarCraft (1998) became one of

23712-489: 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

23868-580: 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

24024-633: 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 , 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

24180-507: 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 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

24336-458: Was written by Mike Forman and was published in Creative Computing magazine in 1976 . This seminal home computer version of the game was revised in 1977 by M. E. Lyon and Brian West and was known as War 3 ; War 3 was revised further in 1979 and published as Artillery-3 . These early versions of turn-based tank combat games interpreted human-entered data such as the distance between

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