Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe toned down to keep T-rating

by Griffin McElroy { Oct 26th 2008 at 12:00PM }

Midway is in desperate need of a best-selling blockbuster, as any industry analyst will tell you that the 50-year-old company is circling the drain. While Midway is likely banking on the upcoming Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe to fill that role, an increasing amount of violence within the title has apparently pushed the game to M-rated territory -- which typically doesn't help sales during the holiday season. Therefore, we can't say we're surprised at Midway's decision to tone down the "toasty" brawler in order to keep the T-rating they've been shooting for.

In a recent interview with Kotaku, Ed Boon explained that the developer had been working with the ESRB to squeeze as much brutality into the game while still remaining teen-friendly. However, one known casualty of some recent content cutbacks is the Joker's wicked "prank gun" fatality (posted after the break), the fatal part of which will now take place off-screen. It's unclear what else has been changed to appease the ESRB, though it's safe to assume that the final product won't contain any unceremoniously removed spinal cords, or, lamentably, disappearing pencils.

Tags: esrb, midway, mortal-kombat-vs-dc-universe, rating

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

theturtle363 @ Oct 26th 2008 12:08PM

uhh, wasn't there a report a year ago about how M rated games sold an average of like 25k more units on average?

theturtle363 @ Oct 26th 2008 12:12PM

as you can see my boys my vocabulary could use some increasing on average

WRE @ Oct 26th 2008 12:14PM

You have an average vocabulary, so what?

Ethan @ Oct 26th 2008 4:00PM

No need to have a rage about it.

Richard 2.4 @ Oct 26th 2008 4:35PM

If there was, it's only because the best-selling games (GTA, Halo series) are M-rated and sell so much that it'd throw the numbers off. But for the typical game that isn't going to several million units no matter what, an M-rating is more likely to hurt sales.

Morisato @ Oct 26th 2008 6:17PM

"If there was, it's only because the best-selling games (GTA, Halo series) are M-rated and sell so much that it'd throw the numbers off. But for the typical game that isn't going to several million units no matter what, an M-rating is more likely to hurt sales."

If that's true, according to the post, Midway expects this title to be at that caliber, so then why would they tone it down?

Mr Khan @ Oct 26th 2008 12:09PM

A bad idea for a game whose appeal rests on its over-the-top violence

Esat Dedezade @ Oct 26th 2008 1:36PM

Word

PSN: johnnynumber5 @ Oct 26th 2008 3:19PM

This game has fail written all over it. It was nothing but Fail from the start. The concept was stupid and the series is dead and gone where it belongs. The last good MK game was #2 and that hasn't changed. Once they added the run button and robotic combos it ruined the gameplay. If I want those robotic combo I will go and play Tekken.

Foetoid @ Oct 26th 2008 8:03PM

No way johnny, there hasnt been a good MK game since the awesome MK4 on N64, i played that to death, loved it. I do own MK: Armageddon, which isn't crap, but not really good either.

Lijik @ Oct 26th 2008 12:09PM

Just lost a sale due to censoring the Joker fatality. Fuck you, midway.

Alvin @ Oct 26th 2008 2:54PM

thats what i said

Bowser the Baptist @ Oct 26th 2008 12:10PM

This game was always going to be trash, gimmick fatalities wouldn't have saved it. Mortal Kombat was garbage in 1994 and this latest iteration will not change the level of failure this series has managed to get itself into. Really, the games last generation were some of the most stiffest fighting games I've ever played. Why did anybody have hope for this 'new' version?

I always confuse Midway with Acclaim.

WRE @ Oct 26th 2008 12:13PM

But they're spelled and pronounced differently.

Bowser the Baptist @ Oct 26th 2008 12:15PM

Two days, two zingers. But you know what I mean.

Acclaim were cool once. They had those old WWF games on the PS1. They were fun. Shame they went bust.

DangerMouse @ Oct 26th 2008 12:27PM

Trash or not, Mortal Kombat is a well established name has always been a decent money maker. Sitting on it and not making use of the IP would be a poor decision. They'll probably make a decent return on this. I mean they have to, this game looks like garbage, and i can't see them dropping too much cash on this.

Acclaim was one of the shittiest companies ever, with a bunch of terrible ports (PC especially) and awful games. The industry is better without them around. Fuck em.

Bowser the Baptist @ Oct 26th 2008 12:34PM

Sega > Nintendo > Acclaim > Midway > Epic > Squaresoft

Mr Khan @ Oct 26th 2008 1:15PM

But Square Enix made TWEWY, which you acknowledge as one of your favorite games this year

Bowser the Baptist @ Oct 26th 2008 1:25PM

As I understood it, TWEWY was primarily developed by Jupiter, with Squaresoft only handling a few bug fixes, the bulk of financing, and publishing. This was the case for Space Invaders Extreme. They had little creative input into the project.

It'd be like saying Ubisoft deserve distinct credit for NMH.

The Fatass of Kickassness @ Oct 26th 2008 1:46PM

For once, I agree with you.

Except for Sega being better than some of those companies you've listed. I dunno, they've had lots of really original concepts in the past but lately they've been going nowhere but downhill.

PSN: johnnynumber5 @ Oct 26th 2008 3:25PM

Bowser-

I agree with you. This game is trash and the series has been as boring and generic as it comes.

BIGFAT @ Oct 26th 2008 4:12PM

numbers prove all your theory's wrong.

Epic & Squaresoft sell way more games then any of those company's you listed above them and If MK was ass since 1994 then why does it continue to be a million seller and have metacritic scores in the 70's then.

Obie @ Oct 26th 2008 12:13PM

Joker: Wanna see a magic trick? I am gonna make sales of this game DISSAPEAR! *slam!*

WRE @ Oct 26th 2008 12:20PM

Your avatar is much more disturbing than it used to be...

Obie @ Oct 26th 2008 12:29PM

Braaaains!

WRE @ Oct 26th 2008 1:04PM

Eeeeekkkk!

DangerMouse @ Oct 26th 2008 2:47PM

The Cat

Thatoneguy64 @ Oct 26th 2008 2:53PM

The prefix "dis" only has one "s," and the word "appear" has two "p"s

Sorry, but that typo always bugs me.

Obie @ Oct 26th 2008 3:22PM

@oneguy64: I am a zombie, the spelling part of my brain is the first to go. :(

Mike M. @ Oct 26th 2008 3:37PM

Obviously he was saying that sales of this game would be disrespectful towards pears in some manner.

Thief @ Oct 26th 2008 12:21PM

Then this isn't a Mortal Kombat game...

holyice7 @ Oct 26th 2008 12:26PM

I'm wondering why they bothered at all with trying to censor it.

Wouldn't that Mortal Kombat censorship issue fifteen some odd years ago have cemented the series into the selection of items that overprotective parents would never consider purchasing under any circumstances?

Then again, I continually hear angry complaints from comic fans about the game in general, so maybe kids were the only audience they thought they'd have a shot at. :P

spoons @ Oct 26th 2008 12:30PM

Good job on censoring the entire point of one of the goriest franchises in the history of video games, Midway!That is not going to hurt the sales of this already potentially horrible game!

ComicShaman @ Oct 26th 2008 12:29PM

I wonder if putting out a "director's cut" version at the M-level rating would increase sales (enough to justify the cost of packaging two different games, anyway)? Sure it would be a gimmick, but the whole flippin' thing is a gimmick anyway. I can't see this move doing anything to help this game.

RESISTANCE @ Oct 26th 2008 12:38PM

That is actually a good idea.

Noksucow @ Oct 26th 2008 1:24PM

Or why not let those that want an uncensored version download an update to unlock it?

tcc3 @ Oct 26th 2008 7:37PM

Or a "blood code" like the old days

therpham @ Oct 26th 2008 12:48PM

Does anyone expect this to be $60 worth of fun? It seems like five minutes of YouTube videos would be enough to satisfy anyone's curiosity.

j.howlett @ Oct 26th 2008 12:50PM

let us unlock the mature rated stuff through dlc

Hyams @ Oct 26th 2008 1:27PM

Paying for gore?

j.howlett @ Oct 26th 2008 4:27PM

keep it cheap like 99 cents. this could be a path to having legitimate adult content in games. it has to start somewhere

Zeus.:God @ Oct 27th 2008 1:52AM

Debbie Does Halo?

RogueStorm @ Oct 26th 2008 12:51PM

Why can't they do like the movie publishers do? Release two versions, including an "Uncensored" one and give people a choice?

Better yet, why not make the M rated content a download through XBL or elsewhere?

Kizzle @ Oct 26th 2008 12:58PM

It's comical to see how many people are supposedly bailing on this game because of a few cosmetic changes. Yes, it's a Mortal Kombat game. But if the gameplay is decent - and by most previews it actually seems to be - it's pretty pathetic how many of you are wishy-washy over totally insignificant things. If the game plays well, I'm in. If it sucks, I'll skip it and wait for a proper MK game. But I'm not so fucking picky I'll ignore it just because some of the blood was removed.

chelo @ Oct 26th 2008 1:10PM

do you even know what MK is about? it's about killing people in weird ways!

theturtle363 @ Oct 26th 2008 1:58PM

if they took Darth Vader, the Jedi, the Force, and everything that made Star Wars cool out of Star Wars, would you still want to watch it?

Obie @ Oct 26th 2008 3:36PM

I know cuz the balanced fighting mechanics were the staple of the MK series. [face_plain]

doom saber @ Oct 26th 2008 5:08PM

It isn't that comical considering how the main draw of the first mk game was of the violences, the controversies, and not the gameplay. Without fatalities and blood, I doubt mk would be what it is now. Violence sell and if a game is known to have something and was later removed 20 years later, it would anger a lot of ppl. It is normal

Censorin mk is like if Capcom removes megaman's classic death explosion and replaceing it with an offscreen death(screen goes blank)

OR having all the death scenes in a leatherface film done off screen.