Xbox-exclusive Mortal Kombat fighter discussed, Boon says

by James Ransom-Wiley on Apr 19th 2011 6:00PM

With Kratos headlining the Mortal Kombat roster on PS3, it seemed only a matter of time before NetherRealm Studios would announce an Xbox-exclusive character for the ninth installment in the grizzled fighting game series -- except the game's out today. It never happened.

"Unfortunately, the circumstances didn't allow us to make a 360 exclusive [character]," MK boss man Ed Boon told Eurogamer. "I'm not allowed to talk too much about it, but I can tell you we certainly wanted to do an exclusive for 360, but that's all I can say."

Boon did end up saying a little more, as he hinted that Halo's Master Chief and Gears of War's Marcus Fenix came up as (obvious) choices during discussion. Of course, Chief has been known to "balk at" the invitation to join an exclusive fighting tournament. And we heard that it's in Marcus' contract that any arena he enters has to be cover-based.

Source: Eurogamer

Tags: ed-boon, marcus-fenix, master-chief, microsoft, mortal-kombat-2011, netherrealm-studios, wbie, xbox

Reader Comments (77)

I think Microsoft wants people to PAY (as usual) for that extra, exclusive character in the form of DLC.

@Ballistic H

Knock it off.

I'm sure it's just that it's difficult to think of a MGS character that would fit in with the Mortal Kombat universe. Kratos was a pretty obvious choice. I do wish they had come up with something, however.

@Ballistic H i think this Boon character has a huge sales failure on his hands.

@Ballistic H

Eh, look at Portal on the PS3... free PC copy of it on Steam. Granted you need to put the steam disc into the ps3 first but yeah.. thanks Sony, Valve, and Gamestop... got Portal on the pc for $25. ;)

@Ballistic H

Because that's how it worked out for Team Ninja with DoA4 right?

@Ballistic H Kudos, moronic fanboy. You know Microsoft, always holding characters back for DLC, right? I mean, I had to pay so much for that unlockable Spartan in DOA4. It's dumbass comments like yours that are ruining the comments section on Joystiq.

That's not the case. Warner Bros revealed earlier that Sony helped fund development of Mortal Kombat. That deal included the Kratos character and the ability to put "Exclusive to PlayStation" somewhere on the game box. Likewise the deal probably said to not make an exclusive character for Xbox 360.

Boon is not allowed to admit that because his contract with the game producers.

pic is
FULL.
OF.
WIN.

A chainsaw-wielding Marcus seems the closest to appropriate for the MK series

@pkpk523

I think I mentioned this in another article, but MS owns Rare, there's absolutely *no* reason a Killer Instinct character isn't in the game. C'mon, how dope would Fulgore be in MK?

@pkpk523
Why not 'Sabrewulf' if we're discussing KI characters? MK already has an 'ice' character, so Glacius is out. Scorpion uses 'fire', so Cinder is out. Fulgore is a cyborg - too much like Cyrax. Actually, I would be excited about a Riptor, Spinal or Sabrewulf character. They all bring something new to the MK table.

@pkpk523
Darth Revan or Darth Malak from KOTOR. Technically they are exculsive to Xbox. Thats what I'm going with. Darth Malak would kick so much butt and look awesome doing it.

Hmm... I guess Sony paid the shit out of them not to give us an exclusive character? I really can't fathom any other possibility as to what "circumstances," there are and why he's not allowed to talk about it.

@Revengez

I suppose his statements could be taken that way. I wouldn't doubt it if it was something that Sony paid up for.

@ItsameMatt03 if so, what a waste.

@Revengez
Microsoft isn't Sony. MS might bribe developers explicitly to NOT do things on their competitors. Doesn't mean their competitors do it as well.

@PointlessPuppies

yeah it's not like sony has been doing that since 20098 or anything.

if fact I challenge you to name a game in the last two years that has had exclusive content for the xbox.

@Uberdave

Homefront has exclusive content for the Xbox.
CoD gives exclusive content for the Xbox and 30 day exclusivity for map packs.

@Uberdave
Good thing we've quite a few years untill then. We'll all be dead by the time Sony begins to bribe people.

@Uberdave
Not sure if it counts, but Microsoft does have a history of paying for timed exclusives on maps (Black Ops and Homefront) and DLC (Fallout 3 NV).

Sony allowed these developers to use Kratos, and Microsoft may have just not trusted them to use Master Chief or Marcus because they are the two iconic 360 characters. Besides, Kratos already appeared on the PSP version of Soul Calibur, so it's nothing new for Sony.

@Revengez cram it.

@Revengez GTAIV, Fallout New Vegas, and Fallout 3 say hi!

@Uberdave
Your from the future?????

@ruibing It's probably less about trust and more the fact the game was designed from day one to return the series to its ultra violent roots. I am sure Microsoft didn't want to see Marcus Fenix or whomever getting eviscerated.

See also: MK Vs DC.

I think it would be great for an 360 exclusive character but no-one fits the game anywhere near as well as Kratos.

@superfrog96 Guess you've never heard of Killer Instinct or Tao Feng, eh?

@nerdquest

I think Superfrog meant characters from this decade.

@nerdquest

It's a fighting game. Regardless of what character didn't make the cut for the XBox version, characters from other fighting games were never contenders. I'd say, they wanted to use an actual Microsoft character and Microsoft had issue with one of their big franchise guys getting dismembered in someone else's IP. Not to mention the fact that there will always be faux parental uproar over any MK game, and Microsoft probably didn't want their name mentioned in that context.

@making11s you're correct. Only a fool would think it's a financial issue.

I know I wouldn't want my likeness (or my IP in theory) in Mortal Kombat. Maybe in 1996 it would have been great but no one cares about Mortal Kombat anymore.

@nerdquest

Also, a Tao Feng crossover would be pointless and sad. Might as well put Voodoo Vince in there, why don'tcha?

@superfrog96 THE BERSERKER FROM GEARS ON LOAN.

@nerdquest

Tao Feng? Really?

Why don't they just use the super-memorable guy from Kakuto Chojin?

Or that guy everyone remembers from Fuzion Frenzy?

Or Voodoo Vince? He's a fan favorite, right?

I guess the most aesthetically appropriate character from Microsoft's stable would be the guy with no-neck from Gears of War.

Though I would personally nominate Conker.

That would totally make my day.

If it was Banjo, I'm pretty sure that I'd have crapped my in utter amazement by now.

Ed Boon and NetherRelm are a bunch of chumps. Of course they announce this today. And what about the demo we never got?

@Alwayscomeinjune thank you for saving me the trouble of a no demo rant.

@Alwayscomeinjune

Dude, the demo wasn't all that great. I played on the ps3. the final product is far superior.

@Alwayscomeinjune

360 never got a demo?

That's flat out stupid.

The demo is what made me pre-order.

I literally went from zero interest to must-have in one round of fighting.

I mean, as a Playstation Plus member, I liked getting the demo early, and all, but the idea of keeping a demo off of 360 entirely?

That's just bad business for WBIE, and total bullshit for gamers in general.

Poor form. Poor form.

@YakuzaElite who cares if you didnt like the demo?, Xbox gamers still would liked to try the game for free some nerve you have telling someone else what they need or woulda felt, just cuz you didnt like the demo doesnt mean no one else would.

What exclusive character microsoft is going to use....my best guess is a character from gears of war they could fit right in.

@bargaingamer Killer Instinct would be awesome. Or...It could never happen but Buki from Sudeki would be sweet.

The obvious choice would have been A GIANT WORM!!

If they bring in Banjo, they might as well bring in the pissed off Conkers...another bad fur day.

Obvious choice here folks.

http://www.thecaptainsmemos.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/denver2.jpg

Should be Alan Wake and have him kick some ass with a book like Matt Damon in Bourne Ultimatum.

Yeah it sucks that there's no exclusive character for the 360, but there's no 360 exclusive characters that fit in the Mortal Kombat world. I guess that's what happens when all your games are shooters...

@Ospov

Oh, snap.

@Ospov
their are TONS of exclusive xbox characters that are killing machines. microsoft just likes to keep a tight leash on their characters because they don't want anyone to use it in a way that makes the series look bad

@Ospov "Finish Him"

@Ospov Oof. Nice work.

@Ospov DC wasted their iconic characters on Mortal Combat so why would anyone else consider this?

@Jack Kevorkian

true...who ever thought that dc vs. mortal kombat was a good idea anyway? now if they were to make a dc vs. marvel fighter, i would totally be on board.

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Mortal Kombat (2011)

Xbox-exclusive Mortal Kombat fighter discussed, Boon says

Reader Comments (77)

Posted: Apr 19th 2011 6:03PM Ballistic H said

Posted: Apr 19th 2011 6:11PM ItsameMatt03 said

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