From MK to GOW to MK...............

UPDATE!!! KRATOS MK gameplay trailer is here:

Hi everyone. It has been a long time since I have posted here. I haven't forgotten about this blog and all of the people that follow it. It has been a very busy last few months and I know I have missed lots of news in regards to God of War news. I wanted to take some time to give you guys and update and share with you some of experiences I have had in my career in the game industry. First however I wanted to make an announcement in regards to posting at this blog. The ability to post as an anonymous has been removed because the spam was getting out of control. Hope that those of you guys posting as anonymous don't get discouraged from writing your thoughts here.

As many of you probably know Kratos has been announced for the new upcoming Mortal Kombat fighting game for PS3. Here is the announcement trailer for those of you guys that may have missed it:

Video Games Mortal Kombat VGA 10: Extended Kratos Reveal Trailer HD

Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 Nintendo Wii PC Games

As you guys can see, Kratos will be an exclusive guest character in the PS3 version. This is the second time that Kratos has made it into a major fighting game franchise, the first being his guest appearance in the Psp version of Soul Calibur. Working with the legendary Soul Calibur team was a real treat for me since I myself are big fan of the series since the first arcade version of Soul Blade. Well now I had the chance to once again work with the Legendary MK team and Ed Boon. This is not the first time I had a chance to do so since I have been lucky enough to be part of the Mortal Kombat legacy once before.

Mortal Kombat and I go way back since I first saw the shocking arcade machine at the Circus Circus casino in Las Vegas. I was in high school then and I had never seen anything like it. My jaw dropped to the floor when I saw Kano rip his victims heart out of his body. Mortal Kombat became to Street Fighter what Burger King is to McDonald's. Back then I never would have imagined that I would get to contribute to the MK saga. After college I had the opportunity to start my video game career at a small company called Paradox development. At one point we were developing a game for Sony Santa Monica called Monk. It was an action adventure game in the vein of God of War, which was being developed at the same time none the less. It focused around a Shaolin Monk that was the master of several styles of Kung Fu, such as Snake, Crane etc.. This game however was cancelled and never saw the light of day. The demo for this game was taken and shopped around various game companies including Midway, which still excited at the time. This demo impressed Ed Boon and he saw the potential of the game and thus Mortal Kombat: Saholin Monks was born. The main character from Monk was actually split into 2 characters who became Liu Kang and Kung Lao, who are also Shaolin Monks. Many of the remaining moves that they use are actually remnants from that original game.

The opportunity for me to be able to work with Ed Boon and the rest of the MK team to make and actual Mortal Kombat game was beyond my wildest dreams at that time. Many people at Paradox had grown up with Mortal Kombat games and we were all big fan of the franchise. I will admit that when the first live action Mortal Kombat movie came out in the theaters I saw it 5 times. Working on Shaolin Monks was a great experience early in my career and taking the title of Lead animator half ways through the project was a great opportunity. I actually got the chance to some animation for the likes of Lui Kang, Kung Lao, Sub-Zero, Scorpion, among others and even got the chance to come up with some of the fatality ideas for the game.

Video Games MK: Shaolin Monks Trailer 3 HD

Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 Nintendo Wii PC Games

After working on Shaolin Monks I got a chance to go and work at Sony Santa Monica on GOW2 and 3. Being able to animate Kratos was another highlight in my career. Even though God of War has not been around as long as MK it has been great to see this franchise grow in popularity. when I left Midway I never imagined that I would be able to work on anything Mortal Kombat related again. I was really surprised when I received the news that we were in talks with Netherealm studios (The team responsible for the new MK game, and comprised of the original Mortal Kombat team from Midway) to add Kratos as an exclusive character for PS3. I once again had the chance to work on a Mortal Kombat related project and on a character that I have worked on for years. It is really a small industry and it is funny how things work out. Let me know what you guys think about Kratos joining the MK cast. I will go into more detail in regards to getting Kratos into MK once the game comes out. All that I can say is that the MK team really did a great job. I have seen all of his moves and fatalities and they really did a great job of representing Kratos well. I know all of you God of War fans will not be disappointed. Follow this link to read Stig Asmussen's thoughts about Kratos being in MK.