MK vs. DC Tones it Down for "T"

There's a succinct difference between Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe and Marvel vs. Capcom. The MK characters are mindless killers, ending a fight by brutally killing their opponent. In the DC Universe, even the villains aren't so bad that they'd want to bluntly kill one of the heroes (unless Alan Moore is writing).

It's not surprising to think that DC cringed at the idea of showing The Joker brutally murdering The Flash. Thus, the ESRB rating for the game has been fluctuating since the game was announced.

According to Kotaku (which I found by way BTVG's old flame, Griffin), Midway finally decided that, in order to sell more games, they'd tone down the violence and settle for a "T" rating. That means that The Joker can still murder people, but it happens off screen. That way, you can simply imagine The Joker killing a man.

Other fatalities have been altered as well. But therein lies the question: does it really matter?

I understand the concern of parents when allowing their children to play games like Mortal Kombat that there's blood involved. But even with it happening off screen, it's still happening. Does this really affect anyone's view of this game?

The Alex Ross "MK vs. DC" Collector's Cover Art

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is coming out this November. I'm honestly not thrilled about the crossover thing. Granted, I really loved Kurt Busiek's incredible JLA/Avengers crossover miniseries, but there's something a bit bizarre about the DC guys going against the Mortal Kombat guys.

Anyway, so for the "Kollector's Edition" (ugh), they've decided to commission one of the most universally renowned artists in comic history for the cover - Alex Ross. Aside from doing great cover art for comics by the dozens, Ross is the artist for two of my favorite graphic novels: Kingdom Come and Marvels. If you haven't read them, do. It's great stuff. Anyway, here's a look at a video thanks to the guys at Joystiq.



Take a look at the full cover.


Wow. I don't know, maybe Alex Ross missed his calling. Perhaps he can provide the cover art for the next Mega Man game or, perhaps, Punch-Out!! Perhaps he can come up with a painting for a revamp of Burger Time, and then, after seeing the painting, game developers will rush for the rights to revamp Burger Time.

After all, the man did do a beautiful portrait of The Ambiguously Gay Duo.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

So far, the confirmed line-up includes Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Batman, and Superman. The game will probably play along the lines of a better version of Marvel vs. Capcom. There are no fatalities this time around - I doubt DC Comics was cool with the idea of The Martian Manhunter having his heart ripped out (in other news, I just had Plastic Man-related nerdy fits).

Anybody else looking forward to Kano vs. Hal Jordan? Oooooh boy this is going to be fun. It's coming out this fall for the PS3 and 360.