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Mortal Kombat A Little Less Teen-Friendly In Europe?

Added by Jeff on Nov. 6, 2008 44 comments

Midway recently had a team over in Europe, making the rounds through Germany, the United Kingdom, and more to show off near-final versions of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. So we're starting to see some Euro-specific coverage of the game. One story from VideoGamer claims that the European release of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe will see at least one slightly more violent fatality.

Specifically, it's The Joker's fatality, which surfaced in video form awhile back and showed the white-faced prankster pulling a pistol and shooting his victim in the head. In the US version, said fatality was altered so that you don't see the shot land on camera. The European version won't cut away.

VideoGamer spoke with Midway's Hans Lo, who had this to say on the issue:

"That's partly true [that the fatality has been edited]... You know, for North America we have a Teen rating, and teen really means 13 and above. Thirteen is pretty young, you have to admit. For Europe we have a 15, 16+ rating - so it's a bit different."

When pressed for info on more differences between versions, Lo offered no further specifics.

I hit up Midway for confirmation on this, and also asked if the 360 European release will have region coding. You know, in case people want to import the European version for a little extra oomph. If I hear back, I'll let you know. In the meantime, consider the fact that all PlayStation 3 games are, by design, region-free.

In case you haven't seen it, here's a quick video of Midway's Hector Sanchez running through some of The Joker's moves, including the fatality.

Filed under : Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

45 Comments

chililili
on Nov. 6, 2008

Meh so not importing it, in fact I dunno if I will buy it. Seems pretty good but quite frankly beter games are coming out and I'm not rich.

Milkman
on Nov. 6, 2008

In a word, lame.

InfiniteGeass
on Nov. 6, 2008

I really do hate that they had to block it out in the US version

gzl5000
on Nov. 6, 2008

That's a pretty cool fatality. Censoring it sucks big time.

BlackHawk53
on Nov. 6, 2008

"So all you people who thought this was going to be Mortal Kombat light"... YOU WERE RIGHT!!!

Jimbo_N
on Nov. 6, 2008

Hey, being european dosent suck right now. thats kinda cool. We do however get the game later as usual so...

dagas
on Nov. 6, 2008

Considering we have 3,7,12,16,18 in EU it gives them a lot more flexebility than 3 (E) ,10 (E10) ,13 (T) ,17 (M) used in NA. I think 12,16,18 is a lot better than 13 and 17.

TheHBK
on Nov. 6, 2008

I guess thats a cool fatality. Man the joker is just too, goofy. He should be more like in the batman animated series.

Gregomasta
on Nov. 6, 2008

mother fucker, mk vs dc, its losing ground on my list of must have games. Infact it may have slipped behind sf4, ssf2t HD even.

Kralle
on Nov. 6, 2008

Americans are too sensitive, thats why it gets censored. Here in Denmark a kid can buy whatever game or movie they want. People dont really care about the ratings.

Drallcom
on Nov. 7, 2008

I buy fighting games based on good fighting mechanics not their appearance. Hope they release a demo to get a feel of the kombat.

MackGyver
on Nov. 7, 2008

It's kind of funny and ironic that almost every gamer despite age these days know, have seen or even executed a fatality in previous Mortal Kombat games in all their glory, and yet people bitch about the same game doing the same thing, only with better graphics.
WAKE UP PEOPLE!!! We've seen worst on TV, what's your big f*****g problem?????????
Dumbass hypocrites.

killdave
on Nov. 7, 2008

hehehe

AnEternalEnigma
on Nov. 7, 2008

This game will be a total embarassment to the Mortal Kombat franchise. But it'll fit right in with the crap us loyal MK'ers have been fed since Ed Boon decided to start developing with the head-up-ass technique in 2002.

Captain_Fookup
on Nov. 7, 2008

No Gore makes me a sad Panda, fuck I remember playing the first in the series when I was in grade fucking Three. Even at that age we realized that turning blood to sweat and removing/altering fatalities was lame (SNES version)

Stevokenevo
on Nov. 7, 2008

whatever with the whining, this game looks fun. All bitching about lack of extreme fatalities....you can still stylishly kick the crap out of each other!

mubress
on Nov. 7, 2008

Cool fatality, shame that Americans can't have it as well (unless they have a PS3 of course)

SciFiCat
on Nov. 7, 2008

Wierd, considering that Europe is more open to sexuality and not so much into violence. But this video dates backs to before the editing of Joker's fatality, so I think the European version will be the same as the US one. Regardless, it is not a game breaking change.

Snail
on Nov. 7, 2008

For once America envies Europe.

PunkBeatz
on Nov. 7, 2008

Sucks for Americans, but I'm glad the UK version will show it. I suppose it all comes down to which year of teenage life you set the boundary at.

I was really shocked after playing No More Heroes that there was no blood AT ALL in the UK version, especially since our media seems to get away with much more than most countries. Yeah, I'm not forgetting the whole Manhunt 2 thing, but I lived in America for a year when I was at uni and couldn't believe that there was very little swearing/cussing / sex / violence in most television shows, even after 9pm. It's not a criticism, just an observation...

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