As many of you might already know, I've taken an interest in the new Mortal Kombat. Unfortunately, it seems like the game is struggling on a competitive level so I thought I would put together a last minute podcast before Evo to discuss several different aspects of Mortal Kombat 9. I'm very happy to welcome on my good friends Art Sanchez and LI Joe who are two very reputable top level MK players who also have had great success with multiple other fighting games. Some of the topics we cover include the strength of EC vs WC, our gripes with the game, thoughts on patching as well as well as several other topics. I hope you guys enjoy it.

Awesome podcast. Aris, who runs Avoiding the Puddle, is hilarious. I'm sure there will be haters, but he just keeps things truthful and backs everything up with good reasoning.

For starters your topic title is a bit too sensationalist, this isn't Eventhubs.

As for the podcast I gave it a listen this afternoon. It certainly comes off as fairly negative, the game has problems like any other fighting game, but it also has problems that are inexcusable for a fighting game released in 2011 with the developers talking about marketing the game to competitive players. At some point Netherealm has to stop trying to fix broken bones with band-aids and get to work on a updated MK9 disc release or an MK10.

If NRS has been taking notes and feedback from players (staff members have shown up to tournaments and some have TYM accounts) than MK9 will end up being the crucial stepping stone towards MK becoming a fighting game that is taken seriously. MK has always done well in sales, and now that the developers are owned by a company in better standing they don't need to pump shitty games out in order to keep a company afloat. For now the players who enjoy the game should keep on supporting it and even trying to break the game, so everything that needs to be dealt with is out on the table.

Aris can come off as a dick but I really enjoy listening to people like him, he speaks his mind 100% and doesn't give a fuck. He made some good points about what has hurt the game getting players to try out the game, and how there really aren't enough "smart" players who are actually playing MK9.

If NRS can make all the necessary improvements the only thing stopping the next MK from being huge is the Capcom fanboys who have way more of a presence in the fighting game community than they really should.

Also Joe's story about the post-PDP tournament dinner is pretty hilarious.

I dug it when I heard it yesterday, the thing that just got me was that some of the problems dont really effect me, i don't play in tournies the concepts of frame data and hit boxes, don't really matter to me. i just like hopping into a room and just going and there is just a ton of stuff to do. I do agree that there does need to be a real training mode, even though fighting game training modes are pretty much piss poor almostt always.

But I do agree that MK needs to have4 a strong showing at EVO (eventhough it is going at the same time as AE, which is retarded)

LI Joe <3

I have never heard Aris say anything positive about MK.

@Tim_the_Corsair: Well, people do know him for playing the game and doing very well at it.

I feel like this isn't a surprise for the exact reason they cite--it's a game without a truly established competitive history, unlike Street Fighter or Tekken. Despite the revival of UMK3 and whatnot, people aren't willing to jump in to Mortal Kombat because there are design choices that alienate the competitive community.

Regardless of its standing in the competitive world, Mortal Kombat has been totally re-established amongst general gamers, so this whole discussion is of little greater consequence for the lot of us.