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Noipoi
Howdy!
Oh my Jesus Christ let it go. Please. It’s causing you ****ing anguish and it shouldn’t because it’s a goddamn Nintendo game.
Or don’t let it go, but stop bringing it up.
Sick of it
So since I assume I need to wait for my chance to create the most based character support thread on the website so that they can actually make subforums, I will have to store my original piece on Scorpion here, since the DLC Speculation fading away means I can no longer access the raw text from the post. So for that, I will hide it in a spoiler just for me to access later on.
Obviously, I'm not going to copy-paste it but a lot of the material in it I do need.
And just so I can find this easily if I need to just look it up in the future, I will say something I've never muttered on the website before:
Obviously, I'm not going to copy-paste it but a lot of the material in it I do need.
I told you I was doing it, I just never told you when. Y'all gonna learn today. Bootleg Smashboards article time.
The Super Smash Bros. series roster has more than doubled within the past decade with an insane jump from 35 playable characters in Brawl to the base roster of 74 total characters in Ultimate, with now 80 total characters and counting with current DLC. This massive jump is not only thanks to the hardworking efforts of Sakurai providing Ultimate the ultimate experience by bringing back all previously playable characters, but also by expanding their horizons on what characters are introduced to the game. Since Brawl, third-party non-Nintendo characters started as a guest duo of Sonic and Snake to now well over an eighth of the current roster spanning from various franchises, companies, and genres. This begs the question of who isn't eligible to join the roster?
Characters from M-Rated video games and/or from games with heavily violent content have been a tricky subject when it comes to plausible Smash Bros. inclusion. Although the characters Snake, Bayonetta, and Joker come from these mature-rated games, characters from franchises with notorious amounts of gore, blood, and other violence have been perceived as having no place in Smash's harmless fantasy violence. These include characters such as Bethesda's Doom Slayer from the DOOM franchise and the star of this piece, NetherRealm Studios's Scorpion from the Mortal Kombat franchise. Though while the Doom Slayer does appear to have a cult following and an understanding of plausibility from the core Smash speculation scene, Scorpion is perceived in the opposite fashion. However, many of these skepticisms are based on multiple pieces of misinformation, of which this piece will dissect, debunk, and prove that this hellspawn ninja is more precedent than you may first think.
The Super Smash Bros. series roster has more than doubled within the past decade with an insane jump from 35 playable characters in Brawl to the base roster of 74 total characters in Ultimate, with now 80 total characters and counting with current DLC. This massive jump is not only thanks to the hardworking efforts of Sakurai providing Ultimate the ultimate experience by bringing back all previously playable characters, but also by expanding their horizons on what characters are introduced to the game. Since Brawl, third-party non-Nintendo characters started as a guest duo of Sonic and Snake to now well over an eighth of the current roster spanning from various franchises, companies, and genres. This begs the question of who isn't eligible to join the roster?
Characters from M-Rated video games and/or from games with heavily violent content have been a tricky subject when it comes to plausible Smash Bros. inclusion. Although the characters Snake, Bayonetta, and Joker come from these mature-rated games, characters from franchises with notorious amounts of gore, blood, and other violence have been perceived as having no place in Smash's harmless fantasy violence. These include characters such as Bethesda's Doom Slayer from the DOOM franchise and the star of this piece, NetherRealm Studios's Scorpion from the Mortal Kombat franchise. Though while the Doom Slayer does appear to have a cult following and an understanding of plausibility from the core Smash speculation scene, Scorpion is perceived in the opposite fashion. However, many of these skepticisms are based on multiple pieces of misinformation, of which this piece will dissect, debunk, and prove that this hellspawn ninja is more precedent than you may first think.
Before we start, what even is Mortal Kombat? And why is it important?
Mortal Kombat is a fighting game series by the now-defunct Midway Studios that first hit arcade cabinets in October of 1992. Between its current rivals of SNK's Fatal Fury and Capcom's Street Fighter II, it was a smash hit. It was praised for its, at the time, realistic graphics using digitized renders of real-life actors that were filmed and then converted into the game and violent trademark Fatality ending moves that depicted graphic ways to kill your opponent after winning the match. In the United States, it had even usurped Street Fighter II during the holiday season of its release year just three months after its release. By the time it had gained its notoriety in the United States for its graphic violence in the 1993 Congressional hearings, 3 million units were already distributed. I'll get back to the hearings soon.
Grabbed from magazine Play Meter Vol. 18, no. 13, December '92.
It was such a smash hit that it had spawned an entirely new genre of fighting games that used its art style of digitized actors; similar to how Fatal Fury and Street Fighter's success spawned a wave of less successful imitators. Surprisingly, even Capcom had tried it with their two different versions of the video game adaptation of their movie adaptation of Street Fighter II. Mortal Kombat had countless sequels since its inception, with the trilogy of Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II, and Mortal Kombat III (and its update UMK3) continuing to dominate the arcade charts for years while being critically acclaimed by critics and gamers alike. And on top of that, home console versions were also selling millions of units per entry with great reviews. It was on the SEGA Genesis and Super Nintendo, where although the SNES MK1 was notorious for having its blood permanently censored (the Genesis version was also censored, but had a well-known blood-enabling cheat code), the blood returned for all future installments, which is one of the first seeds of misinformation being how much Nintendo actually supported its graphic content at the time. The awkward handling of the first game's port was mainly due to...
The 1993 Congressional Hearings and the Present Day Kombat
The U.S. Senate held a hearing discussing violent video game franchises in December of 1993 and March of 1994. These meetings discussed the concerns of parents who believed that violent video games would have a negative effect on children as the technology evolved to display more graphic scenes in realistic fashions in an unregulated manner. To Congress, they believed that the industry was purposefully marketing violent content to children and threatened to take action. Four games were brought into the spotlight: SEGA's Night Trap, ID Software's DOOM, Konami's Lethal Enforcers, and of course, Mortal Kombat. These hearings forced the industry to create the ESRB rating system we have today in the United States.
Mortal Kombat by this point had become the most well-known violent video game. And though that would seem to detract it from audiences, the Kombat train was still going stronger than ever. By the turn of the century, home console versions of Mortal Kombat Trilogy and its first dive into 3D with Mortal Kombat 4 were well-received and sold well. However, the series had begun to enter a decline entering the 2000s, selling fewer copies per entry, and eventually, the main publisher of the franchise Midway Studios became defunct in 2009. However, the series was purchased by WB Interactive and repurposed as NetherRealm Studios, and the franchise made a massive rebound when Mortal Kombat (also known as MK9) released in 2011. It alone saved the franchise after being acquired by WB and launched a new era for the series.
Following to the present day, Mortal Kombat 11 is beloved and is currently recorded to have sold over 8 million copies as of October 2020. It had even won Best Fighting Game in The Game Awards 2020. It is still going strong with a recently enhanced version for next-gen consoles on Xbox Series X and PS5. It has also been a juggernaut outside of the gaming scene. This is partially thanks to Warner Bros. owning the series and allowing it to flourish in multimedia formats. There have been comics, figures, cartoons, collaborations with DC, and currently three movies full-length with an upcoming fourth one in production. It is far bigger than one would initially expect.
That is practically all of the history you need to know of the series, but that doesn't solve why many believe a Mortal Kombat character is improbable. It has to do with misinformation being spread about various things. For starters...
Japan uses CERO
The ESRB is only applied in North America. For Europe, there is PEGI. For Japan, their rendition is the CERO, which rates games slightly differently than how we do in the West. Mortal Kombat has an M-Rating in the ESRB. That equivalent in Japan's CERO would be a D rating, which is where the Metal Gear Solid and Bayonetta games are placed. Therefore, Mortal Kombat would also be in the same ranking, right? Not quite. Due to its excessive violence and gore, it actually receives a Z rating, the maximum rating that is equivalent to the ESRB's AO (Adult Only) ranking. However, certain acts of violence such as decapitation and massive amounts of blood loss are strictly prohibited and would have to be changed. Even the games listed above have some sort of censored violence that is uncensored in the Western release. Another example would be the No More Heroes franchise, where excessive blood is replaced with enemies turning into blackened ash.
Despite this, Mortal Kombat still exists in Japan.
I've seen articles everywhere discussing bans on Mortal Kombat, saying that it's been prohibited from release. This isn't the case, the newer entries are simply unlocalized or were canceled releases, not outright bans. It isn't that Japan is banning these games from ever reaching store shelves, it is that WB Interactive doesn't want to pursue heavy censoring just to enter that market. However, that doesn't stop any Japanese player from playing any Mortal Kombat, even after the last official Japanese release being Mortal Kombat Trilogy on the PSX. There was even a televised tournament where Japanese players tried to defeat a blind American in Mortal Kombat: Deception, despite it never being localized. The blind player won, by the way.
Furthermore, there are two easy ways to play Mortal Kombat as a Japanese player:
Nintendo is actually into Mortal Kombat and wanted it on Switch.
At least, this was Nintendo of America's interests. When WB Interactive introduced MK11, they were concerned that the mature title would conflict with Nintendo's family-friendly console. However, they persisted that they actively wanted this title on their platform and were confident in their sales. Below is the panel from NoA representative Scott Hawkins and his discussion of Mortal Kombat 11's success on Nintendo Switch (the stream is in Portuguese, but the voices are in English):
And they were very much correct. Mortal Kombat 11 has sold extremely well on Nintendo Switch and even toppled Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey, even being yet another million unit best-seller. Go into the eShop right now and you will still find MK11 on their best-selling section of listed games still after being on the platform for over a year now. While graphically the game is lacking, it is a technical marvel for a Switch game and went well beyond Nintendo's original expectations, which was already positive. What does this tell us?
Nintendo is aware. Nintendo knows that there is an audience for Kombat.
As long as CERO remains the same, Mortal Kombat will likely not see an official localization on Switch. But that is fine. Mortal Kombat was never even translated for its 90's era localizations; they're all in English. The knowledge that Nintendo has about the cultural icon that is Mortal Kombat is enough. You can argue adding a character such as Scorpion detracts from the charm of Mortal Kombat's violent themes, but that is similar to characters like the Doom Slayer or Ryu Hayabusa where violence held a key component in aspects of their games. It is not needed to fulfill the character, the character itself is represented to celebrate the video game industry, and this would be selling one of the best-selling fighting games to date; the third rival after Fatal Fury and Street Fighter.
Final Words
The main message of this piece is not to say that Scorpion is a must-have that everyone must accept and open their eyes to. The cultural challenges of Mortal Kombat have persevered and clashed with Japan, but that doesn't make him an impossible inclusion, especially not the fact that it is an American creation that mostly sticks Western. After all, Banjo Kazooie is prominently known to be a bigger success in the Western market than in Japan. Four playable characters in the game are designed by Western companies (with Dark Samus being one American-designed character). SNK (and by translation, what Terry Bogard brought) dominated the Latin-American scene with the NEOGEO more than its Asian scene. Much like how a series that's predominantly popular in Japan that isn't so paraded in the West can and has gotten into Smash, the reverse can apply, and Mortal Kombat is a shining example.
Mortal Kombat's history might appear to paint it in a negative light, but the inclusion of the rating systems has benefitted the gaming industry; as it had prevented government involvement in the industry that could have done far worse. Nowadays, the games and series that were once brought to court in 1993 are beloved. You can buy DOOM and Night Trap on Nintendo Switch eShops today. To say that Scorpion would be impossible is to also assume that the Doom Slayer must also be impossible, even if he was able to localize into the Japanese market.
Again, I am not saying to expect Scorpion or to think he's a priority. I am saying that with the information we have of him, we understand that Nintendo recognizes the Mortal Kombat franchise and respects it. They understand both it and its history as both one of the biggest fighting games and game series in history. My goal was to correct the constant misinformation I have heard about him and to clarify that the shaky history of the franchise overseas does not disqualify him or any other Kombatant. And I hope I was able to deliver.
Just don't be surprised if the day comes where Mario gets hooked by a kunai and dragged away toHell Netherrealm in a Smash trailer. 
Mortal Kombat is a fighting game series by the now-defunct Midway Studios that first hit arcade cabinets in October of 1992. Between its current rivals of SNK's Fatal Fury and Capcom's Street Fighter II, it was a smash hit. It was praised for its, at the time, realistic graphics using digitized renders of real-life actors that were filmed and then converted into the game and violent trademark Fatality ending moves that depicted graphic ways to kill your opponent after winning the match. In the United States, it had even usurped Street Fighter II during the holiday season of its release year just three months after its release. By the time it had gained its notoriety in the United States for its graphic violence in the 1993 Congressional hearings, 3 million units were already distributed. I'll get back to the hearings soon.
Grabbed from magazine Play Meter Vol. 18, no. 13, December '92.
It was such a smash hit that it had spawned an entirely new genre of fighting games that used its art style of digitized actors; similar to how Fatal Fury and Street Fighter's success spawned a wave of less successful imitators. Surprisingly, even Capcom had tried it with their two different versions of the video game adaptation of their movie adaptation of Street Fighter II. Mortal Kombat had countless sequels since its inception, with the trilogy of Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II, and Mortal Kombat III (and its update UMK3) continuing to dominate the arcade charts for years while being critically acclaimed by critics and gamers alike. And on top of that, home console versions were also selling millions of units per entry with great reviews. It was on the SEGA Genesis and Super Nintendo, where although the SNES MK1 was notorious for having its blood permanently censored (the Genesis version was also censored, but had a well-known blood-enabling cheat code), the blood returned for all future installments, which is one of the first seeds of misinformation being how much Nintendo actually supported its graphic content at the time. The awkward handling of the first game's port was mainly due to...
The 1993 Congressional Hearings and the Present Day Kombat
The U.S. Senate held a hearing discussing violent video game franchises in December of 1993 and March of 1994. These meetings discussed the concerns of parents who believed that violent video games would have a negative effect on children as the technology evolved to display more graphic scenes in realistic fashions in an unregulated manner. To Congress, they believed that the industry was purposefully marketing violent content to children and threatened to take action. Four games were brought into the spotlight: SEGA's Night Trap, ID Software's DOOM, Konami's Lethal Enforcers, and of course, Mortal Kombat. These hearings forced the industry to create the ESRB rating system we have today in the United States.
Mortal Kombat by this point had become the most well-known violent video game. And though that would seem to detract it from audiences, the Kombat train was still going stronger than ever. By the turn of the century, home console versions of Mortal Kombat Trilogy and its first dive into 3D with Mortal Kombat 4 were well-received and sold well. However, the series had begun to enter a decline entering the 2000s, selling fewer copies per entry, and eventually, the main publisher of the franchise Midway Studios became defunct in 2009. However, the series was purchased by WB Interactive and repurposed as NetherRealm Studios, and the franchise made a massive rebound when Mortal Kombat (also known as MK9) released in 2011. It alone saved the franchise after being acquired by WB and launched a new era for the series.
Following to the present day, Mortal Kombat 11 is beloved and is currently recorded to have sold over 8 million copies as of October 2020. It had even won Best Fighting Game in The Game Awards 2020. It is still going strong with a recently enhanced version for next-gen consoles on Xbox Series X and PS5. It has also been a juggernaut outside of the gaming scene. This is partially thanks to Warner Bros. owning the series and allowing it to flourish in multimedia formats. There have been comics, figures, cartoons, collaborations with DC, and currently three movies full-length with an upcoming fourth one in production. It is far bigger than one would initially expect.
That is practically all of the history you need to know of the series, but that doesn't solve why many believe a Mortal Kombat character is improbable. It has to do with misinformation being spread about various things. For starters...
Japan uses CERO
The ESRB is only applied in North America. For Europe, there is PEGI. For Japan, their rendition is the CERO, which rates games slightly differently than how we do in the West. Mortal Kombat has an M-Rating in the ESRB. That equivalent in Japan's CERO would be a D rating, which is where the Metal Gear Solid and Bayonetta games are placed. Therefore, Mortal Kombat would also be in the same ranking, right? Not quite. Due to its excessive violence and gore, it actually receives a Z rating, the maximum rating that is equivalent to the ESRB's AO (Adult Only) ranking. However, certain acts of violence such as decapitation and massive amounts of blood loss are strictly prohibited and would have to be changed. Even the games listed above have some sort of censored violence that is uncensored in the Western release. Another example would be the No More Heroes franchise, where excessive blood is replaced with enemies turning into blackened ash.
Despite this, Mortal Kombat still exists in Japan.
I've seen articles everywhere discussing bans on Mortal Kombat, saying that it's been prohibited from release. This isn't the case, the newer entries are simply unlocalized or were canceled releases, not outright bans. It isn't that Japan is banning these games from ever reaching store shelves, it is that WB Interactive doesn't want to pursue heavy censoring just to enter that market. However, that doesn't stop any Japanese player from playing any Mortal Kombat, even after the last official Japanese release being Mortal Kombat Trilogy on the PSX. There was even a televised tournament where Japanese players tried to defeat a blind American in Mortal Kombat: Deception, despite it never being localized. The blind player won, by the way.
Furthermore, there are two easy ways to play Mortal Kombat as a Japanese player:
- Import the games. It's been done with both Mortal Kombat X and Mortal Kombat 11. You can do it on all platforms, even Switch.
- Play on PC, because CERO only regulates console releases. MKX and MK11 are available on Japanese Steam services.
Nintendo is actually into Mortal Kombat and wanted it on Switch.
At least, this was Nintendo of America's interests. When WB Interactive introduced MK11, they were concerned that the mature title would conflict with Nintendo's family-friendly console. However, they persisted that they actively wanted this title on their platform and were confident in their sales. Below is the panel from NoA representative Scott Hawkins and his discussion of Mortal Kombat 11's success on Nintendo Switch (the stream is in Portuguese, but the voices are in English):
And they were very much correct. Mortal Kombat 11 has sold extremely well on Nintendo Switch and even toppled Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey, even being yet another million unit best-seller. Go into the eShop right now and you will still find MK11 on their best-selling section of listed games still after being on the platform for over a year now. While graphically the game is lacking, it is a technical marvel for a Switch game and went well beyond Nintendo's original expectations, which was already positive. What does this tell us?
Nintendo is aware. Nintendo knows that there is an audience for Kombat.
As long as CERO remains the same, Mortal Kombat will likely not see an official localization on Switch. But that is fine. Mortal Kombat was never even translated for its 90's era localizations; they're all in English. The knowledge that Nintendo has about the cultural icon that is Mortal Kombat is enough. You can argue adding a character such as Scorpion detracts from the charm of Mortal Kombat's violent themes, but that is similar to characters like the Doom Slayer or Ryu Hayabusa where violence held a key component in aspects of their games. It is not needed to fulfill the character, the character itself is represented to celebrate the video game industry, and this would be selling one of the best-selling fighting games to date; the third rival after Fatal Fury and Street Fighter.
Final Words
The main message of this piece is not to say that Scorpion is a must-have that everyone must accept and open their eyes to. The cultural challenges of Mortal Kombat have persevered and clashed with Japan, but that doesn't make him an impossible inclusion, especially not the fact that it is an American creation that mostly sticks Western. After all, Banjo Kazooie is prominently known to be a bigger success in the Western market than in Japan. Four playable characters in the game are designed by Western companies (with Dark Samus being one American-designed character). SNK (and by translation, what Terry Bogard brought) dominated the Latin-American scene with the NEOGEO more than its Asian scene. Much like how a series that's predominantly popular in Japan that isn't so paraded in the West can and has gotten into Smash, the reverse can apply, and Mortal Kombat is a shining example.
Mortal Kombat's history might appear to paint it in a negative light, but the inclusion of the rating systems has benefitted the gaming industry; as it had prevented government involvement in the industry that could have done far worse. Nowadays, the games and series that were once brought to court in 1993 are beloved. You can buy DOOM and Night Trap on Nintendo Switch eShops today. To say that Scorpion would be impossible is to also assume that the Doom Slayer must also be impossible, even if he was able to localize into the Japanese market.
Again, I am not saying to expect Scorpion or to think he's a priority. I am saying that with the information we have of him, we understand that Nintendo recognizes the Mortal Kombat franchise and respects it. They understand both it and its history as both one of the biggest fighting games and game series in history. My goal was to correct the constant misinformation I have heard about him and to clarify that the shaky history of the franchise overseas does not disqualify him or any other Kombatant. And I hope I was able to deliver.
Just don't be surprised if the day comes where Mario gets hooked by a kunai and dragged away to
And just so I can find this easily if I need to just look it up in the future, I will say something I've never muttered on the website before:
BIG CHUNGUS
It's the best I could think of.
MooMew64
sometimes here, sometimes there
I got this in my recommended like an hour ago
the overlap me and you have in YT algorithms is both fascinating and slightly worrying
Noipoi
Howdy!
Have we ever seen Moo and Shroob in the same room?
Shroob
Sup?
There is nothing to fear
Dutch Raikuna
Life's a sweet bitter beauty song.......
So guys in a few hours it won't be Smashboards.
It will be.............................
Nick/Splatoon/Pokemon/Nintendo Switch Online/Kirby/Zelda/Morshu/Racoon/Jason Bourne/Kalamari/Katamari/Adventure Time/Naruto/Italian Pianist/Anime/Kawaii/Chicken Run/ARMS and PARANOIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! .....................Boards!
Or just more people here.
Some of us are ready to move on and focus on more important stuff. If anything I see the end of Smash Ultimate DLC and NEO TWEWY being released as the end of my peak to be able to play and buy games whenever I want.
With both there and ending like
Noipoi
pointed out in the letting it go, I see it like that and ready to change gears both literally and figuratively. It is a game but one I hope to not live through a cycle this long of a wait again for DLC honestly.
It will be.............................
Nick/Splatoon/Pokemon/Nintendo Switch Online/Kirby/Zelda/Morshu/Racoon/Jason Bourne/Kalamari/Katamari/Adventure Time/Naruto/Italian Pianist/Anime/Kawaii/Chicken Run/ARMS and PARANOIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! .....................Boards!
Or just more people here.
Ain't gonna lie Snake but that's a bit sad.
Some of us are ready to move on and focus on more important stuff. If anything I see the end of Smash Ultimate DLC and NEO TWEWY being released as the end of my peak to be able to play and buy games whenever I want.
With both there and ending like
Noipoi
pointed out in the letting it go, I see it like that and ready to change gears both literally and figuratively. It is a game but one I hope to not live through a cycle this long of a wait again for DLC honestly.
Last edited:
KillerCage
Smash Master
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2019
- Messages
- 4,298
Define "yeeted."
Schnee117
Too Majestic for Gender
Pretty sure character support threads aren't going to be a thing yet. The mods seem to be aiming to contain future speculation inside the Smash 6 thread, so you'll probably have to wait a good minute until you can start a character thread.So since I assume I need to wait for my chance to create the most based character support thread on the website so that they can actually make subforums, I will have to store my original piece on Scorpion here, since the DLC Speculation fading away means I can no longer access the raw text from the post. So for that, I will hide it in a spoiler just for me to access later on.
Obviously, I'm not going to copy-paste it but a lot of the material in it I do need.
I told you I was doing it, I just never told you when. Y'all gonna learn today. Bootleg Smashboards article time.
View attachment 335102
The Super Smash Bros. series roster has more than doubled within the past decade with an insane jump from 35 playable characters in Brawl to the base roster of 74 total characters in Ultimate, with now 80 total characters and counting with current DLC. This massive jump is not only thanks to the hardworking efforts of Sakurai providing Ultimate the ultimate experience by bringing back all previously playable characters, but also by expanding their horizons on what characters are introduced to the game. Since Brawl, third-party non-Nintendo characters started as a guest duo of Sonic and Snake to now well over an eighth of the current roster spanning from various franchises, companies, and genres. This begs the question of who isn't eligible to join the roster?
Characters from M-Rated video games and/or from games with heavily violent content have been a tricky subject when it comes to plausible Smash Bros. inclusion. Although the characters Snake, Bayonetta, and Joker come from these mature-rated games, characters from franchises with notorious amounts of gore, blood, and other violence have been perceived as having no place in Smash's harmless fantasy violence. These include characters such as Bethesda's Doom Slayer from the DOOM franchise and the star of this piece, NetherRealm Studios's Scorpion from the Mortal Kombat franchise. Though while the Doom Slayer does appear to have a cult following and an understanding of plausibility from the core Smash speculation scene, Scorpion is perceived in the opposite fashion. However, many of these skepticisms are based on multiple pieces of misinformation, of which this piece will dissect, debunk, and prove that this hellspawn ninja is more precedent than you may first think.
Before we start, what even is Mortal Kombat? And why is it important?
View attachment 335101 View attachment 335100
Mortal Kombat is a fighting game series by the now-defunct Midway Studios that first hit arcade cabinets in October of 1992. Between its current rivals of SNK's Fatal Fury and Capcom's Street Fighter II, it was a smash hit. It was praised for its, at the time, realistic graphics using digitized renders of real-life actors that were filmed and then converted into the game and violent trademark Fatality ending moves that depicted graphic ways to kill your opponent after winning the match. In the United States, it had even usurped Street Fighter II during the holiday season of its release year just three months after its release. By the time it had gained its notoriety in the United States for its graphic violence in the 1993 Congressional hearings, 3 million units were already distributed. I'll get back to the hearings soon.
View attachment 335099
Grabbed from magazine Play Meter Vol. 18, no. 13, December '92.
It was such a smash hit that it had spawned an entirely new genre of fighting games that used its art style of digitized actors; similar to how Fatal Fury and Street Fighter's success spawned a wave of less successful imitators. Surprisingly, even Capcom had tried it with their two different versions of the video game adaptation of their movie adaptation of Street Fighter II. Mortal Kombat had countless sequels since its inception, with the trilogy of Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II, and Mortal Kombat III (and its update UMK3) continuing to dominate the arcade charts for years while being critically acclaimed by critics and gamers alike. And on top of that, home console versions were also selling millions of units per entry with great reviews. It was on the SEGA Genesis and Super Nintendo, where although the SNES MK1 was notorious for having its blood permanently censored (the Genesis version was also censored, but had a well-known blood-enabling cheat code), the blood returned for all future installments, which is one of the first seeds of misinformation being how much Nintendo actually supported its graphic content at the time. The awkward handling of the first game's port was mainly due to...
The 1993 Congressional Hearings and the Present Day Kombat
The U.S. Senate held a hearing discussing violent video game franchises in December of 1993 and March of 1994. These meetings discussed the concerns of parents who believed that violent video games would have a negative effect on children as the technology evolved to display more graphic scenes in realistic fashions in an unregulated manner. To Congress, they believed that the industry was purposefully marketing violent content to children and threatened to take action. Four games were brought into the spotlight: SEGA's Night Trap, ID Software's DOOM, Konami's Lethal Enforcers, and of course, Mortal Kombat. These hearings forced the industry to create the ESRB rating system we have today in the United States.
Mortal Kombat by this point had become the most well-known violent video game. And though that would seem to detract it from audiences, the Kombat train was still going stronger than ever. By the turn of the century, home console versions of Mortal Kombat Trilogy and its first dive into 3D with Mortal Kombat 4 were well-received and sold well. However, the series had begun to enter a decline entering the 2000s, selling fewer copies per entry, and eventually, the main publisher of the franchise Midway Studios became defunct in 2009. However, the series was purchased by WB Interactive and repurposed as NetherRealm Studios, and the franchise made a massive rebound when Mortal Kombat (also known as MK9) released in 2011. It alone saved the franchise after being acquired by WB and launched a new era for the series.
Following to the present day, Mortal Kombat 11 is beloved and is currently recorded to have sold over 8 million copies as of October 2020. It had even won Best Fighting Game in The Game Awards 2020. It is still going strong with a recently enhanced version for next-gen consoles on Xbox Series X and PS5. It has also been a juggernaut outside of the gaming scene. This is partially thanks to Warner Bros. owning the series and allowing it to flourish in multimedia formats. There have been comics, figures, cartoons, collaborations with DC, and currently three movies full-length with an upcoming fourth one in production. It is far bigger than one would initially expect.
That is practically all of the history you need to know of the series, but that doesn't solve why many believe a Mortal Kombat character is improbable. It has to do with misinformation being spread about various things. For starters...
Japan uses CERO
View attachment 335098 View attachment 335097
The ESRB is only applied in North America. For Europe, there is PEGI. For Japan, their rendition is the CERO, which rates games slightly differently than how we do in the West. Mortal Kombat has an M-Rating in the ESRB. That equivalent in Japan's CERO would be a D rating, which is where the Metal Gear Solid and Bayonetta games are placed. Therefore, Mortal Kombat would also be in the same ranking, right? Not quite. Due to its excessive violence and gore, it actually receives a Z rating, the maximum rating that is equivalent to the ESRB's AO (Adult Only) ranking. However, certain acts of violence such as decapitation and massive amounts of blood loss are strictly prohibited and would have to be changed. Even the games listed above have some sort of censored violence that is uncensored in the Western release. Another example would be the No More Heroes franchise, where excessive blood is replaced with enemies turning into blackened ash.
Despite this, Mortal Kombat still exists in Japan.
I've seen articles everywhere discussing bans on Mortal Kombat, saying that it's been prohibited from release. This isn't the case, the newer entries are simply unlocalized or were canceled releases, not outright bans. It isn't that Japan is banning these games from ever reaching store shelves, it is that WB Interactive doesn't want to pursue heavy censoring just to enter that market. However, that doesn't stop any Japanese player from playing any Mortal Kombat, even after the last official Japanese release being Mortal Kombat Trilogy on the PSX. There was even a televised tournament where Japanese players tried to defeat a blind American in Mortal Kombat: Deception, despite it never being localized. The blind player won, by the way.
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Furthermore, there are two easy ways to play Mortal Kombat as a Japanese player:
An audience for Mortal Kombat in Japan is also precedent. Although it is a more underground scene, you can find content either on YouTube or nicovideo where Mortal Kombat is being played. and the view count is substantial in thousands and sometimes millions. My point is that a player base exists in Japan. Of course, an official localization would mean more, especially to a Japanese company such as Nintendo. But they do know. In fact...
- Import the games. It's been done with both Mortal Kombat X and Mortal Kombat 11. You can do it on all platforms, even Switch.
- Play on PC, because CERO only regulates console releases. MKX and MK11 are available on Japanese Steam services.
Nintendo is actually into Mortal Kombat and wanted it on Switch.
At least, this was Nintendo of America's interests. When WB Interactive introduced MK11, they were concerned that the mature title would conflict with Nintendo's family-friendly console. However, they persisted that they actively wanted this title on their platform and were confident in their sales. Below is the panel from NoA representative Scott Hawkins and his discussion of Mortal Kombat 11's success on Nintendo Switch (the stream is in Portuguese, but the voices are in English):
And they were very much correct. Mortal Kombat 11 has sold extremely well on Nintendo Switch and even toppled Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey, even being yet another million unit best-seller. Go into the eShop right now and you will still find MK11 on their best-selling section of listed games still after being on the platform for over a year now. While graphically the game is lacking, it is a technical marvel for a Switch game and went well beyond Nintendo's original expectations, which was already positive. What does this tell us?
Nintendo is aware. Nintendo knows that there is an audience for Kombat.
As long as CERO remains the same, Mortal Kombat will likely not see an official localization on Switch. But that is fine. Mortal Kombat was never even translated for its 90's era localizations; they're all in English. The knowledge that Nintendo has about the cultural icon that is Mortal Kombat is enough. You can argue adding a character such as Scorpion detracts from the charm of Mortal Kombat's violent themes, but that is similar to characters like the Doom Slayer or Ryu Hayabusa where violence held a key component in aspects of their games. It is not needed to fulfill the character, the character itself is represented to celebrate the video game industry, and this would be selling one of the best-selling fighting games to date; the third rival after Fatal Fury and Street Fighter.
Final Words
The main message of this piece is not to say that Scorpion is a must-have that everyone must accept and open their eyes to. The cultural challenges of Mortal Kombat have persevered and clashed with Japan, but that doesn't make him an impossible inclusion, especially not the fact that it is an American creation that mostly sticks Western. After all, Banjo Kazooie is prominently known to be a bigger success in the Western market than in Japan. Four playable characters in the game are designed by Western companies (with Dark Samus being one American-designed character). SNK (and by translation, what Terry Bogard brought) dominated the Latin-American scene with the NEOGEO more than its Asian scene. Much like how a series that's predominantly popular in Japan that isn't so paraded in the West can and has gotten into Smash, the reverse can apply, and Mortal Kombat is a shining example.
Mortal Kombat's history might appear to paint it in a negative light, but the inclusion of the rating systems has benefitted the gaming industry; as it had prevented government involvement in the industry that could have done far worse. Nowadays, the games and series that were once brought to court in 1993 are beloved. You can buy DOOM and Night Trap on Nintendo Switch eShops today. To say that Scorpion would be impossible is to also assume that the Doom Slayer must also be impossible, even if he was able to localize into the Japanese market.
Again, I am not saying to expect Scorpion or to think he's a priority. I am saying that with the information we have of him, we understand that Nintendo recognizes the Mortal Kombat franchise and respects it. They understand both it and its history as both one of the biggest fighting games and game series in history. My goal was to correct the constant misinformation I have heard about him and to clarify that the shaky history of the franchise overseas does not disqualify him or any other Kombatant. And I hope I was able to deliver.
Just don't be surprised if the day comes where Mario gets hooked by a kunai and dragged away toHellNetherrealm in a Smash trailer.
And just so I can find this easily if I need to just look it up in the future, I will say something I've never muttered on the website before:
BIG CHUNGUSIt's the best I could think of.
At least, that's my understanding of how things are going to go.
Tell me it isn't so
NonSpecificGuy
, tell me we don't live in a society like this 
Also I will die on the hill that the next Smash is Smash 7 because Sakurai said 3DS and Wii U are differently numbered entries and yeah it makes sense 2 me
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Dutch Raikuna
Life's a sweet bitter beauty song.......
Should be at least have series fan threads IMO. Would be a nice middleman so people can discuss favourite series and all without needing to go here or future.View attachment 335107
Tell me it isn't so
Also I will die on the hill that the next Smash is Smash 7 because Sakurai said 3DS and Wii U are differently numbered entries and yeah it makes sense 2 me
Like to not put too much eggs in one basket.
MooMew64
sometimes here, sometimes there
so how about the Mets
Yeah well deconfirm isn't a word, but not being able to read has never stopped us before, so not being able to count won't either.
Hadokeyblade
Smash Legend
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2018
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- 10,654
I'm just glad that i can actually put my mind on other games now.
Oh wait... The character i wanted was the last one, guess i'll keep playing smash then.
Oh wait... The character i wanted was the last one, guess i'll keep playing smash then.
KillerCage
Smash Master
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2019
- Messages
- 4,298
At least you didn't suffer Protonjon's luck regarding airports.
who's cursed model is that?
TheMightyP
Smash Obsessed
Illumination Wario
Dutch Raikuna
Life's a sweet bitter beauty song.......
Me when I was 18 years old and having £500 for the first time like:
I love Trails so much for how random and heartwarming small characters can be.
Oh yeah.
Anyone who likes JRPG's should be Trails in the Sky 1 to 3 or Trails of Cold Steel 1 to 4.
That is my advice tonight. I'm going to bed.
I love Trails so much for how random and heartwarming small characters can be.
Oh yeah.
Anyone who likes JRPG's should be Trails in the Sky 1 to 3 or Trails of Cold Steel 1 to 4.
That is my advice tonight. I'm going to bed.
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TheMightyP
Smash Obsessed
Lmao the front page is arguing if All Stars Brawl has too many 90s reps or not.
More things change, the more things stay the same
More things change, the more things stay the same
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2008
- Messages
- 26,545
What da heck I thought they were going to add Homer Simpson to Smash Brothers? There was a guy on the internet.... he said it was going to happen...
TheMightyP
Smash Obsessed
And here I was thinking that they were going to bully the Loud House as the next Fire Emblem smh
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2008
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- 26,545
OMGGG PROJECT DREAM COME TRUE I CANNOotot BELIEVE IT LETS GOOOO
He's in the game
gonna get some donuts to celebrate!
Clearly, they're just waiting for the right time to strike, to unveil this third pass. When we least expect it, when our guard is down. A lighter pass with four fi-
What the ****? They added Madotsuki? And then did it three more times?
What the ****? They added Madotsuki? And then did it three more times?
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TheMightyP
Smash Obsessed
If the leaks are true, it would be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as the next Fire Emblem
Shroob
Sup?
People are arguing on the front page? I don't se----Oh
That may explain why.
That may explain why.
MooMew64
sometimes here, sometimes there
Why is Sora's rising Bair such a threat, my word.
Those goddamn anime swordfighters.
Shroob
Sup?
Him or the fella who just non-stop cries over everything.
Ramen Tengoku
Meiniac
Aight, no need to make fun of other users even if they don't frequent here.
They still technically have access to this thread ya know
They still technically have access to this thread ya know
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TheMightyP
Smash Obsessed
Ok, but I am curious on the 3 users, that someone mentioned, who straight up posted bigoted takes and somehow haven't been dealt with by the moderation.
Rie Sonomura
fly octo fly
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So uh
are we gonna be able to gift premiums again soon
especially with the price increase?
are we gonna be able to gift premiums again soon
especially with the price increase?
TheMightyP
Smash Obsessed
It is a bit confusing because he straight up was calling people out for being bigoted when he has a Stonetoss pfp. So I doubt he agrees with him or his viewsI checked out whatever people were talking about on the front page.
Are... are y'all not seeing the guy with a Stonetoss avatar?Do you guys not know about Stonetoss?
Mods? Hello?
But anyone who does can go to sleep and not wake up for the sake of all of us. **** Stonetoss.
MooMew64
sometimes here, sometimes there
- Status