A Stray Mortal Kombat

A copy of Mortal Kombat was found in the wild before its release date. What can we learn from it? Also the latest on Starfield and commentary on a possible Stray movie. 

Mortal Kombat 1 leaks early

Mortal Kombat 1 comes out Sept. 19, but one individual somehow got his hands on the game early.

A Reddit user posted the full roster of fighters for the new game. The list has since been deleted, but if you are curious and don’t care about potential spoilers, you can view it here. Since the leak, Warner Brothers Games posted two new trailers for fighters, and confirmed the stars that are voicing them. First up, Megan Fox voices vampire fighter Nitara.

Second, Jean-Claude Van Damme plays, well, himself. 

If you’re looking for more, you can check out every fatality confirmed in MK1 so far. For those who don’t want to wait until next week to play the game, you can purchase the Premium Edition and start the combat Sept. 14.

Starfield continues to soar

Starfield officially released last week, and with over 6 million players, it is Bethesda’s biggest launch of all time. It also exceeded 1 million concurrent players across all platforms. Maybe this is thanks to the fake doctor’s excuse created by Bethesda’s head of publishing. Or maybe its the Starfield-themed court for the WNBA's New York Liberty.

The game already has over 600 mods created by fans for the PC version, including one that brings DLSS support to gamers with Nvidia graphics cards. The game allows players to design their own ships, and players are modeling them after their favorite science fiction and real ships. The game includes a tribute to a fan who passed away before the game launched, and is also credited with saving a couple’s life.

Are you playing Starfield? Post your thoughts or ship images in the comments. 

Pet Project: Stray, the movie

The popular indie video game Stray is getting its own animated movie. Robert Baird, who leads Annapurna Animation said in a recent interview:

This is a game that's all about what makes us human, and there are no humans in it. It's a buddy comedy about a cat and a robot, and there's such a hilarious dynamic. So, there's comedy inherent in this, but there's not one human being in this movie. I think it's one of the reasons why the game was incredibly popular, that you are seeing the world through the point of view of an adorable cat. 

We asked our in-house pet Sirius Black the cat for his thoughts on the upcoming Stray film:

I do think Stray (the video game) is an excellent choice for Annapurna Animation. Sure, the game is quite popular, and we all know why (it’s cats). And of course it’s been proven repeatedly that felines are inherently film-worthy.But the key to the brilliance of this film is the exploration of the complex relationship cats have with robots. Some robots are trustworthy (my faithful automatic feeder); some are functional (the robot my humans call a Roomba that was obviously designed for feline transportation); some are terrifying and should be destroyed (ALL UPRIGHT VACUUM CLEANERS). The point is, this subject is rife with potential. Let’s see if humans can truly capture the complicated, rich tapestry of feline/robotic interactions. Bonus points to theatres that serve chicken with the movie.

You can read a review of Stray the game here, or play it on PlayStation, Xbox and PC.

Side quests (more stories worth reading)

🤫 Nintendo demoed a Switch 2 for developers at Gamescom.

🃏 The Gen Con Magic: The Gathering thieves are charged with felony theft, and could spend up to five years in prison. 

📅 E3 in 2024 is up in the air, as organizer ReedPop is stepping away from the event. 

🧩 The New York Times continues innovating in the mobile gaming space with its new game, Connections.

🧱 Roblox is coming to PlayStation. 

😈 Diablo 4 general manager Rod Fergusson says you can expect annual expansions for the game, similar to Destiny 2. 

🎙️ Nintendo's Miyamoto and Charles Martinet discuss Mario voice change.

🎮 EA says it plans to ‘double down’ on a handful of its most popular games. 

🤠 Bethesda could announce an Indiana Jones game next year. 

🇺🇸 Nintendo Switch Online brings three classic games to the US for the first time. 

🤫 Is Valve working on a new gadget?

🎮 You can soon build your own Xbox 360 out of tiny plastic bricks. No word on if it comes with a red ring of doom. 

🔫 Destiny 2 asked gamers for feedback on their player vs. player content. Here are some of the results. 

🕹 Atari founder Nolan Bushnell launches an educational game company called ExoDexa. 

💸 Meanwhile, Atari acquires the retro games community site AtariAge.

🏀 NBA 2K24 is a very big game, in terms of file size.

🐱 Indie video game Stray is getting an animated movie. Read a review of Stray.

👼🏻 We recently kicked off our 2023 Extra Life campaign to raise money for Children’s Hospital Of Wisconsin. Support a good cause if you are willing and able. 

New Releases this week: 

9/12: Eternights (PlayStation and PC)
9/12: Nour: Play With Your Food (PlayStation and PC)
9/12: Super Bomberman R 2 (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC)
9/12: The Isle Tide Hotel (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC and mobile)
9/14: Ad Infinitum (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
9/14: Dune: Spice Wars (PC)
9/14: Solar Ash (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
9/14: The Crew Motorfest (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
9/14: Thunder Ray (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC)

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