Mortal Kombat is Back, Gorily So

"The title says it all: Mortal Kombat. Not Mortal Kombat 9 (as it's the ninth proper beat-'em-up in the series) or Mortal Kombat: The Explodering, or anything so outlandish. Just Mortal Kombat.

It speaks volumes about the need to get back to basics, to deliver a purer fighting experience than we've seen in ages. But with lots and lots of gore, naturally.

Because after years of babalities, animalities and drifting away from the core ultra-violence of a spine-ripping 2D beat-'em-up, Mortal Kombat is getting back to its roots - roots that happily include Raiden using his razor-edged hat to buzzsaw an enemy in two from the groin up, and then hefting the two bloody sides of his fallen opponent skywards in damp, dripping victory..."

Review of Mortal Kombat

* * *

Yie Air Kung-Fu

Now, for the $1,000,000 question: do violent video games trigger real-life violence in kids? 

I grew up playing Yie Air Kung-Fu (too crude to be violently suggestive), Street Fighter (a little violent but Chun Li and Blanka were fun, so what the hell) and Mortal Kombat (gory, what with Reptile's head-devouring fatality moves) on Nintendo Family Computer. 

Maybe, yes, I have that occasional urge to slap someone silly or step on their toe with a heavy-soled shoe or like Reptile, bite their head off, but other than that I'd like to think I'm as peaceable as a cookie crumb.

And the latest on gaming violence:

"Media Psychiatrist" Ratchets Up Anti-Videogame Rhetoric"

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/02/rape-videogames-carole-lieberman/