Interview: Ed Boon
by Bryan Dawson
Ed Boon... that is the name that I'm probably most familiar with in the gaming industry. Back before I was a journalist, when I used to play these things for fun, I played a lot of different games. However, after the release of Street Fighter II in US arcades, the focus of my gaming interests turned toward fighting games. In late 1992 I was playing Street Fighter II Turbo as much as I possibly could. Since I was in 7th grade, that basically meant I played at the mall or Peter Piper Pizza every weekend.
My friend Brian (same name, bad spelling) told me about this new fighting game called Mortal Kombat, and insisted that I head to the mall to check it out. At that time I was heavy into Street Fighter and I told him that no fighting game could compete with that, so I was in no hurry to check out this new game. A few weeks later we happened to be at the mall and Brian insisted that I go with him to the arcade to check out Mortal Kombat. I finally gave in and headed over to the arcade to check it out.
When we came up on the machine, the first thing I noticed was the graphics. Instead of the cartoon look of the Street Fighter series, Mortal Kombat had gone the digitized route and the fighters looked almost real (at the time). As I moved in for a closer look, someone was hit and blood splattered on the ground. I was again mystified that this game had blood (something that Street Fighter also lacked). But I was hooked when the match ended and the announcer emphatically shouted, "FINISH HIM!!" This was followed by Sub-Zero ripping his opponent's head off with the spinal cord still hanging. Oh yes, I was a Mortal Kombat fan.
Fast-forward to 2006 and I'm now a jaded videogame journalist who plays a lot of games, but doesn't really enjoy very many of them. I left 2D fighting games when Mortal Kombat made the shift from 2D to 3D with Mortal Kombat 4. Unfortunately, MK4 is widely considered to be the worst MK title, and I happen to agree. So I moved on to Tekken and more recently Dead or Alive as the Mortal Kombat releases continued to play to the masses instead of to the high level fighting game players who called for depth in their fighting games.
When I recently sat down with Ed Boon to discuss his latest game, Mortal Kombat Armageddon, I wasn't really expecting much. Having not liked the MK series for nearly a decade and knowing that Armageddon was built off of the same engine used in the past two MK titles, I was sure that my time with Boon would be short and to the point. Gladly, I was quite wrong.
"With a smile Boon told me that the next Mortal Kombat will be on next generation consoles and they've already started work on it."
As I started chatting with the co-creator of Mortal Kombat about the changes being made to Armageddon, I soon began to understand why the MK series has less depth and caters a lot more to the casual gamers than hardcore gamers. Ed Boon is a Tekken fan. He told me that when he's home playing for fun he plays Tekken, it's his favorite fighting game. In fact, when I asked Boon if he had seen the full length Tekken 6 trailer, he hadn't and was overjoyed when I showed it to him on my camcorder. He loves the depth in Tekken, but he also understands that it can be hard for a casual gamer to get into a deep fighter like that. Mortal Kombat is his work and he decided to make the MK titles more accessible to the casual gamers.
While Boon played through Armageddon and showed me some of the new things he had added to the game, it was clear that he has been adding depth little by little with the last few MK titles. Boon informed me that he started with a basic engine in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, but he has been adding more depth with every installment. In Armageddon the new parry and aerial combat systems add a good amount of depth to the fighting engine.
At this time I figured I should ask the one thing I've wanted to know since Armageddon was announced. I asked Boon when Mortal Kombat would be making its way to next generation consoles. With a smile Boon told me that the next Mortal Kombat (MK8 for now) will be on next generation consoles and they've already started work on it. It almost certainly won't be hitting next year, but it should be arriving sometime in 2008. In addition, the game will not use the same engine as Armageddon and the past few MK titles, so we'll be getting an all new Mortal Kombat.
Armageddon still has a mystery online element that Boon isn't ready to disclose yet. The game will still feature the same one-on-one battles that MK: Deception featured, but it will also have a new online multiplayer mode that has replaced Puzzle Kombat and Chess Kombat. When I asked Boon why MK has not gone the route of Dead or Alive with multiple players online in one room, Boon informed me that the development team was looking to implement something of that nature in the following MK game on next generation consoles.
When all was said and done, I had learned that Ed Boon, co-creator of Mortal Kombat, is a huge Tekken fan. That in itself was enough for me, but I also learned that Mortal Kombat Armageddon is looking to be much deeper than Deadly Alliance and Deception. More importantly, the next MK title will be on next generation consoles, it will feature improved online play and an all new fighting engine. The future is looking bright for the Mortal Kombat series.
by Bryan Dawson
Ed Boon... that is the name that I'm probably most familiar with in the gaming industry. Back before I was a journalist, when I used to play these things for fun, I played a lot of different games. However, after the release of Street Fighter II in US arcades, the focus of my gaming interests turned toward fighting games. In late 1992 I was playing Street Fighter II Turbo as much as I possibly could. Since I was in 7th grade, that basically meant I played at the mall or Peter Piper Pizza every weekend.
My friend Brian (same name, bad spelling) told me about this new fighting game called Mortal Kombat, and insisted that I head to the mall to check it out. At that time I was heavy into Street Fighter and I told him that no fighting game could compete with that, so I was in no hurry to check out this new game. A few weeks later we happened to be at the mall and Brian insisted that I go with him to the arcade to check out Mortal Kombat. I finally gave in and headed over to the arcade to check it out.
When we came up on the machine, the first thing I noticed was the graphics. Instead of the cartoon look of the Street Fighter series, Mortal Kombat had gone the digitized route and the fighters looked almost real (at the time). As I moved in for a closer look, someone was hit and blood splattered on the ground. I was again mystified that this game had blood (something that Street Fighter also lacked). But I was hooked when the match ended and the announcer emphatically shouted, "FINISH HIM!!" This was followed by Sub-Zero ripping his opponent's head off with the spinal cord still hanging. Oh yes, I was a Mortal Kombat fan.
Fast-forward to 2006 and I'm now a jaded videogame journalist who plays a lot of games, but doesn't really enjoy very many of them. I left 2D fighting games when Mortal Kombat made the shift from 2D to 3D with Mortal Kombat 4. Unfortunately, MK4 is widely considered to be the worst MK title, and I happen to agree. So I moved on to Tekken and more recently Dead or Alive as the Mortal Kombat releases continued to play to the masses instead of to the high level fighting game players who called for depth in their fighting games.
When I recently sat down with Ed Boon to discuss his latest game, Mortal Kombat Armageddon, I wasn't really expecting much. Having not liked the MK series for nearly a decade and knowing that Armageddon was built off of the same engine used in the past two MK titles, I was sure that my time with Boon would be short and to the point. Gladly, I was quite wrong.
"With a smile Boon told me that the next Mortal Kombat will be on next generation consoles and they've already started work on it."
As I started chatting with the co-creator of Mortal Kombat about the changes being made to Armageddon, I soon began to understand why the MK series has less depth and caters a lot more to the casual gamers than hardcore gamers. Ed Boon is a Tekken fan. He told me that when he's home playing for fun he plays Tekken, it's his favorite fighting game. In fact, when I asked Boon if he had seen the full length Tekken 6 trailer, he hadn't and was overjoyed when I showed it to him on my camcorder. He loves the depth in Tekken, but he also understands that it can be hard for a casual gamer to get into a deep fighter like that. Mortal Kombat is his work and he decided to make the MK titles more accessible to the casual gamers.
While Boon played through Armageddon and showed me some of the new things he had added to the game, it was clear that he has been adding depth little by little with the last few MK titles. Boon informed me that he started with a basic engine in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, but he has been adding more depth with every installment. In Armageddon the new parry and aerial combat systems add a good amount of depth to the fighting engine.
At this time I figured I should ask the one thing I've wanted to know since Armageddon was announced. I asked Boon when Mortal Kombat would be making its way to next generation consoles. With a smile Boon told me that the next Mortal Kombat (MK8 for now) will be on next generation consoles and they've already started work on it. It almost certainly won't be hitting next year, but it should be arriving sometime in 2008. In addition, the game will not use the same engine as Armageddon and the past few MK titles, so we'll be getting an all new Mortal Kombat.
Armageddon still has a mystery online element that Boon isn't ready to disclose yet. The game will still feature the same one-on-one battles that MK: Deception featured, but it will also have a new online multiplayer mode that has replaced Puzzle Kombat and Chess Kombat. When I asked Boon why MK has not gone the route of Dead or Alive with multiple players online in one room, Boon informed me that the development team was looking to implement something of that nature in the following MK game on next generation consoles.
When all was said and done, I had learned that Ed Boon, co-creator of Mortal Kombat, is a huge Tekken fan. That in itself was enough for me, but I also learned that Mortal Kombat Armageddon is looking to be much deeper than Deadly Alliance and Deception. More importantly, the next MK title will be on next generation consoles, it will feature improved online play and an all new fighting engine. The future is looking bright for the Mortal Kombat series.
MAN !!! so cool 