Ed Boon talks 30 years of Mortal Kombat – PlayStation.Blog

Ed Boon is practically gaming royalty. He has been working as a designer since his late 80’s, starting with pinball and quickly transitioning to arcade his games. And he and his three others created his Mortal Kombat. The rest is history.

The legendary fighting series will take home a big 3-0 victory tomorrow, the day the original Mortal Kombat arcade cabinet was released on October 8th, 1992. And Boon has been working on his Mortal Kombat all these three decades. This is a very rare feat. in video game design.

To celebrate the occasion, we met the affable creator, now Chief Creative Officer of Mortal Kombat and NetherRealm Studios, to talk about his deep roots with the series, reminisce about his career developing MK, and where it all came from. I tried to get a feel for it. I will go from here.

PlayStation.Blog: Where’s Mortal Kombat in 2022?

Ed Boone: Well, it turns out we’re in the public eye celebrating our 30th anniversary. Clearly…we didn’t make the last one. That’s probably the closest thing I can say without revealing too much.

The biggest surprise to me is that players came with us and stayed with us for so long. It really cheers us up.

PSB: With Mortal Kombat turning 30, are you thinking about your life and how it intersects with the series?

EB: Not much in my life, but certainly in my career making games. Mortal Kombat is like school in many forms for me right now. The arcade days were about elementary school students, and 3D games were about junior high school students or high school students.

And now the latest games Mortal Kombat 9, MKX, MK11 are like college and graduate school. My career is long, so I think of each as a separate chapter. And we’ve been playing the game pretty consistently for the last 30 years, right? We stopped and took a break for 10 years and never came back.

PSB: Other than the first arcade release date of your first game, are there any anniversaries you celebrate?

EB: Of course, we celebrate the release of arcade games. But there are different anniversaries. For example, 1991 was when we started working on this game, and it was a Van Damme game.

And next year marks the 30th anniversary of Mortal Monday, a marketing campaign created by Acclaim. They did a great job, taking Mortal Kombat to new levels of exposure. It’s been 20 years since Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, right? I suspect that the next few years will see some version or another of Mortal Kombat’s round-number anniversaries.

PSB: If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice when you were working on the original Mortal Kombat, what would it be?

EB: Don’t you work long hours? In your twenties, your energy is almost unlimited. But at the same time, I don’t think I listened to myself at the time. We were so driven. We had a strong motive to do something special. And every time we saw something new, something we put into the game, and people reacted to it…it just charged us more than that, so stop us at that point. It never happened. we were spontaneous. We were just on a mission.

PSB: And the original Mortal Kombat arcade game was completed in less than a year, right?

EB: Yes, about eight months in total. yes.

PSB: Mortal Kombat co-creator John Tobias recently showcased the creation of the game’s famous dragon logo. Is there a story you wanted to tell about the series that somehow didn’t get mentioned in the interview?

EB: Certainly. And I’ve been trying to tell those stories on social media. video shoot Having captured the actor performing the movement. And you know… I certainly enjoy the idea of ​​writing some sort of book or something like that when I have time. Hundreds of stories that happened over the years Because there is Sometimes, remembering one of them makes me go, “Oh, yeah!” Look? It’s been 30 years.

PSB: Sounds like a great book! What, in your opinion, has kept Mortal Kombat alive for 30 years? What’s the secret?

EB: I think the secret is in the hard work we do and the consistent new releases. We are back again after 10 years without a break. And we were able to do something new with each game.If you look at Mortal Kombat 1, Deadly Alliance, Mortal Kombat 3, Mortal Kombat 9, and Mortal Kombat X, they all play and look the same. not. They all bring something new to the combat mechanics that no other game has. So there’s always something new to play.

The graphics have clearly taken a dramatic leap. So I think the continuous new versions that are released on a somewhat regular basis are really contributing. Beyond games, there are things like movies, animation, and all the merchandising that really push that horizon.

PSB: There may not be much you can say, but how’s the movie sequel going? report In the media…

EB: Well, I think that’s a good thing. [chuckles] I don’t think you need to say too much. But I am happy to be involved. Also, Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind is a great entry, so it really does have a lot to offer.

PSB: If you were to go back to 1991 and tell your former self that in the future there would be three or four movies, TV shows and animations based on Mortal Kombat, how do you think you would have reacted?

EB: Disbelief. I’m… funny. Each of the big Mortal Kombat events has expanded its reach, but two of him that come to mind are Acclaim deciding to invest his $10 million in advertising campaigns, and Mortal Monday. when it was created. ! ” On the street. I remember them showing me that video and saying, ‘You guys have gone too far, this isn’t going to be that big. And I couldn’t be more wrong.

And it was the same when I decided to make a movie based on it. I was thinking, “You guys put too many eggs in one basket.” ….So I am always a little more cautious or pessimistic.but i never [assume] “Oh, it’s going to be the biggest thing in the world.

PSB: Are there many opportunities to catch up with other people like your peers in the world of fighting game development?

EB: Not very often. I’m a big fan of games. I love Tekken, I love Street Fighter, and I play these games every time a new version comes out. Of course, I love Guilty Gears, Samurai Showdowns, and all that great stuff.

However, many of them live and develop games in Japan. I am not in Japan much. So sometimes I cross the road on the E3 or something. But I don’t have that kind of opportunity.

PSB: What are your thoughts on the broader picture of the current fighting game scene? Is it healthy?

EB: I’m very positive. For example, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, and Tekken are very mainstream games, right? Not niche games played by a few people. They have a wide range of appeal and are very different.

I think everyone realizes that it can’t be too complicated or that there needs to be a layer accessible to the general public that doesn’t count frames….they realize it but hardcore players We’re keeping the deeper elements going that really devour us. Many famous big hitters will come to bat.

PSB: What do you think is driving the evolution of the fighting genre?

EB: Technology, of course. Every game that comes out has new and better graphics. Online play is also a big one. As the game becomes more played online, it naturally creates a larger audience and a wider range of opponents. And exposure: Events like EVO are certainly growing in popularity, showing what these games can do. That’s why many players are inspired by watching professional play.

PSB: Street Fighter is also celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. Going back in time, he’s back in 1991 again. What was it like when you first saw Street Fighter II?

EB: What struck me about Street Fighter II was how big the characters were. They were huge on screen at the time. It was a lot of fun and really inspired us to make our characters even bigger on screen.

Perhaps we can say that Karate Champ is the beginning of this genre. Street Fighter II pushed it into the phenomenon. Some people believe that Street Fighter II and fighting games saved the arcade.

PSB: Have you been playing any good games lately?

EB: No….my day is fully booked. Certainly, there are many glimpse games that I would love to play. So, while I certainly like stacks of challenging games, I haven’t played anything to the end in a long time.

I always look forward to new God of War games. It will be a lot of fun to look into it.