Today, on the 30th anniversary of Mortal Kombat, we're bringing you an extended excerpt from the upcoming book Long Live Mortal Kombat by David L. Craddock. The book, due for publication this fall, goes behind the scenes to reveal untold stories from the killer franchise’s arcade era and explores how it impacted popular culture. This excerpt details the exaggerations and falsehoods of one of the original game’s most prolific character actors.
The punch that changed Mortal Kombat history
Anthony Marquez was at a martial arts tournament in Florida when he heard the news.
It was 1994, and Mortal Kombat was blowing up. Midway’s game had become the highest-grossing coin-op of the summer of 1993 and then lit up sales charts on consoles, selling over 3 million cartridges worldwide during the first three weeks of Acclaim’s “Mortal Monday” event that September.
Daniel Pesina held court before Marquez and their other friends, fellow martial artists who had portrayed characters in Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat II. Pesina said John Tobias had told him a Mortal Kombat movie was coming down the pipe, along with droves of merchandise. This was beside the inevitable home versions of Mortal Kombat II, which had been inhaling quarters since its release in the fall of '93. The friends, who had signed work-for-hire contracts promising hourly rates in exchange for Midway’s use of their likenesses and performances, daydreamed of action figures and T-shirts sporting their...
Kolkata: Kolkata Police has been grappling with a fresh challenge since the past week — controlling fake news. While it initially started with fake circulars, beginning with "restrictions" on cert...