On his solo episode of The Bender a few weeks ago, Mike talked about how the Joker fatality has been edited in the upcoming Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. In the original version, the Joker pulls a joke pistol and cracks up when a little “Bang!” flag comes out instead of a bullet. Then, with the victim confused as hell with what’s going on, he pulls a second gun and shoots his opponent for real.

But they wanted the game to be rated T. So along with the other soul-selling changes they’re making to Mortal Kombat, they edited the fatality so that in the American version of the game, the loser walks off screen as the Joker laughs about the fake gun, and we just hear a real gun, leaving the brain-blowing to our imagination.

Yes, you read that right. The America version. Videogamer.com spoke to senior producer Hans Lo, and in the European version, the fatality is unedited.

Reasoning? Well, in the United States a Teen rating means that anyone 13 and older can buy, but in Europe that age is 15 or 16, depending on the specific country. So, Lo and the others responsible for this game felt that they could still get the T rating in Europe with the unedited fatality, since the age bracket was older.

This is the dumbest thing I ever heart. Ok, not the dumbest, but it ranks. Clearly, the makers of the game thought that the unedited version was better, and I’m willing to be this isn’t the only difference between the European and North American versions. Mortal Kombat has already been sucking DC dick to make this game “acceptable.” They should at least be happy to have a Mature rating so that the original vision can be carried through.

Listen, I know that games edit violence, language, and sexual content all the time to get a more family-friendly rating. The fact of the matter is, though, that the 13- through 16-year-olds who really want this game are going to find a way to buy it if it is sold with the higher rating. They always do. The core audience for Mortal Kombat has never been kids, so dumbing it down now seems idiotic.

I will not buy this game. The concept is cool and Mortal Kombat is one of my favorite franchises of all time, but frankly, this is a water down version of what it could be. A lot of people bitch about things, but then go out an buy the game anyway…not this time, not with me.

Popularity: unranked [?]