"Ha↑Ha↓!"
"Johnny! johnny! johnny!..."
"Ohhhh..."
"Bang!"
The stuntman took the punch squarely, staggered back a few steps, and pretended to be dizzy.
After a frenzied, low-level assault and a brutal beating, Arnold chuckled, grabbed the other's head, and slammed it against the prop candy glass in front of the camera.
In an instant, fragments scattered everywhere.
The stuntman also collapsed to the ground.
But Arnold seemed unsatisfied, grabbing the camera and then suddenly straining all his muscles.
With the help of the track, the crane, and the wire, the camera tilted at an incredible angle.
"Click! Excellent, excellent! Now, props team, move in."
Lucas directed the crew to get to work. They carefully placed the expensive camera in its place, and then brought up the plastic camera model that the props department had made for only a few dozen dollars.
"A desperate strike - Match 2"
With the stuntman's terrified gaze in his eyes, the enormous camera suddenly slammed down on... the prop mannequin's chest.
Although it's just a prop, the visual effect of swinging it down with such force is truly amazing.
Especially since this prop dummy was already lacking in padding, the artificial skeleton was deliberately made to be very fragile.
With that swing, it actually sank a bit deeper.
"Oh my God."
Jenette shuddered and unconsciously squinted, turning her head away.
Although she advocates for reforming DC comics to appeal to younger audiences, she was still quite shocked by such visuals.
The special effects in the movie are far more impressive than those in the comics.
"Now I understand what you mean."
She gasped as she looked at the pile of prop heads and blood bags not far away. This was definitely for real!
Mortal Kombat is even more explicit than I imagined; it's definitely an R-rated film and should be hidden away where children can never see it.
Amidst her surprise, a strong sense of worry and doubt inevitably crept into her heart.
Can a work like this really succeed?
Let's make a horizontal comparison.
Mortal Kombat lacks the competitive depth of mainstream fighting games, isn't as sophisticated as Street Fighter, and doesn't boast the flashy combos of the King of Fighters...
In addition, its extensive use of gore and violence, along with its disturbing live-action performances, further alienates the already small fighting game player base.
Let's look at this work from today's perspective, especially from the perspective of Asia players.
It is indeed a complete freak.
Ugly, vulgar, distorted, chaotic...
No matter how you look at it, it doesn't seem like a promising talent; on the contrary, it's filled with a cheap, cultish feel and a sense of depravity.
It's tacky, vulgar, and lowbrow! But...
This is United States.
Mysterious martial artists from the East, ninjas from Japan, kung fu Kung-Fu Master paying homage to Bruce Lee, parodies of Hollywood stars, and a plethora of characters designed with American comic book influences...
Of course, the violent gore culture of cult films, which United States love, is also indispensable.
These things are absolutely perfect for United States aesthetics.
It's basically a more exaggerated and exciting version of WWF, which is now known as WWE.
Competition isn't their core focus, and that's not what people are after.
People watch WWE, isn't it all for the cool moves and Finishing Move?
Given this cultural environment, the success of Mortal Kombat in the United States can be said to be entirely inevitable.
Of course, sudden deaths in Asia were also a foreseeable and inevitable occurrence.
Even with the backing of the Gamenova name, the outcome is unlikely to change. Considering the tone of this work, Gamenova didn't go through the usual high-profile promotional campaign with PVs.
Ultimately, it's still an arcade game, so adding all those unnecessary features doesn't really make much sense.
The real battleground for arcade game marketing is the arcade itself.
As long as the store manager is willing to buy, the players are willing to spend money.
Word-of-mouth transmission creates a viral chain of information that is far more effective than simply dropping a clip on television.
What's more... another tough guy actor is also about to arrive on the set of Mortal Kombat.
His appearance alone is enough to create a natural publicity bomb, allowing him to form a perfect combo with Arnold.
April.
With the Nova Arcade in operation, they were loaded onto trucks and embarked on highways to various states across the country.
This is thanks to the standardized design of the substrate.
Although the architecture is completely different, it can still be used with older cabinets. Theoretically, you can find any new Street Fighter cabinet, replace the circuit board with the Mortal Kombat one, and seamlessly switch to the new game.
However, since Gamenova's other arcade machines are still the main source of revenue, distributors are still willing to purchase several batches of universal cabinets as a precaution.
After the success of Battlefield 1991, Gamenova is now at its peak.
She was someone who was cherished and pampered by everyone.
Upon hearing of the new release, I figured I should just buy a batch without hesitation.
According to the practices of other manufacturers, theoretically, an arcade machine should have a "trial operation period".
This means that test machines will be distributed in small batches first.
The coin count and failure rate were tested in cooperation with merchants in various regions.
Only after the final test results are obtained will operators carefully calculate the appropriate purchase quantity.
Because arcade machines are expensive, they can't be mass-produced like game discs or cartridges.
Anyone who can buy several thousand units at once is already a regional bigwig.
However, this rule doesn't apply to Gamenova. Should we wait and see for a couple of days?
Brother, then you'd better be prepared to get the goods from middlemen at a markup of several percent, or even double the price.
The nationwide direct sales of Nova Arcade is already Sage Lin's biggest act of charity.
But for the operators, this situation... is somewhat out of control.
Because this machine was completely different from what they had imagined.
Jasper, a small arcade distributor in the eastern region.
One of the sub-brands that Nova Arcade inherited from Silicon Oasis.
He fell into a long silence as he stood before a thousand Mortal Kombat boards and their accompanying frames piled up in the warehouse.
Well, at least the paint job is top-notch.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Brandon Lee, Linda Hamilton, Jack Nicholson...
There's even... Stallone?
Judging from the attire, it should be John Rambo, played by Stallone in " First Blood," a retired Vietnam War soldier, and also a character seemingly being paid homage to by another protagonist in " Contra."
Justin's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but marvel at Gamenova's extensive network of connections once again.
This cast is almost as impressive as the one from " Biohazard " back in the day; it's the kind of lineup that could shake the entertainment industry with a stomp of its foot.
This incredibly impressive lineup was used to create an esrb-m, a 17+ restricted work.
Looking at the ESRB rating printed in a very conspicuous mark on the machine, Jasper breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's definitely that lord's style."
A rebellious producer and a punk game company.
"Okay, let me see. The two stores in the city center each want 10 units, and the one in the suburbs wants 20 units... Hmm, surprisingly not bad."
In other words, with the Gamenova name attached to it, Mortal Kombat received a very good number of orders even without any promotion.
However, one could still vaguely sense the underlying unease among those shop owners.
You should know that these are all major clients, super-large single-level shops as big as supermarkets.
For small arcade machines like these, buying dozens wouldn't be a problem, given their usual style. But when it comes to Mortal Kombat, a cult-rated arcade game clearly containing a lot of gore, the competition is somewhat more subtle.
" Robin, arrange for them to be loaded onto the truck and shipped out. I need to study the game's situation."
"Okay, boss."
The warehouse manager and assistant, Robin, nodded and began loading goods onto a cart.
It's not a large-scale arcade game like Ace Combat.
The monitor itself is slightly heavier, and the entire frame is made of wood and plastic.
It was tiring for one person to move it, but it wasn't impossible.
Jasper, on the other hand, quickly powered on the sample, intending to study it thoroughly.
"Mortal kombat!!!!!"
Lightning strikes at the opening ceremony.
A loud, strange scream suddenly came from the speakers.
Then came a piece of synthesized music whose meaning was unclear but was undeniably catchy. As per Lin Lixin's request, the soundtrack this time needed to be... a bit crazy.
It doesn't need any fancy atmosphere or lofty emotional tone.
It should be lively, cheerful, catchy, and have a strong rhythm, preferably with an electronic feel and a lot of punk elements.
Hans Zimmer was speechless, but he obediently did as he was told.
The final product is this piece of music.
Numerous repetitive, meaningless screams and melodies.
You can't hear any emotion in it, but it's incredibly catchy and addictive.
The screen lights up.
Unlike console games, arcade games typically don't have lengthy opening animations.
Instead, there is often a standby screen.
It exists as a preview of actual gameplay footage to entice players to sit down.
After all, arcade games aren't consoles; their nature dictates that players will come and go. These shallow, catchy tunes are surprisingly fitting.
On screen, Liu Kang delivers a powerful kick followed by Flying Dragon Kick, striking Cage squarely in the stomach.
"Click--"
The sound of bones breaking, and slow-motion close-ups of internal organs being kicked and Close-Up flash by.
Cage was knocked to the ground.
The Scorpion breathed fire and burned Sonya to a skeleton...
Several characters appeared in turn, but each was only given a very brief Close-Up.
It's like scratching an itch through a boot—a feeling that's barely perceptible.
I felt a tickle in my heart; I felt somewhat uncomfortable with the way the scenes were depicted, yet I couldn't help but want to keep watching and see the whole thing.
"Mortal kombat!!!!!"
Then came another loud shout of unknown meaning.
A large group of young people marched into the street, looking earnestly at the camera. Each of them struck a different pose.
Then came actual gameplay footage.
Various characters' fighting styles are showcased.
Then...
"Demon King Kangbai!!!!!"
Jasper didn't know why, but he seemed to have become familiar with this cycle.
This time, he even shouted along with the voice coming from the console.
It's inexplicable, the meaning is unclear, but... it's kind of addictive.