Mortal Kombat's co-creator has explained how he came up with the game's iconic logo – and how it almost got trashed for looking like a seahorse.

On Twitter, John Tobias unveiled the original hand-drawn logo he created for the first Mortal Kombat game… and delved into its background.

“Here’s a recently discovered image of the very first drawing of #MortalKombat’s dragon icon,” he revealed. “I designed the icon as both a symbol of our game and its fictional tournament.”

Here’s a recently discovered image of the very first drawing of #MortalKombat’s dragon icon. I designed the icon as both a symbol of our game and its fictional tournament… (thread) #MK30 pic.twitter.com/vVIDr4K9aP

— John Tobias (@therealsaibot) September 22, 2022

Tobias’ original pencil drawing was digitized by both Tobias himself and Mortal Kombat artist John Vogel, who traced over the digitized image with pixels. Why a dragon? Well, Tobias explained that was all because of the game’s original name.

“The inspiration to use a dragon as the fictional tournament’s symbol came from ‘Dragon Attack,’ which was in contention as our game’s title before [Ed Boon] and I changed it to ‘Mortal Kombat,’” he revealed. “Here’s my rough marker sketch of the marquee logo.”

The inspiration to use a dragon as the fictional tournament’s symbol came from “Dragon Attack,” which was in contention as our game’s title before @noobde and I changed it to “Mortal Kombat.” Here’s my rough marker sketch of the marquee logo… (3/9) pic.twitter.com/g3UY2X2boX

— John Tobias (@therealsaibot) September 22, 2022

Apparently, the name “Dragon Attack” came from Ed Boon’s love of the Queen song by the same name, but this was eventually changed to the Mortal Kombat we know now. Still, the logo stuck, and its design emerged when Mortal Kombat artist John Vogel saw a golden dragon statue on the desk of Midway Games general manager Ken Fedesna.

“The inspiration for the dragon icon’s design started when John Vogel saw a golden dragon statue on the desk of Midway’s general manager, Ken Fedesn,” recounted Tobias. “John borrowed it to digitize for use in our game’s backgrounds.”

When Tobias saw the dragon statue, he incorporated it into the design for the game’s coin-op cabinets, but the design soon inspired the game’s logo itself.

“I had been thinking of creating an icon to represent the fictional tournament, but also to brand the game with a symbol… like Superman’s “S” or Batman’s bat symbol,” he explained. “I used the dragon from my cabinet side panel sketch to inform the look of the dragon icon as our symbol.”

I had been thinking of creating an icon to represent the fictional tournament, but also to brand the game with a symbol… like Superman’s “S” or Batman’s bat symbol. I used the dragon from my cabinet side panel sketch to inform the look of the dragon icon as our symbol… (7/9) pic.twitter.com/EV2NNQaXDg

— John Tobias (@therealsaibot) September 22, 2022

Interestingly, the logo faced both left and right up until Mortal Kombat II. At this point, with the console release of the games, they had to pick one or the other for trademarking purposes.

“We chose facing right and it’s been that way ever since,” he confirmed.

“The eventual icon design was an attempt at replicating the yin yang symbol, which represented balancing of the furies - a core part of MK’s early fiction,” continued Tobias.

Brilliantly, the entire logo was almost scrapped after Tobias’ sister mistook the design for a seahorse. Thankfully, the team stuck with it – and the Mortal Kombat logo has become one of the most iconic in gaming history.

Want to read more about Mortal Kombat? Check out where Mortal Kombat sits within our 10 best fighting games, as well as how Johnny Cage himself may have teased Mortal Kombat 12.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

In an industry notorious for being wildly secretive around how well its own products do, we love some real good, crunchy data. And with an overhaul to Steam Stats today, Valve is giving us exactly that.

It's called Steam Charts now, replacing Steam Stats, and like the old version, it still shows off the most popular games on the platform. But unlike Stats, Charts has the tools to drill down into what's making that popularity happen.

For context, the old Stats page mostly focused on top games by player count from moment to moment, with Valve regularly providing separate best-seller lists by genre and other factors. Charts puts all this in one spot.

The main page shows the top-selling games on Steam right now, as well as the most-played moment-to-moment by player count. There are also lists of the overall best-selling games right now and weekly top sellers by revenue, with an indication of changes to the chart from week to week, as well as how many weeks a game's been out, how much it costs, and whether or not it's on sale.

You can also sort charts by region for regional best-sellers. All of this is done by revenue, so free-to-play games with microtransactions are included, and extra bits like DLC and season passes are factored in.

Unfortunately, the overall monthly top-release harts are still ordered randomly, making it harder to pinpoint best-selling games month-to-month.

While you may not care much about this if you're not a numbers dork (like me, sorry), the real benefit of better data is that people who are can watch game sales trends with a little more accuracy and draw useful conclusions from it.

It's helpful for people who make and publish games to see what's doing well or isn't, maybe allowing them to fund games and genres they might not have previously planned to back. It can help people who make content see what people are playing and catch on to cool, surprising games that may not be getting the attention they deserve on websites like this one.

And, you know, it's neat to see Trombone Champ as the 11th best-selling game on Steam right now. Let it be known that for a shining moment, it was far more popular than Elden Ring (No.19).

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

In an industry notorious for being wildly secretive around how well its own products do, we love some real good, crunchy data. And with an overhaul to Steam Stats today, Valve is giving us exactly that.

It's called Steam Charts now, replacing Steam Stats, and like the old version, it still shows off the most popular games on the platform. But unlike Stats, Charts has the tools to drill down into what's making that popularity happen.

For context, the old Stats page mostly focused on top games by player count from moment to moment, with Valve regularly providing separate best-seller lists by genre and other factors. Charts puts all this in one spot.

The main page shows the top-selling games on Steam right now, as well as the most-played moment-to-moment by player count. There are also lists of the overall best-selling games right now and weekly top sellers by revenue, with an indication of changes to the chart from week to week, as well as how many weeks a game's been out, how much it costs, and whether or not it's on sale.

You can also sort charts by region for regional best-sellers. All of this is done by revenue, so free-to-play games with microtransactions are included, and extra bits like DLC and season passes are factored in.

Unfortunately, the overall monthly top-release harts are still ordered randomly, making it harder to pinpoint best-selling games month-to-month.

While you may not care much about this if you're not a numbers dork (like me, sorry), the real benefit of better data is that people who are can watch game sales trends with a little more accuracy and draw useful conclusions from it.

It's helpful for people who make and publish games to see what's doing well or isn't, maybe allowing them to fund games and genres they might not have previously planned to back. It can help people who make content see what people are playing and catch on to cool, surprising games that may not be getting the attention they deserve on websites like this one.

And, you know, it's neat to see Trombone Champ as the 11th best-selling game on Steam right now. Let it be known that for a shining moment, it was far more popular than Elden Ring (No.19).

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Finding Yeezus is a new documentary series centered on solving the mystery of Kanye Quest 3030, an unlicensed fan RPG that hid a secret ending – and which led some to believe it was part of a recruitment drive for a cult.

Beginning on September 26, and airing weekly on Grouse House (a webseries channel set up by Australian comedy group Aunty Donna), the show is hosted by comedians Alexei Toliopoulos and Cameron James. In their Finding Drago and Finding Desperado podcasts, the pair have previously delved into mysteries about unsanctioned Rocky sequels and lost, world-record holding movies, but this will be the first time they take on a gaming subject.

"There’s something so exciting about a video game mystery," Toliopoulos tells me over email, "it just feels so present tense to us. In the realm of video games, it feels less like trying to look back and more like uncovering an urban legend that’s forming right now."

It's a legend that began being told almost a decade ago. Toliopoulos explains how he and James found out about the mystery, and what drew them to solving it:

"Uploaded to the internet virtually anonymously back in 2013, Kanye Quest 3030 was a simple Pokemon-style RPG where you play as Kanye West battle-rapping other famous rappers. Due to its humor and premise, it became a bit of a mildly viral sensation. Then it disappeared as these things do… that was until 2 years later, a hidden level in the game was discovered.

"If you prove yourself worthy (by solving some cryptic puzzles) the game admits that everything you have experienced up 'til that point had been a front. With the promise of 'Ascension' the game reaches out to you in real life. This has lead many to believe the game was a recruitment tool for a new-age cult called Ascensionism. It’s such a fascinating mystery! I remember playing the game years ago, but didn’t find out about the mystery until the end of 2020 when we had just finished making Finding Desperado and started feeling the itch to challenge ourselves with something even bigger to unravel."

It quickly became a much bigger mystery than the pair's previous work – thus their evolution from investigative podcasters to on-screen hosts. The effort has seemingly been worth it – there have been numerous investigations into Kanye Quest over the years, but Toliopoulos and James open the first episode by saying the mystery has never been truly solved – until now.

"The true story of Kanye Quest and the cult of Ascensionism will be revealed in the final episode of Finding Yeezus," Toliopoulos tells me. "We’ve become quite good investigators since our early days as journalism degree dropouts."

But key to Finding Yeezus and the previous podcasts from the hosts is that it's as much a comedy as an investigation. Toliopoulos and James tend to pick mysteries on the sillier, stranger side of things, but they make clear that the comedy in the show is built around the real investigation – you're not seeing them construct something for laughs over answers:

"We’re obsessive researchers and uncovering the story is a real organic process," explains Toliopoulos. "For us, it’s all about the joy of discovery and finding the emotional connection that fuels curiosity. With documentaries, you have to plan so much before you start shooting, but the excitement comes from the surprise of the final product being almost completely different to what we anticipated. It’s hard to anticipate real life! It’s all about finding the narrative in reality and for us, it’s also about building in the comedy."

Having seen the first two episodes myself, Finding Yeezus is already proving as funny as it is intriguing, with a higher twist-per-minute ratio than I could have realistically expected. There's a real joy behind it, too – amid a culture of documentary filmmaking that so often reveals the darkest parts of modern life, it's nice to find something that just wants to revel in how weird and interesting people can be. At least... so far.

Finding Yeezus begins exclusively on the Grouse House YouTube channel next Monday, September 26. There will be six episodes in total, dropping weekly on Mondays until a finale on Tuesday October 25.

Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. He thinks Finding Drago is very possibly the finest podcast ever made, and that you should listen to it. Follow him on Twitter.

Finding Yeezus is a new documentary series centered on solving the mystery of Kanye Quest 3030, an unlicensed fan RPG that hid a secret ending – and which led some to believe it was part of a recruitment drive for a cult.

Beginning on September 26, and airing weekly on Grouse House (a webseries channel set up by Australian comedy group Aunty Donna), the show is hosted by comedians Alexei Toliopoulos and Cameron James. In their Finding Drago and Finding Desperado podcasts, the pair have previously delved into mysteries about unsanctioned Rocky sequels and lost, world-record holding movies, but this will be the first time they take on a gaming subject.

"There’s something so exciting about a video game mystery," Toliopoulos tells me over email, "it just feels so present tense to us. In the realm of video games, it feels less like trying to look back and more like uncovering an urban legend that’s forming right now."

It's a legend that began being told almost a decade ago. Toliopoulos explains how he and James found out about the mystery, and what drew them to solving it:

"Uploaded to the internet virtually anonymously back in 2013, Kanye Quest 3030 was a simple Pokemon-style RPG where you play as Kanye West battle-rapping other famous rappers. Due to its humor and premise, it became a bit of a mildly viral sensation. Then it disappeared as these things do… that was until 2 years later, a hidden level in the game was discovered.

"If you prove yourself worthy (by solving some cryptic puzzles) the game admits that everything you have experienced up 'til that point had been a front. With the promise of 'Ascension' the game reaches out to you in real life. This has lead many to believe the game was a recruitment tool for a new-age cult called Ascensionism. It’s such a fascinating mystery! I remember playing the game years ago, but didn’t find out about the mystery until the end of 2020 when we had just finished making Finding Desperado and started feeling the itch to challenge ourselves with something even bigger to unravel."

It quickly became a much bigger mystery than the pair's previous work – thus their evolution from investigative podcasters to on-screen hosts. The effort has seemingly been worth it – there have been numerous investigations into Kanye Quest over the years, but Toliopoulos and James open the first episode by saying the mystery has never been truly solved – until now.

"The true story of Kanye Quest and the cult of Ascensionism will be revealed in the final episode of Finding Yeezus," Toliopoulos tells me. "We’ve become quite good investigators since our early days as journalism degree dropouts."

But key to Finding Yeezus and the previous podcasts from the hosts is that it's as much a comedy as an investigation. Toliopoulos and James tend to pick mysteries on the sillier, stranger side of things, but they make clear that the comedy in the show is built around the real investigation – you're not seeing them construct something for laughs over answers:

"We’re obsessive researchers and uncovering the story is a real organic process," explains Toliopoulos. "For us, it’s all about the joy of discovery and finding the emotional connection that fuels curiosity. With documentaries, you have to plan so much before you start shooting, but the excitement comes from the surprise of the final product being almost completely different to what we anticipated. It’s hard to anticipate real life! It’s all about finding the narrative in reality and for us, it’s also about building in the comedy."

Having seen the first two episodes myself, Finding Yeezus is already proving as funny as it is intriguing, with a higher twist-per-minute ratio than I could have realistically expected. There's a real joy behind it, too – amid a culture of documentary filmmaking that so often reveals the darkest parts of modern life, it's nice to find something that just wants to revel in how weird and interesting people can be. At least... so far.

Finding Yeezus begins exclusively on the Grouse House YouTube channel next Monday, September 26. There will be six episodes in total, dropping weekly on Mondays until a finale on Tuesday October 25.

Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. He thinks Finding Drago is very possibly the finest podcast ever made, and that you should listen to it. Follow him on Twitter.

Following the success of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, Apple TV+ has nabbed the rights to creator Vince Gilligan’s next TV series, giving it a two-season straight-to-series order. What’s more, Gilligan has cast Saul’s Rhea Seehorn to lead his next show.

As reported by Deadline, Gilligan’s next show will be a “blended, grounded genre drama” that was previously described as something closer to The Twilight Zone than his Southwest crime dramas.

Seehorn, who played attorney Kim Wexler in Better Call Saul, has been cast as the lead in Gilligan’s untitled series. Gilligan will also serve as showrunner and executive producer on the show.

Gilligan’s follow-up to Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul was highly-anticipated according to Deadline with 8-9 networks lining up to hear the pitch. The series is set to have a high budget and have “significant genre elements,” though Gilligan did not share specifics about the project.

However, he did reveal that Seehorn will play a traditional hero. “After 15 years, I figured it was time to take a break from writing antiheroes… and who’s more heroic than the brilliant Rhea Seehorn?” Gilligan says. “It’s long past time she had her own show, and I feel lucky to get to work on it with her.”

Seehorn earned an Emmy nomination for her portrayal of Kim Wexler in Better Call Saul, a top lawyer who eventually gets tangled up with Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman which will end up altering both their lives forever.

You can find out about her fate on the show in our Better Call Saul finale review. No other details about Gilligan’s show regarding premise, or release window were announced.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

Blogroll Credit: AMC, Sony Pictures Television

Following the success of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, Apple TV+ has nabbed the rights to creator Vince Gilligan’s next TV series, giving it a two-season straight-to-series order. What’s more, Gilligan has cast Saul’s Rhea Seehorn to lead his next show.

As reported by Deadline, Gilligan’s next show will be a “blended, grounded genre drama” that was previously described as something closer to The Twilight Zone than his Southwest crime dramas.

Seehorn, who played attorney Kim Wexler in Better Call Saul, has been cast as the lead in Gilligan’s untitled series. Gilligan will also serve as showrunner and executive producer on the show.

Gilligan’s follow-up to Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul was highly-anticipated according to Deadline with 8-9 networks lining up to hear the pitch. The series is set to have a high budget and have “significant genre elements,” though Gilligan did not share specifics about the project.

However, he did reveal that Seehorn will play a traditional hero. “After 15 years, I figured it was time to take a break from writing antiheroes… and who’s more heroic than the brilliant Rhea Seehorn?” Gilligan says. “It’s long past time she had her own show, and I feel lucky to get to work on it with her.”

Seehorn earned an Emmy nomination for her portrayal of Kim Wexler in Better Call Saul, a top lawyer who eventually gets tangled up with Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman which will end up altering both their lives forever.

You can find out about her fate on the show in our Better Call Saul finale review. No other details about Gilligan’s show regarding premise, or release window were announced.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

Blogroll Credit: AMC, Sony Pictures Television

Dark Souls 3's PC servers are back offline despite being restored by FromSoftware just four weeks ago.

The Dark Souls Twitter account announced the news (below), saying that the Steam servers were down once again. No explanation of what the issue is or how long it will be an issue were given, but the developer did say it was actively investigating and trying to solve the problem.

"At this time, there is a confirmed issue with Dark Souls 3 online play via the Steam platform," FromSoftware said. "We are investigating the source of the problem and will inform you as soon as more details become available."

At this time, there is a confirmed issue with DARK SOULS III online play via the Steam platform.

We are investigating the source of the problem and will inform you as soon as more details become available.

Thank you for your patience. #DarkSouls

— Dark Souls (@DarkSoulsGame) September 21, 2022

Fans were also thanked for their patience but, given the regularity of online problems encountered in the Dark Souls series, it's perhaps not surprising that the replies and retweets to FromSoftware's announcement were full of complaints.

Before being brought back online four weeks ago, the Dark Souls 3 servers had been down for eight months. The servers were first taken down after an exploit was discovered that allowed other players to take over the user's PC, and FromSoftware has been releasing incremental updates ever since as it worked to bring back its games' online features.

There's nothing to suggest that the current server issue is related to this exploit, but the original Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2 are both still offline as a result of the same issue.

The exploit was discovered just a month before FromSoftware released Elden Ring, causing fans looking forward to the game to grow worried it would affect its multiplayer components. Thankfully, however, Elden Ring was able to launch without major issues and became an incredible success.

It did have to deal with a few hacking issues though, after an infamous Dark Souls hacker appeared in Elden Ring and forced illegal items into players' inventories, causing them to be banned. Even weirder, the game's secret underwear was also being used by trolls to get other players banned.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Dark Souls 3's PC servers are back offline despite being restored by FromSoftware just four weeks ago.

The Dark Souls Twitter account announced the news (below), saying that the Steam servers were down once again. No explanation of what the issue is or how long it will be an issue were given, but the developer did say it was actively investigating and trying to solve the problem.

"At this time, there is a confirmed issue with Dark Souls 3 online play via the Steam platform," FromSoftware said. "We are investigating the source of the problem and will inform you as soon as more details become available."

At this time, there is a confirmed issue with DARK SOULS III online play via the Steam platform.

We are investigating the source of the problem and will inform you as soon as more details become available.

Thank you for your patience. #DarkSouls

— Dark Souls (@DarkSoulsGame) September 21, 2022

Fans were also thanked for their patience but, given the regularity of online problems encountered in the Dark Souls series, it's perhaps not surprising that the replies and retweets to FromSoftware's announcement were full of complaints.

Before being brought back online four weeks ago, the Dark Souls 3 servers had been down for eight months. The servers were first taken down after an exploit was discovered that allowed other players to take over the user's PC, and FromSoftware has been releasing incremental updates ever since as it worked to bring back its games' online features.

There's nothing to suggest that the current server issue is related to this exploit, but the original Dark Souls and Dark Souls 2 are both still offline as a result of the same issue.

The exploit was discovered just a month before FromSoftware released Elden Ring, causing fans looking forward to the game to grow worried it would affect its multiplayer components. Thankfully, however, Elden Ring was able to launch without major issues and became an incredible success.

It did have to deal with a few hacking issues though, after an infamous Dark Souls hacker appeared in Elden Ring and forced illegal items into players' inventories, causing them to be banned. Even weirder, the game's secret underwear was also being used by trolls to get other players banned.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

James Bond producers want the new 007 on board for at least a decade.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson explained what kind of commitment they want from the next James Bond.

“We’re not just casting someone for one film,” said Broccoli. “We’re casting someone, hopefully for a decade, at least. It’s a big decision to make, and we’re nowhere near making that decision.”

That’s right – the new 007 hasn’t been chosen. At least, not yet.

“When we get to a point, like we are now, we have to think about the trajectory of the Bond films and the storylines and where we want to take them,” she added. “So, that’s really the main focus at the beginning. Once we have a sense of where we want to go, then we’ll start thinking about casting.”

Ever since Daniel Craig stepped down as 007 following No Time to Die, fans have been busy speculating who will take up the mantle next. We’ve seen the likes of Tom Hardy, Idris Elba, and even Tom Hiddleston.

But Broccoli went on to explain why taking the role is a huge decision.

“Any actor that would be thinking about this has got to think about how it would change their life,” she explained. “Daniel certainly was reluctant when we first approached him and as I say about him, his life changed, but he did not change. He’s always been the same amazingly wonderful human being at the beginning as he is now.”

Craig first suited up for the 2006 Bond film, Casino Royale, and spent the next 16 years as the infamous British secret agent.

“You become an ambassador for the cinema and people recognize you as being associated with the character,” added Broccoli. “It’s got a lot of different elements to it. But the time commitment is certainly a long-term commitment, and not everybody is willing to do that — multiple pictures over many years. Daniel’s done 16 years time.”

Who will end up taking on the role remains to be seen. But it sounds as though the next Bond film will start by working out its villain.

“We always sit down with our writers, and we start by thinking about what is the world afraid of?” said Broccoli. “We start by thinking about, ‘Who’s the Bond villain?’ We try to focus on that as the sort of uber story, and then we want to also look at Bond’s emotional life, and what he’ll be facing personally that he hasn’t had to deal with before. So, he has two big issues in the films — one is the geopolitical one and the other is the personal one.”

Want to read more about James Bond? Find out why some 007 favorites might be too old to play James Bond, and why John Williams would love to score a Bond movie.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.