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NetherRealm Studios has decided to reveal the launch trailer for Mortal Kombat 11 early, taking old school players of the previously releases games back to the times of the original Mortal Kombat.

Right off the bat, we can hear the original Mortal Kombat theme starting up, and as I can imagine players that were there for the release of the original Mortal Kombat begin to get goosebumps. Instead of the typical rap song that we heard in the cinematic trailer for Mortal Kombat 11, we have the classic song "Test Your Might".

While the trailer doesn't really reveal anything new for the game, it certainly does continue that hype train pushing on until the release of the title on April 23rd. Yesterday, we got a gameplay reveal trailer for the Nintendo Switch version of the game, as expected there is some considerable downscales graphically, check that trailer out here. Mortal Kombat 11 is planned for launch on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch on April 23rd.

HBO has always had to fight off pirates of its hit Game of Thrones and with its recent season 8 premiere, analytics company MUSO says the premiere was pirated close to 55 million times in its first day.

MUSO adds that around 76% of these viewers used bootleg streams while 12% downloaded it, 10.8% used public torrents while 0.5% used private torrents. The most popular place for pirate versions of the S8 premiere of Game of Thrones was India with MUSO reporting 10 million views were in India, while China chimed in with 5 million.

Remember that HBO isn't available everywhere so there are those that will look to pirating the show, or for people who aren't subscribed and paying for a TV package of some kind in their country. In saying that, MUSO said that around 4 million people pirated the S8 premiere of Game of Thrones in the US, and that's the home of HBO's main audience.

The latest update for The Division 2 dubbed Update 2.1 fixes a bunch of issues, but the big daddy update in Title Update 3 was due April 25, and now has been delayed and releasing "sometime in May". If you want to see The Division 2 benchmarked with 20 graphics cards, check that out here.

Ubisoft explains in a blog post: "The final release date of Title Update 3 will be based on results from further testing and balancing of the game. Operation Dark Hours will be your biggest challenge to date, and we want to make sure that we've properly tested the large amount of balance changes that are coming to both PvE and PvP and listen to your feedback about the changes before introducing the raid".

I respect the team for delaying the update by a couple of weeks as The Division 2 has been one of the smoothest launches of a big persistent world AAA game in a very long time. Ubisoft and Massive obviously want this trend to continue, deciding to delay Title Update 3. However, if you're playing The Division 2 on the PC you can test some of these changes out on the PTS, or Public Test Server.

Ubisoft has pushed out another update for The Division 2, with the new Update 2.1 fixing some of the issues with NPCs and other enemies getting stuck in a T-pose, something that happened because of the previous patch from a few days ago. If you want to see The Division 2 benchmarked with 20 graphics cards, check that out here.

The new update for The Division 2 also fixes a bunch of bugs that have plagued the game for some players since launch, with the Revive Hub now being more consistent in how it works, but the team at Massive Entertainment added that it's still an on-going issue for some even with the new update. On top of that the Crafting Bench bug has been fixed, with some players unable to upgrade it now not having that problem.

The full set of patch notes for The Division 2's new Update 2.1:

• Fixed an issue where enemy NPCs could get stuck in a T-pose when being killed out of view.
• Fixed another issue with the Revive Hive not working properly. We are still working on instances where the skill sometimes will not resurrect players.
• Fixed an issue where the Gila Guard brand gear could not be donated to the Campus Daily Project "Brand Request: Gila Guard".
• Fixed an issue where the Crafting Bench upgrade blueprint would not be granted to players when moving from one World Tier to another.
• Fixed an issue where the two piece bonus of the True Patriot gear set would not trigger correctly.

Naughty Dog has teased that it is still deep in development of The Last of Us Part II, with game director Neil Druckmann teasing on Twitter: "Just shot this scene... so..." with it showing in the photo 'The End' and 'Cut To Black'.

This means Naughty Dog has filmed the last scene of the game, and while the script itself in the tweet doesn't spoil anything we now know that one chapter of the game is finished. We should expect Naughty Dog to prepare The Last of Us Part II to be a PlayStation 5 launch title, and then a PS4/PS4 Pro version of the game with graphics good enough for the current-gen of PlayStation consoles.

This could also all be a ruse, as games and movies aren't always shot in order. Druckmann might be showing this off to drum up some hype for the game as the tweet dropped right in the middle of PlayStation architect Mark Cerny detailing Sony's next-gen PlayStation 5 console. Naughty Dog is a PlayStation-exclusive developer and The Last of Us is an important member of the PlayStation family of games.

Old-school PS2 shooter XIII is getting remastered, and looks to be a perfect foundation for a wacky-but-serious Archer video game adaptation.

When I saw 2003's stylish shooter XIII for the first time today, something clicked in my head: this looks a lot like Archer. Sure XIII came first, but the connection was there and I can't erase it now. XIII has cel-shaded graphics that really bring to mind Sterling Archer's ridiculous exploits at spy agency ISIS, and it has a distinct comic-pulp layout and taps underlying beats that perfectly exemplify FX's inspirations for the show. Archer is a mix of James Bond's death-defying stunts with none of the suave charm, but the show's overall themes--crazy stunts, gunning down baddies, a serious-yet-humorous bent--can be found in XIII.

So why isn't there an Archer FPS that matches XIII's mechanics with tons of humor and nods thrown in the mix? It seems like the perfect cocktail for a AA product that Archer fans would eat up like Pam eats up crab legs.

Today could be a milestone in Nintendo's big expansion strategy as the Switch gets provisional approval to release in Guangdong, China.

Nintendo has partnered up with Tencent's overseas might to bring its popular handheld-console Switch hybrid for sale in parts of China. The system is getting a test release in China's Guangdong region accompanied with select games like New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, and there's a possibility the system won't be approved. Widespread provisional availability across mainline China has yet to be confirmed. Strict regulations have deterred or delayed games-makers like Nintendo from entering the Chinese market, and the approval process is slow-going, experts say.

China reigns above all other regions in gaming revenue, and Chinese juggernaut Tencent is the biggest earner in the industry. The Chinese market earned $37.5 billion in 2018, according to analyst firm Newzoo, or about 28% of all global earnings.

Instead of making Obsidian's interesting-looking Alien Crucible RPG, SEGA greenlit the disastrous Colonial Marines. Now some new info on Obsidian's scrapped Alien Crucible RPG surface, painting a macabre picture of what could've been.

With Crucible, Obsidian wanted to make an Alien horror game interspersed with RPG-based action. The idea was to have Mass Effect-like squads with AI and guns that would follow your commands, complete with KOTOR-style item menus, equipment and classes, all set in a reactive environment that's extremely hazardous and oppressive. Aliens roam across every corridor of your ship waiting to munch your friends, face-huggers lay in wait to transform your comrades into marauding freaks, and you could be prey at any moment. In a very real sense, Obsidian wanted to meld Alien: Isolation's fear with an Aliens-style action bent, all wrapped up in that kind of choking atmosphere of the original 1979 film.

In a recent interview with VG247, ex-Obsidian writer Chris Avellone said there'd be distinct survival elements. Players would have to make a mad scramble to collect weapons, ammo, and supplies without becoming xenomorph lunch.

Today Konami announced the remaining games featured in its new Castlevania Anniversary Collection, confirming some interesting choices like Kid Dracula.

Castlevania is one of the best franchises of all time, and helped define a unique niche of macabre platforming. Back in the day, these games taught us the true meaning of difficulty with their impossible jumps, sweat-inducing boss fights, and zero tolerance for mistakes. Now a new generation can experience the original Dark Souls of NES gaming with the Castlevania Anniversary Collection.

The collection bundles eight classics across a variety of different platforms like NES, SNES and Game Boy, and includes some surprises. The SEGA Genesis-exclusive Castlevania Bloodlines made the cut for the first time, and Konami's even bringing an English translated version of the Kid Dracula NES game to boot.

Nintendo has given departing CEO of Nintendo America, Reggie Fils-Aime a bunch of extremely cool gifts to thank him for his time serving at Nintendo.

Back in late February, an announcement came out of Nintendo that shocked fans, Nintendo America's CEO Reggie Fils-Aime cashed in his chips and said he was retiring. To thank Reggie for all his hard work at the western arm of Nintendo, he has received quite the selection of unique gifts. Starting off, the Big Man himself received a working Virtual Boy, art from Retro Studios, a notebook, a book from employees and a Mario statue.

The gifts are truly awesome, and just like Reggie says on his Twitter post, this is an "End of an era" and what better way to close it off then with some gifts that Reggie will be able to look back and remember his time at Nintendo. Out of the selection of gifts he received, I would personally say that the gift from Game Awards creator, Geoff Keighley is my favorite. I would even go as far to say that if Nintendo made that art piece available to purchase that it would sell like wildfire.