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Beyond Fatalities
The legacy of Chicago-based Midway Games encompasses more than just Mortal Kombat
by Jeremy Bergen
Anyone who has dropped an endless supply of quarters into arcade machines to experience the joy of ripping an opponent's spine from his body is already familiar with Chicago-based Midway Games. Midway Games was a pioneer in the gaming business and single-handedly changed the face of the industry with the arcade smash Mortal Kombat. While the company's arcade days are long gone, Midway Games is still busy cranking out blockbuster video games.
Midway Chicago's most recent release, Stranglehold, was developed with famed Hong Kong action-film director John Woo. Stranglehold features Chow Yun-Fat reprising his role as Inspector Tequila from Woo's film Hard Boiled. During Tequila's acrobatic gunfights, the environment literally crumbles around him from gunfire. "The decision to make the environments so destructible was based off of the John Woo movie experience," says Mike Bilder, studio head at Midway Chicago. "If you go watch Hard Boiled and watch them shoot up a tea house, there are tiles everywhere exploding, burnt baskets exploding (and) food everywhere. It was really just to pay homage to his film direction."
Set to drop this month for Midway Chicago is NBA Ballers: Chosen One. The title stars current NBA Slam Dunk Champion Dwight (Superman) Howard. Chosen One features arcade-style basketball action with 65 of the NBA's brightest stars. Gamers work to build their skills and their collection of bling as they climb the ranks of NBA stardom. Public Enemy frontman and hip-hop legend Chuck D. voices the announcer, and super-producer Just Blaze created original beats for the game's soundtrack. NBA Ballers: Chosen One is a must-own for all gamers with JV B-ball skills and LeBron James dreams.
But long before LeBron was born, Midway took part in bringing classics such as Pac Man, Space Invaders and Spy Hunter to arcades across America. In 1992, Midway shook the foundations of the industry with one of the most controversial games in video game history, Mortal Kombat, which instantaneously set arcades on fire with realistic graphics and sensational blood and gore. The title is widely credited with raising the eyebrows of politicians about violence in video games. In 1993, the U.S. Senate held hearings that tried to save the children of America from violent video games. Concerning Mortal Kombat, Senator Joe Lieberman declared, "These games are no mark of a civilized society."
Despite the controversy, Mortal Kombat is recognized as a main contributor to the now-established video game rating system that brought credibility to the entire industry. "It really opened people's eyes that this is a mainstream industry, and there are a lot more people who play this than we think of all ages," Bilder says.
Since its formation in the 1950s, Midway Games has been based in Chicago, and Midway has remained here even though other major video game developers have gravitated toward the West Coast. "Making games in Chicago has helped differentiate our product from our competition," Bilder says. "Midway games also tend to have a harder 'edge' that probably has some of its origins from our Midwest atmosphere."
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