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While speaking to Game Informer about older Mortal Kombat projects, series creator Ed Boon unveiled one installment of the which never saw the light of day: A co-op action adventure game subtitled Fire & Ice. "When they finished [Shaolin Monks]," Boon explained, "the guys at Paradox were gonna do another one called Fire & Ice. It was gonna be a co-operative Scorpion and Sub-Zero game."

We're not sure how the game's writers would have navigated the series' canon to make this union possible (don't those two, like, hate each other?), but we're disappointed nonetheless. To think -- if someone had asked us what our favorite co-op Mortal Kombat game was, and then asked what our favorite 1980s German ski film was, we could have just given them a single, satisfying answer.Ed Boon reveals Mortal Kombat: Fire & Ice, a canceled co-op game

#mortalkombat There are a lot of Mortal Kombat games that should never have been made. This one at least had the foresight to be cancelled before it saw the light of day. More »

The Mortal Kombat reboot had to have been one of the more interesting surprises around E3. We certainly enjoyed what we saw at the show, which seemed to depict a game very much back to its roots -- you can't get more "MK" than splitting a guy in two with a metal hat, after all. And in speaking with Gamasutra, Ed Boon confirms that he's really gunning for the hardcore players with this latest installment.

"Oddly enough, this [new Mortal Kombat] is the first one in a while that we've really made a conscious effort that we are going to focus hard on the hardcore player," he said. While Boon concedes that there are far more casual players out there than hardcore, he values the "opinionated" fans who go online and make their voices heard.

Despite the existence of those passionate individuals, Boon thinks it's tough to sell a fighting game nowadays. "While I certainly think there is an audience for that, there's not a very huge audience for the really complex [fighting] games. Unfortunately, the sales numbers kind of demonstrate that," he added. While we certainly understand what he's saying, we'd be hard-pressed to agree.

What about games like Street Fighter IV and Tekken 6? How about newcomers like BlazBlue? And that's not even taking into account the success of digitally distributed titles like Marvel vs. Capcom 2 -- so while we'd concede that fighting games can sometimes have a steep learning curve, we'd say now is a wonderful time of resurgence for the genre. Embrace the love, Boon!

While E3 attendees file out of a darkened room after a demonstration of the new Mortal Kombat, series co-creator Ed Boon is approached by a pair of enthusiastic fans. He gladly gives them a few autographs, and his face lights up in surprise when he learns that they've grown enamored with the fighting franchise in their 18 years of existence -- despite being born well after its inception. Has Mortal Kombat really been around for almost 20 years?

Working from NetherRealm Studios -- owned by Mortal Kombat's new custodian, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment -- Ed Boon doesn't limit his interaction with fans to chance encounters. The upcoming reboot is being driven by three major requests from series fans, which Boon calls his "marching orders." They've suggested a return to the M-rated presentation following 2008's Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (check), a deeper fighting system (check) and, of course, a new set of outrageous fatalities (check out that perforated spleen).

Boon claims that every combatant's interior, from the soon-to-be-shattered bones to the sickeningly squishy internal organs, has been modeled. It's not often that you get to literally see an artist's blood, sweat and tears in a game, but Boon assures me that when attacks find their mark, all "that shit pours out of them."

#e3 Mortal Kombat is back, sans DC Universe heroes, loaded with much of the blood, gore and cruel violence the series is infamous for. But Mortal Kombat for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is also worth discussing for its deeper fighting engine. More »

We play the new Mortal Kombat and have a chat with series co-creator Ed Boon.

A new game, but how much of the content is actually new?

#mortalkombat Not Linden Ashby, who played Johnny Cage in the Mortal Kombat film. No, the guy in the viral Mortal Kombat film that recently popped up online. More »

Are you ready to have your spine ripped out?

Fatalities are back and better than ever.