In Mortal Combat

Mortal Kombat has become one of the most successful home video games ever created. Now the bestselling author of GameMaster's Complete Video Game Guide has written an enthralling novel, based on this exciting video game experience.

Girls and computer games—and the movement to overcome the stereotyping that dominates the toy aisles. Many parents worry about the influence of video games on their children's lives. The game console may help to prepare children for participation in the digital world, but at the same time it socializes boys into misogyny and excludes girls from all but the most objectified positions. The new "girls' games" movement has addressed these concerns. Although many people associate video games mainly with boys, the girls games' movement has emerged from an unusual alliance between feminist activists (who want to change the "gendering" of digital technology) and industry leaders (who want to create a girls' market for their games). The contributors to From Barbie® to Mortal Kombat explore how assumptions about gender, games, and technology shape the design, development, and marketing of games as industry seeks to build the girl market. They describe and analyze the games currently on the market and propose tactical approaches for avoiding the stereotypes that dominate most toy store aisles. The lively mix of perspectives and voices includes those of media and technology scholars, educators, psychologists, developers of today's leading games, industry insiders, and girl gamers. Contributors Aurora, Dorothy Bennett, Stephanie Bergman, Cornelia Brunner, Mary Bryson, Lee McEnany Caraher, Justine Cassell, Suzanne de Castell, Nikki Douglas, Theresa Duncan, Monica Gesue, Michelle Goulet, Patricia Greenfield, Margaret Honey, Henry Jenkins, Cal Jones, Yasmin Kafai, Heather Kelley, Marsha Kinder, Brenda Laurel, Nancie Martin, Aliza Sherman, Kaveri Subrahmanyam

Once every generation, the tournament is held: the ultimate martial arts competition in which mortal warriors must fight against many supernatural opponents to defend the earth from evil forces. Now three young mortals have come to compete in the tournament. They are Liu Kang, raised as a fighting monk; Johnny Cage, an American movie star; and Sonya Blade, a beautiful U.S. Special Forces agent who seeks revenge on her deadly enemy Kano. With the help of the immortal thunder god Rayden, the mortals must conquer their inner fears to defeat Goro, the four-armed warrior prince, and save humanity from the dreaded sorcerer Shang Tsung. With over a dozen exciting photos from the hit movie!

THE PREQUEL TO THE VIDEO GAME PHENOMENON IS HERE! years, a tenuous peace has existed between the realms, time enough for old champions to fall and a new generation to rise. But peace can never last for long . . . Thunder God Raiden has seen visions of a great evil entering our world, one so powerful it could change the very face of the universe. The one hope to stop the sinister force lies in six ancient relics, mystical blades imbued with the Blood Magick of the One Being-the Kamidogu daggers. Raiden and his allies are not the only ones searching for the all-powerful weapons. Another has spent years acquiring each blade through cunning and guile. For not only can the Kamidogu daggers contain a god, they also have the power to create one . . . Kombatants old and new will fight for the future of our realm and the realms beyond in this red-hot debut by writer Shawn Kittelsen. Together with artists Dexter Soy (DC UNIVERSE VS MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE) and Veronica Gandini (JUSTICE LEAGUE BEYOND 2.0), they'll start this action-packed newest chapter in the Mortal Kombat saga off with a bloodbath!

• Learn character Fatalities • Complete the most challenging missions in the Challenge Tower • Unlock everything in the Krypt • Kombat Codes revealed • Fatality reference cards

An introduction to one of the world's most iconic fighting games