Ed Boon magazine interview early 90s

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theassassin
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Ed Boon magazine interview early 90s

Post by theassassin »

In regards to the "Nimbus Terrafaux" rumor/hoax:

From Wikipedia:
Nimbus Terrafaux was rumored to be a playable character (a kickboxer) in the first Mortal Kombat game as an unlockable secret character. It was later revealed as a creation of Electronic Gaming Monthly as part of an April Fool's Day joke, though Ed Boon had originally hinted at the character in an interview with the magazine. The magazine then intentionally published false information on this character, complete with doctored screenshots and a fabricated story-line.
Information on wiki articles suggests that the existence of a secret kickboxer character was hinted at in an Ed Boon interview published BEFORE the hoax Nimbus Terrafaux pictures (EGM Magazine, Issue 56, March 1994)

Can anyone help me find this interview?
Last edited by theassassin on Mon Nov 04, 2013 5:17 pm, edited 2 times in total.


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Re: Ed Boon interview EGM Magazine early 90s

Post by ded »

The idea of american black kick boxer was actually planned for MK2, not MK1, for Jax, but it was left behind, because of the too much similarities with Barlog from Street Fighter. However, it was John Tobias who mentioned in GamePro Issue 058 (May 1994):

"...keep looking, because Ed has said six months down the line, people are still going to be finding stuff....", but he never said where Ed Boon mentioned that. I guess it would be somewhere in october-november 1993 but it could be any mag, not just EGM (yeah, wiki is often fake when it comes to MK facts).

It's definitely not in EGM Issues 51, 53, 54, 55, since i have those.
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Re: Ed Boon magazine interview early 90s

Post by theassassin »

Thanks, that's helpful. From reading wiki articles I'd assumed this Boon interview where he supposedly hints at a secret kickboxer character was in reference to MK1, but it does actually make more sense for it to be in reference to MK2.

I have reworded my original post to be clearer.

Basically I'm trying to find any mentions or hints about a secret kickboxer character, that were published BEFORE the hoax Nimbus Terrafaux images (EGM Issue 56 (March 1994).
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Re: Ed Boon magazine interview early 90s

Post by ded »

I dont think i saw some info about Nimbus in any other mags or issues ever, except in some polish magazine where they talk about mk5. I just checked EGM issue 050, and there is no information about him there either...

http://oi55.tinypic.com/16l041h.jpg
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Re: Ed Boon magazine interview early 90s

Post by theassassin »

UPDATE - I found what I was looking for. As I suspected, EGM 56 (March 1994) was NOT the first published mention of Nimbus Terrafaux.

I have discovered he was mentioned before this, in the "Most Wanted Trick" section of EGM 53 (December 1993), page 148. It's only a small bit, very easily missed. Here is a scan of the article:
http://imageshack.com/a/img197/6545/6ip9.jpg
And here is the full text:
ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY - ISSUE 53 (DECEMBER 1993) - PAGE 148
TRICKS OF THE TRADE - CHEAT SHEET - MOST WANTED TRICK
Mortal Kombat keeps coming back as the most wanted trick! People just can't get enough of this game and all of it's hidden attributes. This time, the Genesis version comes into the picture with another juicy rumor about a hidden character! It has been said that there is a kickboxer named Nimbus Terrafaux hidden in the Genesis version of the game. Here are the details. Supposedly, you are to wait for Reptile to come onto the screen and say, "Look to La Luna." At this point, you are to put in some sort of code and press START before he leaves the screen. The game restarts and you should be able to select this new character. Rumor also says that his face goes across the moon every so often, but you can't get to him with the DULLARD code. Do you have any ideas? If you have the method to get to him, or have a good idea, send it in! We'd love to print it! [PICTURE] Could this be the infamous Nimbus Terrafaux?!
As far as I can tell this is the first published information about Nimbus Terrafaux. Obviously we now know the head flying across the moon that they refer to is actually that of Fergus McGovern.

This find also finally disproves the popular misconception that Nimbus Terrafaux was an "April Fools" joke by EGM. The rumor was a hoax, yes, but nothing to do with April Fools. The character was first mentioned in the December 1993 issue, and mentioned again in the March 1994 issue. And if you understand how cover dates work, they are the date when the issue is taken OFF the shelves, so it was obviously never intended to be an "April Fools" joke. And to put a final nail in the "April Fools" mis-information, in EGM issue 60 (July 1994), page 18, they state that their only April Fools joke for 1994 was mispelling the word "Streets" as "Streeets" on the cover of issue 57 (April 1994). Which is a pretty weak joke, but the point is their Nimbus hoax was nothing to do with April Fools.

I suspect you are correct ded that the information on the wiki is wrong, and that Boon never did an interview hinting about Nimbus.

Hope people enjoy this obscure trivia! Nimbus for MK10!
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Re: Ed Boon magazine interview early 90s

Post by Gambid »

Information misinterpretation is nothing new. People reading one thing and understanding something completely different. Glad you found what you were looking for.
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Re: Ed Boon magazine interview early 90s

Post by Noob Cyborg »

ded wrote:I dont think i saw some info about Nimbus in any other mags or issues ever, except in some polish magazine where they talk about mk5. I just checked EGM issue 050, and there is no information about him there either...

http://oi55.tinypic.com/16l041h.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/sc/ninjaclan/Kombat.html
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