Ars Technica • 8th October 2022

The actor who claims he co-created Mortal Kombat

Long Live Mortal Kombat by David L. Craddock goes behind the scenes to reveal untold stories from the killer franchise’s arcade era and explores how it impacted popular culture. This excerpt details the exaggerations and falsehoods of one of the original game’s most prolific character actors.

IGN • 3rd October 2022

Mortal Kombat Nitro Developer Remembers the Faster, Bloodier SNES Version That Never Was

Only two copies of Mortal Kombat Nitro exist, and their owners have no plans to part with them.

Medium • 27th April 2022

How Mortal Kombat Made the Jump to Super NES and Sega Genesis

Discover how Mortal Kombat made the jump from arcades to 16-bit platforms, and the part it played in the console war between Sega and Nintendo.

Game Developer • 13th April 2022

Dr. Carly Kocurek on Masculinity in Games

Dr. Carly Kocurek and I discussed the pervasive view of games as being made by and for men, the practices of documenting video game history, how her interest in research brought her to video games, and much more in this wide-ranging interview.

11th April 2022

Rob Holmes on the End of Acclaim's Relationship with Midway

Acclaim co-founder Rob Holmes reveals what caused the difficult split between Midway/Williams and Acclaim.

Game Developer • 11th April 2022

Crushed: Inside Capcom's Marketing Feud with Acclaim and Mortal Kombat

Former Capcom USA senior VP Joe Morici talks Capcom's friendly feud with Acclaim, the cultural differences between Capcom USA and Capcom Co., Ltd., in Japan, and Street Fighter versus Mortal Kombat.

Medium • 5th April 2022

How Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat Divided Arcades

This excerpt from the book looks at some of the mechanical, cultural, and stylistic differences between rival franchises Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, and why some fans prefer one to the other.

Ars Technica • 2nd April 2022

The Punch That Changed Mortal Kombat History

In this excerpt from Long Live Mortal Kombat, two of MK's arcade legends meet for the first time and learn a new technique that propels them to the top of the food chain in their local arcades.

Nintendo Life • 29th March 2022

How Mortal Kombat Led To The Birth Of E3 And The ESRB

In this excerpt from Long Live Mortal Kombat, the industry's superpowers meet to determine how to self-regulate content – knowing that if they fail, the government will do it for them.

pcgamer • 29th March 2022

Why do Mortal Kombat 3 players still insist on keyboard controls 27 years later?

In material from the book provided exclusively for PC Gamer, Craddock dives into the development of Mortal Kombat 3's ports, including the PC version, and the difficulties of developing for the gaming hardware wild west of the 1990s.

Game Informer • 29th March 2022

Game Informer - Exclusive Excerpt From Long Live Mortal Kombat: Round 1

A small boy earns the respect of the drug dealers who rule his arcade by besting them in a fight—in Mortal Kombat.

Shacknews • 29th March 2022

How Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3's Tier List Determined the Best Fighters

Some of Ultimate MK3's best players break down the game's best characters, and how those killers rose to prominence over nearly 30 years of play.

pcgamer • 9th September 2021

New X-COM book explains the special kind of terror that made the first game a classic

Monsters in the Dark: The Making of X-COM: UFO Defense is a new book from author David Craddock, which tells the story behind the first game in the series (UFO: Enemy Unknown in the UK) and the early years of creator Julian Gollop. Craddock has shared an excerpt from Monsters in the Dark with PC Gamer, which you can read below.

Kotaku • 18th March 2021

X-COM’s Beloved Tactical Gameplay Took Months To Get Just Right

In this excerpt from Monsters in the Dark: The Making of X-COM: UFO Defense, Julian and designers from publisher MicroProse UK reveal how the atmosphere of the game (known as UFO: Enemy Unknown in the UK) added even more tension to the blink-and-you’re-dead tactical gameplay.

Ars Technica • 9th March 2021

Developing the distinctive look of the original X-COM: UFO Defense

In this excerpt from Monsters in the Dark, Julian and his brother Nick coordinate with X-COM publisher MicroProse UK on the design of alien enemies and the game's cinematic intro.

Polygon • 9th March 2021

X-COM got its name, in part, because ‘XCON’ sounded like ‘ex-convict’

Monsters in the Dark: The Making of X-COM: UFO Defense is author David L. Craddock’s latest book looking back at the history of the video game industry. Below, we have an excerpt covering the early brainstorming sessions between developers Mythos and MicroProse for the game that became X-COM.

9th March 2021

How a Publishing Nightmare Set the Stage for the Original 'X-COM'

Julian and his brother Nick collaborate on the gameplay for Lords of Chaos, a fantasy-themed sequel to one of Julian's earlier hits, and an influence on X-COM, the game he would turn to next.

Kotaku • 9th March 2021

X-COM: UFO Defense Would Have Been Canned If Its Creators Hadn’t Secretly Revolted

Monsters in the Dark: The Making of X-COM: UFO Defense tells the story of the early years of legendary strategy game designer Julian Gollop and the making of the original X-COM, and is funding now on Kickstarter. In this excerpt from the book, MicroProse’s acquisition by Spectrum Holobyte places the game (known as UFO: Enemy Unknown in the UK) in jeopardy, forcing the game’s producers to fly under the radar to save it. Great producers do more than keep development teams on track. When bureaucra

Shacknews • 9th March 2021

Pro Strats: X-COM (1994) strategy guide author David Ellis on QA and writing guides

Former MicroProse scribe David Ellis spoke with me about writing the guide for the original X-COM, taking charge of Civilization II's in-game encyclopedia, and more.

6th August 2020

The Dumpster Club - Chapters 1 through 6

Read the first six chapters from David L. Craddock's The Dumpster Club, a new novel for young adults.