John Tobias

• Name: John Tobias

• Notable creations and work: Mortal Kombat, The Real Ghostbusters (comic book series), Smash TV (arcade version)

• Born: August 24, 1969

• Died: --still alive--

Biographical Summary

John Tobias began his entertainment career somewhere between 1988 and 1992 as a comic book artist working for the company 'Now Comics' on 'The Real Ghostbusters'.

Around 1990, John Tobias got involved with his first game, Smash TV, though it is unclear what task he performed while working on this title.

Tobias worked at Midway in 1992 to create the first installment of the Mortal Kombat series until 1999 when he left to form a new development company known as Studio Gigante. The new company, Studio Gigante, produced two titles (Tao Feng: Fist of the Lotus in 2003 and WWE WrestleMania 21 in 2005) before closing down.

A tribute to the Tobias-Boon saga is apparent in some Mortal Kombat games as attributed by a "secret" character, "Noob Saibot", which is Ed Boon and John Tobias's last names spelt backwards. There were some discrepancies towards the name of "Noob Saibot" after Tobias had left the company, but Tobias had no rights to claim ownership over the vanity name for the series.

Tobias, in a 2003 interview, stated that he is inspired by the works of the company 'Epic' on their project: Unreal.

Work

John Tobias, alongside Ed Boon, created the Mortal Kombat series in 1992. John and Ed believed in creating a world that simulated reality, but pushed the barrier further. Often times, they operated on the 'real life physics aren't exciting when played out in a video game' mentality.

This mentality brought a comic book kind of style in to an emerging entertainment industry. The combination of these two elements sprung not only a cult following, but an entire merchandise product line, numerous video game sequels as well as movie deals.

John Tobias now works as a freelance consultant to the gaming entertainment industry.

Projects

Smash TV (1990). John Tobias worked on some aspect of this game, though no source defines exactly what job he performed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z15M1I3q0OI

John Tobias and Ed Boon describe the ideas and concepts behind the creation of the first installment to the Mortal Kombat universe.

John Tobias (featured) standing in front Mortal Kombat II cabinet (Midway Games) late 1993. Tobias was a lead artist and character designer throughout the entire Mortal Kombat series.

An excerpt illustration from John Tobias's 'The Real Ghostbusters' comic book for 'Now Comics'.

References

• • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tobias

  • http://www.gamertell.com/gaming/comment/john-tobias-on-mortal-kombat-vs-dc-universe-comic-book/

  • http://lambiek.net/artists/t/tobias_john.htm

  • http://www.gamespy.com/xbox/tao-feng-fist-of-the-lotus/6534p1.html