It's no longer a rumor, Darth Vader will in fact be coming to a SoulCalibur IV near you. Though, for a price.
On Thursday, October 23rd, the once Playstation 3 exclusiveSoulCalibur IV Vader character will be available for purchase off the Xbox Live Marketplace. Purchasable for 400 Microsoft points. Yes, we'll admit, $5 for Vader is a bit expensive, but when you look at what you're getting in terms of getting the chance to pit Yoda against Vader in an epic SoulCalibur IV battle of awesomeness. Well, then it doesn't seem too bad. But we must ask, where's our unlockable Jar Jar Binks?
It looks like Yoda and Darth Vader are finally working together. You see, the two Jedi masters have managed to help push 2 million copies of Soul Calibur IV onto the gaming populace. The number accounts for both the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 version of the game. We're curious to see which version sold more copies. No, not because we want the Xbox 360 version to succeed, but because we want some new nerd ammunition for the next time we get into the Darth Vader vs Yoda conversation.
This is it folks, this week officially marks the release of Soul Calibur IV. You may recall SCIV as the weapons based fighter that features not only ridiculously proportioned female fighters but also Yoda. The Playstation 3 version gets Darth Vader himself, though he may be Force choking his way to the 360 if rumors are to be believed. Also on the release this week are Spectral Force 3 and Summer Athletics The Ultimate Challenge. Spectral Force 3 is a Japanese strategy RPG and Summer Athletics The Ultmate Challenge is ... well, honestly, we have no idea. Looking at the title, we'd say someone is looking to cash in on the Olympic Games.
This week's XBLA in Brief examines Soulcalibur, the latest release for Xbox Live Arcade. Truly one of the best 3D fighting games ever made, it still shines on XBLA. There's only one problem: it doesn't support online play. Watch this week's episdoe and find out whether or not it's still worth the scratch.
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Looking for an upgraded fighting game with no widescreen support, online or modes to unlock? No? Well, if you change your mind Soulcalibur is now available on the Xbox Live Arcade. The classic fighter dropped as the lone release for the Arcade (as far as an actual game goes) and will hit your digital wallet up for 800 MS space-creds. Preparing gamers for the forthcoming Soul Calibur IV, the HD upgraded classic is a mixed bag. Probably one of the best fighters of its time, the XBLA exclusive feels so stripped down it would be more at home propped up on cinder blocks. Which sucks because it's still a rad game.
Sometimes rumors turn out to be true, and in the case of Soulcalibur making its way to the Xbox Live Arcade this Wednesday ... well, that's true.
Just today, Microsoft announced that on the morning of Wednesday, July 2nd, old-school Soulcalibur will be releasing to the XBLA at the 800 Microsoft price point. Included in this XBLA version of Soulcalibur will be all nineteen fighters, leaderboards, versus play and over eight game modes to experience in gorgeous high definition. Enough to make any fanboy shed a tear of happiness. Not only will we be treated to Soulcalibur this week, but XBLA game Wits and Wagers will be receiving a 320 MS point expansion that adds an additional 280 questions to the mix. Make the jump for the official press release.
While those who skipped over the series' PS2-exclusive third installment won't be familiar with Soul Calibur's Create-A-Soul mode, those who used it know that it had tons of depth and allowed for all manner of wacky options and crazy characters. For the Soul Calibur IV Create-A-Soul mode, Namco-Bandai looks to be increasing the amount of customizability available to players, giving us some interesting (Cat-man & Afro-dude) and recognizable (Ryu & Snake) characters before the game is even released. Hopefully Namco has taken into account all the various parodies we've got in mind and allows for as many custom characters as can fit on the storage device ...
The latest Famitsu, according to translations from intrepid Cheap Ass Gamer forum goers, includes some brand new information on the upcoming Namco Bandai fighter Soul Calibur IV. Of the newly revealed details, the most intriguing is that the game is set to include some kind of "character swapping" which immediately evokes the image of tag team battles seen in many other fighting games of years past. The strange part is that the swapping elements are only mentioned in regards to the single-player game. It's hard to imagine implementing a tag feature without incorporating it into multiplayer, but we'll just have to wait and see.
The article also includes details on the game's character creation mode as well as a few more technical aspects of the fighting itself. Hit the Source link to check it out.
It looks like our crazy Xbox.com page theory might be right after all. According to the Japanese product page for the Xbox Live Arcade release of the original Soulcalibur, Namco Bandai has scheduled the classic fighter for release next week. Of course this date could change like so many delayed XBLA titles before it have but international page leaks usually pan out for release dates.
Clocking in at 800MS Points, Soulcalibur (XBLA) includes the standard HD upgrade and LIVE leaderboard support other retro revivals see but Namco Bandai has confirmed the title will not include online multiplayer support. While we still have fond memories of the 1999 Dreamcast release, we scratch our heads at the decision to opt out of the online versus upgrade. With Soul Calibur IV on the horizon we wonder, what's the point? Hopefully Namco Bandai will revisit the release and upgrade it with online support much like they did Tekken: Dark Resurrection for the PSN. But, we're not holding our breath.
Yay! More cross-property marketing maneuvers! Truthfully, we could stand Yoda and Vader in Soul Calibur IV. They are well known, iconic figures of their brand, and something could be said of their inclusion for the purpose of bringing fanboys from one thing to the other. Not this time. This time it's an entirely self-serving move that has roots in promoting the relatively unknown (to the the mainstream) The Force Unleashed.
The newest announcement is that the main character from TFU, Vader's "Secret Apprentice", will be a playable character in both the 360 & PS3 versions of Soul Calibur IV. Y'know, we just might've actually bought the inevitable DLC that will be made available for this game, but this move just really leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Just so long as The Force Unleashed doesn't end up using Ivy to showcase its physics systems we'll remain sane. Given the way things are going, we fear for our sanity.
When it was announced that Soul Calibur IV would play host to guest characters from the Star Wars universe, the collective fanboy meltdown concerning everything from the storyline to the balance was absolute music to the ears. Unfortunately, they may have been right on one point: Yoda's size does seem to give him an advantage. Watch the clip and decide for yourself.
Also, thanks Ubisoft being the publisher for the game in the PAL territories, Ubidays brings us a ton of new screens for the game, including shots of a new character who is actually, get this, male. The new shots show everything from special attacks to moments from cutscenes and everything in between, so get clicking.
In all of our Spring Showcase excitement, it looks like we managed to overlook some major items not related to Microsoft Game Studios titles. For example, we missed these super sexy shots of Soul Calibur, Namco's seminal fighter that will soon arrive on Xbox Live Arcade. Anyone who played the game way back in the Dreamcast days will be right at home. The port isn't quite up to the original's quality (the character models look like they might not be sporting as many polygons), but overall the game looks solid and faithful. Check out the images in the gallery below, and just remember that Mitsurugi is the best, hands down.
Another game release, another special edition. The Soul Calibur IV special edition has recently been detailed by Namco Bandai and includes your standard special edition trinkets.
Over-sized tin? Check. Art book? Check. T-Shirt? Check. Also included is a "Tournament Kit," a rather grandiose way of saying a reusable blank tournament bracket card. Interesting note to Star Wars fans, the Xbox 360 special edition includes a white t-shirt with Yoda/Siegfried art while the PS3 version includes a black Darth Vader/Mitsurugi tee (all versions are XL). We'll leave it up to you to decide whether or not the collection warrants the $80 price-tag.
With the release of the highly anticipated Soul Calibur IVnow confirmed to be July 29, and another fourth iteration fighting game likely hitting near the end of the year or thereabouts, what could fuel the single combat genre until the fall? Well, if you're going to be picking up SCIV it might be worth your time to see how the series started off, and Namco Bandai looks to be making that even easier when they bring the original Soulcalibur to Live Arcade later this year. Regarded by some as a near-perfect weapon based fighter, this 1999 Dreamcast title will be upgraded to run in HD, though that's where the upgrades really stop. Leaderboards will be featured for the single player, but there are currently no plans to include online multiplayer, local only. We're not sure about this particular port, our purchase will likely depend on the amount of ambient nostalgia upon release (and of course upon the quality of Soul Calibur IV).
Posted Mar 13th 2008 4:30PM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News
Our Famitsu friends just revealed a brand new character that'll making a debut in the upcoming Star Wars infusedSoul Calibur IV and she (yes she) is feisty looking one.
Her name is Scheherazade (pronunciation anyone?), she sports a saber-like weapon and comes across as a scantily clad swordswoman who loves the color pink and frilly outfits. That said, we're sure she could beat us down any day. No other Scheherazade details could be lifted from Famitsu's foreign pages, but we expect good old Namco to come to our informative-rescue and announce the entire Soul Calibur IV character list before launch. Until then, we'll try our darnedest to envision Yoda and Scheherazade going head to head in a battle to the death. Odd ...
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Another game release, another special edition. The 
