PS3 Fanboy

So, last night we revealed that Darth Vader's secret apprentice from the upcoming LucasArts title, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, was heading to Soulcalibur IV. Today, we've got some screenshots of the dark lord in training. He looks quite accurate to his Force Unleashed avatar. You can also see him in action in the clip after the break. Now, all we're hoping for is Ivy to appear in The Force Unleashed. You know, to make full use of that Euphoria engine. Soulcalibur IV is out July 29.

No, you're not seeing things, and no we haven't made a gargantuan mistake by having a Star Wars: The Force Unleashed pic on a Soulcalibur IV story. It, basically, is the story. For you see, according to Gamespot, not only is Darth Vader making his way into the PS3 version of Soulcalibur IV, but his dark apprentice will be following close behind. However, the apprentice will be the only guest Star Wars character to go multiplatform as both Vader and Yoda will remain console exclusives.

It's quite interesting to see all these cross-genre, cross-developer crossovers. Another prominent one is Assassin's Solid. We wonder which two developers will unite and surprise us next.

Perhaps you've seen Shura already, but have you met Ashlotte? You probably haven't witnessed Setsuka's new look for Soulcalibur IV either. If you haven't seen any of these three lovely ladies from the upcoming Soulcalibur IV then make sure you watch this slide show gallery to check them out.

Setsuka is a returning character who first made an appearance in Soulcalibur III. Ashlotte, on the other hand, is another one of those characters manifested from SC IV's anime collaborations. Ashlotte wields a giant halberd-like weapon and dresses like a gothic doll.

While all these new anime-inspired characters are pretty interesting, we did notice one odd thing. Have you noticed that they're all female? No new male designs in the works here guys? Anyway, that's nothing to complain about ... especially after seeing Voldo's bouncy crotch physics in today's earlier vid. Female characters are just fine thanks.

A new female character wearing a horned-skull and a thong has been revealed for Soulcalibur IV. The new character named Shura, seen in blurry magazine photos, is yet another collaborative design by non-Namco anime artists. The creator of the manga series Gantz, Hiroya Oku, sculpted this new vixen's noticeable curves. The only other thing we know about this new character is that it appears she'll be wielding two katana blades for her Soulcalibur debut.

With Soulcalibur IV aiming for a July 29 release in North America, we're wondering if there will be anymore new character reveals to come. And if so, then which anime artist will be called upon for the design? Can we please have Osamu Tezuka for an Astro Boy-esque character?

[Via N4G]

This update is the cherry on our hot fudge sundae. While we've already seen the majority of Soulcalibur alumni return to Soulcalibur IV, we've yet to gander upon these three combatants. Rock, Talim, and Yoshimitsu are all making their way back into the fourth game. While this isn't a surprise, it's always exciting to get that first look.

Rock's axe/mace swinging and stylish animal hide headgear is always welcomed, and Talim's quick-as-wind tonfas never fail as far as fun factor goes. Yoshimitsu's seashell-themed design is a little strange, but it's not a big deal. Check out the rest of the pics at Famitsu.

Were you hoping for a totally awesome Soulcalibur IV package when you heard they had a "tournament kit" ready for your consumption with the limited edition release? Sorry to burst your bubble, but it seems the secret tourney item has been revealed. It's a bracket card. Yep. A card and nothing more.

What is interesting is the varied t-shirt content with the game. PS3 owners will get a black shirt featuring Darth Vader and Mitsurugi, whereas the 360 owners get a white shirt with Yoda and Siegfried. Both shirts only come in size XL, because come on, what's the stereotype for video gamers? That's right -- we all love Star Wars, too. Don't be rude.

It's just a phrase, but "equipment destruction" can mean a lot of things. For Soulcalibur IV, it doesn't just refer to disarming your opponent, but cracking through their armor Valkyrie Profile 2 style to get to their weakpoints. So to speak. Apparently, the idea exists that you'll be able to chip away at Hilde's armor and break down Siegfried's mail.

But, as Siliconera pointed out, not all characters in Soulcalibur really wear all that much. A lot of characters wear fabric outfits, while others seem to wear an outfit made completely of dental floss. So it's anyone's guess if this concept comes to fruition, but it's absolutely on the table.

You may know that Darth Vader is one of the new characters in the upcoming Soulcalibur IV, but Namco Bandai showed off even more fighters in yesterday's media event. Angol is an incredibly cute fairy-esque female fighter, that's more than eager to beat you with a giant stick. The hard-to-spell Scheherazade looks like a character that's one part Zelda, and one part Folklore. You can check out both these new characters in our updated gallery, filled with high resolution images.

Feel free to check out a new video, after the cut.

It's nice to know that the eternal telling of souls and swords will continue this Summer -- more accurately on July 29 for North America. While we're ecstatic that we now have a solid date for Soulcalibur IV, it isn't the only new information circulating the interwebs. Namco Bandai also revealed that the game will come in both regular and limited Premium Edition packaging.

Included in the Premium Edition is an art book/comic that serves as a prequel leading up to the events in Soulcalibur IV. Also included is an ambiguously described "tournament kit" that "give fans the opportunity to document the battle amongst friends." It's not clear as to what exactly that involves.

Premium Edition buyers will also have access to exclusive customization content. Following the pricing standards of other high-end low-end specs, the Premium Ed. and regular version will be priced at US$79.99 and US$59.99 respectively.

Eminence, a Sydney-based orchestra known mostly for their renditions of popular anime and videogame scores, has been tasked to record the orchestral set pieces for Soulcalibur IV. All in all, Eminence recorded seven music pieces at Trackdown Studios in Sydney, Australia. Eminence's director and concert master, Hiroaki Yura, told IGN that the music they recorded was "mostly the opening, the ending credit, player selection [screen] ... and a little bit of battle music."

Junichi Nakatsuru, the composer for Soulcalibur IV, was also on hand to oversee the recording of his masterpieces. He stated that he was conscious about bringing out the game's story through music. Not just the new title's story but the series long tale: "This Soulcalibur IV project itself is basically the result of all the previous Soulcaliburs and I'm taking all the good bits [from those games]... and building on them."

With a talented group of musicians working on a passionate composer's work, it's safe to assume we can expect to hear excellent music in the final game. To hear just how good Eminence sounds, have a listen to the clip after the break. The clip showcases music from a game unrelated to Soulcalibur; however, we think you'll be impressed from the mad skills nonetheless.

A new Famitsu scan, a new Soulcalibur IV character revealed. This time, one more fresh female face joins the roster; her name is Angol Fear. She sounds frightening, doesn't she? Angol Fear is said to be a character from the Keroro Gunsou anime.

It's an odd choice for a guest character if you ask us. Seems a little too niche. It begs the question: is this character even going to make it in the North American version? A second question comes to mind: why are there no Namco guest characters? We'd love to see more Tekken cameos, or even Kos-Mos from Xenosaga -- that is, if there are no business complications on that end.

Anyway, Soulcalibur fanatics will love this info: Cervantes and Zasalamel are returning. Amy from Soulcalibur III will also be returning. With the news of this latest revelation, the majority of Soulcalibur alumni have now been confirmed. We're still missing the likes of Setsuka, Talim, Yoshimitsu, and Rock. Talim, deary, where are you?

In the latest issue of Famitsu, a new character for Soulcalibur IV has been unveiled. Her name is Scheherazade, and she joins the cast of fighters using a rapier for a weapon. A Raphael clone perhaps?

One odd noticeable trait of Scheherazade is that she has pointy ears, almost looking elf-like. Her character portrait is also drawn in a different style from the other mainstay characters. We're not sure what that could mean, but we won't read too far into it. The name Scheherazade sounds familiar, especially to this blogger. One Thousand and One Nights anyone?

This is what real next-gen fighting games look like. Namco's latest batch of Soulcalibur IV screenshots look absolutely incredible. In fact, many of the environments had us questioning if these were in real-time or not. One look at Taki's enhancements, however, will realize that not everything in this PS3/Xbox 360 sequel is totally realistic.

Check out our new gallery below:

Video games have come a long way. Soul Calibur 4 is one such game. While the original version, which we're not attributing to the arcade but on the Dreamcast (which was basically the arcade console for a while), was amazing, each additional title in the franchise looks better and better and plays more fluidly than the last. The newest game in the franchise has a few screenshots released to the world at large and they're impressive. Most are of the character Ivy, because she wears skimpy clothes or something, but they show off what we can expect when the game releases sometime next year. So, enjoy!