Source: videogamesblogger.com

The good news: Namco Bandai have announced that come October 23th, 2008, both Darth Vader and Yoda will become downloadable characters to fill up that empty spot in your Soul Calibur 4 characters roster.

The bad news: The downloadable content will cost you 400 Microsoft Points ($5.00) for Darth Vader on Xbox 360 and $4.99 for Yoda on PlayStation 3.

More screenshots at Dengeki, translation from Japanese by 1UP.

Source: videogamesblogger.com

Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) announced what new PlayStation Network downloadable games, expansions, demos and videos were released for PlayStation 3 and PSP today.

American Games (Demos):
* NHL 09 Demo
* SoulCalibur IV Demo
* The Last Guy - $9.99

American Games (Content):
* Rock Band songs: “All Over Again,” “Don’t Make Me Wait,” and “She Does” by Locksley - $0.99 each or $2.99 for all.
* Warhawk Booster Combo — $15.99 — includes: the Warhawk Operation: Omega Dawn, Operation: Broken Mirror, and Operation: Fallen Star Booster Packs.
* Warhawk: Operation Fallen Star Pack - $7.99

American Trailers:
* SOCOM Confrontation Extraction trailer
* LittleBigPlanet Leipzig “Sackzilla” Trailer
* Motorstorm Pacific Rift Leipzig Trailer
* PAIN Trauma Mode Trailer
* GT5 Prologue Play the Pros with Tanner Foust!
* Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway Machine Gun & Bazooka and Squad Gameplay Videos
* (3) Facebreaker Audition Videos
* Madden NFL 09 Gameplay, Madden Moments and Play Call Trailers
* Top Spin 3 Player Creator Trailer

American Extras:
* Cake Mania: Baker’s Challenge Theme (PSP)
* (3) Cake Mania: Baker’s Challenge Wallpapers (PSP)
* (2) Hot Shots Golf Open Tee 2 Wallpapers (PSP)
* (3) PSP Wallpapers Series 1 Wallpapers (PSP)
* (2) The Last Guy Wallpapers

European Games (Demos):
* Buzz! Junior Jungle Party (PS2 game for PS3) - €4.99 / £3.49
* Medal of Honor Heroes 2 (PSP) - €19.99 / £14.99
* NHL 09 Demo
* Pipe Mania Demo (PSP)
* The Last Guy - €7.99 / £4.99
* The Last Guy Demo (Asakusa Level)

European Games (Content):
* Warhawk: Operation Fallen Star Pack - €5.99 / £3.99

European Trailers:
* HAWX Trailer
* Far Cry 2 - E3 trailer
* The Last Guy Launch Trailer
* PS3 Platinum TV Ad
* Super Stardust HD top tips solo & arcade Trailers

European Extras:
* Graffiti Theme
* The Last Guy Wallpaper

Source: videogamesblogger.com

Namco Bandai has announced that Soul Calibur 4 has sold over 2 million copies worldwide after only having been released for days since July 29th in North America and since July 31st in Japan and Europe.

According to the company this was the best launch of the weapons fighting series so far thanks to its many fans and new additions such as: beautiful HD graphics (no doubt the curvy women helped) and online play so fans worldwide can pit their favorite Soul Calibur 4 characters (or the three new guests from the Star Wars universe) against each other on either Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3.

Via Nikkei, translated by Neogaf & Babelfish

Source: videogamesblogger.com

The past month we’ve given you the chance to win in our SoulCalibur IV competition. The task was a matter of best explaining who would win in SoulCalibur IV’s struggle between Soul Calibur and Soul Edge. We heartily thank all 157 gamers who participated, but out of the answers only three winners could be chosen at random from the dozens of best entries…

“Mathew” wins first prize and gets a free copy of the SoulCalibur IV game and a SoulCalibur IV bag & shirt!
“James from comment #108″ wins second prize and gets a free copy of the SoulCalibur IV game and a SoulCalibur IV shirt!
“Brad” wins third prize and gets a SoulCalibur IV shirt.
Congratulations to the winners! You’ll be contacted via email shortly.

If you didn’t win: Don’t forget to join our other competition for Tales of Vesperia.

Source: videogamesblogger.com

How to unlock all secret Soul Calibur 4 characters? That question will be answered in this guide that shows you who to unlock to get the full roster and how.

The Soul Calibur 4 characters select screen has room for plenty of bonus characters (minus your own character creation). — At the moment Yoda is exclusive to the Xbox 360 version and Darth Vader is exclusive to the PS3 version, although Namco Bandai has hinted both characters may be made available for download on the other’s console at a later date.

Below we’ve listed the 10 secret characters in alphabetical order. Take the following steps to unlock each one.

1. Algol: Successfully complete Story mode with a character that fights Algol as the final Boss (Mitsurugi, Taki, etc.).
2. Amy: Purchase her in the Character Creation for 4000 gold.
3. Angol Fear: Defeat her in Story mode.
4. Ashlotte: Defeat her in Story mode.
5. Cervantes de Leon: Purchase him in the Character Creation for 4000 gold.
6. Hong Yun-seong: Purchase him in the Character Creation for 4000 gold.
7. Kamikirimusi: Defeat her in Story mode.
8. Scheherazade: Defeat her in Story mode.
9. Shura: Defeat her in Story mode.
10. The Apprentice AKA Darth Vader’s Secret Apprentice AKA Starkiller: Successfully complete Arcade mode with Yoda on Xbox 360 or Darth Vader on PS3.

Since the Soul Calibur 4 character select screen picture at the top of this page is incomplete. Here’s a video showing a near-complete roster on the Xbox 360.

Thanks to SC4MASTER for the tips!

Source: videogamesblogger.com

The weapons-based fighting game Soul Calibur 4 has been released on Xbox 360 & PS3 today!

Visit our Soul Calibur 4 characters page if you want to know all 34 included fighters and at the same time exchange Xbox Live gamertags and PSN IDs to battle against foes the world over. If you don’t have Soul Calibur 4 yet, today is the last day we’re giving away a copy of the game for the system of your choice in our Soul Calibur IV competition.

Get a look at a new character, online functionality, the Soul Gauge, destructible protective armor, critical finishing moves, and character customization. A Namco Bandai representative explains all about what’s new in Soul Calibur 4.

Source: videogamesblogger.com

Welcome to our “Soul Calibur IV” competition where you now have the chance to win the following prizes until the fighting game’s release date on July 29.

First prize: The SoulCalibur IV game for the system of your choice (Xbox 360 or PS3) plus a SoulCalibur IV bag and shirt;
Second prize: The SoulCalibur IV game for the system of your choice (Xbox 360 or PS3) plus a SoulCalibur IV shirt;
Third prize: A SoulCalibur IV shirt;

What do you need to do to win? Answer this question: “In the epic struggle between the holy sword Soul Calibur and its cursed counterpart, Soul Edge, who will win in SoulCalibur IV and why?”

What are the rules? This contest is only open to residents of the United States. All you have to do is leave a comment on this page with your answer before July 29th has passed at the strike of midnight. All entries must be in by date and time. One entry per person. Fill out your real email so we can contact you if you win (your email will be invisible to other readers, only the site staff can see it). Winners will be chosen from the best entries and will be notified by email. The winners will be publicly announced the next day. Good luck!

Check out this new destiny trailer for SoulCalibur IV:

Source: videogamesblogger.com

Out of the complete Soul Calibur 4 cast, 31 characters have been revealed like Ivy and Tira, but we thought it was time to list the Soul Calibur 4 characters below that have been confirmed for the upcoming July 29th, 2008, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 fighting game.

Darth Vader and Yoda, characters from the Star Wars universe, are confirmed to be playable guest characters but exclusive to different platforms. Vader will be on the PS3 and Yoda will be on the Xbox 360, however it was stated in issue 179 of GameInformer magazine that “Namco was nice enough to concede that the second characters may be available for download on the respective consoles at a later date.”

When you click on each Soul Calibur 4 character’s name below, a window will pop up with a picture of him / her.

Returning characters:
1. Amy
2. Astaroth
3. Cassandra Alexandra
4. Cervantes de Leon
5. Ivy (Isabella Valentine)
6. Kilik
7. Lizardman (Aeon Calcos)
8. Maxi
9. Mitsurugi (Heishiro)
10. Nightmare
11. Raphael Sorel
12. Rock (Nathaniel Adams)
13. Seong Mi-na
14. Setsuka
15. Siegfried Schtauffen
16. Sophitia Alexandra
17. Taki
18. Talim
19. Tira
20. Voldo
21. Xianghua Chai
22. Yoshimitsu
23. Yun-seong
24. Zasalamel

New characters:
25. Angol Fear (bonus character designed by guest artist Mine Yoshizaki)
26. Ashlotte (bonus character designed by guest artist Oh! great)
27. Darth Vader (Star Wars guest character on the PlayStation 3 version)
28. Hilde(gard) von Krone
29. Scheherazade (bonus character designed by guest artist Yutaka Izubuchi)
30. Shura (bonus character designed by guest artist Hiroya Oku)
31. Yoda (Star Wars guest character on the Xbox 360 version)

On top of all these characters, Namco Bandai’s game director Katsutoshi Sasaki has said that Create-a-Character will return from Soul Calibur 3, and will allow customized and created characters to be playable in multiplayer mode (in Special VS online as well).

Missing characters (from previous games):
Abyss
Abelia
Arthur
Assassin
Aurelia
Berserker
Charade
Chester
Demuth
Edge Master
Girardot
Greed
Han-myeong
Hualin
Hwang
Inferno / SoulEdge
Li Long
Lizardman (Generic)
Luna
Lynette
Miser
Necrid
Night Terror
Olcadan
Revenant
Strife
Valeria

Quotes via Wikipedia, for more pictures go to SCU.

PS: We’ll keep this list updated as new characters are announced.

Source: videogamesblogger.com

Namco Bandai has announced today that Soulcalibur IV (priced $59.99) will be simultaneously available for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in America & Canada on July 29th and in Europe & Australia on July 31st, 2008.

Namco Bandai has also revealed that the original Soul Calibur be remade as a downloadable game with HD graphics on Xbox Live Arcade later in 2008! Every character and mode from the Dreamcast game will be made available, and leaderboards will be added, although it wasn’t confirmed to 1UP whether or not online multiplayer would be added, although that’s pretty common with Xbox Live Arcade games.

Back to Soulcalibur IV, a limited Premium Edition package (priced $79.99), which includes exclusive content not available anywhere else in North America, will also be available at launch while supplies last. The Soulcalibur IV Premium Edition will be jam-packed with exclusive content that is a must for any Soulcalibur aficionado. Packaged within a collector’s metal case, the Premium Edition will include the standard version of Soulcalibur IV, an exclusive comic/art book that is a prequel to this latest iteration, a tournament kit, as well as a bonus redemption card which unlocks extra customization content not available anywhere else in the US. The inclusion of the tournament kit will give fans the opportunity to document the battle amongst friends, revealing the true weapon master and giving the victor ultimate bragging rights.

The highly anticipated Soulcalibur IV provides a true next generation fighting experience with new finishing moves and an innovative battle system that promises to revolutionize the genre. Set to finally reveal the origins of the Soulcalibur saga, the game features both new and familiar faces from across the galaxy who seeks the rival swords for their own goals. Continuing the tradition of breaking new boundaries, legendary Star Wars icons Darth Vader and Yoda invade the Soulcalibur universe to add a new layer of depth, challenge, and mystery. Also for the first time in the franchise, customized characters or original favorites can be taken online to challenge others for the top spot of this timeless series.

Soulcalibur IV boasts the following features:

Ever expanding line-up of weapon wielding characters:
* Hilde - A striking armor-clad fighter who wields a short sword and spear making her adept at both long range strikes and short range combos
* Scheherazade and Angol Fear - Two alluring bonus characters created specifically for the game by renowned manga artists and character designers
* Take the Fight Online - For the first time ever, fight opponents around the world online in multiple versus modes

New fighting system elements:
* Active Matching Battle: New to the Soulcalibur franchise, experience non-stop matches where opponents will try to defeat players one right after another. How enemies are strategically defeated is the key to longevity.
* Critical Finish: Slowly fill the Soul gauge to unleash a devastating finishing move to defeat enemies once and for all with spectacular effects!
* Equipment Destruction: Now the wages of battle are shown as protective armor can be broken off and visible lacerations of clothing can be seen.
* Multiple Gameplay Modes - Experience Soulcalibur in Story, Arcade, Tower of Lost Souls, Training, Character Creation, and Museum modes.

Source: videogamesblogger.com

Soul Calibur IV director, Katsutoshi Sasaki, talks about what’s new to the fighting game in the following CES 2008 video interview.

He justifies the Star Wars additions of Darth Vader and Yoda because the creators thought the players would enjoy it. He even answers whether or not this the final Soul Calibur and says if there’s demand that Soul Calibur V or another game in the series is possible.

Watch the Soul Calibur IV director video interview.