Even though this game has been overshadowed by its sequels three times over, Soul Edge was and still is a revolutionary title in the fighting genre. A 3-d fighter with weapons based gameplay, Namco’s classic took the genre to new heights. Although this certainly wasn’t the first fighting game to feature weapons, (SNK’s Samurai Showdown and Sony’s Battle Arena Toshinden having been released prior) it made the weapon deeper and more fluid rather than simply having sword slashes as a substitute for punches and kicks. The game also had a deep storyline taking place in the 16th century featuring a diverse cast of warriors. Later games in the series would expand on the plot even further, adding new characters and plot twists. The home version of the game wasn’t bad either. As a matter of fact, the Playstation version of the game, renamed Soul Blade, featured new playable characters, new game modes, and other cool extras. Along with Namco’s Tekken 2, Soul Blade was one of the few arcade-to-home conversions at the time that managed to surpass the original arcade game it was based on.
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Not unlike Halo or Mario, I’ll eat up any scrap of news about a new Soul Calibur game. Here’s some more video, with lots of footage in engine.

1up seems to have locked up all the Soul Calibur news. see also these images and The 1UP Show Soul Calibur IV Special, a 16 minute look at the game.

Download mov or wmv

Little more than a couple stills and a new logo, but it confirms a 2008 release on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

After Namco accidentally mentioned that a new Soul Calibur game was in the works, we assumed it would be Soul Calibur IV. Last month Namco announced Soul Calibur Legends on Wii, and I let my guard down assuming it might be another few years before another entry in the series.

Well now EGM’s latest issue is teasing a world exclusive look at Soul Calibur IV in their July issue. Thats still a month away, but how exciting! I mean, I guess its exciting. When did we get to the point where game companies start announcing when they’ll make announcements? Bliazzard teased they’d announce a game before actually announcing Starcraft II, GTA IV’s page was a countdown clock to a trailer that still said nothing, and now we’re getting even deeper in the murky depths of marketing hype by buying a magazine saying what will be in the next magazine promoting a game that won’t be out for a while. Why doesn’t Namco just give me a trailer and then shut up about it until its done?

Oh, Soul Calibur, I can’t stay mad at you. Please be multi-platform and hold some kind of online match system!

Its been less than 24 hours since we heard about Adventures in “Soul Calibur” but here are some art stolen from 1UP!

Soul Calibur is the universally accepted fighting game of choice at the Powet offices, and any expansion on that world is welcome. When we initially heard about this game, the word came down we’d play as Siegfried, but that killer artwork of Ivy makes me thing we’ll see lots of playable characters.

So now the question– Will this be the next Death By Degrees or Shaolin Monks?

Like Soul Calibur, but not a big fighting-game buff? Seems there might be an upcoming alternative.

Soul Calibur Legends has been announced by Namco to be released for the Wii, and has been dubbed as an “adventure game” rather than the series usual forte with fighting. The player will travel through the 16th century, and will run into the Soul Calibur crew along their way. Sword-based combat will obviously utilize the Wiimote for the basics of Hack’n Slash. A release date has not, as of yet, been released to the general public, and will be anxiously awaited in the future.

If this type of gameplay seems familiar, it should. A similar type of “adventure combat” was used in fellow fighter series Mortal Kombat’s newest release Armageddeon, where the character ran around in “Konquest Mode” collecting items and fighting enemies, and would occationally enter into into a Combat Mode, where you would then fight your opponent one-on-one like you would in the regular fighting mode. Whether or not Soul Calibur means to do the same or something similar remains to be seen.

This week’s edition of Famitsu has an article on the new addition to the SC series, so check it out.

From now on, instead of writing 2 different columns each week, my $20 GOTY and Buried Treasures sections will be combined into 1 big juicy post. This will ensure that you don’t miss anything, especially from the other writers. Also, this is important becuase this week will be extra big. You’ll know why as soon as you finish reading this sentence.

It’s the day after labor day, and while other news sites might chill out after the holidays, I double up! That means you get 2 articles this week. Oh waitaminute, it’s been 1 year since I started doing the $20 GOTY, so that means I gotta add in 1 more to celebrate. Two of these games you may have seen before, becuase they got lost when we switched to word press and they were so dope, I needed an excuse to look at them again. Besides, it will be a first time a lot of you will be seeing them anyhow, especially if you’re reading this on Area 4:51. So without further ado, come ride with me [to the bargin bin at your local gamestop]. [Read the rest of this entry…]