Topic: Soul Calibur Jumps the Shark, and then beats it with a lightsaber

[Bill Aurion]

1UP: Will these guest characters have their own stages? The Star Wars guys have some pretty nifty arenas...

Apparently they also have stages...What is this crap?  Link didn't get HIS own stage, and a forest-type stage would have, you know, ACTUALLY MADE SENSE!?  Good job ruining the game even further, Namco...

[Mikintosh]

1UP: Will these guest characters have their own stages? The Star Wars guys have some pretty nifty arenas...

Apparently they also have stages...What is this crap?  Link didn't get HIS own stage, and a forest-type stage would have, you know, ACTUALLY MADE SENSE!?  Good job ruining the game even further, Namco...

Well, Link did have his own music, and his "home" stages (the cathedral and the tree-filled courtyard) were pretty appropriate aesthetically. Tho Spawn and Heihachi weren't as fortunate, as they were both too modern to fit into the SC setting. So how Darth Vader's gonna work is beyond me...

[blackfootsteps]

Well Star Wars is set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away so it shouldn't be too hard Actually now that I think about it, Tatooine for Vader and Dagobah for Yoda would be pretty good.

[ThePerm]

alot of people don't realize Tatouine is a real place, its a town in Tunisia.

[Nick DiMola]

I was just reading a bit about this game, and stumbled on this bit of information:

Critical Finisher

Soulcalibur IV will feature an all-new Critical Finisher system. This time there will be another gauge under the characters' Health Meter, known as the Soul Gauge. This meter will fill up when attacking and decrease when guarding. When the meter is empty, the opponent can do a strike that breaks off a part from the character's armor, altering their appearance and making them weaker for the remainder of the match. There are also three green boxes below the gauges, reflecting the state of the characters armor: high, mid, or low.

If the character manages to empty out the opponent's Soul Gauge again, they will get a short chance to perform a powerful Critical Finisher, which will kill the opponent instantly. Each character has their own personal Critical Finisher. Namco says that they developed the Soul Gauge to decrease the benefits from constant guarding, thus giving the game a faster tempo. It subsequently would make the matches more offensive, as well.

Pretty interesting, I think it'll have a profound effect on the game. Most fighting games tend to get too defensive so this might make it much more offensive and fast paced.

[Dirk Temporo]

Apparently they also have stages...What is this crap?  Link didn't get HIS own stage, and a forest-type stage would have, you know, ACTUALLY MADE SENSE!?  Good job ruining the game even further, Namco...

So giving characters stages=ruining the game?

What's wrong with you?

[Bill Aurion]

No, what's wrong with YOU?

Soul Calibur has always had a clear-cut Renaissance-time period feel to it, and adding random sci-fi locations is bloody stupid...

[Dirk Temporo]

I can totally see how this as an arena would totally ruin the game.

http://www.slipups.com/images/items/88.full.jpg

Or this.

http://www.elpais.com/recorte/20070330elpepusoc_16/XLCO/Ies/Atardecer_planeta_Tatooine.jpg

Or this:

http://www.sithclan.net/SC4/write_access/depot_images/dossier/trilogie/planetes/dagobah_bog.jpg

[DAaaMan64]

I can totally see how this as an arena would totally ruin the game.

http://www.slipups.com/images/items/88.full.jpg

Or this.

http://www.elpais.com/recorte/20070330elpepusoc_16/XLCO/Ies/Atardecer_planeta_Tatooine.jpg

Or this:

http://www.sithclan.net/SC4/write_access/depot_images/dossier/trilogie/planetes/dagobah_bog.jpg

Maybe the middle stage, but playing on a 403 error would be stupid in a Soul Calibur game.

[Dirk Temporo]

I can see them all just fine.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Toshinden FTW

[DAaaMan64]

I can see them all just fine.

It'll work if you copy and paste them, but isn't working if I click on them.

[Flames_of_chaos]

Soul Calibur 4
PS3 - 6.7GB install 2.0GB save file
X360 - Hard drive required

What the hell Namco all of this over a fighting game?

[vudu]

2.0GB save file?!?  Surely that's a typo, right?

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Surely this is TRUE GENERATION QUALITY

[Flames_of_chaos]

2.0GB save file?!?  Surely that's a typo, right?

Nope the japanese product listing had a 6700MB install file and a 2048MB save file. 480p,720p resolution support 5.1 sound.

[vudu]

Why the heck is the save file so large?  That's utterly ridiculous.

[Flames_of_chaos]

I don't know but it looks like 20GB PS3 owners gotta clean out their fridges

[vudu]

Why the heck is the save file so large?  That's utterly ridiculous.

I just remembered--SC IV has a create-a-character mode.  That's why the save file is so effing huge and why the hard drive is required for the 360 version.