So Soul Calibur III was announced a week ago in the US, woo! So far all I know about the game is what's shown in this movie, which is well worth checking out (28Mb). There's very little game footage, it's mostly a documentary thing, but the head developer mentions some very cool things.

From the movie I'm guessing that the story revolves around 3 new characters, all of which appear to be evil.

"The Resolute Avenger, the trail of the sword guides her way, Setsuka"






"The Enigma, he breathes new life unto evil, Zasalamel"






"The Misguided Angel of Death, she offers herself to evil, Tira"





:woot: :nooo: :woot: :nooo: :woot: :nooo: :thumbsup: :woot: :nooo: :thumbsup: :woot: :nooo: :nooo: :woot: :thumbsup:

Helloooooooooooooo Tira! ;) Put it down to her highly revealing top if you like, but I reckon that's one of the best character designs I've ever seen! The colors (green, purple & blue happen to be my favorites by the way) mix suberbly, and she's really got the wild-child thing happening, especially with the hair. Awesome weapon too, those spikes look nasty!! Can't wait to play with her....uhhh, as her. :whistling: :lol:

A few other random points-

• The developers say there's going to be even more stages than the previous game.
• There's apparently 2 other completely new characters, making a total of 5 never-before-seen warriors, for a total of 25 old & new.
• There will be no online play.
• Producer Hiroaki Yotoriyama says that "it's my policy to never do the same thing twice", thus there will be no guest characters this time around, even though they've had plenty of offers (would be interesting to find out who, eh?).
• A number of gameplay modes have been confirmed, but no word of a Weapon Master mode. There is however a story mode called Tales of Souls, so maybe there'll be different weapons to unlock from there...?
• Other confirmed modes include the obigatory two-player versus, practice mode, a tournament feature, the Museum for unlockables and such, and a mysterious "special situation" option known as Soul Arena.
• In a slightly backwards move, not only is the game coming to the home console before the arcade, it's hitting US & European shores before Japan. Europe is PAL...and Australia is PAL...could we be so lucky? :o
• A fall release is scheduled for America, which makes it our spring. Sounds like we could have our hands on this before christmas. :dance:

Those of you who've watched the movie may have noticed something a little strange at the end- a lack of Cube and Xbox logos. That's right, Namco are making it a PS2 exclusive. :blink: They attribute this to the game being on an even tighter schedule than before. Oh, and did I mention that you can make your own characters? :woot:

Namco will be showing it at E3, so bring on May! :thumbsup:

Damn you Namco, making me going out and buying a PS2... :(

It does look good though, and I can't wait to play the game.

This is what gets me; the only advantage the PS2 version of SC2 had was that the controller was better suited to the genre.

The GCN version sold a hell of a lot more units than the PS2 and Xbox versions, and the Xbox version easily had the best graphics of the three, so aside fromt he controller, what reason are they making a PS2 exclusive? :huh:

I think IGN say right when they say this:

Shame it went to PS2 only, and even bigger shame that they're leaving an online mode out! WTF?
Not sure if i'll buy this version though. I liked SC2, but I like(d) DOA3/Ultimate a tad bit more.

As much as I love Soul Calibur I'm not too interested in this title yet.
I await E3 for more details and I will probably most likely purchase it. Not very happy about the exclusivity though...

Like I first posted, they claim they just don't have the time for it. Namco has always been a big developer for Sony, why change now? Sony has the largest userbase, Namco want to get the most units out there, Sony is the answer.

Face it Estapol, you'll hafta buy a little black box of your own sooner or later. :P

Lets see...$300/$250 on a shitty, outdated peice of hardware that I couldn't even use in a render-farm, or a brand new videocard that kicks the shit out of any console game currently on the market.

On the plus side, the PS2 could make a nice placemat. :)

One word.....













IVY!









She will KILL all! SHE IS SOUL CALIBUR!!!!!!!


MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

-Stompy

Ivy does indeed rock, she damn well better be one of the included characters! So far the only ones we can be sure of are Taki and Mitsurugi, as they're in the movie.

By the way, there's an offical site for the game here. It's all flash, so 56kers beware.

Yeah, Mitsurugi is like Lei of the Tekken games. Easy to play as but damn dangerous. Or like Eddy Gordo with his button bashing moves. I always play as Mitsy. :thumbsup:

Tira is looking damn good btw. That is one DAMN sexy weapon!! :woot:

This reminds me of 1997-1999 peroid when the PS2 was about to get released and we had this sudden flood of AAA grade games like MGS, Tony Hawks etc. Could history be repeating itself? ;) :P

A Soul Calibur button-masher can always be defeated. ;) Mitsurugi is my most used character in SC2, next to Ivy and Seung Mina. I think his weakness lies in that some of his better moves are too easily predicted by the build-up stances, and a lot are very easily interrupted (Half Moon Death is a big one here, same with the Arc Relic stance moves). He's also vastly better at vertical strikes than he is at horizontal ones. A simple side-step will often save you from his attacks. Also, while he's very fast at attacking, his cooldown time after some moves is very slow. On the plus side, he has what I believe to be two of the best weapons in the game- Masamune and Damascus Blade.

Dammit, now I wanna go play Soul Calibur II. :P

It's a shame that the title is a PS2 exclusive, essentially IGN's statement sums it up well, there are more than one million users combined that will be missing out. Although possibly some of these also own a PS2 and just bought another version because they wanted better graphics, or wanted to play as Link and hence these users wouldnt be missing out, nevertheless it's a shame because it is likely that only the 700,000 PS2 users that bought SCII will probably be interested in SCIII, it is unlikely that gamers new to the series will be interested, especially since there is no online play.

With that said though, if the reason for a PS2 exclusive is because Namco simply dont have the time to release multiple versions due to time constraints and not because of an exclusive agreement, it is possible that the game will be released on Xbox and GCN later on anyway.

Yeah, I was going to say the whole 'it sold the most on the Gamecube' argument is much of a non-factor. I can almost assure you that if Link (or another Nintendo character) hadn't have been included in SCII it wouldn't have sold nearly as well. Hell, I know the reason I bought the game on GCN rather than PS2 at the time was because it had Link.

Exclusivity deals are always a mixed bag, and seeing another load of people up in arms over SCIII being exclusive is both tiring and unsurprising. My advice (although it may be easier for me since I own a PS2): Get over it.

Estapol, your argument that you'd be better off purchasing a graphics card than a PS2 is ridiculous. If you're buying a system for its power then you're not really buying it for the right reasons. SCIII is just an example of the kind of Japanese Dev support the PS2 constantly recieves, and a prime example of why the PS2 is an important system despite its outdated hardware.

No, it isn't actually.

Not many games on the PS2 appeal to me, and the ones that do, are usually avliable on the GCN, Xbox or PC anyway. I'd rather that money go towards an upgrade for my PC so that I can play next gen PC games.
As well as that, I don't like the controller, and I know people will dissagree with me but I just don't like it...even if the PS2 had better graphics than the other 2 consoles, I'd still prefer to play it using an S, Duke or GCN controller.

Anyways, back to the game; I think that Tira's weapon is an awesome idea, and I'd like to see what moves the dev team can come with for her. :)

It was until your elaborated on it. :P

DAMN I really need a PS2.
Damn you Namco! Damn youu!!!

I used to think that way til I bought my PS2 last year. Best decision I ever made when it comes to gaming. I'm really tossing up between my Xbox and my PS2 as to which is my favourite console.

Considering how much of an Xbox fanboy I am... that says a lot! :D


Anyway I'm thuper excited about this. I really need to invest in a stick fo my PS2. Only got one for the Xbox at the moment. SCIII will be the one to make fix that situation.

There would most likely be fewer complaints about the PS2 exclusivity if SCIII hadn't been announced for PS2, GCN, Xbox, and Xbox 2 beforehand. Now it just looks like greed on Sony's part.

Does anyone think this is actually a good thing for videogamers? You don't need to look out for the best interests of the console manufacturers; they've got enough money as it is. But is it possible to look at Sony's recent acquisition and say that this is a positive step for Soul Edge fans?

Well of course the answer is no. A game should go out to as many people as possible.

Though I have to say I had no idea SCIII had been announced for all systems. Where did you get that info from Mach?

Same here...Namco had clearly stated that it was a PS2 exclusive, and when asked if it would get eventual releases elsewhere they wouldn't comment. :blink:

Personally I don't really care about what system it comes out on, as I'm fortunate enough to own both a PS2 and a Cube, and my housemate has an Xbox. That said, I'd still go for a PS2 version purely for the controls, as it's what I've grown up on. I've played both the Cube and Xbox versions of SC2 and I didn't see any differences between those versions and the PS2 one anyway.

In the end, I'd rather have Namco work on making it great on one console rather than making it able to run on all.

Most exclusive deals don't last, as in they're time exclusive. However, some do, and Namco's track record aside from a few US developed titles is unlike other companies. The Tekken series remained exclusive to the PS consoles, and SC1 remained on the DC even though they weren't content with the sales. Besides, releasing other versions down the road would garner lower sales, especially with smaller user bases.

So, we'll just have to wait and see if it an absolute exclusive or a time exclusive. And until we hear an official announcement from Namco, it's a PS2 exclusive.

Soul Calibur 3
God of War
Namco X Capcom
Onimusha 3
Virtua Fighter 4 evo
Devil May Cry 3

Hmmm.... Maybe I should get a PS2. Two things really piss me off though:
1 Lack of online play. Ps2 is online, and if only some monkeys at sony would make a standard set of online options it could make putting a 3rd party game online much more easy.
2 I really don't want to have to buy more arcade sticks. They are damn expensive to import, and I'm just going to have to buy 2 more when PS3 is out. Do I really need 6? :S

I think that the first year, and possibly the second year with the new consoles is going to have huge gaps with no great titles. I thought handhelds would fill the void but with only a couple of absolute must haves announced so far its just not gonna cut it. I guess getting a ps2 could be the answer >_>

Stomp, learn some more characters :P

I don't think the lack of an online mode has anything to do with development difficulties really. The producer said that he wanted to make the game accessable to the largest userbase, and not everyone has broadband internet, so there'd be people who can't get everything out of the game. And yes, we all see the irony in saying that when he's making it a PS2 exclusive. :P

The irony doesn't stop there. Its 99.99% a multiplayer game. Surely putting it online is giving the multiplayer experience to a wider audience.

Boo to you UC1!!!!!! ;p

IVY rules you all!

WAPPISH!!!!!!!!!!!!

As for the new characters I really like the chick with the umbrella sword and the hula hoop blade would be very interesting to use. As for the scythe, well it's a freaking scythe.... who doesn't like scythes????

-Stompy

Mach, the DC only had 1 SC game, it went multiplatform after that and now PS2 exclusive, I think its a tribute to Sony for popularising the Soul series in the begining. :P
C'mon! DOA was on the PSone, then it went onto the XBox, then DOA2 was on all platforms, and now its XBox exclusive again, it must be some sorta marketing strategy the publishers learned in "game publishing school". :lol:

Ultracrazy1, I wouldn't get a stick unless I owned at least one decent 2D fighter.

No it didnt, SCII went to all platforms, SC1 was only on Dreamcast. The Soul Blade games before it were on the PSone.

DOA2 was on Dreamcast and later ported to PS2 that was it. The series then went to the Xbox.

I thought DOA was a saturn exclusive until DOA1 ultimate....

Also, I have cvs2, mvc2, sf 3s, GGXX#, all on xbox. But if I get a ps2 (or ps3) with soul calibur 3, then play it in the arcade, I'm gonna get owned. I figure I'll get a couple more arcade sticks for the next gen, so maybe I can just use the ps2 controllers until then. 3D fighters benefit just as much from using arcade sticks as 2D fighter by the way.

Um, yes, thats what I said. :huh: And I know Soul Blade was on PSone.

No you didn't, you said that the only "Soul" game on the DC was ported to all the other consoles, which it wasn't; Soul Calibur 1 was and still is a DC exclusive.

I'm sure most of us know this, but just to get rid of all the confusing talk that's going on, I present a timeline of both Soul Calibur and DOA :P(without years or dates >_>)

Dead or Alive

PSone: DOA is released

Dreamcast: DOA2 is released

PS2: DOA2 'Hardcore' is released

Xbox: DOA3 is released

Xbox: DOAXBV is released

Xbox: In order to have all DOA games on the one platform DOA 'Ultimate' is released, it includes the original DOA, an improved DOA2 and an online mode.

'Soul' Series

PSone: Soul Edge is released

Dreamcast: Soul Calibur is released

Xbox, GCN, PS2: Soul Calibur II is released

PS2: Soul Calibur III is announced as a PS3 exclusive

That third chick is pretty hot but the first one looks a bit like a shemale.

Either way, this sounds like a game I'll invest in (yes it's true, people who didn't buy SC2 might buy this one :P ).

A bit off topic, but I can't think of anywhere to ask, does anyone know a good place to import games from NZ? I remember when people wanted uncut versions of GTA VC or other games they considered importing from there. Since I'm OS but my PS2 isn't modded, I need to import from somewhere in Region 4. Might as well be the place with the best exchange rate...

Edit - looks like DVDCrave will do the job, so I'll just stick with that.

Again, I'm pretty sure that DOA1 was a saturn exclusive until DOA1 ultimate was released on xbox.

EDIT: ok it was on psx, but it was on saturn too

Oh, my bad. Here's the sentence again:

...the DC only had 1 SC game, it went multiplatform after that and now PS2 exclusive...

When I said it, I meant the Soul Calibur series. :P


Loach, yes NZ never censor their games, great huh? And I still can't understand why Australia still doesn't have an R18+ rating for games. :huh:

Spong:

“Essentially, Namco wanted to create a game with even more content than in Soul Calibur II, so we made the choice to focus on a single platform. And when we thought about choosing a single platform, we wanted it to be on the platform that has the greatest penetration in the current marketplace, that being PS2. Namco is very excited about bringing SCIII to the PS2 and the team has worked very hard on maximizing the graphics for SCIII, which [we] think will please franchise fans.”
-Namco guys

Loach, you're in the UK right? They are PAL games anyway or don't I understand?

Yeah mate, but because games come out on DVD now they're also region specific. I was hoping this wasn't the case but I checked it out with a game store and they told me that uk games won't work on an Oz ps2... unless they were wrong, I've just been too lazy to rent a game to double check.

But for $4.50 delivery worldwide, games are cheaper from Oz anyway :D

UK PAL games will work on AUS PAL consoles. :)

(And vice versa)

:nooo:

I did not know that...

I never know when you're being sarcastic, Trin. :|

And Loach, like Syb sez, its PAL, it works. I bought an Euro version of Jak 3 and it plays on my Aus PAL PS2.