"10,000 Strikes of Proof - Land 10,000 attacks
Chosen by History - Create a Custom Character
Death on the Battlefield - Perform 100 Critical Finishes
Distance will not Betray - Reach over 10,000 meters in total movement distance in battle
Divine Punishment - K.O. with an Unblockable Attack
Encounter with the Unknown - Fight against Darth Vader (vs. mode doesn't count)
Endure 1,000 - Guard 1,000 times against attacks
Engraved into History - Fight 100 times (Online)
Equal Skill and Power..."

Matt Matthews from Edge-Online has posted his analysis of the recently released August 2008 NPD.

In his analysis, he reviews the hardware and top ten software rankings released in the NPD's public report, and also outlining or taking note of possible trends that are emerging in the industry right now.

The NPD Group has released their hardware and software numbers for the month of August, representing sales for the United States for the four week period of August 3rd to August 31st.

This month, there were two notables:

• Madden NFL 09 released this month, being the top seller that it usually is
• 360 barely outselling PS3

Hardware numbers:
NDS: 518.3k (129.6k per week)
WII: 453.0k (113.3k per week)
PSP: 253.0k (63.25k per week)
360: 195.2k (48.80k per week)
PS3: 185.4k (46.35k per wee...

"High Voltage Software have today officially announced that their Wii-exclusive First-Person Shooter, The Conduit, has been scored by famed composer Diego Stocco.

Diego Stocco's music sound design credits include movies such as Transformers, Resident Evil: Extinction, Crank, Jumper, Lady in the Water, and videogame soundtracks for Justice League Heroes and Soul Calibur IV. His commercial credits include Nokia, Samsung, Panasonic, BMW and General Motors.

“Working with Diego was such an en..."

"3. Mod - While we won’t condone pirating and can’t link you to the required tools to modify your machine, a quick Google search will offer the knowhow to pimp your system with a soldering iron and a boot disc. Today, the Dreamcast still has a stellar homebrew community. Download Beats of Rage or order all the Japanese releases that never hit stateside.

2. Shun your Wii – SEGA does what Nintendon’t, which explains why SEGA doesn’t do much. Nintendo’s led the battle charge to conquer the ca..."

"Jesus appears in the Top 50:

"Is there really any reason to discount the Son of God wielding a Scythe? Jesus comes in at number 50 on our list because he's just the kind of fighter you run across that makes you second guess opening that can of whoopass you have prepared.""

"Namco Bandai Games America Inc., announced today that a free playable demo of Soulcalibur IV is now available for download on Xbox Live Marketplace for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system. Offering a sample of the intense, skeleton-jarring weapon combat, the demo illustrates the franchise's legacy of providing a rich gaming experience as they play Nightmare, Cassandra, Tira or Rock who ..."

"It's hard to say if the last week of the Olympics gave Segas' Beijing 2008 - The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games a boost, but that hasn't stopped the PlayStation 3 version of the game moving up four spots from the previous week, into sixth spot. The Xbox 360 version of Beijing 2008 also made it into the charts, though at the much lower position of number 10. Nintendo's Brain Training series are regular contenders in the charts, with Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brai..."

"Soulcalibur IV on Xbox 360 is the version that features Yoda as a special playable character. His small proportions make him a pain to pummel, but those of you with both systems can also consider the PS3 version with its playable Darth Vader. Cohhhhhh-chuuuuur."

"video in link"

The NPD Group has released their hardware and software numbers for the month of July, representing sales for the United States for the four week period of July 6th to August 2nd

This month, there were three notables:

• 360's price drop has no effect
• Metal Gear Solid 4 PS3 bump is gone; game has fell out of top ten
• Five new releases in the top five, in the form of three separate games

Hardware numbers:
NDS: 608k (152k per week)
WII: 555k (138.75k per week)
PS3: 225k (56.25k per week)
PS...

"Some people obviously have too much free time. Maybe they need to go outside and play in the sun and talk to real people. Of course if they do they probably have mirrors strapped to their shoes or have pulled the speaker out of their digital camera so it doesn’t make the shutter sound while trying to catch upskirt shots.

Oddly the site in question started out talking about the new SoulCalibur IV downloadable content, but then at the end it got sidetracked."

"01. [PSP] Phantasy Star Portable (Sega) - 148,000 / 490,000
02. [NDS] Fire Emblem: New Shadow Dragons and the Sword of Light (Nintendo) - 145,000 / NEW
03. [NDS] Rhythm Tengoku Gold (Nintendo) - 130,000 / 343,000
04. [360] Tales of Vesperia (Namco Bandai) - 108,000 / NEW
05. [NDS] Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride - 73,000 / 1,019,000
06. [NDS] Sangokushi Taisen Heaven (Sega) - 33,000 / NEW
07. [NDS] Summon Night 2 (Namco Bandai) - 30,000 / NEW
08. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 2..."

"Welcome to Gaming Culture, 1UP's regular in-depth feature on game memes, viral videos, Flash games, or whatever else happens to set the Interwebs ablaze. Have you seen a meme that deserves some exploration? Drop a 1UP message to let us know.

Soul Calibur 4 is one of the most respected names in the fighting genre, and the latest installment packs a feature-rich character creator alongside the regular roster. Like Spore before it, this has set off a flurry of gamers paying homage to some of ..."

"For companies such as Namco Bandai that derive a significant portion of their business from the arcade scene, the cooling of the coin-op in Japan represents more than just a bittersweet farewell. After reporting nearly flat revenue growth during its first fiscal quarter yesterday, the company said that it would be selling off an additional 69 arcades in an attempt to clot its mounting losses.
Along with the game's returning cast, which includes Siegfried, Ivy, Cassandra, and Cervantes, Soul..."

"01. [PSP] Phantasy Star Universe - (Sega) - 342,000 / 342,000
02. [NDS] Rhythm Tengoku Gold - (Nintendo) - 213,000 / 213,000
03. [NDS] Dragon Quest V - (Square Enix) - 112,000 / 946,000
04. [PS3] Soul Calibur IV - (Namco Bandai) - 75,000 / 75,000
05. [PS2] Powerful Pro Baseball 15 - (KONAMI) - 37,000 / 121,000
06. [360] Soul Calibur IV - (Namco Bandai) - 35,000 / 35,000
07. [Wii] Fatal Frame IV - (Nintendo) - 33,000 / 33,000
08. [Wii] Wii Fit - (Nintendo) - 32,000 / 2,442,000
09. [Wii..."

Since the release of Soul Calibur IV, I've written quite a bit on the game, whether it was a review that took three days of non-stop play or a brief homage to Siegfried Schtauffen.

By now, most of us have come to terms with the fact that Soul Calibur is basically fan service in a box, which would account for all the bizarrely proportioned women and barrel chested men with nice hair. Be warned this is an editorial entry regarding something about the game's characters that has come to my ...

"Customization equipment #1 (armours, headgears) - 100 Microsoft Points (1.45$)
Downloadable Music complete set - 1200 Microsoft Points (15$)
Downloadable music tracks (1 - 17) - 80 Microsoft Points each (.99$)

Yes...downloadable tracks from the original Soul Calibur to listen while you fight. Hey Namco, I have a request for you: why don’t you spend some time fixing the multiplayer lagging instead of selling bandanas and capes?"

Curious about what's selling in the UK right now? Chart Track has you covered with an all-format list. The attached image shows us what's doing good (Soul Calibur IV, Big Beach Sports, Call of Duty 4, New Super Mario Bros., NFS: ProStreet) and what's waning (Lego Indiana Jones, Super Smash Bros., Metal Gear 4, Race Driver). Check it out!

"[A]lmost all the characters return.. but not Hwang.. because he was just a clone with a dirty sounding name. For the same reason there is also no Li Long.

"

"Gentle reader, we know of your thirst for the finer things in life: vintage wines, sartorial attire, and most importantly, realistic boob physics. After all, what would be the point of a new high-def Soulcalibur game if the teat-jigglies were not tuned to perfection? Some may say that DOA perfected the art with the “independent bounce” feature, but we found it to be a bit excessive and grotesque. The door was left open for a new challenger to the cheesecake crown, and Soulcalibur IV has stepp..."

"Normally, I try to keep it casual with PC World's weekly slothfest--and this week was to be no different. The original plan was to dig into the megaton fighting game, Soul Calibur IV , which launched this week for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It looks fantastic, is amazingly replayable, and lets you beat up frenemies over the Internet. Then I flip on the news. Senator McCain jabs at Senator Obama, saying that Barack is akin to Paris Hilton (minus the estrogen and X-rated videos). Obama fir..."

""

""

"So no wonder UK men's magazine FRONT returned for another round of Photoshop-cheesecake-models-into-videogames. This time, Page Three girls Danni Wells and Amii Grove bust out the "i"s and the sporting equipment for an in-mag SoulCalibur IV. Look at that picture! It's like they're thus destroying and pillaging Soulcalibur IV. (But can cricket bats defeat lightsabers? Gah....)

Why is that woman wearing no pants at the dock? That doesn't make sense. Like, if we went to the dock, we'd sure as..."

"Fun with Soul Calibur IV's character creator. Featuring fighters from Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct, Super Smash Bros Brawl, X-Men, and of course Street Fighter.

"

"Next to Soulcalibur IV, Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse was this week's most pre-ordered console game titles on Amazon.co.jp!"

Soul Calibur IV has hit the shelves and today we bring you the unboxing of the PS3 version of Soul Calibur IV's Premium Edition.

Included is a tin case that contains the following items:

• Collectible Comic and Art Book (48 pages not counting the covers)
• Tournament Kit
  • Soul Calibur IV poster with a tournament bracket on the back
  • Black unbranded pen for use on the poster
  • T-Shirt (XL)
• Exclusive downloadable character creation content. Redeemable code is on a branded SCIV card
• 1x copy of Soul...

"Games Released in the United States:
Nintendo Wii:
- King of Clubs
- MLB Power Pros 2008
- Sam & Max Season One
- Summer Athletics

Xbox 360:
- Soulcalibur IV
- Spectral Force 3
- Summer Athletics

PlayStation 3:
- Soulcalibur IV

PlayStation 2:
- MLB Power Pros 2008
- Summer Athletics Nintendo DS:
- Air Traffic Chaos
- Suzuki Super-Bikes

PC:
- Art of Murder: FBI Confidential
- Beijing 2008
- Build in Time
- City Life 2008 Edition
- Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm
-..."

We've already seen what is possible with Soul Calibur IV's character customization. But if you aren't imaginitive enough to come up with your own sexy versions of pirate wenches or spunky cowgirls, then take the easy way out and dress your characters in nothing but their underwear!

Good news for girls too ... This feature isn't exclusive to the female characters. We can dress our men in their undies too. It's about time the men got some sex appeal in this game.

"A bunch (and we mean a bunch) of new Soulcalibur IV screens have popped up. These are screens that show things like the game's Single Player Mode menu, Arcade Mode, Training Mode, VS Mode, Museum, Character Creation and a comic as well. There's lots of nitty-gritty to click through, but it's interesting stuff."

"With this, the seventh new character to join the Soulcalibur IV line up, we're starting to notice a trend. Kamikirimusi, like her predecessors Shura, Scheherezade, Algol Fear, and Ashlotte, is a female fighter designed by a well known Japanese artist, this time by guest artist Hirokazu Hisayuki. Kamikirimusi will fight with a very large metal club/mace and satisfy fans of exposed upper thigh flesh.

Her facial expression seen in the scan above — click through for the full-sized version if y..."

"However thanks to a podcast made by 1UP the rumor was quickly smashed , stating that Kratos will be absent from Namco’s upcoming game. But, there still is the strong possible that he could be included in future planned downloadable content."

"Soulcalibur IV is the latest entry in the greatest weapon-based fighting game the world has ever seen, and it's now available to pre-order in the UK! We thought you guys would be interested to hear about these two fantastic pre-order deals."

"

"

What's this? Soul Calibur IV screens that aren't all about mindless sex appeal?!
Gamespot Japan have just revealed a LARGE batch of new screenshots that focus on *gasp* actual gameplay and what the Character Customization is capable of.

(Go to source for all screens)

"Sorry for being curt there, but really, that's about all there is to these latest Soul Calibur IV shots. Tits. Oh, and that subtle crotch shot. Good to see Namco Bandai are remembering it's not all about Star Wars, and that there's a church full of the converted who still enjoy being preached to every now and again."

"- game feature dizzy : getting hit into walls makes you dizzy.
- game feature guard impact : opponent will fall during guard impact.
- game feature instant impact : when opponent attacks during guard impact.

- armor bar : keep blocking, bar becomes red, and eventually blue.

- soul impact : attack until opponent's health meter is red, then make opponent block -or- you can initiate with a guard impact.
- soul impact : when opponent is soul impacted, enter the heavy finish command to ex..."

"Get ready for one of the game industry's biggest events of the year: the annual E3 Media & Business Summit, better known simply as E3, which takes place this year in Los Angeles from July 15-17. The three days of the expo won't be the only days in which you can expect to see new games and announcements; this year, as with other years, several major game companies will be making big news before the show at their press conferences."

"Take her to mom: Aerith (Final Fantasy series)

Aerith is a sensitive girl that can warm any heart. Just ask any of the Final Fantasy fanboys who fell for her charms over the past few years. She's also deep-rooted when it comes to family and faith, as her role as an "ancient" clearly explains. Moreover, she can probably whip up a good salad, since she's so involved with nature.


Don't take her to mom: Morrigan (Darkstalkers series)

Not only is Morrigan almost completely underdressed ..."

"According to the rumor mill in the August issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, Kratos is to appear as a PS3 exclusive character in Soul Calibur IV.

The magazine states that Kratos will be the next PS3 character revealed, so if the rumor is in fact true, we should be seeing something soon. Also, this will be the first look at Kratos on next gen hardware, and possibly a first glimpse at what to expect from God of War III. Obviously if Kratos appears in SCIV, Namco has cut some deal with Sony,..."

"While Soulcalibur III was largely forgettable for some of us at Kotaku, some of our best memories were forged in the game's custom character creation tool. The "dancer" style fighter armed with a pair of tambourines made for some rather amusing matches.

Soulcalibur IV doesn't appear to be a slouch in the custom fighter department, with all manner of ridiculous weapons and fetish focused accessories at your disposal.
Cowgirls? Check. Pirate wenches? Check. Cat-eared cuties wielding deadly..."

"First Guitar Hero kicks the bucket, now this... Soul Calibur IV has been dated and priced for Japan. That's good news!
Above is the official Japanese box art for the game, box art that features Darth Vader for the PS3 version. Yoda is on the Xbox 360 version's cover. That's, well, not such good news.

By putting these iconic Star Wars characters on the box doesn't it make Soul Calibur IV seem less like a Soul Calibur game and more like a Star Wars game? Yes, yes it does. You had a good r..."

In addition to yesterday's news about Darth Vader's "secret apprentice" showing up in SC IV, we get a trailer to accompany it. Check it out through the source.

"[Today] Namco Bandai channeled Yoda with the announcement that "there is another." Both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game will feature the Secret Apprentice character from LucasArts' upcoming Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, allowing for proper lightsaber-on-lightsaber duels in a fighting game for the first time since 1997's original PlayStation game Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi.

The Secret Apprentice stars in Force Unleashed as Darth Vader's first Sith underling. Sinc..."

"In the latest Soul Calibur IV trailer entitled "Ubidays 2008: Transcendance Trailer," several new details were revealed that many viewers probably missed. After analyzing the trailer intently, here are a few of the snippets we happened to catch.

New Character:

Near the middle of the trailer a new character is revealed. We've heard whispers that he is a new character either known as Mars (aka Hades) or possibly Soul Edge reborn (notice the scar on his arm), but that he may receive a name..."

"The most recent Soul Calibur IV trailer seems to indicate that besides Star Wars characters and enormous boobs, the game also has destructible body armor. Meaning? That it appears throttling opponents hard enough causes armor to fly off. Wonder if it will be possible to knock Vader's helmet off or if this is just going to your typical disrobe-female-fighters kinda thing. Honestly, we're pulling for naked Yoda."

"As well as new characters, Soul Calibur IV will introduce a couple of new gameplay mechanics to the series. The first is the critical attack, which can be used to break through the guard of a particularly defensive player. If you manage to land several attacks on a players while they're blocking, their defense will eventually become weakened and their health bar will flash red. If you land another powerful attack when this happens, the character will stumble backward--giving you a chance to h..."

Yet more Soul Calibur IV screens have been released, this time showing the newbies Shura, Ashlotte, and the first glimpse of Setsuka in SCIV. Damn, those SC girls are boobful.

(go to source for more screens)

"This is yet another manga artist collaboration,the character is designed by Oogure Ito (Oh!Great) famous for his Tenjou Tenge and Air Gear mangas.This 19 year old girl name is Ashlotte Meideru and her weapon is a great axe."

"Yes. Shocking. For your submission, the above picture, showing Soul Calibur's Ivy as she's depicted on the game's official website. On the left, how she appears on the Japanese site. On the right? How she appears on the American site. This will not go down well with die-hard fans, Namco Bandai. They're not in this for the swordplay."

"So maybe you're still giddy that Darth Vader and Yoda (see a video of them in action here) will be making a guest appearance in Namco Bandai's Soul Calibur 4 (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3), but don't look away just yet, because more and more characters are being revealed.

After unveiling four characters last month, the Japanese magazine Famitsu is back to let us know that Rock, Yoshimitsu, and Talim will be returning.

If you haven't encountered any of these Soul Calibur veterans yet, Rock is..."

"Outside of online play, one of the biggest tangents of discussion around “Soul Calibur IV” has been Darth Vader and Yoda as playable guest characters. Such inclusions are not new to the “Soul Calibur franchise” — “Soul Calibur II” had Link, Heihachi and Spawn — but Yoda has proven controversial, due to his extreme height advantage. The smaller they are, the harder they are to hit?

Sasaki isn’t worried. “The influences that Yoda will have in terms of gameplay because of his height, [is that..."

"Following yesterday's announcement that the original Soul Calibur will be making an appearance on Xbox Live Arcade, Ubisoft has announced that Soulcalibur IV will be making its way down under on July 31 on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Soulcalibur IV is the series' first foray into the next-generation domain and features an expanded roster of fighters. Those who get the game on the PlayStation 3 will have access to Star Wars supervillain Darth Vader, whereas the Xbox 360 version feature..."

"Soul Calibur IV is in development for PS3 and 360. It will feature a fancy Critical Finisher system where you can instantly kill an opponent if you manage to empty their Soul Gauge two times in a row; this fills up when attacking but decreases when defending."

"There's a lot of people out there who feel that the fighting genre has gone the way of the dodo. While it's true that the days of people crowding around an arcade machine and lining their quarters up have passed, we can't help but feel that reports of the genre's death have been greatly exaggerated. One need look no further than the offerings on tap for 2008, as two of the year's most anticipated fighting titles are sure to be huge hits. Capcom will be bringing the latest Street Fighter game ..."

1Up drops the latest Soul Calibur IV bomb by confirming that two of the most iconic Star Wars characters will be playable in Namco Bandai's forthcoming PlayStation 3 (and Xbox 360!) weapons-based brawler. Apparently Namco Bandai has made nice with LucasArts to give Darth Vader and Yoda the SCIV makeover, ready to layeth the smackdown in the age of exploration. The lightsaber-wielding, Force-totin' badasses might seem out of place in the world of Soul Calibur, but hopefully they won't be mak...

""

"

Step up on to the stage of history with our resident Soul Calibur experts -- Ryan O'Donnell, Soul Calibur IV.

Along with exclusive interviews with the entire development team, we're bringing you the very first footage of Soul Calibur IV. All of this waits for you to download now."

"As promised, Electronic Gaming Monthly managed to get a first look at Soul Calibur IV, and here are the scans from the magazine. The level of detail in the graphics includes "leather straps on Ivy's thighs make real-time indentations into her skin as she fights," and even "ridiculously endowed ninja gal Taki, who demonstrates what happens now that consoles can chum out superflucous polygons to render realistic nipples under a skintight leotard."

In my opinion, Soul Calibur I is the best 3..."

"What's changed this time round is that the next-gen platforms have network infrastructure already in place," commented Soul Calibur IV's director Katsutoshi Sasaki while chatting with EGM magazine."We've heard from fans that they really want the game to be online, so we figured that, with the current environment, we really couldn't make SC4 without online play.""