Light Sabers

Look at him. I wish it was a new Masters of Teras Kasi. Unfortunately, it isn't. That's Yoda. And he's in Soul Calibur 4. You see, Namco has decided that the brand isn't strong enough to sell on its own. No, no. Namco has to go whore out the name to make itself more popular. That's fine by me, actually. This means there will be a lot more people to own up online. That's a good thing.

Soul Calibur 4 was playable at CES, but there was a surprising lack of new footage there. If one was of a mind to, one could go here to check out the new trailer. IGN also has a short gameplay clip up.


These show nothing new if you've played any Soul Calibur before. In fact, the producer said that only 50% of the animations were in this build, and none of the new gameplay systems. That's also good, as it looked like a very pretty Soul Calibur 1 in these vids.


It's got a summer release, so that might mean no EVO for SC4. Still looks awesome, though. Won't be long before the world witnesses domination hitherto unbelieved possible by the trifecta of Ninjas, Whores (with umbrellas), and Valkyries.

Yoda screen courtesty of 1up.com.

Street Fighter 4

Geez, it's been too long. My bad.

It's been around 10 years since Capcom initially released Street Fighter 3 in arcades. Since then fans have been wondering, "When will we get to see SF4?" It seemed that Capcom was content to let the series fade into nothing more than memories and fond nostalgia. Sure, we got CvS2 and...Capcom Fighting "Evolution." But for fans of the series, these offshoots didn't satisfy the needs that Street Fighter gameplay has at its core. What is that, you might ask? It's like the feeling you get when you eat a warm marshmallow. Or the warm fuzzies you receive when your new girlfriend kisses you on the cheek.

It can not be defined, it just is. Accept this. (By the by, this is the reason why it's so hard to pinpoint why so many fans don't consider SF3 a "true" SF. That is an argument for another blog.)

So the SF brand would dwindle away into obscurity leaving fans looking at other, smaller companies creating 2D fighters left and right. King of Fighters, Guilty Gear, Arcana Hearts, Melty Blood...hell, even Rumble Fish. These games all served as body blows to the Capcom faithfuls. If smaller, less successful companies could continue to churn out (subjectively) high quality 2D fighters, then why couldn't Capcom with their considerably larger budgets.



And then, after years of rumors and letdowns, it happened. Street Fighter 4 is a reality and the future of the (capcom) fighting game community rest on its shoulders. And if the internet is to be believed (my opinion: it never should be. Believed, that is) then it is buckling under the weight. Most message boards will be the homes of such posts as: "Hahahaha, more like SFEX4, amirite!" Or, "WHY NOT 2D!!!"


I couldn't care less about all of that; my opinion is the game looks awesome and, imagine this, the thing that will make or break the game, and any future games on this engine, is the gameplay.

It doesn't matter that Ryu's physique makes him look like a stunt double for The Master of Greyskull. It doesn't matter that Ken's hair is straight from the 80's. No, all that matters is that I saw a crossup. I saw Ken flip into a fireball that forced him to block. I see AN ACTUAL DUCKING FORWARD animation.

If one takes off the fanboy goggles that have undoubtedly been fogged up with the rage of the sprites not being 2D, they might recognize that it looks like Street Fighter. Not Street Fighter EX. I don't know that I've ever seen a crossup in that game.

So then, the gameplay looks okay, right? Well, looks okay. I haven't played it and odds are anybody bitching about it hasn't either. I won't pretend to be clairvoyant; there is still a lot that could go wrong. We'll have to wait and see. But people are now upset that it takes place before 3, which probably means new fans favorite characters won't be present (in this SF4, anyway). It also means that we'll get to see plenty of familiar faces. What's funny is that these are the same complaints that plagued SF3 upon its release. "Only Ken and Ryu? WHAT? I AM OUTRAGED!"

What's this prove? You can't please everybody. Especially the internet.

So, here we have SF4. If it's good (hopeful) and does well in the sales department, what does this mean? A resurgence in fighting games? This could mean a revival of several of Capcom's old franchises. Street Fighter 4 producer Yoshinori Ono has already stated he has interest in making a Vampire Savior game (Darkstalkers) using this engine. Perhaps Rival Schools? Imagine a crossover game with all of these characters? If Street Fighter 4 performs well, it could very well mean we'll see all of this come to fruition. Maybe, just maybe, it means that other game developers will take note. Maybe we'll see more clones!

Who knows?

At the very least, given Capcom's track record, this means that we'll get to see Street Fighter 4: Super Third Turbo Edition.

Screens taken from Famitsu.