Soul Food

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Sasaki: With Soulcalibur II, we got a pretty favorable response when we included a guest character. In III, everyone seemed excited about the character creation mode. So for Soulcalibur IV, we're trying to do a little bit of both. Since IV is the first Soulcalibur game for the next-gen consoles, and the franchise itself is such a huge entertainment product, what's a bigger entertainment property than Star Wars?

Crispy Gamer: Vader is exclusive to the PlayStation 3 and Yoda is exclusive to the Xbox 360. Is this a subtle editorial comment about how you feel about these systems or was it simply an aesthetic choice?

Sasaki: The decision was solely based on aesthetics.

Crispy Gamer: Did you get Frank Oz and James Earl Jones to do their respective voices?

Sasaki: We are using voice actors that are recommended by LucasArts.

Crispy Gamer: Who decided it would be those two and not, say Darth Maul and Mace Windu? Were Yoda and Vader your first choices?

Sasaki: For us, it was Yoda and Vader from the start. It just made the most sense.

Crispy Gamer: Does the game also feature any Star Wars-themed arenas?

Sasaki: You will definitely see stages based on Star Wars. I can tell you that the Soulcalibur team and LucasArts have worked closely together at every stage of development.

Crispy Gamer: Has there been any talk of doing a Star Wars-specific Soulcalibur, one where all the Jedi and Sith battle in places like the cantina or on Hoth?

Sasaki: That sounds like a great idea!

Crispy Gamer: Would that even be something you guys would want to do? Or are you so sick of all the Star Wars questions that you now kind of wish you'd never agreed to put Yoda and Vader in the game at all?

Sasaki: It's definitely a great idea, but we are too busy with Soulcalibur IV to even think beyond the current development. I would welcome more people to ask about additional details.

Crispy Gamer: So are there any plans to let 360 players download Darth Vader, and to let PS3 players download Yoda, later on?

Sasaki: Vader and Yoda are exclusive to their respective platforms.

Crispy Gamer: Finally, which game in the Soulcalibur series do you think Soulcalibur IV is the most like? For example, do you feel it's an evolution from III? A throwback to the unadulterated thrill of II?

Sasaki: That's a tough one because all of the games in the series have their good points. I would say that Soulcalibur IV is a good integration of II and III.