Crispy Gamer News

It should not come as a shock to anyone that Soulcalibur IV has sold over 2 million copies since its launch on July 29. I’ve been playing the Xbox 360 version of the game and — except for the platform agnostic control scheme in training and in the manual - i’m loving it. While Soulcalibur has always been a popular franchise, it probably doesn’t hurt that several key Star Wars charcters appear in both versions of the game.

Jedi Master Yoda appears in the Xbox 360 version, Darth Vader fights in the PS3 version, and Darth Vader’s Secret Apprentice from LucasArts’ Star Wars: The Force Unleashed appears in both versions. Namco Bandai Games did not reveal actual numbers based on platform.

Soulcalibur IV is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB and carries a suggested MSRP of $59.99.

PlayStation 3 owners have a few good things to look forward to this weekend as Sony loads up the PlayStation Store with new downloadable games, demos, movies, and more. The most notable thing this week is the release of Pixel Junk Eden, a game that has been on the hearts and minds of gamers for quite some time. This quirky organic platformer cost just under $10 bucks and weighs in at 106 MB.

Next up is the Soul Calibur IV: Customization Equipment 1 downloadable content, which costs a mere $1.49. The DLC gives gamers instant access to equipment directly from previous Soulcalibur series, that you can use to enhance your favorite characters or make a unique character of your own.

Also available today are demos for Madden NFL 09, FaceBreaker, LEGO Indiana Jones, and new tracks for Rock Band from thenewno2 (Yomp), Staind (This Is It), Scars of Broadway (They Say), and Testament (Electric Crown).

You can get all the dirty details by visiting the official PlayStation Blog.

Today The Game Trust tackles Soulcalibur IV, the importance of cooperative play, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars and the latest releases on the Wii Shop Channel.

First up is Gus Mastrapa’s feature Bring a Friend, which talks about what upcoming games are offering cooperative play, why it is important and which game developers have made the mistake of omitting this popular style of play. Feature - Bring a Friend

Next is Harold Goldberg’s review of Soulcalibur IV. Despite some grumblings about Star Wars sullying the game’s cast, Harold gives the game a ringing endorsement.  Reviews - Soulcalibur IV (Xbox 360),  Soulcalibur IV (PS3)

Kyle Orland puts Enemy Territory: Quake Wars through 60 minutes of scrutiny in the latest Games For Lunch. Column - Games for Lunch: Enemy Territory: Quake Wars

Finally, the latest edition of Virtual Player takes a closer look at Fatal Fury 2, Donkey Kong 3, Ninja Commando and more on the Wii Shop Channel.  Column - Virtual Player

Namco Bandai’s weapon based beat ‘em for the PS3 and Xbox 360 is finally in stores in North America. This retooled fighting game adds a lot of visual extras, new and familiar characters, a refined combat system, new environments, and lots of single and multiplayer modes. The new game also gives Xbox 360 owners access to Yoda, PS3 owners the power to play Darth Vader and both platforms the ability to play the secret apprentice from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

What else can you expect from Soulcalibur IV? Some of the new features include a new damage system that cause visible damage to clothing and armor, environmental destruction, new Critical Finish moves to defeat opponents in one blow, a character creation system that lets you tweak and modify your favorite fighters, and online play on both the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live.
Soulcalibur IV is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB and carries a suggested MSRP of $59.99. A limited Premium Edition with exclusive content is available for $79.99, while supplies last. For more information visit www.soulcalibur.com.

If you’re excited about Star Wars The Force Unleashed, then you’ll be delighted to hear that a demo will be released on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network sometime next month. Fabulous. The demo will feature one level set in the Tie Fighter Construction Facility that was shown off during E3. The demo will also give Darth Vader’s secret apprentice some advanced force powers which he normally wouldn’t have - added to spice the demo up and give players a real taste of what they are in for when the game hits retail. finally the demo will of a unique ending that won’t be found in the retail release.

You can learn more about the game by visiting www.lucasarts.com. And if you want a taste of the secret apprentice, Darth Vader and Yoda, then you might want to either rent or buy Namco’s Bandai’s Soulcalibur IV (the Xbox version features Yoda, the PS3 version features Darth Vader, and both versions feature The Force Unleashed secret apprentice).

As part of its financial report for the first quarter (found here), Ubisoft revealed its release list for the second quarter of Fiscal 2008-2009 (July – September 2008). This list includes releases in Europe and North America. Full list after the jump..

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In the midst of E3, Namco Bandai Games announced that Soulcalibur IV has gone gold for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and will be on store shelves July 29. The latest iteration of this weapon-based fighting game features cameos from several Star Wars universe characters including Darth Vader (PS3 only), Yoda (Xbox 360 only), and the secret apprentice from Star Wars Force Unleashed (on both platforms). For the first time, players will be able to fight others around the world online in a number of modes and use new critical finishers to end matches with one powerful and deadly hit.

You can get the regular retail versions of these games for $59.99 or limited edition versions (with exclusive goodies) for $79.99.