Soul Calibur III Hits PS2 This Year

Game magazines fresh from printers unveil the third in the popular Namco series.

Update: New details, screenshots, artwork, game footage and video interview right here!

Namco is set to release the third in its second key, respected fighting franchise with the revelation that Soul Calibur III is in the works, and scheduled to appear exclusively on PlayStation 2 at the end of the year.

The sequel, which is more than likely to debut at E3 in a couple of month's time, was unveiled in the pages of the May issue of Gamepro magazine (not, as might be expected, the April issue - traditionally riddled with April Fools jokes). News in a new issue of Famitsu magazine reportedly confirms the news.

Soul Calibur is returning to PS2 this year

Soul Calibur was extremely successful when it was first ported from the arcades to Dreamcast in 1999, making for one of the most popular home fighting game conversions of all time. The sequel, Soul Calibur II, came to all three current generation consoles, with unique characters in each version, such as Link in the GameCube edition. The sequel was only slightly less well received overall, largely because expectations were so high after the impeccable original.

According to the Gamepro article, Soul Calibur III will be exclusive to PlayStation 2 - a strange decision considering that sales of all three versions of SC2 were strong. However, exclusivity these days often refers to a period of time as short as six months, the latest and best example being Rockstar's GTA: San Andreas which is coming to Xbox and PC after its exclusive stint on PS2. And, with many hot AAA franchises scheduled to show up on Xbox 360 at the year's end, it would not surprise us to see additional versions on one Xbox or another...

In addition to offering three all-new characters (including one with DOA-challenging cleavage), the game will feature a mode that allows players to create their own fighters, determining their combatant's sex, weapons and so forth. A 'Museum Mode' also allows players to take a nostalgic look through the history of the series.

We spoke to a Namco spokesperson for comment this morning, but the company refused to talk about Soul Calibur III, explaining, "it has not been announced". We pointed out that a small preview of the game has appeared in Gamepro, and the spokesperson offered "we are aware of that - but there's nothing we can say at the moment because it hasn't been officially announced."

More details and screenshots are expected to follow in the coming weeks. It will surely be a great E3 for fighting games, with Dead or Alive 4 definitely set to appear on Xbox 360, along with a tantalisingly rumoured comeback for Sega's Virtua Fighter series. Watch this space.

Update: New details, screenshots, artwork, game footage and video interview right here!

Adam Doree
Director, Kikizo.com