In a surprising announcement Namco Bandai will release the former Dreamcast exclusive Soulcalibur as an Xbox Live Arcade game this summer. Soulcalibur will be updated with high definition graphics, but it is unclear if it will include online play. There will be online leaderboards and achievements for competitive types.
We will probably see Soulcalibur as a prelude to Soulcalibur IV, which is scheduled to come out the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on July 29. Soulcalibur IV actually comes out in four versions. The Xbox 360 version has Yoda and PlayStation 3 owners get Darth Vader. The next tiered choice is to get the regular game alone edition for $59.99 or the premium edition for $79.99. The premium edition comes with a comic/art book explaining the events before Soulcalibur IV, a tournament kit to document battles and a redemption card to unlock customization content only for the US.
Customization content? It sounds like Namco Bandai is going to sell accessories or parts for the create-a-fighter mode through microtransactions.
Images courtesy of Namco Bandai.
